Free Republic

STAPLES HUGHES, a North Carolina lawyer, was on the witness stand and about to disclose a secret he believed would free an innocent man from prison. But the judge told Mr. Hughes to stop. "If you testify," Judge Jack A. Thompson said at a hearing last year on the prisoner’s request for a new trial, "I will be compelled to report you to the state bar. Do you understand that?" But Mr. Hughes continued. Twenty-two years before, he said, a client, now dead, confessed that he had acted alone in committing a double murder for which another man was also...

After entering the House of Representatives in 1995, Georgia Republican Bob Barr acquired a reputation as one of the most conservative members of Congress. It was Barr who in 1996 wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, which said states didn't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states; it was Barr who protested when he learned the military allowed soldiers to practice Wicca. A former federal prosecutor, a firm social conservative, and a strong supporter of the War on Drugs, Barr doesn't fit most people's image of a civil libertarian. But in his eight years in Congress (he failed...

Americans' civil liberties as established in the Bill of Rights are seriously in danger, says Bob Barr. So much so, he says, that it prompted the Smyrna resident and former member of Congress to consider a bid for president as a Libertarian. "There is one set of issues that ought to be discussed during a presidential campaign - the Bill of Rights, what are our liberties, what are our freedoms and how can we protect these liberties," Barr said in an interview Monday at his office for his consulting firm, Liberty Strategies, near the Cobb Galleria. "I'm interested in working...

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Gov. John Baldacci signed into law a bill to tighten standards for getting a Maine driver's license, acknowledging that the measures were a tough issue for lawmakers. Under pressure for the federal government, Baldacci wasted little time before signing the bill Thursday night after the Senate approved it by a 19-15 vote despite criticism from civil libertarians. With the bill's enactment, Maine joins 44 other states, including the rest of New England, in making proof of legal U.S. residency a requirement for getting a driver's license, the governor said. Previously, the state did not require any proof...

WASHINGTON -- The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency - a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people. Using authority granted by Congress, the government also plans to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained, whether they have been charged or not. The DNA would be collected through a cheek swab, Justice Department spokesman Erik Ablin said Wednesday. That would be a departure from current practice, which limits DNA collection to convicted felons. Expanding the DNA database, known...

A Michigan church filed a federal lawsuit after police officers, led by a local prosecutor, entered the sanctuary at least twice without a warrant, alleging the church's music was too loud. In one instance, they threatened to arrest church musicians for disorderly conduct. Faith Baptist Church, with a congregation of about 10,000 members, is suing local officials in the Township of Waterford, Mich., in a First Amendment case a church attorney said could have national ramifications in establishing what local governments can do in regulating churches. The suit -- alleging the township violated the church's freedom of religious expression, freedom...

Geraldine Ferraro’s impolitic commentary regarding Barack Obama has been widely covered and discussed. But in the rush to examine the really juicy part of her monologue, you know – the stuff about race – something else the 72 year old former congresswoman said is being lost. Toward the end of her recent, now infamous, interview, one that has apparently cost her that highly coveted role of “Honorary New York Leadership Council Chair�, the woman who broke political ice twenty-four years ago as the Democratic nominee for Vice President, talked about the big bad wolf of PARTISANSHIP. I’m referring to the...

A Progressive Bill of Rights I have begun to feel sorry for the Obama campaign. Sure, their candidate is still the frontrunner, but some of the old luster is gone. And his platform, if you can call it that, is so flat, so vaporous.So here’s an idea to spruce things up: Obama should assemble his favorite authorities on law and human rights, in order to draw up a new Bill of Rights for the Unites States. After all, the Obamamites clearly are not pleased with the current one. So instead of just whining, why not present the American people with...

Preparing to hear oral arguments Tuesday on the extent of gun rights guaranteed by the Constitution's Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has before it a brief signed by Vice President Cheney opposing the Bush administration's stance. Even more remarkably, Cheney is faithfully reflecting the views of President George W. Bush. The government position filed with the Supreme Court by U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement stunned gun advocates by opposing the breadth of an appellate court affirmation of individual ownership rights. The Justice Department, not the vice president, is out of order. But if Bush agrees with Cheney, why did...

With the Supreme Court’s decision to examine the constitutionality of D.C.’s gun ban, the nation once again turns to an intense examination of the wording of the Second Amendment. One way to understand an amendment whose words have confused generations is to study its somewhat confusing text. But another way is to examine at whose request the amendment was written. For example, if 200 years from now constitutional scholars are trying to determine whether the Smith Tax Act of 2008 increased or decreased the taxes Social Security recipients paid on their retirement income, knowing that the act came into being...

In 2006 I sent one of our colorado representives ( a democrat ) an email. Stating that the first amendment appeared to be addresed to the congress of the united states, and was in fact a law that the law makers of the united states goverment had to live by. It was what I believed to be the letter of the law. because of the ( congress shall make no laws etc. ) and ask what he thought about it. He wrote back and and told me that the first amendment was for the purpose of seperation of church and...

National Bill of Rights Day customarily occupies a minor place on our calendars, if it occupies a place at all. It falls every year on December 15, commemorating the ratification of the first 10 amendments to our Constitution, which occurred on that day in 1791. Bill of Rights Day is a day for rising above the commotion over the meaning of each specific amendment. It is an opportunity for us to reflect upon the purpose of those amendments as a whole, to step back and consider the crucial questions that our Founders confronted in considering the idea of amending...

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP)-A suburban Atlanta prosecutor has dropped a disorderly conduct charge against an anti-abortion activist who was arrested for driving a truck emblazoned with images of aborted fetuses.... Police had arrested Robert Dean Roethlisberger Jr. 44, of Missouri near the Mall of Georgia the day after Thanksgiving when he refused to remove images on a "Truth Truck," owned by Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group. Police, who said the images were "obscene and vulgar", also impounded the truck and removed the banners. In an e-mail Monday to the Gwinnett Daily Post, Szabo (County Solicitor) said, "To ensure no abridgement of...

Three GW law professors have endorsed Republican candidate Fred Thompson's campaign for the presidency, joining the Lawyers for Fred coalition. Professors John Fitzgerald Duffy, Orin Kerr and Michael Abramowicz are members of the Law Professors Committee within the coalition. "Sen. Thompson is proud of his experience working as a federal prosecutor," said Darrel Ng, a spokesperson for the Friends of Fred Thompson campaign. "That's why he decided to form something like that (coalition), because of his background." Ng said that having endorsement groups for presidential candidates is an important part of the campaign process. "In campaigns you try to find...

A veteran New York City police detective was arraigned on perjury charges in the Bronx yesterday after a suspect in an attempted murder case secretly recorded his interrogation with an MP3 player. Detective Christopher Perino is accused of lying 12 times during his sworn testimony in the April trial of the suspect, Erik Crespo, by saying that he did not conduct an interrogation of Mr. Crespo. At yesterday’s hearing in State Supreme Court in the Bronx, Detective Perino, 42, a member of the department for 19 years, pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of first-degree perjury. He made no further...

Naomi Wolf, Second Amendment Sister? Naomi Wolf has an article in today’s Washington Post tied to her new book, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot. The essay is actually a lot less leftist than the book. She deplores the civic illiteracy among young people that leaves them feeling ”depressed, cynical and powerless.” And she blames influences on both left and right: the Bush administration’s portrayal of “freedom and checks and balances as threats to national security,” of course, and also the No Child Left Behind Act’s emphasis on math and reading rather than civics...

TOPEKA | Countless flights across the country. Car rentals, gas money, food and lodging. All those cardboard signs. For the 71 members of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church, the costs of doing business must add up. And those costs could soon grow a lot higher. A Maryland jury recently ordered Westboro to pay nearly $11 million to the father of a fallen soldier whose funeral was the subject of one of Westboro’s protests. Many hope the lawsuit, and future ones like it, will put the notorious church out of business for good. It’s something that new funeral picketing bans, now...

Yesterday, Senator Fred Thompson issued a statement on the Supreme Court's decision to grant certiorari in the District of Columbia gun ban case. It reads, in part: I’ve always understood the Second Amendment to mean what it says – it guarantees a citizen the right to “keep and bear” firearms, and that’s why I’ve been supportive of the National Rifle Association’s efforts to have the DC law overturned. In general, lawful gun ownership is a pretty simple matter. The Founders established gun-owner rights so that citizens would possess and be able to exercise the universal right of self-defense. Guns enable...

November 4, 2007 An Oct. 26 letter writer suggested limiting the Second Amendment to 18th-century firearms. What an interesting idea. I'm sure she would also be in favor of limiting free speech to 18th-century forms of communication, and she certainly must oppose the requirement for agents of the government to obtain warrants in order to listen in on telephone conversations or intercept other forms of electronic correspondence. After all, the telegraph was not invented until the 1840s, more than 50 years after the Fourth Amendment was written. Certainly, our Founding Fathers wouldn't be so "daft," as the writer suggests, to...

A North Side man discovered the hard way that taunting and threatening a police officer's K-9 dog is a felony offense in Pennsylvania. Kenneth King, 23, of 106 Sherman Ave., has been in the Allegheny County Jail since Sunday because he has been unable to come up with the $100,000 bond set by District Judge Eugene Ricciardi.

The National Rifle Association, which did not endorse President Bush in 2000 and 2004 until just a month before the general election, is considering stepping into the presidential campaign fray early next year during the primary season, the group's chief lobbyist says. While the NRA waited until October in each of the past two presidential election years before endorsing a candidate, the group plans to take a more high-profile role early in the 2008 Republican nomination process. "Historically, we have not gotten involved in primaries. We traditionally wait until after the conventions," said Chris Cox, head lobbyist for the NRA....

Lately, a whole lot of people around here seem to be exercised over the issue of whether the Constitution applies to "citizens only," or to the more generic category, "people." Must have been something President Bush or Attorney General Ashcroft said…. Well, I offered the result of my humble attempt at rational analysis, with the amusing result (hey, even I find it funny) of being screamed at and chastised, in 36-point type, for my dim-witted ignorance; and was in so many words accused of being a dunderhead, a horse's patoot, a "dunce." (Hey, maybe it's all true. :^) ) But ...

It's now leaking out that there was more going on than met the eye at the Security and Prosperity Partnership Summit in Montebello, Canada, in August. The three amigos - President George W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon - finalized and released the "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza." The "Plan" - that's what they call it, with a capital P - is to use the excuse of a major flu epidemic to shift powers from U.S. legislatures to unelected, unaccountable "North American" bureaucrats. This idea was launched on Sept. 14, 2005,...

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said Monday that while Osama bin Laden needs to be caught and killed, the terrorist mastermind would get the due process of law.

The District today asked the Supreme Court to uphold the city's ban on private ownership of handguns, saying the appeals court decision that overturned the law "drastically departs from the mainstream of American jurisprudence." Most legal experts believe the court will accept the case, which could lead to a historic decision next year on whether the ambiguously worded Second Amendment to the Constitution protects private gun ownership or only imparts a civic right related to maintaining state militias. The District argues in its petition for review that its law--one of the toughest handgun bans in the nation--should be upheld regardless...

If being a patriot means defending the Constitution and Bill of Rights, why is it that every time I see the ACLU, it is attacking my rights? Here are a few examples of the ACLU at work: • Supporting groups like NAMBLA (pedophiles). • Protecting obscene material (child pornography). • Abolishing chaplaincy/religious programs. • Against public schools observing recognized religious, cultural, historical holidays (Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah). • Multiple lawsuits against schools, local governments (costing our tax money). Please read the Bill of Rights, and compare with founder of the ACLU Roger Baldwin's own words: "I am for socialism, disarmament, and...

Former "blogging pedophile" Jack McClellan has been released from jail, following his arrest last week for violating a restraining order in California. His release follows the prediction of observers in law enforcement, child advocacy, and the judicial system who think it will be difficult to take effective or even constitutional steps against McClellan to protect children. The 45-year-old self-professed pedophile was arrested August 13 for violating a three-year restraining order that required him to stay 30 feet away from all children. He was being held in jail with a $150,000 bail bond. But according to Associated Press, he was released...

A wealthy libertarian is bankrolling a challenge to D.C.’s gun regulations—the most restrictive in the country. What drives him—and his take on whether the case will go to the Supreme Court. The District of Columbia has the most restrictive gun laws in the country. But that’s a distinction the nation’s capital will soon lose—if Robert Levy prevails. Levy was born in Washington, but left years ago; a resident of Naples, Fla., who made a fortune as an investment analyst, he is now a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. A critic of what he sees as...

Each September the hills around Zurich are alive — with the sound of gunfire. Nobody is alarmed, however, because they know it emanates from a bunch of teenagers doing what comes naturally to nearly every Swiss: sharpshooting. And there's nothing random about it: The 12- to 16-year-olds are participating in Knabenschiessen, the world's largest youth rifle competition, which blends the jarring report of rifle fire with the melodious ringing of cow bells. There's a paradox in this peaceful and neutral country that would make the NRA drool with envy: Firearms are as ubiquitous as chocolate and edelweiss. Weapons and ammunition...

Because federal spending and the bureaucracy are out of control, an American Taxpayer Bill of Rights is necessary to bring fiscal responsibility to Washington, D.C. Sign the petition! http://www.freedomworks.org/action/taxpayer/ We applaud the Republican Study Committee (RSC) for advancing this proposal that would force government to live within its means with these 4 crucial components: 1. Spending caps to stop out of control budget growth. 2. Preserving Social Security money just for Social Security, not for a Congressional slush fund. 3. Sun-setting the entire federal tax code to hold budgets accountable to outcomes. 4. A balanced budget without raising taxes. As...

When James Madison agitated to make religious freedom fundamental to the United States Constitution, it was not from hostility to religion. It was from hostility to established religion, with its presumption of an authority in worldly affairs that only an elected government should exercise. James Madison (1751-1836) The first freedom listed in the Bill of Rights tells us that Congress shall "make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" — a rule that is just as important in its second half as in its first.  However, the free exercise of religion involves living by...

On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dealt the City of Chicago and tony North Shore enclaves like Evanston, Wilmette, and Winnetka a terrible blow. I am sorry to report that those communities may very soon have to start abiding by the Bill of Rights. You may have heard the phrase “Honey, call the lawyers� reverberating up the Lake Michigan shoreline on Friday as the D.C. Appeals Court struck down the Washington, D.C. handgun ban and declared that the Second Amendment is an individual right. The court rightly rejected the flimsy argument that the...

 I was reading today about a federal case (Morse v. Frederick, aka "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case) winding its way through the courts, and was thinking how bizarre current federal jurisprudence has really become. On March 19, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over the limits of freedom of speech in public schools."I wanted to know more precisely the boundaries of my freedom,” Joe Frederick said when reporters asked why he'd raised the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner. "I feel that if you don't use your rights you lose them."It is all about rights, isn't it?...

Theater of the Absurd, by the Absurd, for... Ionesco as Political Consultant February 16, 2007 Every time I go to the United States (I have just returned from two weeks in Washington), I am astonished by the antic security, by the proliferation of admonitions and alarms and inchoate fear. Now it is illegal to carry toothpaste on airplanes. I find myself wondering: Is this just another spasm of periodic hysteria, like Prohibition, the Sixties, and a Commie Under Every Bed? Or is it calculated political programming? Most of it impinges at best lightly upon reality. For example, measures for...

Another “think tank,” this one called the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), has come out for total civilian disarmament and repeal of the Second Amendment. What’s new about that? ISPU is openly pro-Muslim, and the ISPU writer is a criminal defense attorney who argues for repealing parts of the Bill of Rights. You can read the whole article, entitled “In the Fight Against Terrorism, Some Rights Must Be Repealed,” by Junaid Afeef, on the ISPU website: http://www.ispu.us/pages/articles/2914/articleDetailPB.html A JPFO supporter sent us the link, and we did read the article, looking for: a. Inaccurate “facts” b. Missing data...

Commissioned by FDR to commemorate 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights, this hour-long program was aired over the combined national networks (CBS, NBC Red, NBC Blue, and Mutual) eight days after Pearl Harbor. The Crosley Rating Service estimated 63 million people listened, half the US population at the time, and this was the largest audience in recorded history for a dramatic performance.

One cannot deny that radical Islam exists. The best example would be 9/11, but there are many others. Proponents of radical Islam are a small, yet loud, faction of the Muslim community who want to destroy America and Western civilization. In recent years, radical Islamists brutally attacked thousands of innocent civilians of all stripes and colors from Africa to London to New York City. Nothing stands in their way including their own lives via suicide bombers. I think we can all agree that destructive acts upon innocent civilians are always wrong and immoral. Let me be perfectly clear, the aforementioned...

Taxi passengers in Cleveland should be able to ride in clean cabs with drivers who speak English and know their way around the region, City Council's transportation committee chairman says. Councilman Kevin Kelley this week introduced a new law to create a passenger bill of rights for riders. It outlines standards of operation and behavior for taxi drivers. The document would have to be posted in every cab. More From The Plain Dealer | Subscribe To The Plain Dealer Cleveland considers bill of rights for taxi riders Wednesday, November 01, 2006 Susan Vinella Plain Dealer Reporter Taxi passengers in Cleveland...

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" - Benjamin FranklinThe response was predictable. After sending our alert last Thursday regarding the passing of the Military Commissions Act, we received a flood of email. Many were supportive, but others took exception: "Don't you care that terrorists want to kill us?" "Olbermann's obviously a left-wing nut who wants conservatives out of power." "The act isn't that bad..." It is bemusing to watch certain conservatives -- conservatives who once screamed that Bill Clinton was going to suspend the Constitution, establish martial law,...

In this particular clip Scalia speaks on abortion and homosexual rights. His main point is one that I have made several times. These issues are not found in the bill of rights. I'm in the business of enforcing democracy. What democracy means is that on controversial issues; even stuff like homosexual rights, abortion, whatever; we debate with each other and persuade each other and vote on it. Either our representatives or through a Constitutional amendment in the states, we decide the question. Now there are some exceptions to that as in any liberal democracy, and in ours most of those...

INQUIRER SENIOR WRITER One-gun-a-month laws sound attractive to gun-control activists and draw broad public support in polls. But it's not clear that such statutes have had much impact on gun violence. A study published last year in the journal Injury Prevention found that the laws restricting purchases had had no measurable impact. The study was done by a team of doctors from the University of Washington, using data from 1979 to 1998. Another study, done in 2001 by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, found evidence of a slight decrease in gun violence associated with Maryland's one-gun...

A group named PISTOL - Peoples Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land who is trying to pass the Property Bill of Rights ballot iniative in Nevada just released the best animation EVER! - I mean it, this is hysterical. An absolute MUST SEE!http://propertybillofrights.com/index.html

The LA County Gun Task Force has served another search warrant on the home of another member of the fifty caliber community. On Monday September 18th, eighteen police cars swarmed the neighborhood where the FCSA member lives and served a search warrant signed by Judge Steven Kleifield of the LA County Superior Court. The officers were at the residence for several hours and confiscated all semi-automatic firearms belonging to the victim. The probable cause for issuing the search warrant was not available in the body of the affidavit so the reason for the search is unknown at this time. It...

The New York City Rally FOR Illegal Guns, Monday 12:30pm at City Hall When: 12:30pm, Monday, September 25th, 2006 Where: Outside Gates at City Hall on Broadway, Downtown Manhattan, New York City Event: “The NYC Rally for Illegal Guns” New York City Gun Rights activists, Constitutional and civil libertarians, Human Rights activists, and pro-Liberty supporters will hold a rally on Monday, September 25th at 12:30pm outside City Hall in Manhattan to support so-called “illegal guns” and the thousands of decent, responsible New York State citizens and residents who own and carry them to preserve their Freedom and protect themselves from...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. …That quote from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is one of the most profound statements ever recorded. Upon that simple premise, "endowed by our Creator," the greatest nation on the face of the earth was constructed. Unfortunately, the average public-school trained...

The city of Cooper City, Fla., has given itself the power to seize residents' personal property in times of emergency. Officials deemed this new law necessary because of what is expected to be a busy hurricane season. But don't worry, they say. The law would never be enforced unless there were no other options – presumably meaning that the city could not persuade private citizens to permit the government to borrow, rent or buy their equipment. Think of it as eminent domain for generators, power tools, trucks and anything else local czars determine they need. Not surprisingly, this plan has...

HUDSON, N.H. -- A Nashua man faces a felony reckless conduct charge after his gun discharged in a Wal-Mart bathroom, striking the ceiling and scaring an employee in the next stall. Charles Masterson, 36, said he pointed his gun toward the ceiling because he had been taught that was the safest thing to do when it wasn't being used. The precaution backfired when the gun discharged Tuesday night while Masterson was in the bathroom. Police charged him for putting the teenage employee in danger. Masterson's 13-year-old son also was in the bathroom. Masterson was jailed overnight, but released on personal...

Last week US District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, in Detroit, Michigan, ruled that the National Security Agency’s overseas communications intercept program was unconstitutional. This is tied for the worst decision I’ve ever read, in 36 years as a member of the bar, both federal and state. Dozens of pundits have already written about aspects of her decision that are egregiously wrong. Even the august New York Times, which opposes the NSA program and favors Judge Taylor’s result, still has called her opinion “badly reasoned.” It’s important that lawyers, legal writers, and experienced laymen be able to recognize a thoroughly incompetent...

Straight woman seeks equality under gay-rights law: Unwed Redmond worker wants her male partner to receive health benefits One of the first tests for Washington's new gay civil rights law has an intriguing twist: The complaint was filed by a heterosexual woman. The state's discrimination watchdogs are investigating the case, which claims unmarried straight people should get the same domestic partner benefits as their gay and lesbian co-workers. But officials are treading carefully, Human Rights Commission Director Marc Brenman said, because upholding the claim could set a sweeping new precedent for Washington businesses. ... The complaint, filed last week, is...

• Bill of rights Several Montgomery County Council candidates last week rallied behind a "bill of rights" proposal that would create a living wage for immigrant and illegal alien domestic workers in the county. Democratic contenders Duchy Trachtenberg, Cary Lamari and Valerie Ervin were among the candidates who attended a press conference Tuesday to present a George Washington University study on the abuses of domestic workers -- nannies and housekeepers who are the female equivalent of predominantly male day laborers.