BOSTON, Mass. (June 12, 2017) – Last week, an important Massachusetts joint committee held a hearing on three bills that would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in most cases.The legislation also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by…
RALEIGH, N.C. (June 12, 2017) – Last week, the North Carolina House passed a “Constitutional Carry” bill that would make it legal for most North Carolinians to carry a firearm without a license, and foster an environment hostile to federal gun control. A coalition of four Republican representatives introduced House Bill 746 (H746) in April.…
DENVER, Colo. (June 12, 2017) – Late last month, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law affirming hemp farmers have a right to use their water rights for hemp cultivation, even if the water is held in federal reservoirs. Sen. Don Coram (R-Montrose) introduced Senate Bill 117 (SB117) in February. The legislation confirms…
"Federal law enforcement officers are raking in hundreds of millions of dollars a year with little oversight or constitutional protections for property owners. Most of these types of seizures are never challenged. The I.G. found petitions were filed in only 20 percent of the DEA cash seizures it reviewed. Of those that were challenged, though, 40 percent saw money fully or partially returned to the owner, indicating that there may be a significant number of unfounded seizures going unchallenged." Continue reading →
"The study, which was first outlined by the Washington Post, helped stir up the debate over how a legitimate cannabis market might be able to reduce the national opioid problem. That’s because the University of Georgia data shows when medical marijuana is available, pain patients are increasingly choosing pot over powerful — and potentially deadly — prescription narcotics. Specifically, the researchers found that — in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in place by 2013 — prescriptions for painkillers and other classes of drugs fell sharply, compared with states that did not have a medical-marijuana law." Continue reading →
"State lawmakers in California and New York voted this year to pass state-run single payer health care plans, despite the fact that both states would need to double their existing tax revenue to pay for the new entitlement. But even if those political hurdles are overcome, and even if the two states figure out how they are going to come up with the necessary tax revenue—about $400 billion in California's case, and somewhere between $91 billion and $225 billion in New York's—to make those systems functional, both may run into another problem: The whole thing could be against the law." Continue reading →
Taken together, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 outlined the principles of nullification. But they didn’t actually nullify anything. In fact, they were intended as just a starting point.
LANSING, Mich. (June 9, 2017) – On Wednesday, the Michigan House passed a series of so-called “constitutional carry” bills that would make it legal for most people in the state to carry a firearm without a license, and foster an environment hostile to federal gun control. A coalition of Republicans introduced a series of four…
"As Judge Katherine Forrest explained at the time, Ulbricht's life sentence was intended also to send a message to other would-be dark web drug kingpins. Her strategy appears to have backfired, at least in the short term: Sales on Silk Road successor sites doubled in the immediate wake of Ulbricht's sentence, as news of the trial's outcome raised awareness of the dark web drug market." Continue reading →
AUGUSTA, Maine (June 9, 2017) – Last week, the Maine House killed a bill that would have effectively prohibited so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to help enforce some federal immigration laws in the state. Rep. Lawrence Lockman (R-Brewer) introduced House Bill 366 (LD366) in February, along with a bipartisan coalition of seven cosponsors. The legislation would…