Free Republic

In Detroit, bankruptcy lawyer turned city manager Kevyn Orr is playing hardball while preparing the city for a likely Chapter 9 bankruptcy. He’d like the various stakeholders to negotiate a “pre-packaged” bankruptcy in order to avoid a drawn-out and extremely costly legal battle, but reaching agreement could be incredibly tough, as Reuters points out: [G]etting everyone on board for a pre-packaged plan is easier said than done, said Douglas Bernstein, a bankruptcy attorney at Plunkett Cooney in the Detroit area.“When it comes to a pre-packaged plan, the big question is whether he (Orr) would have enough acceptance going into court,”...

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is nullification — the idea that states can limit the enforcement of federal laws within their borders. --snip-- They’ve wiped the dust from the 10th Amendment with state laws seeking to nullify federal statutes. Over a dozen states, with South Carolina being the most recent, have passed legislation aimed at preventing the Obamacare health care mandate from being enforced in their jurisdictions. South Carolina’s goes the furthest by proposing to grant taxpayers a state tax deduction equal to the federal penalty for failing to purchase health care. Montana, Kansas and...

Four gun bills, including one that purposely flouts federal law, are a step closer to becoming law after passing a Senate committee Tuesday. The bills now head to the Senate floor for further debate. House Bill 5, sponsored by state Rep. Jim Morris, R-Oil City, is one of the most closely watched gun bills of the session. The bill seeks to block any possible federal gun control legislation from restricting the ownership of semi-automatic weapons in Louisiana. The bill narrowly passed in the House Criminal Justice committee, and received sizable opposition on the House floor. But it received little opposition...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - - As of midnight, Rhode Island became the 15th state to decriminalize non-medical marijuana possession, meaning that anyone caught with up to one ounce will get a $150 ticket instead of facing a misdemeanor criminal charge. The softened penalty is the state's latest move to regulate use of a drug that has become more acceptable. The ball began rolling in 2006, when the General Assembly passed a law establishing a state medical-marijuana program, allowing patients to grow their own cannabis or get it from caregivers, or growers, certified by the state.

SEATTLE -- The passage of I-502 made things difficult enough for the humans tasked with creating and enforcing the laws for legal marijuana. Now, try explaining the difference between "personal use" and "intent to sell" or the gray area between state and federal law to a dog. That's why many law-enforcement agencies around the state, including the Seattle Police Department and Washington State Patrol, will no longer be training their drug-sniffing dogs to alert for marijuana. “Moving forward, it makes most sense not to train dogs to alert to marijuana as that would likely lead to unwarranted investigatory detentions of...

Ex-DEA heads: Feds should nullify Colorado, Washington pot laws CHICAGO — Eight former Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs say the federal government needs to act now or it might lose the chance to nullify Colorado and Washington's laws legalizing recreational marijuana use. The onetime DEA heads plan to issue joint statements today saying the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation. The Associated Press received an advance copy of the statement Monday. One of the former DEA administrators, Peter Bensinger, told the AP that the more time goes by, the...

One question hovering over the voting rights case now before the Supreme Court is whether there should have been a special counsel appointed to represent New York. The case involves the question of whether... --snip-- It used the power when, in 1965, it enacted what is, in the Voting Rights Act, one of the most glorious laws ever entered into the United States Code. It admitted African Americans to the political process and spelled the end of the Jim Crow era. Section 5 of the law, however, has been much fought over. It deals with certain states or jurisdictions that...

When the Supreme Court hears arguments today in a direct challenge to a central part of the Voting Rights Act, it will once again wade into a decades-old dispute over voting rights that has its roots in the country's long history of racism... On its face, the challenge to the Voting Rights Act is about how state and local officials run elections. But states' rights have underpinned much of the opposition to the law since it was first enacted, and today's hearing will feature familiar arguments. The issue is Section 5 of the law, which requires all or part of...

New legislation in the Texas State legislature, sponsored by Steve Toth (R-Dist. 15), looks to stop Texas law enforcement officials from confiscating so-called “assault weapons” and high capacity magazines. The legislation is called the Firearm Protection Act. Toth’s proposal would create a Class A misdemeanor for police officers enforcing any new federal gun regulations. It also would establish cause for the state attorney general to sue anyone who seeks to enforce new federal gun regulations. It is one of several states-rights measures being offered by conservative state lawmakers nationwide in response to federal gun control proposals. “There’s a federal law,...

Pine City, MN (NNCNOW.com ) -- A Pine County Sheriff is responding to the Second Amendment to the Constituition about the right to keep and bear firearms. The letter is included. An open letter to the citizens of Pine County: As Sheriff of Pine County, it is important for residents to know my position as it relates to the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In the past week I have had several requests and one meeting on this matter. Normally I attempt to remain neutral on matters of politics but this issue transcends political division and...

This week, Wyoming lawmakers introduced a bill banning the federal government from enforcing an assault weapons ban or a prohibition on high-capacity magazines in the state, calling the effort an attempt to “take the Second Amendment seriously.” The bill, which is sponsored by eight Wyoming state representatives and two state senators, calls for federal agents who attempt to enforce those measures to be imprisoned for at least one year and up to five years, and fined a maximum of $5,000. It also contains broad language prohibiting any “public servant … or dealer selling any firearm in this state” from enforcing...

The Tenth Amendment Center has a great article which highlights the necessary road back to Liberty. Many Americans are understandably frustrated with Obama's re-election, but dissolving the union in order to defy Obama is not only a bad choice, it's an unnecessary one. We haven't exhausted all of our options yet. The sad thing is, that due to the state of progressive education in our country, Americans aren't taught about their constitutional powers. This is actually by design, considering that progressives view the government school system as a vehicle for change. In 1833, Judge Abel P. Upshur wrote a series...

“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.” - Tenth Amendment What a nasty, sordid presidential campaign, particularly if you live in a hotly contested area. Thankfully, we watch very little television, but wow, talk about being inundated with attack ads. Apparently, Ohio got the point, Romney is evil. Some voters are now elated while others are depressed. Still more risk experiencing buyer’s remorse. Many in battleground states are just relieved it’s over. The increasingly rancorous nature of elections reflects...

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.