Free Republic

It looks like the days of trading half of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich for half of your best friend’s ham sandwich may soon be over if the federal government has anything to do with it. A Richmond, Virginia mother received the following note, telling her not to pack a lunch for her pre-school age child. Dear Parents, I have received word from Federal Programs Preschool pertaining to lunches from home. Parents are to be informed that students can only bring lunches from home if there is a medical condition requiring a specific diet, along with a physicians note...

MESQUITE, Nev. - A day after blinking in a showdown on the range, federal land managers pledged to pursue efforts to resolve a conflict with a southern Nevada rancher who has refused to pay grazing fees for 20 years. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Craig Leff said the agency would continue to try to resolve the matter involving rancher Cliven Bundy "administratively and judicially." Bundy owes more than $1 million in grazing fees, according to the bureau. "The door isn't closed. We'll figure out how to move forward with this," he said Sunday. He declined to comment on possible options....

Four state representatives announced today that they are introducing legislation to block Obamacare in Georgia. State representative Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine), with three other representatives, will hold a press conference on Monday, Dec. 16 to discuss the proposal. In a press release, Rep. Spencer explained the bill’s goal: The bill’s main thrust is to prohibit state agencies, officers and employees of the state from implementing any provisions of the Affordable Care Act, leaving implementation entirely in the hands of the federal government, which lacks the resources or personnel to carry out the programs it mandates. Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment...

A growing number of states are moving forward with legislation to exempt them from new federal gun controls and, in some cases, brand as criminals anyone who tries to enforce them. While many of the bills are considered symbolic or appear doomed to fail, the legislative explosion reflects a backlash against legislative and regulatory efforts in Washington to tamp down on gun violence. As of this week, at least 28 states had taken up consideration of gun bills this year, according to new data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. More than 70 bills have been put forward...

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,...

The Federal Criminal Appeals blog reports on a decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding when the government can use drug possession as an excuse to deny weapons-possession rights. In short, it can't just assert that there is a good reason to bar drug users from guns: it has to try to prove it. But the Court also seems to think such proof won't be too hard. Let's take a walk through the decision to see what happened and why the Fourth Circuit decided as it did: Following a police search that uncovered marijuana and firearms in Benjamin...

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...

Between 1764 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776 Americans produced a rich series of pamphlets and resolutions listing their grievances against the central government of the British Empire. As I have pointed out before, reading those pamphlets is very helpful in understanding what the Constitution really means. And ignorance of them contributes to common constitutional mistakes. These pamphlets are particularly useful in comprehending the Founders’ version of federalism. This is because the constitutional balance between states and federal government partly reflected what the Founders had wanted the balance to be between colonies and imperial government. One of the most...

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge Friday dismissed Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's lawsuit that accused the Obama administration of failing to enforce immigration laws or maintain control of her state's border with Mexico. The dismissal by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton comes in a counter-lawsuit filed by Brewer as part of the Justice Department's challenge to Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law. The Republican governor was seeking a court order that would require the federal government to take extra steps, such as more border fencing, to protect Arizona until the border is controlled. Bolton said Brewer's claim that Washington has failed...

Governors are more powerful than you might think; they could, today, radically change the political landscape for the country. I will now show just one way a governor could do so. Being that I live in New Mexico I will use that state in my examples; most states should have similar language in their Constitutions. First, declare a state of invasion; the New Mexico State Constitution gives the Governor such authority: Art V, Sec. 4 - [Governor’s executive power; commander of militia.] The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in the governor, who shall take care that...

A June 24 column I wrote for Townhall.com highlighted the grassroots effort to defund Planned Parenthood one state at a time. At that time, I covered the fact that North Carolina’s legislation had overridden Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto and passed a bill that cut funding to Planned Parenthood by approximately $434,000 annually. And while that was great news, on July 28, the legislature overrode another veto to enact even more encouraging measures for defenders of life throughout the country: an informed consent law which requires women “seeking an abortion in North Carolina…to wait 24 hours and be presented with an...

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...

A bipartisan team of Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Ron Paul, R-Texas, will introduce federal legislation that would permit states to legalize, regulate, tax and control marijuana without federal interference. The legislation will be unveiled Thursday by Frank, an outspoken liberal Democrat, and the libertarian Paul, who is running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The bill would limit the U.S. government role in marijuana enforcement to interdiction of cross-border or inter-state smuggling. Citizens would be able to legally grow, use or sell cannabis in states which have legalized the forbidden weed. The legislation is the first bill to be...

Recently, HR 1006, was created which is a statement of support for the 10th amendment to the Constitution. While we agree that Congress should respect the 10th amendment and states’ rights, it is disquieting to think that Congress actually needs to pass a bill that is a show of support for any part of the Constitution. Shouldn’t Congress respect all parts of the Constitution? Shouldn’t it always be “We the People” and WE start asserting our 9th and 10th amendment rights. We were very lucky to be ahead of the curve on these issues 40 or 50 years ago –...

The Montana House has overwhelmingly endorsed a plan to disregard the federal law protecting endangered and threatened species. Republicans enthused by Gov. Brian Schweitzer's recent tough talk on wolves led a 61-39 vote Saturday to nullify the federal Endangered Species Act in Montana. Tea party politics in the Legislature have spawned increasing belief in an 18th-century doctrine that purported to give states the ultimate say in constitutional matters...

BILLINGS - Defying federal authority over gray wolves, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday encouraged ranchers to kill wolves that prey on their livestock - even in areas where that is not currently allowed - and said the state will start shooting packs that hurt elk herds. Schweitzer said he no longer would wait for federal officials to resolve the tangle of lawsuits over wolves, which has kept the animals on the endangered species list for a decade since recovery goals were first met. "We will take action in Montana on our own," he said. "We've had it with Washington,...

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Many South Carolina gun owners will be closely watching a bill that will come before the state Legislature in the new year. Sen. Lee Bright, of Spartanburg, filed a bill that would bring authority over gun rights and regulations to South Carolina rather than the federal government. The South Carolina Firearms Freedom Act would ensure that firearms manufactured in South Carolina, that stay in South Carolina, will not have to be federally regulated. "The state law will still be observed," Bright said. "We're not saying there shouldn't be any kind of regulation. We're just saying that it...

MISSOULA, MONT. --(Ammoland.com)- Plaintiffs in litigation to validate the principles of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA) have appealed an expected but adverse federal district court decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs in MSSA v. Holder include the Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and MSSA President Gary Marbut of Missoula. The MFFA is designed to test the power of Congress to regulate everything without limits under the narrow power given to Congress in the Constitution to “regulate commerce … among the states.” The MFFA declares that any firearms, ammunition and firearm...

HELENA, Mont. -- A federal judge in Missoula is dismissing a lawsuit launched by gun rights advocates and states seeking freedom from federal gun laws. The decision from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy was expected since his magistrate a month ago recommended tossing out the lawsuit.

As welcome signs go, it is one of the more unusual ones. And for visitors to Kiryas Joel, a small Jewish community in Orange County, New York State, it has provoked quite a reaction. For the sign doesn't just greet visitors, but warns them to dress appropriately for their visit, amongst other things. Written in both English and Spanish, the sign, posted by Congregation Yetev Lev at the entrances to the village, warns visitors to cover their legs and arms, maintain gender separation in public places and use appropriate language. The tradition in the villages of Satmar Hasidic Jews is...