Free Republic

American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case. Judge Robert Blackburn ordered a Peyton, Colo., woman to decrypt the hard drive of a Toshiba laptop computer no later than February 21--or face the consequences including contempt of court. Blackburn, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Fifth Amendment posed no barrier to his decryption order. The Fifth Amendment says that nobody may be "compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself," which...

**SNIP** Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, one of Congress' most outspoken liberals and a vehement opponent of chained CPI, warned Obama on Friday morning not to renege on his promise to avoid cuts to entitlement programs and veterans benefits as a way to reduce the deficit. “Millions of working people, seniors, disabled veterans, those who have lost a loved one in combat, and women will be extremely disappointed if President Obama caves into the long standing Republican effort to cut Social Security and benefits for disabled veterans and their survivors through a so-called chained CPI,” he said in a...

Provo-Orem, Utah, is the most religious of 189 U.S. metropolitan areas Gallup surveyed in 2012, with 77% of its residents classified as very religious. Burlington, Vt., and Boulder, Colo., are the least religious, with 17% meeting that threshold. Most of the top religious cities are in the South -- the exceptions are Provo; Ogden-Clearfield, Utah; and Holland-Grand Haven, Mich. The least religious cities are clustered in the Northeast and on the Pacific Coast, with the exception of Boulder and Madison, Wis. The cities referred to in this article are based on the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) as defined by the...

There is a showdown over guns coming to the Senate Wednesday, but no firearms are allowed. In advance of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday morning, two of the committee’s Republican members sent a complaint that they were refused permission to bring guns to the hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas sent a letter Tuesday night to Chairman Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, that the purpose of bringing the firearms was to educate fellow Senators and “shatter the mistaken belief that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are a danger to society.” However,...

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Vermont officials overseeing the state's transition to a single-payer health care system say providing health insurance to undocumented immigrants would not likely cost taxpayers much money. Lawmakers asked the Green Mountain Care Board to examine the costs of coverage for people who are here illegally. But officials say it's difficult to nail down a price tag because there are no firm numbers of how many undocumented people live in Vermont. It's estimated to be between 1,500 and 3,000. "But we did learn, I think, enough kind of useful facts about the demographics of the population and some...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Senator James Jeffords criticized President Bush's tax cut proposal yesterday, saying the debate reminded him of two years ago when he decided to leave the Republican Party. ''Millions of Americans need help,'' the Vermont Independent said in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address. ''Yet, the president insists on a tax cut that hurts those who need help most, and helps those who need it least.''</p>

MONTPELIER, December 6, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite strong opposition from pro-life forces and a recent high-profile defeat in neighboring Massachusetts, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said last week he is confident the state legislature will pass a bill legalizing assisted suicide during the next session. Referring to assisted suicide as “death with dignity,” Shumlin laid out his agenda for 2013 in a press conference last week. “I’m confident that regardless of who leads the various bodies in the legislature, that we can pass decriminalization of marijuana, death with dignity, and the [unionization] bill for childcare workers,” the governor said. “We’re going...

Vermont is the only state in the nation on a path to a single payer health system. That could take a while, though. And in the meantime, the state has to set up an insurance exchange to comply with the Affordable Care Act. While some states are still struggling with the basic question of whether to do their own exchanges, Vermont is moving ahead at a rapid clip, digging into the details of how much various health plans will cost on its exchange. The Green Mountain Care Board this week released the basic outline of benefit packages that will be...

Bad news for GE Healthcare workers in Vermont. The company, which specializes in information technology for the healthcare industry, announced last Thursday that it plans to lay off about 10 percent of its workforce in the state. The company promised, however, to try to find “alternate roles” for those who lose their jobs. “While GE Healthcare regrets the loss of any jobs, the business needs to make tough decisions in the current economic climate,” company spokesman Benjamin Fox told the Barre Montpelier Times Argus. It’s unclear at this time how much of GE Healthcare’s workforce these cuts represent, though the...

Ski and snowboard season for the Northeast opens in just a few weeks. And when it does, a Vermont ski area plans to unveil a gondola powered entirely by cow manure. Killington Resort in central Vermont has partnered with Green Mountain Power to convert manure from nearby dairy farms to electricity for its K-1 Express Gondola. The so-called "Cow Power" program uses manure from 10,000 cows producing 300,000 gallons of manure per day. "Easily the coolest thing you can possibly do with cow manure," the power company's website declares. "The short version is that we take cow manure, work some...

The Justice Department ... filed today in the federal district court in Vermont to resolve the lawsuit the department brought on Oct. 11, 2012, to enforce the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)... “This agreement reflects this department’s steadfast and continued commitment"

Vermont could be first in line for single payerBy JOANNE KENEN | 9/17/12 4:28 AM EDT **SNIP** Shumlin can’t get there by 2014. He may not get there by 2017, when states get more flexibility under the health law to design their own health care systems. He may not get there at all. But he believes that even small states must aim big. **SNIP** The rest of the United States has no interest in single payer, of course, not now nor in the near future. Not only did the 2010 health law reject single payer or a public option, its...

For those of you who live in Pennsylvania,can any of you decipher why the left has been so adamant over the voter ID requirements if it looks like Obama has already won the state? How come the left isn't demanding voter ID in Maryland,California and Vermont? Why Pennsylvania? Is the left learning through internal polling that Romney has an 8/9/10 point lead? Maybe it's because Pennsylvania is about 80% White. And according to most polls,at least 60% of the white vote is definitely voting for Romney?For all we know,Pennsylvania could be the the "Surprise Romney Win"!

A Republican-controlled Senate in 2012 looks less likely than it did a few weeks ago, but the prospect for GOP gains is still quite solid. Of the 33 Senate seats up for grabs this cycle, seven are occupied by Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents who are not seeking reelection, three are occupied by Republicans who are not seeking reelection, 16 are occupied by Democrats seeking reelection, and seven are occupied by Republicans seeking reelection. This is the class of senators last elected in 2006, a midterm election that almost could not have gone worse for the GOP. A few recent developments...

A bed-and-breakfast in Vermont has reached a settlement with a lesbian couple over the business owners' opposition to holding a same-sex wedding ceremony on the business' property. According to a settlement reached on Thursday, the Wildflower Inn of Lyndonville agreed to pay a fine of $10,000 to the Vermont Human Rights Commission and $20,000 to a charitable trust created by the lesbian couple. In return, the VHRC and both parties acknowledge that the Wildflower Inn acted "in good faith" regarding their reliance on a 2005 case and no further legal action will be taken against the Inn. "The Wildflower Inn...

BURLINGTON, Vermont (Reuters) - A Mennonite minister was found guilty on Tuesday of aiding a kidnapping by helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court orders giving visitation rights to her former lesbian partner. The case drew widespread attention as gay rights groups and evangelical Christian groups took opposing sides in the legal battle between the two women over Isabella Miller-Jenkins, now 10. Federal prosecutors say Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, helped orchestrate Lisa Miller's flight to Canada and Nicaragua in 2009 with her daughter out of Christian solidarity with her decision to reject homosexuality...

At least one state chapter of the Boy Scouts of America is not prepared to toe the line with the organization’s national ban on LGBTs joining the scouts The Vermont Chapter of the Boy Scouts of America has reaffirmed its non-discriminatory stance allowing LGBTs to be scouts and scout masters in the face of the national organization’s continued refusal to allow LGBTs into the organization.

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Working in a stout former bank building with windows closed and air conditioners humming, Orleans County sheriff's deputies didn't know what was happening in their parking lot until a neighbour called 911. A man on a big farm tractor, angry about his recent arrest for resisting arrest and marijuana possession, was rolling across their vehicles — five marked cruisers, one unmarked car and a transport van. By the time they ran outside, the tractor was down the driveway and out onto the road. With their vehicles crushed, "We had nothing to pursue him with," said Chief Deputy...

A Vermont man is accused of single-handedly leaving a path of destruction at one police station... Police say 34-year-old Roger Pion of Newport, Vt. took his family's farm tractor and ran over the cars just after lunchtime Thursday. Apparently, Pion was none-too happy about being arrested for resisting arrest after being caught with marijuana.

Working in a stout former bank building with windows closed and air conditioners humming, Orleans County, Vt., sheriff's deputies didn't know what was happening in their parking lot until a neighbor called 911. A man on a big farm tractor, angry about his recent arrest for resisting arrest and marijuana possession, was rolling across their vehicles -- five marked cruisers, one unmarked car and a transport van. By the time they ran outside, the tractor was down the driveway and out onto the road. Thursday afternoon's incident ended when city police in Newport, the county seat of the northern Vermont...