Free Republic

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...

Today in Texas, former prosecutor and judge Ken Anderson pled guilty to intentionally failing to disclose evidence in a case that sent an innocent man, Michael Morton, to prison for the murder of his wife. When trying the case as a prosecutor, Anderson possessed evidence that may have cleared Morton, including statements from the crime's only eyewitness that Morton wasn't the culprit. Anderson sat on this evidence, and then watched Morton get convicted. While Morton remained in prison for the next 25 years, Anderson's career flourished, and he eventually became a judge. In today's deal, Anderson pled to criminal contempt,...

The development is about 15 years old One of the major reasons for those who push for a disarmed population to desire the registration of all firearms is that it makes the ownership of the means to self defense contingent on government approval.  This is the philosophy that "everything that is not permitted is forbidden", rather than the standard English/American philosophy that "everything that is not forbidden is allowed".  It is an enormous difference in perspective.  In Revere, Massachusetts, a homeowner evicted from a party after getting in a fight.   He returned with his 50 year old step father.  ...

Six-year-old Larry DaSilva said he just closed his eyes as the car that authorities say was driven by a schizophrenic Brockton woman off her meds plowed into him and two other children as they crossed the street to their school bus. The collision sent the first-grader and his race car backpack flying six to seven feet in the air in front of his horrified father, knocking off his Air Jordan sneakers, one of which become lodged under one of the car’s wheels.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Onondaga County has 5.2 million records showing where drivers have been over the past year. But if you'd like to know what the county has on your travels, you're out of luck. Police cars throughout the county are outfitted with special cameras -- license plate readers -- that take hundreds of pictures of license plates a minute. Those records, showing the plate and where it was photographed, are warehoused in the county's database and held for a year. Onondaga County denied a Freedom of Information Law request from me for all records they had on my license...

A startling number of Minnesota drivers don't have a valid license and should not be behind the wheel. A KARE-TV/MPR report found that approximately 1 in 8 drivers don't have driving privileges because their licenses have been suspended, revoked, canceled or disqualified. In some cases, they had no license at all. Yet they still drive. Reporter Trisha Volpe analyzed court records between 2008 and 2013 and found that nearly 310,000 people have been convicted for driving when the law says they can't. In the Twin Cities metro area that number was 181,000 with scores of repeat offenders. Volpe reported that...

Due to health considerations, I have been unable to travel for some time. However, doctors have now given tentative approval for limited travel for a few days. This may be the last chance I have to do so before declining health no longer allows that, so I am thinking of visiting with BIL's family in Vermont, with perhaps one or two short stops to visit other family members on the way back. I am looking for recommendations for the following needs: 1. A State where the Driver's Licence requirements are not unduly onerous since I have only a limited time...