Free Republic

The bill will now be introduced into the State Senate, where if it passes Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be able to sign the legislation into Michigan law.

The House held its first ‘proxy vote’ since Congress first met in 1789 and GOP leader Kevin McCarthy sued to stop the constitutional abomination.

The governors of all 50 states and the mayors of many large cities have assumed unto themselves the powers to restrict private personal choices and lawful public behavior in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. They have done so not by enforcing previously existing legislation but by crafting their own executive orders, styling those orders as if they were laws, using state and local police to enforce those so-called laws and – presumably when life returns to normal and the courts reopen – prosecuting the alleged offenders in court. It is hard to believe that any judge in...

Huge win for churches, ministries, businesses and the people of the great state of Oregon! Bend, OR – Prepare the Way Ministries and Bend Community Church, along with churches, businesses and individuals across Oregon, applaud the decision out of the Baker County Circuit Court today declaring that Governor Kate Brown violated the Oregon Constitution in her emergency declarations and authoritarian executive orders. The Judge ruled that churches, businesses and individuals have been irreparably harmed by Gov. Brown’s unconstitutional orders. It is time that the free exercise of religion be respected and pastors across the state of Oregon be allowed to...

The House of Representatives on Friday passed a historic piece of legislation , allowing members to vote by proxy and conduct hearings remotely for the next 45 days because of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Under the new rules, which passed mostly along party lines, congressmen and women can give written instructions to another member in the chamber to vote on their behalf. One representative can serve as a proxy voter for up to 10 other members at any given time. Those who choose to work remotely can still participate in open hearings and cast committee votes. Closed hearings, however, will...

A federal judge on Thursday ordered Massachusetts authorities to allow gun shops to reopen after the governor deemed them non-essential businesses that needed to close to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston ruled that the restrictions ordered by Republican Governor Charlie Baker in response to the pandemic imposed an “improper burden” on the constitutional rights of citizens seeking to possess firearms. Baker imposed the restrictions through executive orders issued beginning in mid-March that, like those adopted in other states, forced the closure of an array of brick-and-mortar businesses in response to the...

Put simply, “your words were akin to yelling ‘Fire’ in a crowded theatre.” That’s how Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell closed out a letter to Sheriff Adam Fortney, refusing to defend him against a recall effort over his public criticism and refusal to enforce the Gov. Inslee’s stay-at-home order. Fortney made the comments in an April 21 Facebook post following a statewide address from Inslee outlining a path forward to reopening the economy, that critics complained lacked specific details on benchmarks. Among other things, Fortney repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the governor’s order, and reiterated his position that he would...

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” That’s unambiguous. Not “pretty unambiguous,” just unambiguous. Full stop. Yet governors across the country are ignoring or suspending almost every one of those rights enumerated at the top of the Bill of Rights, with little to no pushback from the press, which just happens to be the only part of the...

Governors across the nation have issued stay-at-home orders. Many have extended them once or twice. Some have even gone so far as to threaten to slap residents with fines. But what these governors are counting on is local police departments and sheriffs to enforce their orders. Sheriffs from around the country are standing up and refusing to enforce the orders because they believe them to be unconstitutional. Two Arizona Sheriffs – Doug Schuster of Mohave County and Mark Lamb of Pinal County – said they will not enforce Gov. Doug Ducey's (R) stay-at-home order. Both Schuster and Lamb agreed to...

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday extended Michigan's state of emergency and disaster declaration through May 28, hours before it was set to expire and after hundreds of protesters, some of whom were armed, gathered in the state Capitol building to voice their displeasure with the Democratic governor. Whitmer also took shots at the Republican-controlled legislature for refusing to extend the order earlier in the day. "By refusing to extend the emergency and disaster declaration, Republican lawmakers are putting their heads in the sand and putting more lives and livelihoods at risk," she said in a statement. "I’m not going to...

Beaches to be closed again. @KUSINews pic.twitter.com/tYc89J1uDl — Ginger Jeffries (@GingerKUSI) April 30, 2020______ SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – In a memo sent to city leaders, Governor Gavin Newsom stated that tomorrow he is announcing closure of all beaches and all state parks in California, effective May 1st. Newsom highlights that after seeing multiple violations of the stay-at-home order is the reason for this closure. “Those images are an example of what not to see, people, what not to do if we’re going to make the meaningful progress that we’ve made in the last few weeks extend into the next number...

Gov. Jay Inslee announced today that Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak are joining Washington, Oregon and California in the Western States Pact -- a working group of Western state governors with a shared vision for modifying stay at home orders and fighting COVID-19.

Reblogging here, this most eye opening list. Full credit goes to Baldilocks at https://baldilocks-talking.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-illegal-andor-unconstitutional.html this is an exhaustive list done by a researcher unknown to me and Baldilocks is slowly adding links to each item as she finds them, or as her readers request. This is vital information, folks. It’s the real history of the most damaging administration in US history to our rights and liberties. Donations can be made over there. This certainly worth a cup of coffee or more! 1. The Obama Department of Labor abolished its rules requiring transparency in regard to spending by unions after it...

Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s draconian executive orders mandating business closures and stay-at-home status for all residents has been rejected by county commissioners in Franklin County. The motion passed unanimously. Now, the legal battles may or may not begin but in the immediate future, the county is official reopened for business. “I move that Franklin County end recognition of the governor’s stay at home emergency proclamation that is now deemed unconstitutional. We support the reopening for all builders and small businesses that want to work,” Commissioner Clint Didier said during a meeting Tuesday morning.

JACKSON-The Jackson Township Mayor and Council on Tuesday passed a resolution supporting a bill that is currently going through the legislative process in Trenton that will turn being outside in public during Governor Phil Murphy’s quarantine from a misdemeanor penalty to one that could cost you as much as $10,000. That law states, “A person who willfully or knowingly violates any provision…declared by the Governor a penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000.” Currently, violations of Murphy’s Law constitutes a disorderly persons offense carrying a potential sentence of up to six months in jail and a...

In deeply conservative eastern Washington state, a prominent state lawmaker kicked out of his Republican Party caucus labels the coronavirus as a foreign bio-weapon, accuses Marxists of using the pandemic to advance totalitarianism and rails against lockdown restrictions imposed by the Democratic governor. A California teleconference last week to consider sport fishing limits in rural areas unprepared to handle influxes of anglers descended into chaos — with callers branding state officials as “fascists” and declaring it was time to “make fishing great again.” Across the U.S., elected officials from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma suspicious of big government and outraged with orders...

DESTINY CHURCH SERVICE CONSIDERED UNLAWFUL DESTINY CHURCH SPRINGFIELD·THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020·3 MINUTES Destiny Church in Springfield, IL has willingly held all church services online. However, for Easter we wanted to have a special parking lot service, just like the old drive in theater where no one got out of their cars. People were more than excited. But only 5 days before Easter, on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, Mr. Bill Dart of the Sangamon County Department of Public health informed us that Destiny’s, “Easter Sunday, Drive-in Parking Lot Church Service” was in violation of Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order. I told Mr....

"RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today issued a statewide order to protect the health and safety of Virginians and reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. Executive Order Fifty-Three orders the closure of certain non-essential businesses, bans all gatherings of more than 10 people, and closes all K-12 schools for the remainder of the academic year. Governor Northam is also urging all Virginians to avoid non-essential travel outside the home, if and when possible." . . . verbiage omitted . . . "Public Gatherings All gatherings of more than 10 people are banned statewide, beginning at 11:59 PM on Tuesday,...

Cities, colleges, and school districts are ordering students to study online from home; dioceses are cancelling their public mass schedules; states are ordering restaurants to close and demanding that theaters and conventions cancel or reschedule. We are seeing commerce shut down over fears of the Wuhan virus. While there’s nothing to say, politically, about the choices of private organizations like churches and businesses to go on hiatus, there is indeed a constitutional crisis erupting as governments engage in actual mandates of this nature. Our Constitution clearly requires that all takings require just compensation, and we haven’t heard these states offering...

All Atlantic City casinos will close until further notice effective 8:00 tonight. The governors of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut have all agreed to a set of restrictions designed to halt the spread of COVID-19. Those restrictions include a ban on gatherings of 50 people or more and all bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters, and casinos will close tonight until further notice. "We want everybody to be home, not out," Murphy said