Free Republic

There is clear and convincing evidence that President Barack Obama has on numerous occasions willfully committed treason and high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office. The “crimes” that led to the impeachment of both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton and the resignation of Richard Nixon pale in comparison to Obama’s. Johnson’s “crimes” were purely political. He favored a policy of benevolent reconciliation with the Southern States following the Civil War. He issued a series of proclamations that directed the Southern States to hold conventions and elections to reform their governments; he attempted to veto a number of...

**SNIP** So which federal law had Obama violated? Section 1028 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibits any funds to be used “to transfer any individual detained at Guantanamo to the custody or control of any other foreign country” unless the secretary of defense certifies to Congress, “not later than 30 days before the transfer,” that the receiving country will detain the individual appropriately and “has taken or agreed to take such actions as the Secretary of Defense determines are necessary to ensure that the individual cannot engage or re-engage in any terrorist activity.” As reported by Elizabeth...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A huge new paperwork headache for the government could also be jeopardizing coverage for some of the millions of people who just got health insurance under President Barack Obama's law. A government document provided to The Associated Press indicates that at least 2 million people enrolled for taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance have data discrepancies in their applications that, if unresolved, could affect what they pay for coverage, or even their legal right to benefits. The final number affected could well be higher. According to the administration the 2 million figure reflects only consumers who signed up through...

If You Want To Fight, Let’s Go Out Back and I’ll Just Beat Your Ass’ BREVARD COUNTY • VIERA, FLORIDA – Judge John Murphy and Bevard County public defender Andrew Weinstock exchanged heated words during court today in which Murphy allegedly pressured Weinstock to get his client to waive his right to a speedy trial.

Back when Barack Obama was a presidential candidate who boasted his background as a professor of constitutional law, he frequently criticized President George W. Bush for what Obama said was a “clear abuse” of executive power. As president, Obama is being accused of doing the same, albeit not as frequently. The issue at hand is his use of “signing statements,” official pronouncements in which a president offers his interpretation of legislation that he is signing — and in the modern era, sometimes announces that he feels free to disregard it. While Obama has not issued as many signing statements as...

After questions about the legality of the White House sidestepping a law requiring Congress be given thirty day approval notice for a prisoner swap, CNN chief Washington correspondent Joe Johns asked outgoing White House Press Secretary Jay Carney if President Barack Obama “feel[s] as though, on this issue and this kind of issue, he’s above the law.” “Absolutely not,” Carney replied. “We have repeatedly noted concerns with this requirement. In signing statements, [Obama] has consistently made clear that the executive branch must have the flexibility to act swiftly in conducting negotiations with foreign countries regarding the circumstances of detainee transfers...

Leading lawmakers on Monday called for an immediate investigation into the Obama administration’s controversial decision to release from prison five top Taliban leaders in exchange for an American prisoner that some troops have dubbed a “traitor.” Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.), in a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee, requested that an immediate hearing be organized to examine if the Obama administration broke any laws by unilaterally releasing five top Taliban leaders in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who spent five years in captivity. Graham and other key lawmakers charge that the White House has jeopardized U.S. national...

The attorney general of Florida says in court documents that recognizing same sex marriages performed in other states would disrupt existing marriage laws and "impose significant public harm." Eight gay couples and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state in federal court in March. The lawsuit argues Florida is discriminating against the couples by not recognizing same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican who was named in the lawsuit along with fellow GOP Gov. Rick Scott and other state officials, earlier this month filed a lengthy response that asks a federal...

On Sunday’s “State of the Union” on CNN, House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) explained to moderator Candy Crowley why the Obama administration’s deal to secure American prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl’s release for five Guantanamo detainees was a bad deal and broke law. According to Rogers, this sends the wrong message to terrorists around the world. “[W]e have other means to use, and remember, they came to Congress about a year ago and we're thinking about doing these negotiations. And by the way, they didn't get a very warm reception from either party in the national security...

  Yes, execution for kidnapping and selling free persons as slaves.

A woman who hit three teenage boys on bikes while driving, killing one and injuring the other two, is suing the dead teen for the emotional trauma she suffered. Mother-of-three Sharlene Simon, 42, is also suing the other two boys and the dead boy’s family for $1.35 million in damages due to her psychological suffering, including depression, anxiety, irritability and post-traumatic stress.

....Thousands and thousands of people like [the woman described above].are serving punishingly long sentences in federal prison based on draconian policies that were a relic of the "tough on crime" antidrug laws of the '80s and '90s. Thirty years after skyrocketing urban violence and drug use sparked politicians to impose longer and longer sentences for drug crimes, America now incarcerates a higher rate of its population than any other country in the world. This dubious record has finally provoked a bipartisan backlash against such stiff penalties. The old laws are slowly being repealed. Now, in his final years in office,...

by John Urban | Top Right News Advocates for illegal aliens were stunned this week as the Florida Supreme Court barred an illegal alien from joining the Florida bar to practice law. The La Raza lobby was especially stunned after the California Supreme Court, just months ago, did the exact opposite, as we noted at the time, admitting all qualified applicants as attorneys, including “an applicant who is not lawfully present in the United States” — illegal aliens. And they were convinced this was a wave that would sweep other states, as in-state tuition has done. Not so fast, said Florida's top...

When the Teamsters Local 214, which represents public workers in the city of Dearborn, instituted a new policy that penalized employees who resigned from the union, the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation was there. Three employees, Shawn Koskyn, Maria Santiago-Powell and Greg Andrews, risked retaliation for taking a stand against this blatantly illegal policy. The policy forced non-union members to pay fees starting at $150 to file a workplace grievance, while union members were exempt from the new fees. The policy flew in the face of seven decades of Supreme Court precedent and five decades of Michigan labor law. Unions are...

A public petition asking to broaden the legislative limits of self-defense has been rejected by the Interior and Justice Ministries, but activists intend to continue the campaign and promise pickets near the government HQ and rallies across the country. The petition entitled “My home is my fortress” has collected over 100,000 signatures of Russian citizens on a dedicated web-site which officially gave it legislative legs. If the draft was passed any action of a citizen inside his or her home against an intruder would be qualified as necessary self-defense, which, in turn, could lead to the withdrawal of murder charges...

On 8 April at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, District Judge Ian Strongman heard a trial of racially aggravated harassment against Tim Burton, 61, a computing consultant from Birmingham and the Radio Officer of the British party Liberty GB. The reason for the charge was three tweets he sent over a period of a month from early June to early July 2013 to Tell Mama UK, a helpline organisation for victims of anti-Muslim attacks that also serves to monitor and collect data on them, whose director is prominent Muslim Fiyaz Mughal. Investigations by The Telegraph’s Andrew Gilligan discovered that, in the...

The nation has a new state law that goes both ways, it seems. And the interesting thing about the law is that even its supporters think it doesn’t go all the way. Last week, Mississippi governor Phil Bryant signed the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act (http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2014/pdf/history/SB/SB2681.xml) that lets the state’s citizens and businesses challenge laws they believe substantially conflict with their religious beliefs. If this sounds familiar, it should. Several states have considered similar bills recently. In February, Arizona governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill (http://legiscan.com/AZ/text/SB1062/id/912244) that raised a ruckus across the land because it would have let business owners...

How many people are actually locked up in the United States? Well, as it turns out, it’s hard to say. Inconsistent and fragmentary data has made piecing together the “whole pie” of U.S. federal, state, local and other types of confinement data difficult. Lucky for us, the Prison Policy Initiative has released a comprehensive graphic that aggregates the available information and helps to explain the complicated and expansive U.S. correctional system. From the collected data, the Initiative found that the incarceration system in this country “hold[s] more than 2.4 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 2,259 juvenile...

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that he has a “vast amount” of discretion in how the Justice Department prosecutes the laws that are on the books.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says illegal immigrants endure “heartbreaking” conditions, but wouldn’t agree with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that they aren’t committing a felony. “We’re a nation of immigrants, we need to celebrate that, but at the same time, rule of law matters,” Cruz said Monday on CNN’s “The Lead.”