bill of rights

L.A. County Sheriff Awards Carry Permits to Friends, Donors

"Public records show Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who is known for being stingy with concealed-weapons permits in an anti-gun jurisdiction, may be giving out permits disproportionately to his friends and political supporters and donors. L.A. Weekly obtained public records for all of the 341 active concealed-weapons permits in addition to the 123 applications for permits that were denied over the last 18 months. The records show that of all the people who were denied a permit, only one had contributed to Baca. Baca's friends and campaign donors disproportionately make up the list of those who have active permits." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingL.A. County Sheriff Awards Carry Permits to Friends, Donors

Repealing the Anti-gun ObamaCare Law

"Seventy-three percent of the American public don’t want to be straddled with the onerous requirements imposed by this law. To be sure, gun owners have opposed ObamaCare since its inception, given that a national health database could be used by federal bureaucrats to disarm millions of law-abiding Americans. The use of medical data has already been used to disarm gun owners in New York -- and has led to more than 150,000 military veterans losing their gun rights for ailments such as PTSD. Well now, Congress has a wonderful opportunity to do away with this law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRepealing the Anti-gun ObamaCare Law

Illinois illegally seizes bees resistant to Roundup; kills remaining queens [2012]

"The Illinois Ag Dept. illegally seized privately owned bees from renowned naturalist, Terrence Ingram, without providing him with a search warrant and before the court hearing on the matter. Behind the obvious violations of his Constitutional rights is Monsanto. Ingram was researching Roundup’s effects on bees, which he’s raised for 58 years. 'They ruined 15 years of my research,' he told Prairie Advocate, by stealing most of his stock. Of note, Illinois beekeepers are going underground after Ingram’s experience and refuse to register their hives, in case the state tries to steal their private property on phony claims." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIllinois illegally seizes bees resistant to Roundup; kills remaining queens [2012]

Hawaiian cannabis minister allowed to use religious defense

"The 64-year-old Christie has been in the Honolulu Federal Detention Center since he and 13 other Big Island residents, including Share Christie, were arrested by federal agents on July 8, 2010. All were charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 284 marijuana plants, which carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years and a maximum of 40 years if they’re convicted. The others were granted bail, but U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang ordered Christie held without bail, calling him 'a danger to the community.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHawaiian cannabis minister allowed to use religious defense

Ohio Attorney General rejects ballot measure to legalize marijuana

"A ballot measure that would legalize marijuana in Ohio was rejected on Monday by the state’s attorney general, who said the petition was not ' fair and truthful.' The group Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis collected enough signatures to submit the ballot measure to Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine’s office for approval. The ballot measure would have allowed voters in Ohio to approve or reject the End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act in the next election." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOhio Attorney General rejects ballot measure to legalize marijuana

Not Speedy + Not Public = Not Legal

"Colonel Denise Lind, 'judge' of the court martial of PFC Bradley Manning, infamously and illegally ruled that the US government could proceed with its show trial despite the fact that it had held Manning for more than four times the absolute legal maximum time prior to arraigning him. Then she infamously and illegally ruled that the government could change the charges and introduce new witnesses after both prosecution and defense had rested. Now, she has infamously and illegally overruled the defense’s objections to the use of illegal secret testimony against Manning. Question: If Manning isn’t allowed to violate the law, why is Lind?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNot Speedy + Not Public = Not Legal

CIA stops denials and admits it had file on Noam Chomsky

"After issuing years of denials, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has revealed that it kept a file on MIT professor Noam Chomsky dating back to his days as an anti-war activist in the 1970s. According to John Hudson of Foreign Policy magazine’s The Cable blog, a public records request by FOIA attorney Ken McClanahan turned up a memo referring to the file, leading to the realization that a file must have existed although it had since been purged from the record. By whom, when and at whose orders the file was destroyed is still a mystery. Chomsky told the Cable that he isn’t surprised by the revelations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA stops denials and admits it had file on Noam Chomsky

Judge Upholds Suit Against Feds Who Arrested Former Marine For Facebook Posts

"On August 16, 2012, Raub was visited by local police, FBI agents and Secret Service personnel who questioned him about his Facebook posts. Raub was cooperative and discussed his activity with the officers, despite their not having a warrant. At some point, one of the agents made a call to Michael Campbell, a psychotherapist retained by the county who decided, despite having never met or observed Raub, that the former Marine was 'potentially dangerous' and should be detained. At that point, the collected officers cuffed Raub and took him to the local jail before having him committed to the mental hospital." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Upholds Suit Against Feds Who Arrested Former Marine For Facebook Posts

New York Mayor Bloomberg to appeal ruling that blocked stop-and-frisk policy

"New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday said he would appeal a federal judge’s ruling that the police department’s 'stop and frisk' crime-fighting tactics violate constitutional rights. Bloomberg remained firm in his argument that the practice drove down the city’s crime rate, saying, 'The possibility of being stopped acts as a vital deterrent.' His administration plans to ask for a stay of the judge’s order until the appeal is heard, officials told a press conference." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Mayor Bloomberg to appeal ruling that blocked stop-and-frisk policy

NYPD’s ‘Stop and frisk’ tactics ruled unconstitutional by federal judge

"A federal judge has ruled that the New York City Police Department’s heavily-criticized 'stop and frisk' approach to crimefighting is unconstitutional, the New York Times reported on Monday. The ruling by Judge Shira A. Scheindlin is the latest blow to the policy, which data suggests has not been effective in actually preventing shootings in the city while being decried for targeting Black and Latino men almost exclusively. Commissioner Ray Kelly had defended the policy, calling it 'a fact of urban life' in an August 2012 interview with a radio program geared toward teenagers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD’s ‘Stop and frisk’ tactics ruled unconstitutional by federal judge