Free Republic

At the close of 2011, Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for the year 2012. In it are what some constitutional experts consider to be some of the greatest constitutional violations in American history. At issue are sections 1021 and 1022 which, in essence, create a new power for the federal government to “indefinitely detain” – without due process – any person. Indefinitely. That’s little different than kidnapping. In response, there’s been a bit of a firestorm from people across the political spectrum. Local communities in Colorado sent out the first warning shots, passing resolutions and ordinances rejecting...

There’s one path “forward” for Republicans if they’re serious about reclaiming power in the future- do not capitulate to the failed ideas and destructive economic policies that President Barack Obama will assuredly quadruple down on in the wake of his re-election. It’s one thing to win an election by misleading and bribing the masses, but let me be clear, as Obama would say- in no way, shape or form did the president win a national debate on the merits of his policies- and his policies, when they are fully implemented will undoubtedly cost us jobs, raise our taxes and further...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS/AP) – Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan tells a Colorado television station that the federal government shouldn’t interfere with states that have legalized medical marijuana. Ryan told KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs that he personally doesn’t approve of medical marijuana laws. But he said that states should have the right to choose whether to legalize the drug for medical purposes.

It can't be! It can't be! The feds are now cracking down bigtime on medical marijuana dispensaries despite a promise from the Obama Regime that it would leave them alone if they were in compliance with state laws. That is why the HUffington Post HUffies are so upset over the news that the feds are cracking down on the Harborside Health Center of Oakland, CA, the biggest medical marijuana dispensary in the world. You might remember Harborside and its owner, Steve DeAngelo, from the discovery channel's "Weed Wars" last year. Your humble correspondent, despite never having partaken of the...

Federal prosecutors have filed civil forfeiture actions against an Oakland medical marijuana dispensary that bills itself as the world's largest Harborside says it is the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world, serving more than 100,000 patients In a statement on its website, the clinic said, "Harborside has nothing to be ashamed of, and will contest the Federal actions openly and publicly, with every legal means at our disposal." "We look forward to our day in court, and are confident that justice is on our side. Come what may, we shall continue to care for our patients unless we are...

From the New York Times article, "Numbers Tell of Failure in Drug War the War on Peaceful Americans Who Voluntary Choose to Use Intoxicants Not Currently Approved of By U.S. Politicians and Government Officials": "When policy makers in Washington worry about Mexico these days, they think in terms of a handful of numbers: Mexico’s 19,500 hectares devoted to poppy cultivation for heroin; its 17,500 hectares growing cannabis; the 95 percent of American cocaine imports brought by Mexican cartels through Mexico and Central America. They are thinking about the wrong numbers. If there is one number that embodies the seemingly intractable...

Fear Obamacare is impossible to repeal? Think again! Here's the surprisingly easy path to dumping this law.

We are told that it is up to the Supreme Court to determine what laws are constitutional, but that is hardly in line with the limiting principles offered by the U.S. Constitution. That power the courts claim to have is called Judicial Review, and it is addressed nowhere in the Constitution. In fact, the federal courts seized that power for themselves through an opinion written by Justice John Marshall in the Marbury v. Madison case of 1803. Yes, that’s right, the courts gave that power to themselves. By deciding if laws are constitutional, and since the Supreme Court is a...

The measure has the backing of the Senate's top two leaders -- President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, and Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock -- who have signed on as co-sponsors. "The federal government has excessively abused the authority of state and local governments for some time," Albers said, explaining why he sponsored the proposal. SR 889 has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

State and local resistance to the detention provisions contained in the National Defense Authorization Act continues to grow, rapidly emerging as a nationwide movement. The Tennessee legislature will consider HB1629 and SB2669 in the 2012 session. The legislation would effectively nullify the detention provisions in the NDAA and would also require federal agents making an arrest in the Volunteer State for any reason to first obtain written permission from the county sheriff. This bill declares that any federal law purporting to require local or state law enforcement agencies to act at the direction of the federal government or the United...

I believe that states have the constitutional right to legalize drugs. For, the Constitution is silent on the federal government’s ability to regulate or ban substances that adults choose to digest at their own peril—or medical relief. The Constitution is so silent on this matter of individual liberty (choosing to digest or use drugs) that in order to ban the sale of alcohol during the Prohibition era, we passed the 18th Amendment. When we wised up and realized that banning alcohol doesn’t work, we repealed the 18th Amendment via the 21st Amendment. I contend that federal drug laws are unconstitutional...

The feds continue to target medical marijuana dispensaries which otherwise are operating in accordance with state law. In Colorado federal prosecutors gave 23 dispensaries which are operating within 1,000 feet of a school 45 days to shut down or face criminal prosecution as reported by John Ingold for The Denver Post. They issued an identical ultimatum to medical marijuana dispensaries in California last October. The threats are not idle. The feds yesterday filed suit "to seize the building of a Sacramento dispensary, charging the marijuana store violated federal laws against drug transactions near schools" as reported by Peter Hecht for...

The highest court in the nation will be the latest to take up arguments relating to Texas’ redistricting mess. A hearing is scheduled Monday, January 9, before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. in an attempt to settle which maps will be used for this spring’s state and congressional elections.

SEC. 376. FEDERAL AND STATE IMMUNITY. (a) Abrogation of State Immunity- A State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from a suit brought in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this Act. (b) Waiver of State Immunity- (1) IN GENERAL- (A) WAIVER- A State's receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for any program or activity of a State shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution or otherwise, to a suit brought by an employee or applicant for employment of that program or activity...

Sometimes voters get behind an idea, and we think to ourselves, why? Why are they even bothering when that idea, were it to become law, would be struck down as unconstitutional faster than we can utter “temporary restraining order?” We smugly revisited that thought on Tuesday upon hearing that the Denver-based 10th Circuit had upheld a lower-court ruling keeping an amendment to the Oklahoma constitution from becoming law. The amendment, overwhelmingly approved by Oklahoma voters last year, prevents judges from basing rulings on international law — and specifically mentions Islamic law, often known as Shariah law.

Perry is nearly perfect with regards to his gun record.

"Rick Perry. I think he would slice Obama up like shredded pork and have him for a Texas barbeque." "Well, to start with, Perry is a man's man, while Obama is a metrosexual, a girlie-man. Perry is 100% American, Obama is 100%... Something else. In 2008, the energy and passion was pro-Obama; in 2012, the energy and passion will be anti-Obama, which Perry could personify as he'll go for Obama's jugular like Romney could never do. "But there's another reason why I'm excited about Perry that is far more fundamental than all of this, even the economy. The only possible...

A smart middle-ground play for independents, but I thought he was supposed to be the great evangelical hope. Last week he said he was “fine” with New York legalizing gay marriage before clarifying today that he’s not fine with gay marriage itself. (In fact, he supports a Federal Marriage Amendment.) Now this. Why would a social-conservative voter looking for a champion who has traction in the polls prefer him to, say, Bachmann?Maybe Perry’s willing to shed some votes in Iowa in exchange for picking some up in New Hampshire. Despite holding personal pro-life beliefs, Texas Gov. Rick Perry categorized abortion...

Ninth Amendment: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." What was the original purpose of these two Amendments? The Tenth Amendment is pretty self explanatory, but the Ninth Amendment is often viewed as more nebulous and vague, having very little real or relevant meaning. The truth of the matter is that the two Amendments were intended...

Dr. Susan Rutten Wasson sits on the corner of a bed in the cramped bedroom of Alice Johnson, a 91-year-old Osakis resident everyone calls "Grandma Alice." She's examining Johnson's arm, which is swollen, she's determined, because of a tight sleeve cuff. Also in the room are Alice's daughter, Ione, and granddaughter, Anne, who lives downstairs in the farmhouse Johnson has occupied for decades. A Rottweiler mix as big as a Shetland licks the face of 18-month-old Sarah, Rutten Wasson's daughter, who sits on the doctor's lap. It's more a scene from the days of frontier medicine than from the modern...