"The Kentucky Senate joined the House in approving a hemp regulation bill last night. This morning, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released a statement applauding the bill's passage and promising to continue to push for a federal waiver from the Controlled Substances Act for future Kentucky hemp growers." Continue reading →
"Driving with hands on the wheel, arms extended, without passing other vehicles is not a crime in New York, a county judge ruled last week. St. Lawrence County Surrogate's Court Judge Kathleen Martin Rogers found the US Border Patrol had been wrong to stop Corene M. Deer and Rachel C. Morgan, who were driving carefully at around 8pm on January 18, 2012 in the town of Gouverneur. Agent Brandon Carrier spotted Deer and Morgan's white SUV and became suspicious when he saw the driver had more than one hand on the wheel and did not appear to be relaxed." Continue reading →
"Dayne Pryor is the chief of police in Rollingwood, Texas, a small suburb of Austin. 'I’ve been in law enforcement for 31 years and I’ve been a chief for eight years,' he sighs. 'And it’s just one of those things that I never thought I’d have a problem with, especially being in Texas.' Pryor’s problem, he explains to Salon, is that he’s having trouble finding ammunition and firearms for his officers, thanks to a national shortage. The cause? A run on supply from gun lovers afraid that Congress or state legislatures will impose new gun control laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting." Continue reading →
"New Hampshire is one step closer to becoming the 19th state to legalize medical marijuana. On Wednesday, the state House voted 286-64 to approve legislation that would allow patients with chronic or terminal diseases to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommended it. The bill allows for state-licensed marijuana dispensaries to open, and grants patients or caregivers the right to grow up to three cannabis plants." Continue reading →
"The move is an abrupt shift in New Hampshire, where just last year the legislature had considered a bill to send its entire male prison population to private prisons. The problems with private prisons are too numerous to spell out in full, but here are a few highlights. At its core, the entire private prison industry profits when people are imprisoned, meaning stricter drug and immigration laws produce larger profits. Private prison operators know this, and have spent more than $45 million on lobbying federal and state lawmakers over the past decade, including top Republicans influencing the immigration debate." Continue reading →
"Earlier this week, Reps. Jared Polis and Earl Blumenauer visited a marijuana dispensary. They were just blocks away from their congressional offices, and within months, certain D.C. residents will be able to come here to legally choose from more than a dozen strains of medical marijuana, from Master Kush to Blue Dream. The walls will be packed with vaporizers, water pipes, and pre-rolled joints. There will be THC lollipops, baked goods, and cookbooks. Just blocks away from the Capitol, it may soon become one of the most politically important marijuana distribution centers in the country." Continue reading →
"Call it the Rick Perry gold rush: The governor wants to bring the state's gold reserves back from a New York vault to Texas. And he may have legislative support to do it. Freshman Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, is carrying a bill that would establish the Texas Bullion Depository, a secure state-based bank to house $1 billion worth of gold bars owned by the University of Texas Investment Management Co., or UTIMCO, and stored by the Federal Reserve. Capriglione said the bill is not about putting Texas on its own gold standard. Rather, a depository would give the state a reputation as being more financially secure in the event of a financial crisis." Continue reading →
"The US Supreme Court sided Tuesday with a former Thai student who made $90,000 reselling text books bought abroad and sparked a copyright row with a publisher. Supap Kirtsaeng, who arrived in the United States in 1997 to study math at the University of Southern California on a scholarship, had asked his friends and family to buy the books, published by John Wiley & Sons, which were cheaper back home. John Wiley & Sons filed a complaint in 2008 alleging illegal importation and resale without the payment of exclusive distribution rights protected by copyright. Lower courts had sided with the publisher, imposing a $600,000 fine on Kirtsaeng." Continue reading →
"A bill that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in Maryland passed the state Senate Tuesday by a nearly two-to-one margin. The vote was 30-16. Senate Bill 297 would make possession of 10 grams (about a third of an ounce) or less a civil offense punishable by no more than a $100 fine. A state legislative fiscal and policy analysis of the bill estimated that it would result in small losses in fine revenues, small savings from decreases in the number of jail days, and would significantly reduce caseloads in the Office of the Public Defender. The bill now proceeds to the House, where it has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee." Continue reading →
"Including Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County, Colorado, 340 sheriffs have publicly stated they will not enforce gun laws they believe are unconstitutional. In response to the passage of two new gun control bills in Colorado last week, Sheriff John Cooke told the Greeley Tribune that he 'won't bother enforcing the laws.' Cooke is part of a growing list of sheriffs that have vowed to uphold the Constitution against gun control measures. At the time of this post, there are 15 sheriffs associations, 340 sheriffs, one police chief and one deputy sheriff who have stated they will not enforce any new gun laws." Continue reading →