Free Republic

Montgomery, AL – In a historic ruling, the Supreme Court of Alabama in a 7-1 decision has affirmed natural marriage and ordered Alabama’s probate judges to immediately stop issuing illegal marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The ruling represents a significant shift of momentum in the same-sex marriage agenda, and is a direct challenge to the orders of U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade, who in January purported to overturn Alabama’s marriage laws. The ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court offers the most forceful and clearly articulated rebuttal to date of the imaginative arguments for same-sex “marriage” employed by federal courts....

While speaking at a town hall meeting Wednesday night at Florida International University, President Obama clearly indicated that he believes he is the final authority on law in this country. He will not tolerate dissent. "If Mr. McConnell, the leader of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, want to have a vote on whether what I'm doing is legal or not, they can have that vote. I will veto that vote, because I'm absolutely confident that what we're doing is the right thing to do," he told a group organized by Democratic Rep. Jose Diaz-Balart.

South Carolina announced Tuesday, February 25th that the state would be closing a minimum security prison. This will be the second minimum security prison closing in South Carolina within a year, and is the result of declining recidivism rates—the rate at which offenders relapse into criminal behavior. In 2010, South Carolina passed significant criminal justice reforms following the suggestions of the South Carolina Sentencing Reform Commission, established to address the high recidivism rates, large prison populations and growing correctional costs. The South Carolina legislature passed the Omnibus Crime Reduction and Sentencing Reform Act of 2010 to address the identified issues....

Enough is enough. It is time to speak out. "Islam is innocent” is an incomplete sentence. Introspection is needed, for, if we shy away from reality, the alternative will be more images like those we witnessed last Tuesday night, when brave Lt. Muath Al Kasasbeh was burnt to death in a cage.

Linda Greenhouse, a New York Times Supreme Court reporter, stunningly suggests in a recent article that the justices need to be scolded into “reading the briefs” in a pending case. She concludes with an astonishing rhetorical flourish: Like Lucille Ball, the Court will “have a great deal of explaining to do” if it fails to rule in the manner she suggests. It takes a lot of chutzpah to admonish the Supreme Court in such fashion. If someone is going to do so, she had better make certain that her facts are correct, and that her legal arguments are unimpeachable. Unfortunately,...

Last week, jury selection began in the case against James Holmes for the 2012 Aurora, Colorado theater shooting. Deliberations on jury selection alone could last until May or June and trial could last another five months. The jurors chosen will have to grapple with intense emotional and legal questions over this extended period of time. And because of Colorado’s outdated jury wage laws, the jurors may also have to face significant financial stress. In lengthy trials, Colorado law only offers $50 per day to jurors, many of whom may have to rely on this compensation instead of their salaries or...

Yep. I'm PIMPING A BLOG! Don is probably a cousin of mine, haven't exactly sorted out all the begats and begots. If I'm correct in my research his direct ancestor Abraham Honaker made the gorgeous flintlock rifle I've talked about in other threads. Don just uploaded this video, it's worth watching. Don is another old curmudgeon, and us curmudgeons stick together, blood kin or not.

Federal Government Issued Nearly 5.5 Million Work Permits to Foreign Nationals Since 2009 More than 5.46 million foreign nationals received work permits from the federal government since 2009, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies. Data uncovered from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency reveal that approximately 982,000 work permits were given to illegal immigrants and other foreign nationals unqualified for admission, most of whom crossed the border without inspection http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/397713/report-federal-government-issued-nearly-55-million-work-permits-foreign-nationals-2009 The remarkable number of work permits granted by the federal government to law-breaking aliens better explains how all net jobs growth since 2007 has...

......just days after the American electorate gave Republicans strong majorities in both chambers of Congress, President Obama thumbed his nose at several million voters by issuing an executive order effectively granting amnesty to 5 million–plus immigrants residing in the United States illegally. That lawless action was, naturally, supported by Attorney General Eric Holder, whose primary contribution as head of the Department of Justice for six years has been to grant specious legal imprimatur to the president’s various usurpations of legislative power. Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, nominated to be Mr. Holder’s replacement, has proven...

California has a way of living up to the worst regulatory expectations, as grocery shoppers across the country are discovering. The state’s latest animal-rights march is levying a punishing new food tax on the nation’s poor. Egg prices are soaring in California, where the USDA says the average price for a dozen jumbo eggs is $3.16, up from $1.18 a dozen a year ago, and in some parts of the state it’s more than $5. (SNIP) The state legislature realized this would put home-state farmers at a disadvantage, so in 2010 it compounded the problem by requiring that eggs imported...

It was only a matter of time before it actually happened. In Colorado, where Masterpiece Cakeshop has been cited by the state for refusing to make wedding cakes for gay couples, a man has filed a complaint with the state that a different bakery has refused to make him a cake, violating public accommodation laws. In this case, though, the man claims religious discrimination for a bakery's refusal to make a cake that's not quite so love-affirming. ...."He wanted us to write God hates …" she trails. "Just really radical stuff against gays." "He wouldn't allow me to make a...

DON'T trust the cops? Call the “peace” patrol. A Muslim preacher in The Bronx is behind the Community Peace Patrol Officers — a neighborhood-watch group that helps teenagers who don’t want to listen to police. “There are lots of times where kids don’t like law enforcement because they were born and raised in a situation where ­[police] are their enemies,” said Sheikh Moussa Drammeh.

It's time to ban the burka in the US now. Which one of the new congress people will stand up and sponsor a bill. Will all good men be quiet now?

BISMARCK – The North Dakota Supreme Court has declined to rehear arguments against their ruling that upheld a state law passed in 2011 that limits drug-induced abortions. The state’s only abortion clinic petitioned the high court for a rehearing in November to clarify what it called ambiguities in the effects of House Bill 1297. The bill makes it illegal for doctors to provide medication abortions unless they have a contract with another doctor who has admitting privileges at an area hospital.

I am 100% getting mine today

BEIJING – A Chinese businessman was sentenced to 13 years in prison for eating three tigers, one of the most endangered species on earth, reported the official news agency Xinhua. The ruling was made Monday by the Qinzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Guangxi. The condemned, a real estate magnate, known only as Xu, bought the three tigers that were killed in the months of March, April and May in 2013, at a price of around $70,900 each. The first tiger was killed by electric shocks on March 13 last year after which he prepared a banquet in a hotel where...

Recently passed legislation will make Ohio become the first state in the country to require that a person’s state of mind be a key element of any criminal prosecution. It does this by making criminal intent a default requirement for prosecutions in any newly-enacted crimes, although legislators can dispense with the requirement in a particular proposal. More than simply establishing a default going forward, however, the legislation voids any law that does not require prosecutors to show criminal intent, and requires a review of current criminal offenses. Both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly passed the bill unanimously and the...

There is a debate in this country over whether or not our schools should teach American exceptionalism. Few people, however, seem to understand what American exceptionalism is. It has nothing to do with democracy. Many countries have democratic elections. Neither is exceptionalism a claim of supremacy. Americans do not claim to be better than people living in other countries. Exceptionalism does not refer to superiority in wealth, status or any of the other advantages derived from civilization. The United States has high economic productivity, good schools, technologically advanced infrastructure and a high standard of living. Still, so do many other...

Before he was recalled in 2011, Arizona state Senate President Russell Pearce was arguably the most powerful man in Arizona politics. Elected in 2000 to represent Mesa, Pearce was known primarily for his efforts aimed at undocumented immigrants, most notably Senate Bill 1070. (SNIP) Prop 100—passed by 78 percent. [Proposition 100 denied bond to undocumented immigrants. It was later ruled unconstitutional.] Prop 200—passed by almost 60 percent. [Proposition 200 partly required proof of citizenship to vote in state and federal elections. Portions of it were also struck down.] Employer sanctions—overwhelmingly supported; S.B. 1070—supported by over 73 percent. Tell me what...

Attorney General Holder announced today that the Department of Justice will take the position in litigation that the protection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to claims of discrimination based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 WARNING! Protecting Pedophiles Will Be Next: NYT writer:...