Tenth Amendment Remembered

...from Tenth Amendment Center COLUMBIA , S.C. (Dec. 21, 2017) – A bill prefiled in the South Carolina House would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to minimize the policing for profit motive and would partially close a loophole that allows state and local police to circumvent more strict state forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the feds. Rep. Cezar McKnight (D-Williamsburg) prefiled House Bill 4518 ( H.4518 ) for the 2018 legislative session. The bill would require proceeds from asset forfeitures to go into the general fund for disbursement to certain school districts. It would also prohibit the transfer of seized assets from state law enforcement agencies to federal agencies without a court order. According to the Institute for Justice, law enforcement agencies in South Carolina get to keep up to 95 percent of forfeiture proceeds, with 75 percent going to police agencies and 20 percent to prosecutors. This creates a powerful incentive for police to pursue for...

...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. Before today’s big update – a handful of important videos and a short article – a quick reminder: TAC is in the middle of an absolutely crucial time – and we need your help to continue the strong momentum we’ve built in the last 3 years. As I type this,  we’re already at almost 80% of our fundraising goal for the end of the year. Will you help push us over the top?   You can do that here:  http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/donate Now, on to today’s update. Although we  emailed you last Friday about Bill of Rights Day , the following day was another incredibly important one in American history: The  Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party . Unfortunately, modern historians have not done a good job on that event, almost treat...

...from Tenth Amendment Center Testimony offered before the N.C. Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT) earlier this month revealed the culpability of state and local officials in a program of extraordinary rendition and torture. Knowing how states helped facilitate torture opens the door to take steps to keep it from happening again. On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, the 11-member panel heard testimony from victims, former interrogators, religious leaders, and others on the North Carolina’s role in the CIA’s post-9/11 rendition, detention, and interrogation program. It’s hard to fathom that the federal government needed state or local support to run a worldwide detention and torture program. But as Just Security reported , state and local support was vital. Testimony from  The Rendition Project  before the NCCIT revealed that North Carolina-based Aero Contractors, Ltd. operated two aircraft N379P and N313P which conducted more than 80 percent of the government’s ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center PHOENIX , Ariz. (Dec. 20, 2017) – A bill pre-filed in the Arizona House would decriminalize marijuana possession. Passage into law during the 2018 legislative session would take another step toward further nullifying federal cannabis prohibition in effect in the state. Rep. Mark Cardenas (D-Phoenix) prefiled House Bill 2014 ( HB2014 ) for the 2018 legislative session. The legislation would eliminate criminal penalties for simple marijuana possession by making any offense “involving an amount of marijuana not possessed for sale having a weight of less than one ounce is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars.” Additionally, subsequent penalties would also be reduced for serious marijuana possession and distribution if HB2014 were passed. “I don’t believe [small time marijuana users] should go away to prison and face hefty fines and possibly have their civil rights taken away,” Cardenas said, according to a Marijuana.com report ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center COLUMBIA , S.C. (Dec. 19, 2017) –  A bill prefiled in the South Carolina House would create a joint legislative committee to evaluate the constitutionality of federal laws, setting the stage to take further action to nullify unconstitutional federal acts in effect. Rep. Gary Smith (R-Greenville) prefiled House Bill 4453 ( H.4453 ) for introduction in the 2018 legislative session. The proposed law would create the Joint Committee on Federalism to evaluate whether or not a federal law is authorized by the Constitution, or if it violates “the principle of federalism.” The bill lays out several specific criteria that would constitute a violation of the principle of federalism. (1)    affecting the distribution of power and responsibility among the state and national government; (2)    limiting the policymaking discretion of the state; (3)    impacting a power or a right reserved to the state or its citizens by the Uni...

...from Tenth Amendment Center ALBANY , NY. (Dec. 19, 2017) – A bill introduced in the New York Senate would decriminalize marijuana possession. Passage into law would take another step toward nullifying federal cannabis prohibition in effect in the state. Introduced by Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx), Senate Bill 7013 ( S7013 ) would “ensure that laws are enforced equally and fairly and do not result in a disparate impact on people because of their race or ethnicity” by making “unlawful possession of marihuana… a violation punishable only by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.” Criminal possession of larger amounts of marijuana would still be prosecuted under the bill. “We have all acknowledged that these marijuana possession arrests were unjust and discriminatory, but we must also act to repair the harm that’s been done. We can no longer stand by while ineffective and failed drug policies continue to unnecessarily burden our families and communities,” Rivera said, accordin...

...from Tenth Amendment Center Today in 1753, John Taylor of Caroline, Thomas Jefferson’s most prominent promoter and an under-appreciated member of the founding generation, was born. Among other accomplishments, Taylor was a prolific political writer, served in the Continental Army, and became a state representative and United States Senator from Virginia. He was an unwavering advocate of federalism, and considered himself a Virginian above all else. According to historian Clyde Wilson, he was “the systematic philosopher” of Jeffersonian political principles in the early republic. Deeply distrustful of federal power, Taylor devoted his political energies to thwart the plans of the Federalists in the 1790s. The sponsor of the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 in the Virginia House of Delegates, Taylor successfully lobbied to adopt a set of resolutions authored by James Madison, which would permit the state to “interpose” against unconstitutional federal laws, such as the Sedition Act, t...