Tenth Amendment Remembered

...from Tenth Amendment Center CONCORD , N.H. (Nov. 30, 2017) – A bill prefiled in the New Hampshire House would ban sobriety checkpoints in the state. The law would not only end constitutionally dubious “searches” in New Hampshire, it would also thwart federal programs that heavily influence state traffic laws. A coalition of five representatives prefiled House Bill 1283 ( HB1283 ) for the 2018 legislative session. The legislation would ban l aw enforcement agencies in New Hampshire from conducting sobriety checkpoints. Under current law, police can set up sobriety checkpoints as long as they get court orders authorizing them. HB1283 would place a blanket prohibition on sobriety checkpoints. Although courts have deemed sobriety checkpoints constitutional, they violate the plain reading of Article 19 of the New Hampshire Constitution which guarantees the right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers, and all his possessions, ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center In the on-going debate over who now heads the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the focus has been on whether the statute establishing the CFPB (the Dodd-Frank Act) overrides the Vacancy Reform Act (VRA).  (Marty Lederman has a good discussion  here ).  The debate highlights a broader point about textualism (and, by extension, originalism). Dodd-Frank says that the Deputy Director of the CFPB “shall . . . serve as acting Director in the absence or unavailability of the Director.”   The VRA says that  in the case of a vacancy in an office for which Senate advice and consent is required (which includes the Director of the CFPB) “the first assistant to the office of such officer shall perform the functions and duties of the office temporarily in an acting capacity” but also that “notwithstanding [the prior provision], the President (and only the President) may direct a person who serves in an of...

...from Tenth Amendment Center The middle class is not getting tax relief under the GOP tax plan currently under consideration. It’s getting big government on a credit card. This is yet another indication that the size and scope of the federal government never shrinks, no matter which party controls Washington D.C. Here’s a fun fact. Did you know  virtually all of the individual tax cuts in the Senate version of tax reform are temporary ? Indeed, what the Senate giveth, it also taketh away. Most of the tax cuts for individuals would expire in 2026 under the Senate plan. So what’s the reasoning behind sunsetting the tax cuts? Under Senate rules, any bill adding more than $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years must pass the Senate by 60 votes. Republicans have to keep their plan under that figure to have any chance at passing it. They don’t have 60 votes. By allowing the individual tax cuts to expire within that 10-year window, the total deficit increase comes in...

...from Tenth Amendment Center LANSING , Mich. (Nov. 29, 2017) – Yesterday, I testified before the Michigan House Committee on Judiciary in support of a bill that would ban “material support or resources” for warrantless federal surveillance programs, an essential step for states to take in a time when the federal government seems unlikely to ever end their own spying. Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-Troy) introduced House Bill 4430 ( HB4430 ) on March 28. The legislation would prohibit the state and its political subdivisions from assisting, participating with, or providing “material support or resources, to a federal agency to enable it to collect, or to facilitate in the collection or use of a person’s electronic data” unless one of three conditions apply: (a) The person has given informed consent. (b) The action is pursuant to a warrant that is based upon probable cause and particularly describes the person, place, or thing to be searched or seized. (c) The action is in accorda...

...from Tenth Amendment Center by Michael F. Cannon, CATO Institute President Trump has nominated Alex Azar to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Azar will appear for questioning before (and sermonizing by) members of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Here are 14 questions I would ask Azar at his confirmation hearings. Is Congress a  small business  as that term is defined in the Affordable Care Act? Colette Briggs is a four-year-old girl with aggressive leukemia who is about to  lose coverage  for the one hospital within a hundred miles that can deliver her chemotherapy. She’s losing that coverage because insurance companies are fleeing the Exchanges. What do you plan to do, what can HHS do, about this problem? What will you do to prevent drug manufacturers from using the regulatory process to corner the market on certain drugs so they can gouge consumers and taxpayers? HHS already publishes data on Exchange pre...

...from Tenth Amendment Center According to a recent Fox News report , it appears increasingly likely Congress will have enough bipartisan support to push through “common sense” federal gun control legislation in 2018. If this happens, state action can effectively nullify these federal gun laws and render them ineffectual. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have crafted legislation to make federal background checks more robust. The measure would strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to ensure all mandated background check information is uploaded. “For years agencies and states haven’t complied with the law, failing to upload these critical records without consequence,” Cornyn said in a statement. “Just one record that’s not properly reported can lead to tragedy, as the country saw last week in Sutherland Springs, Texas. This bill aims to help fix what’s become a nationwide, systemic problem so we can better prevent criminals and...

...from Tenth Amendment Center It is often suggested that as soon as the Supreme Court weighs in on a particular issue, it can no longer be revisited and whatever opinion is rendered must be treated as an eternally binding edict. If one adopts to this position, they must then accept the following: that free blacks are not citizens and thus have no legal protections (see Scott v. Sandford), that individuals are subject to the regularly power of the federal government if they personally grow a surplus of whe at (see Wickard v. Filburn), that the president can unilaterally gather individuals based on their ancestry and send them to government internment camps without respect to due process (see Korematsu v. United States), among other absurdities. On the contrary, the Supreme Court often gets things wrong, both morally and constitutionally. In such cases, the judiciary’s pernicious decrees should be treated as nothing more than idle blather – and actively resisted by the states and p...

...from Tenth Amendment Center This article is featured in is today’s Tenther newsletter, which everyone in the nullification movement gets daily or weekly.  Be one of them  – and Become a member here to support the TAC. 250 years ago, John Dickinson, “ The Penman of the Revolution ,” wrote twelve “ Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania ” in response to the hated Townshend Acts. In his first, he spent time discussing the last of the acts, the New York Restraining Act, which was punishment for the Assembly of New York, suspending its legislative powers for failing to fully comply with orders from the crown. If the parliament may lawfully deprive New York of any of her rights, it may deprive any, or all the other colonies of their rights; and nothing can possibly so much encourage such attempts, as a mutual inattention to the interests of each other. To divide, and thus to destroy, is the first political maxim in attacking those, who are powerful by their union. He...

...from Tenth Amendment Center This blog is featured in today’s Tenther newsletter, which everyone in the nullification movement gets daily or weekly.  Be one of them  – and  Become a member here  to support the TAC. 7 lies? It took me just moments to come up with these.  That means there are way more than seven. Even though there are few tough ones, I’m pretty sure you can smash these lies as easily as I can. (1) The Constitution’s “general Welfare” clause means Congress can pass whatever it wants to supposedly “help” people around the country. (2) A President is authorized to get involved in a foreign war without authorization from Congress, as long as it’s for no more than 60 days. (3) Nullification is code word for “supporting slavery.” (4) The government can conduct surveillance on anyone as long as they are doing so to protect “national security.” (5) States are required to help the federal government enforce or enact federal “laws” or regulatory ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center TAC  memberships  help us produce more educational tools like this. JOIN TAC , help us stand for the Constitution and liberty! It’s Thanksgiving and I wanted to take a few minutes to give thanks. First, the countless people who follow our website and support our work. They’ve subscribed, read, watched, engaged in comments, and sent us emails. Many have helped us grow by sharing our articles, podcasts and videos. Others have donated their hard-earned money and many others make monthly donations to help us keep moving forward. Our members, supporters, followers, subscribers – I can’t say thank you enough to each and every one of you. It just isn’t possible to do this without you. Thank you. Our social media channels have grown enormously – over 300,000 followers on facebook, with thousands more on twitter, youtube and instagram too. On all these sites, people have liked, commented and shared our posts, and have taken no small part in our ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center Here’s to more liberty for you and your loved ones in 2018 and beyond. Michael Boldin November 22, 2017 at 06:04PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center PROVIDENCE , N.H. (Nov. 21, 2017) – A bill pre-filed in the New Hampshire House would require courts to fully inform juries of their right to vote “not guilty” when “a guilty verdict will yield an unjust result.” A coalition of eight representatives pre-filed House Bill 1443 ( HB1443 ) for the 2018 legislative session. The legislation would amend the current jury instruction law and require the court to explain to the jury it has the right to acquit if they believe a guilty verdict would be unjust. State law, RSA 519:23-a, currently reads, “In all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.” If passed into law, HB1443 would amend this section to read: “At the request of the defendant or the defendant’s attorney, the court shall instruct the jury as follows:  If you have a reasonable doubt as to whether...

...from Tenth Amendment Center Yesterday in 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, a speech commonly considered one of the most recognized and commonly recited pieces of English text. Truthfully, Lincoln’s oratory served as an erroneous reinvention of the union that conflicted greatly with the widespread understanding reached during the time of the founding generation. While Lincoln declared that in 1776 our fathers “brought forth a new nation,” they did not. In reality, no union of states existed until the Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781. That union was rearranged in 1788, through the Constitution’s ratification by nine requisite member states. In 1776, independence was declared as a common cause of the states, and the Declaration of Independence noted that “Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of righ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center Everybody loves a good party, right? But I have to say, political parties are no fun! The other day, a friend was bemoaning the fact that the Republicans might lose the Senate next year thanks to the sex scandal involving Alabama senatorial candidate Roy Moore. I said, “Oh no! That means the Senate might not… Mike Maharrey November 20, 2017 at 03:49PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center What are the most common myths about the Constitution? From the necessary and proper, general Welfare and commerce clauses, to the preamble, federal “supremacy” and more – there are a lot to choose from. The hardest part about putting this list together was keeping it to just the top-five. For your reference, you’ll also find 11 responses to these myths – articles, videos and an in-depth podcast interview, too. 5. Commerce “ The Constitution gives Congress broad power to regulate activities that have an effect on interstate commerce.” -Nancy Pelosi (2009) Remember when the Commerce Clause challenge to the individual insurance mandate was dismissed by all serious and knowledgeable constitutional law professors and Pelosi as “frivolous”? “Are you serious?” Nancy didn’t even want to answer a question about the Constitution. Here’s how James Madison described the Commerce Clause: it “was intended as a negative and preventative provision against inju...

...from Tenth Amendment Center by Ted Galen Carpenter, CATO Institute Equating mere allegations of misconduct with definitive evidence is a growing habit in the United States.  That tendency is most prevalent regarding national security matters, and the trend has been building since the onset of the so-called war on terror following the 9-11 attacks.   Conservatives are especially prone to assert that “ terrorists ” are not entitled to constitutional rights, even if they are American citizens.  The obvious problem with that argument is that until a fair and impartial trial is held, the individuals in question are merely  accused  terrorists.  The whole point of due process is to determine whether a defendant is guilty or not. Alarmingly, George W. Bush’s administration asserted the authority to jail suspected terrorists without trial or even a hearing before an independent tribunal.  In the case of Jose Padilla, an American citizen apprehended at ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center On Nov. 1, I spoke to the Oakland County, Mich. Campaign for Liberty meeting via Skype to talk about the power of local activism. I followed a call-in by Ron Paul, so I definitely had to be on my A-game! I think I at least held my own. The discussion centered on local activism I’m engaged in working to increase oversight and transparency for government surveillance programs in Lexington, Ky. I explained the work I’m doing and how I got involved, and I also filled the audience in on the lawsuit the city filed against me over an open records request. But the thrust of my message focused on the importance and power of local activism. “I really think that’s where we’re going to make a difference. I have very little faith that we’re going to change Washington D.C. I have a little bit of faith we might be able to change Lansing or Frankfort, Kentucky. But I know we can do big things at the local level and those will grow together and push their way up th...

...from Tenth Amendment Center TAC memberships  help us produce more educational tools like this. Members can download this video and read the full transcript here . General warrants – the ability to search your stuff for any reason – were a big reason for the American Revolution. FOLLOW TAC: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TenthAmendmentCenter RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tacdailydigest Twitter: http://twitter.com/tenthamendment Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tenthamendmentcenter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenthamendmentcenter/ Email Newsletter: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/register Become a Member: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/members/ Michael Boldin November 17, 2017 at 12:17PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center Does an “American tradition exist? And if so, what does it entail?  The great Tom Fleming at the Fleming Foundation posted several paragraphs on social media over last several days about tradition. This was a Socratic exercise in finding value to words such as “conservative” or “traditionalist.” Dr. Fleming argued that “conservative” has no meaning in modern politics and that the “ism” or “ist” attached to “tradition” hijacks the importance of the word. In short, tradition, real tradition, cannot be an ideology. This is an undeniable truth. Tradition cannot be held as a belief system where “the past is good, so long live the past,” for as Fleming points out every tradition has its less than savory aspects. Livy’s contention that history was “the best medicine for a sick mind” concedes that all traditions have their avoidable elements. But wholesale rejection of tradition presents an entirely different and more dangerous situation, one that leads ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center A proposal to expand federal regulation of electric power rates is largely unconstitutional. On Sept. 28, 2017, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz proposed new rulemaking to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Under the authority granted the secretary under the Department of Energy Organization Act, RM18-1-000, he proposes that the FERC should use its authorities under the Federal Power Act (FPA) sections 205 and 206 to assure that “reliability and resilience of the electric generation resources are fully valued.” FPA’s sections 205 and 206 would grant the FERC the ability to regulate the rates of independent system operators (ISOs, operators of organizations that provide interstate transmission of electricity) and of regional transmission organizations (RTOs, operators of the transmission lines that allow ISOs to transmit power across state lines). The secretary says that under existing regulations, those assets may not be fully ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center ATLANTA , Ga. (Nov. 16, 2017) – Last month, the Atlanta City Council unanimously voted to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana within the city limits, a step toward effectively nullifying prohibition in practice. Councilman Kwanza Hall sponsored the ordinance. The legislation reduces the penalty for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana to a $75 fine. Instead of taking people caught with an ounce or less of marijuana to jail, Atlanta police will simply issue a citation. Hall said enforcement of stringent marijuana laws has caused significant harm. “It has ruined lives. It has caused students to lose their scholarships.It has torn families apart. It’s made people unemployable, in our city, in our state, in our nation.” On Oct. 2, the council approved the ordinance by a 15-0 vote. The ordinance only applies within the Atlanta city limits. State law imposes much harsher penalties for misdemeanor marijuana possession, with a 6-mo...

...from Tenth Amendment Center Would the proposed Constitution create the limited federal government promised? That was the central question facing the ratifying conventions as America considered adopting the new Constitution. Those in favor of ratification swore it would. But many remained skeptical, arguing that the new general government would undoubtedly try to expand its power and that the Constitution would not sufficiently restrain it. It only took a decade for the federal government to prove the anti-federalists right. During the summer of 1798, Congress passed, and President John Adams signed into law, four acts together known as the Alien and Sedition Acts . With winds of war blowing across the Atlantic, the Federalist Party majority wrote the laws to prevent “seditious” acts from weakening the U.S. government. Federalists utilized fear of the French to stir up support for these draconian laws, expanding federal power, concentrating authority in the executive branch and ...