.

.

Tenth Amendment Center: The Roller Coaster Ride of Legislative Activism

...from Tenth Amendment Center
Working a bill through the legislative process can be an emotional roller coaster ride. One minute you’re thinking its dead. The next day you find out it passed out of a committee. You get word the opposition is going to attach an awful amendment. But then the amendment gets voted down. You listen to committee…
Mike Maharrey
September 11, 2017 at 10:12AM

Popular posts from this blog

Tenth Amendment Center: Permission not Required: “Constitutional Carry” Bill Introduced in South Dakota

Image
...from Tenth Amendment Center PIERRE , S.D. (Jan. 11, 2019) – A “Constitutional Carry” bill introduced in the South Dakota House would make it legal to carry a firearm without a license in the state, fostering an environment hostile to federal gun control. Sen. Lance Russell (R-Hot Springs) introduced Senate Bill 38 ( SB38 ) on Jan. 6, with eight cosponsors from both chambers. The bill seeks to repeal numerous sections of state law requiring state residents to have a license in order to carry a concealed weapon, while still allowing county sheriffs to issue permits. Under current state law , residents are required to have a conceal carry license to have a weapon in their vehicle. Former Gov. Dennis Daugaard rejected similar measures in the past, but with the election of Kristi Noem, supporters hope the legislation can be signed into law this time around. Gun shop owner Brandon Maddox told news station KSFY that a concealed carry permit is redundant. “I think that the secon...
Read more

Tenth Amendment Center: Rhode Island Bill Would Limit ALPR Use, Help Block National License Plate Tracking Program

Image
...from Tenth Amendment Center PROVIDENCE , R.I. (Jan. 10, 2019) – A bill introduced in the Rhode Island House would prohibit “roadway surveillance,” including the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) without a warrant in most situations. Passage into law would also place significant roadblocks in the way of a federal program using states to help track the location of millions of everyday people through pictures of their license plates. A coalition of four Democrats introduced House Bill 5042 ( H5042 ) on Jan. 9. The legislation would prohibit “roadway surveillance” and bar police from using  ALPRs   unless “undertaken by law enforcement in the investigation of a particular violation, misdemeanor, or felony pursuant to a warrant or court order based on probable cause.” H5402 defines “roadway surveillance” as: “The act of determining the ownership of a motor vehicle or the identity of a motor vehicle’s occupants on the public roadways of the stat...
Read more

Tenth Amendment Center: Does Impeachment Require a Crime?

Image
...from Tenth Amendment Center Popular commentary is suddenly awash with articles claiming that impeachment (and conviction and removal from office) do not require proof of a crime. Examples include Ezra Klein at Vox ( “High Crimes and Misdemeanors,” explained ), Elizabeth Drew in USA Today ( You don’t have to break a law to be impeached. Trump’s defenders need a better argument ) and Frank Bowman in The Atlantic ( The Common Misconception About ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’ ).  What’s notable from an originalist perspective is how originalist these articles are. Drew, for example, writes that “the Founders left enough guidance to make it clear that an impeachable or convictable offense need not be a crime.”  Professor Bowman (Missouri), after nine paragraphs on pre-drafting English history (going back to 1376) and the drafting and ratifying debates, concludes that “one point on which the founding generation would have been clear was that ‘high Crimes and Misdemeanors’ w...
Read more