LEBANON, Tenn. (Sept. 23, 2016) – A small-town Tennessee police department recently deployed an automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system that allows officers to collect and store data on the location of drivers in the city and potentially feed it into a federal database. The Lebanon Police Department debuted its new M Mobile ALPR Camera…
What would the Founding generation say about the time, energy, and money spent on the modern presidential elections? After all, if we followed the Constitution’s prescription for the separation of powers, specifically the power of the executive branch, the presidential election would largely be a non-event. Because the powers delegated by the states to the…
AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 22, 2016) – Texas has threatened to pull the plug on state assistance to refugees if the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) does not unconditionally approve the state’s revised resettlement plan by Sept. 30. The move would significantly hinder refugee resettlement in the Lone Star State. The state’s refugee coordinator sent…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 22, 2016) – On Tuesday, the Nashville Metro Council voted to decriminalize marijuana within the city limits, a step toward effectively nullifying prohibition in practice. Under the new ordinance, Nashville police will have the option of reducing the penalty for people in possession of a half-ounce of marijuana or less to a $50 fine…
RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 22, 2016) A Virginia bill introduced this month would restore gun rights to people convicted of non-violent felonies without them having to ask permission from the state. An indirect result of this legislation would be to deprive the state and feds of a political weapon against patriotic dissent. Sponsored by House Delegate…
Two more counties have joined a Colorado town in rejecting grants covered by HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, effectively nullifying a federal program designed to gain control over local communities. Castle Rock, a community of 55,000 people in central Colorado, recently decided to refuse funds from the federal government’s Department of Housing and Urban…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 20, 2016) – A bill prefiled for the 2017 legislative session would direct the state to refuse to enforce any foreign law that conflicts with U.S. or Kentucky constitutions, nullifying such laws in effect in the commonwealth. Rep. Kim King (R-Harrodsburg) prefiled BR149 on Sept. 14. The legislation would specifically direct state…
We usually think of the American Revolution as the war with the British. But there was an even more fundamental revolution that began long before the first shot was fired – a revolution in political thought. I talk about it in this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head. In an 1818 letter to Hezekiah Niles,…
TRENTON, N.J. (Sept. 19, 2016) – Last Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a measure expanding the state’s medical marijuana law, further nullifying federal prohibition in practice. A coalition of representatives introduced Assembly Bill 457 (A457) in January. The the new law adds post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of debilitating medical conditions…
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