Free Republic

<p>NDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gun rights advocates view the upcoming legislative session as their best bet to get rid of an Indiana law that requires a license to carry handguns.</p> <p>The controversial legislation didn’t advance during the 2016 session, but supporters believe this time could be different after sweeping Republican wins on Election Day and the appointment of Republican state Rep. Ben Smaltz to the House Public Policy Committee, which acts as a gatekeeper on such bills.</p>

Officials in the Republican-controlled state of Georgia have quietly agreed to provide drivers’ licenses to a group of illegals who have already lost court pleas against deportation. The plaintiffs, most of whom are unnamed in court documents, are due for deportation but are appealing to the courts for permission to stay. Pending any final legal decision — which could be years away — the illegals can now use their Georgia drivers licenses and ID cards ...

On Wednesday, an important House committee passed a bill that would abolish marriage licenses in Alabama and effectively nullify both sides of the contentious debate on same-sex marriage. If passed into law, the bill would essentially remove the state from the business of marriage. Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Bay Minette) introduced Senate Bill 143 (SB143) in February, where it was passed by a 23-3 vote last month.. The legislation would abolish all requirements to obtain a marriage license in Alabama. Instead, probate judges would simply record civil contracts of marriage between two individuals based on signed affidavits. “All requirements to obtain...

Judith Benitez had gone most of her adult life without knowing how to drive. The 35-year-old woman from Mexico who is in the U.S. illegally would ask family members for rides to pick up her children from school. Trips to the grocery store or the doctor's office were complicated. That changed last year when Assembly Bill 60 was implemented, granting people in the country illegally the right to obtain driver's licenses in California. Benitez, who lives in Lemon Grove, learned to drive and was among those in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles the day the law took effect.

No passport, no flight: Driver's licenses from five states will no longer be valid to board a domestic plane under law cracking down on terrorists and criminals accessing fake IDs Fliers from five non-compliant states in America will soon not be able to use their driver's license to board domestic flights. The ruling, which comes under the Real ID Act passed 10 years ago, is down to states not complying to the stricter standards for state-issued IDs given by the government. Fewer than half (22) of the states have complied with the recent law, and while the other states are...

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Missouri's health department from revoking the abortion license held by a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia...The Columbia clinic last week stopped nonsurgical abortions induced with a pill because physician Colleen McNicholas no longer has privileges with the University of Missouri Health Care System.

A group of illegal immigrants is suing the state of Oregon to overturn a voter-approved initiative that denied them driver's licenses. The lawsuit, brought by five illegal immigrants, comes after Oregonians passed Measure 88 last year with a strong two-thirds majority. Thirty-five of Oregon's 36 counties voted against licenses for undocumented residents, as did every congressional district in the state, most of which are represented by Democrats. But the lawsuit alleges Measure 88 is unconstitutional because it "arbitrarily" denies driving privileges based on membership in a "disfavored minority group." It alleges Oregon voters were motivated by "animus toward persons from...

The Internet has become a tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to keep its citizens in place. Through the web, the government surveils their every move and puts them behind bars if their online behavior is not in line with Beijing’s sentiment. Recently, Chinese officials began developing a social credit system in which the government keeps what amounts to an Internet credibility score on each citizen. Experts discussed the system during the ongoing China Forum in Washington, D.C., which they say reveals a real-world 1984-style totalitarian state in the making. “It will mark the rival of an unprecedented information...

Semis and school buses. What could go wrong? I don’t even really know what to say about this. Is it insane? Yes. Is it further evidence that this country isn’t really interested in dealing with the threat of homegrown radical Islam? Yes. Is it a painfully obvious recipe for disaster? You bet. However, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis, it’s also the truth. A man whose name appears on the no-fly list thanks to his efforts to radicalize young people has been given a Class-A commercial driver’s license. That allows him to drive large semi-trucks that he can fill with whatever...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As many as 100 commercial truck drivers paid up to $5,000 each to bribe state Department of Motor Vehicles employees for illegal California licenses, federal authorities said Tuesday. Up to 23 traffic accidents could be related to the fraud, officials said, though there were no fatalities. Emma Klem, a 45-year-old Salinas DMV employee, and trucking school owner Kulwinder Dosanjh Singh, 58, of Turlock, both pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit bribery and identity fraud, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said. Two other DMV employees in Salinas and Sacramento and two other Central Valley trucking school operators...

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi’s driver license has been suspended for failing to report a traffic accident that he was involved in last October. Mirkarimi has been at the center of a debate over sanctuary city policies after a five-time deported, seven-time convicted felon illegal alien allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle at San Francisco’s Pier 14 last month.

DECATUR COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – The employees of the Decatur County clerk’s office in west Tennessee have resigned from their positions. Clerk Gwen Pope and employees Sharon Bell and Mickey Butler all said their resignations was due to the Supreme Court’s decision to allow same-sex marriages. The decision reportedly clashes with the employees’ religious beliefs. Their last day will be July 14. Currently, the Decatur County’s clerk office will not issue a same-sex license.

From Mass Resistance: Primer: Ten things you need to know about the US Supreme Court “gay marriage” case being heard April 28, 2015 On April 28 the US Supreme Court case will hear oral arguments for the case that will essentially decide whether “gay marriage” is a previously unknown “fundamental right” enshrined in the US Constitution, similar to the Court’s 1973 abortion ruling.  The US Supreme Court building will be ground zero for the latest assault on the nation's culture. What was once a fringe, unthinkable idea is now on the verge of being imposed on the entire nation....

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma would stop issuing marriage licenses under legislation passed Tuesday afternoon by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. House Bill 1125, by Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, would instead require those officiating marriage ceremonies to file after-the-fact “certificates of marriage” with court clerks’ offices. Alternatively, couples could file affidavits of common law marriage. Russ said his bill is intended to “protect” county court clerks who do not want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “This takes them out of the trap,” he said.

In a post which may be found here, Father Robert McTeigue, SJ writes: "Very often, I hear folks speak of mercy as if it were a cancellation of justice. On this view, “justice” means, “you have to pay off your debt—or else.” “Mercy”, then, says, “About that debt—never mind!” And who wouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief when told that one’s debt has been dismissed, made irrelevant? That’s an appealing, even tempting image of justice and mercy, especially if you’ve ever been deeply in debt. Unfortunately, such a view tragically distorts justice and mercy. If left uncorrected, such a view...

On February 4, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed that the federal government reclassify the Internet from an ‘information service’ to a ‘telecommunications service’ in the name of keeping it 'fair' --a plan that came straight from Barack Obama's desk.Of course, this is nothing more than a pass for Big Government to expand its regulatory power at the expense of digital freedom. Like all innovation, the Internet wasn’t created by government… and government certainly has no power to control it. Nowhere in the Constitution is there a provision providing the federal government with power to regulate the free-flow...

RICHMOND — A state report linking Virginia cigarette smuggling to terrorist organizations has prompted a Republican state senator to push a bill that would require retailers and wholesalers to obtain a state license to sell cigarettes. The bill, from Sen. Bryce E. Reeves (R-Spottsylvania), has cleared the Senate, but odds are against it in the GOP-dominated House because of conservative objections to increased government regulations and taxes. Even in the more moderate Senate, eight conservative Republicans voted against it. They are a group that Reeves, a fiscal and social conservative, often votes with. “I think they are concerned about regulatory...

New troubling details are emerging about the livery cab driver who survived the fatal crash of journalist Bob Simon in a car accident this week. Police have confirmed that the Lincoln Town Car transporting the longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent to a medical talk about Ebola on Wednesday night sped up before rear-ending the Mercedes-Benz in front of it and crashing into metal barricades on Manhattan’s West Side Highway. Law enforcement officials have suggested that Simon’s driver, Abdul Reshad Fedahi, likely hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. But reports from the New York Post, the New York Daily News,...

LATHRUP VILLAGE — According to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, the state has suspended the license of a local clinic where abortions are performed after authorities discovered several health code violations. On Nov. 21, Women’s Center of Southfield, located at 28505 Southfield Road in Lathrup Village, had its surgical outpatient facility license suspended for violating seven health codes, according to state officials. According to a document sent to the facility by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the center failed to maintain a sterile facility and inform a patient of risks, consent or complications of a procedure. Workers allegedly...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — While tens of thousands of immigrants living in the United States illegally are preparing to apply for a long-sought driver's license in California starting Jan. 2, others are being urged to think twice. Immigrant advocates say the vast majority should be able to get licenses without trouble, but they want anyone who previously obtained a driver's license under a false name or someone else's Social Security number to speak first with a lawyer, fearing a new application could trigger a fraud investigation. The same applies to immigrants with a prior deportation order or criminal record because...