http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/constitution/ en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:35:00 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050687/posts Making a Federal Case by: Emily Ham, July 24, 2008 In a study documenting the total number of federal crimes within United States law, researchers have found that there has been a major increase in the definition of such offenses since the founding of the nation in 1776. “When the country started, there were basically three crimes: piracy, counterfeiting and treason,” said former Attorney General Edwin Meese, “At the time of our [1998] report, there were some 4,000 crimes.” Meese, who now serves as chairman of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, noted that while two centuries... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050687/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:35:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050177/posts I believe it is time for congress to dissolve state governments. Here are my reasons: 1) State governments simply don’t care about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The majority of laws enacted by state governments violate the rights of American citizens in one way or another. 2) State governments don’t care about their own state constitution either. The majority of laws enacted by state governments violate their own state constitution. 3) State governments look the other way while municipal governments within the state, which are created and controlled by the state government, routinely pass ordinances that violate, the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050177/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:16:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050027/posts A Mississippi congressman (Rep Thompson, D) wants to create even more defensless victim zones. Thompson is displeased with a recent Georgia State law that removes infringements on the right of Georia citizens to bear arms on public transportation. While there is no history of problems in this area, Thompson wishes to ban guns from unspecified zones around airports, far beyond the traditional security zones established to prevent terrorists from smuggling arms onto airliners. Most airports around the country respect the second amendment rights of citizens to bear arms outside the designated security zones. vanity http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050027/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:16:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049010/posts michaelsavage.wnd.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049010/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:51:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047894/posts Natural Born Citizen Clause The clause of the U.S. Constitution barring persons not born in the United States from the Presidency. [Black’s Law Dictionary, Eighth Edition] [cf. Natural Born Citizen Clause] Greetings, The analysis below is indeed helpful, but it is erroneous and/or misleading on several important points which do deserve further clarification, as follows: (1) there are two (2) classes of citizens under American laws never repealed, not one (1) class: http://www.supremelaw.org/rsrc/twoclass.htm (see all links at the very end) Federal citizens aka "citizens of the United States" were not even contemplated with Article III -- and hence Article II... Four Winds 10 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047894/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:16:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047509/posts One of the unappreciated casualties of the War of 1861, erroneously called a Civil War, was its contribution to the erosion of constitutional guarantees of state sovereignty. It settled the issue of secession, making it possible for the federal government to increasingly run roughshod over Ninth and 10th Amendment guarantees. A civil war, by the way, is a struggle where two or more parties try to take over the central government. Confederate President Jefferson Davis no more wanted to take over Washington, D.C., than George Washington wanted to take over London. Both wars are more properly described as wars of... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047509/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:05:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2047508/posts Orin's and David Kopel's posts below discuss whether Heller recognized a constitutional right to self-defense. I'm inclined to say the answer is yes, for the following reasons: 1. Heller recognized a right to keep and bear arms in self-defense, which logically presupposes some legal right to self-defense. Why would the Constitution let you keep an object for a certain purpose, when all use of the object for that purpose could be outlawed? 2. Heller often talks of a "right to self-defense" in contexts that suggest it is of constitutional statute, e.g., "That of the nine state constitutional protections for the... The Volokh Conspiracy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2047508/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:57:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047445/posts On June 26, the last day of the 2007-2008 term, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a lower-court ruling striking down a 33-year-old handgun ban in the nation's capital. District of Columbia v. Heller was the first Second Amendment case that the court has heard in 70 years and represents the first time the court has ever addressed the question of whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms for private purposes. In a recent interview with NationalJournal.com's Mary Gilbert, Adam Winkler, professor of law at University of California, Los Angeles, discussed the historical context... National Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047445/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:00:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046284/posts Everyone knows this, but it's worth repeating: The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln and was established in 1854 to block the expansion of slavery. The Democratic Party was the party of slavery: Its two founders, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, owned large numbers of slaves, and every party platform before the Civil War defended the institution unequivocally. After the war, it was the Republican Party that rammed through the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution over Democratic opposition. Republicans also enacted a series of civil-rights laws that culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1875,... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046284/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:41:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044383/posts With their appeal to independents, Barack Obama and John McCain may scramble the electoral map in November. Others want to go further and throw out the Electoral College completely, replacing this "complicated" and "undemocratic" system with a direct, nationwide popular vote for the presidency. Despite its democratic allure, it's a bad idea. Backers of the popular vote do not seek to amend the Constitution; they know this is a nonstarter. Instead, a growing "National Popular Vote" (NPV) movement wants state legislatures to instruct their electors to vote for the winner of the greatest number of popular votes in the national... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044383/posts#comment Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:58:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044017/posts Anyone familiar with the threat posed by the advancing American Fifth Column understands all too clearly that our Constitution is under attack. Whether it is the insistence that the Constitution is a living document meant to conform to the will of the times or the institution of political correctness – a shadow set of laws effectively usurping the laws of our Constitutional Republic – the American Fifth Column is slowly, incrementally, systematically, chipping away at the wisdom as set forth by our Founders and Framers. With news that a non-governmentally charged commission is introducing a measure that would impose “group... The New Media Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044017/posts#comment Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:07:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2043790/posts Anyone familiar with the threat posed by the advancing American Fifth Column understands all too clearly that our Constitution is under attack. Whether it is the insistence that the Constitution is a living document meant to conform to the will of the times or the institution of political correctness – a shadow set of laws effectively usurping the laws of our Constitutional Republic – the American Fifth Column is slowly, incrementally, systematically, chipping away at the wisdom as set forth by our Founders and Framers. With news that a non-governmentally charged commission is introducing a measure that would impose “group... The New Media Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2043790/posts#comment Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:16:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043648/posts Go to the article to read the usual yada yada about how the local congressfolks are bringing home the bacon.What caught my eye was this paragraph:"There's no way in hell I would support banning earmarks," said Rep. John Mica of Winter Park, top Republican on the House Transportation Committee. "That's our job, getting elected and making decisions. Yes, there are bad earmarks, like there are bad members of Congress. And what you do is get rid of them." Orlando Sentinel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043648/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:31:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042454/posts Dukakis calls for end to Electoral College Dave Wedge By Dave Wedge Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Calling it “critically important” to eliminate the Electoral College system, former Bay State Gov. Michael Dukakis called on lawmakers to join a growing number of states supporting a switch to a national popular vote to elect the president. “I think it is high time we got rid of the Electoral College and elected our presidents the way we elect every other elected official in the country - by a vote of the people,” Dukakis wrote in a letter e-mailed to state lawmakers yesterday. “The... The Boston Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042454/posts#comment Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:42:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2041890/posts The founding fathers of this country had a passion to be independent of the persistent tyranny and irresponsibility of the then-king of England, George III. They even delineated many of his abuses toward the American colonies in our nation’s most landmark document, the Declaration of Independence. The founders felt so strongly about these abuses that it led to a revolution against Great Britain, which ultimately led to our independence. Our independence today is not bound by any external sovereign power, although we are under constant threat of a different kind of external tyranny – Islamic fascism. However, our independence today... North Star Writers Group http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2041890/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 16:31:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041860/posts The Supreme Court openly violated its separated powers under the Constitution by defying Congress' Article I, Section 9 authority to suspend habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." Congressional Democrats cheer the decision because it provides them with political cover for what they could not accomplish legislatively - their preference to execute a battle as you might an indictment and prosecute a war as you might a trial. This once co-equal branch has morphed into a tyrannical tree and President Bush has foolishly said that he'll "abide by their decision." Question: How... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041860/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:40:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041601/posts The best book about the constitution in two hundred years Akhil Amar’s America’s Constitution: A Biography is the second best book ever written about the U.S. Constitution. The best, of course, is The Federalist—but this may be unfair, as it requires counting a coauthored serial work (by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison) that first appeared as a series of newspaper essays, later collected into a single volume. Still, The Federalist, considered as a whole, counts as the most important single exposition of the U.S. Constitution, masterfully, lucidly, and colorfully written by a marvelous composite political and constitutional theorist... The Yale Law Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041601/posts#comment Sun, 6 Jul 2008 23:11:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041235/posts The Federalist Papers: The Key to Restoring Our Constitutional Republic By John Eidsmoe, Professor of Constitutional Law Summary: In the long standing debate on how the Constitution should be interpreted, Dr. Eidsmoe makes a strong case for following the original intent of the founders as the only way to avoid bizarre and disastrous results. "It's the only anchor that prevents judges from roaming at large in the trackless fields of their own imaginations," he states. To those who argue against following "original intent" because it cannot be known, Dr. Eidsmoe suggests that a sufficient exposition of the ideas of... Sutherland Institute http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041235/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 21:43:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041090/posts The Second Amendment provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the plain language of the amendment recognizes a personal right, belonging to “the people,” to possess firearms. The court rejected arguments that the Second Amendment simply permits the states to form, arm and maintain their own militias or the modern National Guard. Heller arose out of the district’s complete ban on possession of usable handguns in the... The Herald News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041090/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 14:25:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040622/posts The Divinely Inspired Constitution Apostle Dallin H. Oaks, The Ensign, Feb 1992 Photograph by Eldon K. Linschoten Not long after I began to teach law, an older professor asked me a challenging question about Latter-day Saints’ belief in the United States Constitution. Earlier in his career he had taught at the University of Utah College of Law. There he met many Latter-day Saint law students. “They all seemed to believe that the Constitution was divinely inspired,” he said, “but none of them could ever tell me what this meant or how it affected their interpretation of the Constitution.” I... lds.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040622/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 06:03:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040593/posts The last case directly involving the Second Amendment before D.C. V. HELLER was UNITED STATES V. MILLER, decided in 1939. A great deal of misinformation has been written about MILLER, but the facts are much stranger than most of the fiction that has been printed about the case. The article that is linked reveals fascinating items about the MILLER case. The trial judge, Hiram Heartsill Ragon, was a partisan Democrat Roosevelt appointee who was endorsed by the KKK. Ragon was an anti-gun activist who used the criminal, Miller, as his vehicle to fashion a test case for the Roosevelt administration... The Peculiar Story of United States V. Miller http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040593/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 03:43:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2040458/posts In a nation where around 25% of the citizens categorize themselves as ‘French’, and a province where that number is drastically lower than that, we find ourselves now force-fed a different language and a different culture. And people wonder why I am an Alberta separatist. The Moderate Separatist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2040458/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 22:29:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040115/posts America’s cities and towns will soon fill with parades, fireworks, and barbecues in celebration of the Fourth of July, the 232nd birthday of America. But one hopes that the speeches will contain fewer bromides and more attention to exactly what is being celebrated. The Fourth of July is Independence Day, but America’s leaders and intellectuals have been trying to move us further and further away from the meaning of Independence Day, away from the philosophy that created this country. What we hear is that independence is outdated, that we’ve reached a new age of “interdependence.” Our presidential candidates call for... The Johnstown Breeze http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040115/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 05:25:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040099/posts “ A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever,” John Adams. As we move into another election year, the term Revolutionary Republicanism comes to mind. This political mindset separated America from the rest of the world before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. There was boldness unmatched throughout history to create the most powerful Republic on earth through this new political philosophy. Focal Point USA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040099/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 04:05:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039307/posts An ancient Ukrainian code was used as the basis for the United States constitution, insists Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Yulya Timoshenko. She made the extraordinary claim while addressing compatriots on the country’s Constitution Day, on June 28. The Gas Princess said: “The Ukrainian state has an undeviating constitutional tradition. In 1710, when civilised Europe was tentatively mulling over the separation of powers, and baron de Montesquieu even didn’t start writing The Spirit of the Laws, Ukraine had its own constitution by Pylyp Orlyk.” Timoshenko also claimed that she once read that the U.S. and some of the European constitutions were copied... Russia Today http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039307/posts#comment Tue, 1 Jul 2008 18:14:46 GMT