Amendment

John Kerry Says First Amendment is a Major Roadblock for Government

Breaking Local News Report0

Former Secretary of State John Kerry has drawn attention with remarks that some critics interpret as a critique of the First Amendment and its protections of free speech. During a recent discussion, Kerry voiced concerns about the role of social media in shaping public discourse and the challenges it creates for democratic governance. Kerry lamented the difficulty of building consensus in today’s political climate, attributing much of the problem to the decline of traditional fact-checking institutions and the rise of self-selected media consumption. “The referees we used to have to determine what’s a fact and what isn’t a fact, they’ve

Read more

Missouri is Suing New York Over First Amendment Right to Vote for President

Op-ed Contributor0

NEW YORK — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed a lawsuit against the state of New York, claiming that the sentencing of former President Donald Trump violates Missourians’ First Amendment right to hear from a presidential candidate in the 2024 election. Bailey argues that the legal actions taken against Trump undermine his ability to campaign for president, thereby preventing Missourians from casting a fully informed vote. He has called on the Supreme Court to exercise its original jurisdiction under Article III, Section II of the Constitution to resolve the legal dispute between Missouri and New York. “We’re going to

Read more

‘I’m Not Gonna Be Able’: Former Biden Official Stumped When GOP Rep Asks Him To Explain ‘Tenets’ Of First Amendment

The Daily Caller0

Former White House Director of Digital Strategy Robert Flaherty on Wednesday was unable to state the “five tenets of the First Amendment” when Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack asked him at a hearing on government censorship. Flaherty joined President Joe Biden’s White House in Jan. 2021, and was involved in efforts to influence social media companies to censor certain viewpoints, particularly on issues of COVID-19 and vaccinations. Flaherty said he is familiar with the First Amendment, but could not recall the five tenets, which are “freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition,” according to United States Courts. WATCH:  “Can you please outline

Read more

Trump, Codefendants Seek Review Of Judge’s Decision Not To Dismiss Georgia Case Based On First Amendment

The Daily Caller0

Trump and his co-defendants are seeking to review a judge’s decision not to dismiss their Georgia racketeering case based on the First Amendment. Judge Scott McAfee denied last week Trump’s bid to dismiss the case based on the argument that the indictment “directly targets core protected political speech and activity” in violation of the First Amendment, finding that the state “alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature.” Defendants asked McAfee to grant a certificate of immediate review allowing them to appeal his ruling because their challenges would “bar virtually every count of the Indictment against virtually every Defendant” if

Read more

Judge Declines Trump’s Bid To Toss Georgia Charges Based On First Amendment

The Daily Caller0

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Georgia racketeering case declined Thursday to dismiss charges based on the First Amendment. Trump’s attorneys argued in a December motion that the indictment “directly targets core protected political speech and activity,” urging the judge to dismiss the charges as violations of the First Amendment. But Judge Scott McAfee found that the state “alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature,” writing that the defendants did not find “any authority that the speech and conduct alleged is protected political speech.” “Although the Defendants characterize the relevant speech or actions as petitions to Congress

Read more

Red State Supreme Court Orders Abortion Amendment Be Placed On Ballot In November

The Daily Caller0

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday that an abortion amendment can be placed on the ballot in November. The amendment states that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider,” and was submitted by Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF). Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argued in October 2023 that the amendment’s language did not “satisfy the legal requirements,” but the state’s Supreme Court disagreed, saying that there was no “basis” to conclude that the amendment should not be placed on the ballot.

Read more

New Jersey Continues its Battle Against the Second Amendment

Conservative Times0

New Jersey Unveils Dashboard and “Gun Free Zone” Decals in Response to Increased Gun Permits TRENTON, NJ — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, alongside the Office of Justice Data, has announced the release of a new dashboard summarizing handgun permit applications across New Jersey. This initiative aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state’s firearms permit landscape, enhancing transparency and public safety. “As we continue to adjust to the reality we face after the Bruen decision and fight against the consistent attacks from the gun lobby to undermine commonsense gun safety legislation, our mission is to make New Jersey

Read more

New VA Funding Bill Includes Provision To Protect Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

The Daily Caller0

New VA Funding Bill Includes Provision To Protect Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights Micaela Burrow on March 4, 2024 Congress’ funding deal unveiled Sunday night overturns a longstanding “discriminatory” policy that Republican opponents said could restrict veterans’ Second Amendment rights. The provision included in the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024 bans the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) from submitting veterans’ names to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check without a judge’s consent. House Republicans argue without the provision, veterans who need help with their finances but do not pose a threat could

Read more

Florida top court weighs letting voters decide abortion rights amendment

Reuters0

By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) – Florida’s attorney general on Wednesday urged the state’s highest court to block voters from deciding whether to amend the state constitution to protect abortion, arguing the measure was misleading and unclear. Nathan Forrester, a lawyer for Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, told the seven justices of the Florida Supreme Court that the amendment is a “Rorschach test.” He said it would effectively eliminate the state’s authority to regulate abortion, but that some voters might not realize how broad it was. The proposed amendment, which last month gathered enough signatures to be put on the ballot

Read more

Hunter Biden not protected from gun charges by Second Amendment, DOJ argues

Reuters0

By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden posed a threat to public safety and cannot rely on his constitutional right to a firearm to avoid prosecution for federal gun charges, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a court filing on Tuesday. Hunter Biden’s legal team has misinterpreted U.S. Supreme Court guidance by arguing there is no historical precedent for preventing people with a history of substance abuse from possessing guns, the DOJ said. “Anglo-American law has long recognized that the government may disarm those who, by their conduct or characteristics, present an increased

Read more

Free Speech Advocates Aren’t Buying University Presidents’ Sudden Affinity For The First Amendment

The Daily Caller0

Free Speech Advocates Aren’t Buying University Presidents’ Sudden Affinity For The First Amendment Brandon Poulter on December 8, 2023 Elite university presidents invoked the principles of free speech at a congressional hearing about antisemitism Tuesday, but free speech advocates say they aren’t convinced they’ll follow through on their commitments, they told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Harvard President Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth appealed to free speech principles when refusing to say if calling for the genocide of Jews constituted their colleges’ codes of conduct at a

Read more

ALAN DERSHOWITZ: Does The First Amendment Protect Anti-Israel Protests?

The Daily Caller0

ALAN DERSHOWITZ: Does The First Amendment Protect Anti-Israel Protests? Alan M. Dershowitz on November 13, 2023 The virulent anti-Israel protests on campuses and on the streets have once again raised the question of whether there are limits to freedom of speech. This age-old question recurs every time protests become dangerous and raise the possibility of violence. The Supreme Court of the United States has tried hard over the last century to draw the line between protected speech and unprotected incitement to violence. Current law protects advocacy of violence, but not immediate incitement to violence. This line is anything but clear. As

Read more

‘The First Amendment Is Done’: Tucker Sits Down With Internet Troll Convicted For 2016 Election Meme

The Daily Caller0

‘The First Amendment Is Done’: Tucker Sits Down With Internet Troll Convicted For 2016 Election Meme Harold Hutchison on November 9, 2023 Douglass Mackey spoke with Tucker Carlson prior to the start of his prison sentence over posting memes in an episode released Thursday. A federal jury convicted Mackey for conspiring to deprive people of their right to vote over a meme he posted during the 2016 election in April. Mackey, who went by @RickyVaughn99 on Twitter, received a seven-month prison sentence Oct. 18. “The First Amendment is done,” Carlson, a co-founder of the Daily Caller and Daily Caller News

Read more

Senate Passes Joni Ernst Amendment Cracking Down On Federal Employees Abusing Telework

The Daily Caller0

Senate Passes Joni Ernst Amendment Cracking Down On Federal Employees Abusing Telework Harold Hutchison on October 31, 2023 The U.S. Senate passed an amendment by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa Tuesday to address abuses of telework by federal government employees, particularly within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Ernst previously called out abuses of telework, citing a media report of a VA employee who attended a staff meeting while taking a bubble bath. The amendment requires federal agencies funded by the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act to submit a report on telecommuting employees and steps

Read more

Second Amendment Lawsuit Asks Court to Resolve Magazine Ban in New Jersey

Phil Stilton0

TRENTON, NJ – A federal judge in California has ruled that magazine capacity limits are illegal and a violation of the Second Amendment. That decision is having a rippling effect in states like New Jersey that impose a ten round limit on all firearms magazine capacities. Intentionally misrepresented as a ‘high capacity magazine ban’, the New Jersey law is technically a ‘standard capacity magazine ban’ as most magazines sold nationwide can hold twenty and thirty rounds of ammunition. The ‘high capacity’ terminology was branded by politicians seeking mislead the public during the adoption of the ban. Today, the Association of

Read more

‘Pro-Censorship Agenda’: California Keeps Triggering Lawsuits Over Alleged First Amendment Violations

The Daily Caller0

‘Pro-Censorship Agenda’: California Keeps Triggering Lawsuits Over Alleged First Amendment Violations Jason Cohen on October 7, 2023 California has encountered multiple First Amendment challenges following the passage of several laws in late 2022 that mandated social media platforms and physicians to adhere to specific speech rules. Federal judges have issued temporary injunctions to temporarily block the implementation of two of the laws. “California appears committed to furthering a pro-censorship agenda in the name of protecting citizens’ safety,” Jenin Younes, litigation counsel at New Civil Liberties Alliance, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. California has faced several First Amendment challenges in response to multiple

Read more

Reagan-Appointed Federal Judge Rules Texas Drag Ban Violates First Amendment

The Daily Caller0

Reagan-Appointed Federal Judge Rules Texas Drag Ban Violates First Amendment Katelynn Richardson on September 26, 2023 A federal judge struck down Texas’ ban on drag performances Tuesday as a violation of the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge David Hittner, a Reagan-appointee, found that Texas’ law prohibiting “sexually oriented performances” on public property or in the presence of a minors “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed its lawsuit against the ban on behalf of LGBTQ+ rights advocates and drag queens on Aug. 2. “Not all people will like or condone

Read more

DEROY MURDOCK: Dems Abuse The 14th Amendment To Bar Trump From Ballots

The Daily Caller0

DEROY MURDOCK: Dems Abuse The 14th Amendment To Bar Trump From Ballots Deroy Murdock on September 10, 2023 As if the four previous prosecutorial cow pies that surround Donald J. Trump were not fetid enough, the U.S. Supreme Court soon will step into efforts to bar him from state ballots. Assorted Trumpophobes are abusing the Constitution to deny Americans the right to vote for or against DJT for president. Specifically, Section Three of the 14th Amendment disqualifies from high office certain individuals who “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [U.S. Constitution], or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” This legal theory

Read more

Elon Musk’s X Sues California Over Alleged First Amendment Violations

The Daily Caller0

Elon Musk’s X Sues California Over Alleged First Amendment Violations Jason Cohen on September 8, 2023 Elon Musk’s X Corp. sued California to block a law requiring social media companies to publish their content moderation policies, alleging it violates the First Amendment and coerces censorship. X, formerly known as Twitter, asserted that California’s Assembly Bill 587 infringes upon its freedom of speech under the First Amendment and California’s state constitution, according to court documents. The law mandates social media companies release reports on how they moderate issues including hate speech, extremism, disinformation and misinformation. However, the law would have “both

Read more

‘Best Imaginable First Amendment Case’: Legal Experts Throw Cold Water On Judges’ Attempts To Silence Trump

The Daily Caller0

‘Best Imaginable First Amendment Case’: Legal Experts Throw Cold Water On Judges’ Attempts To Silence Trump Jason Cohen on August 27, 2023 Former President Donald Trump may retain the ability to openly discuss the cases in which he is a defendant regardless of the restrictions judges have imposed on him, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Trump is facing four indictments, including in Georgia and Washington, D.C., pertaining to alleged 2020 election crimes, where judges have placed restrictions on his speech regarding the cases. However, it will be difficult to enforce the ordered limitations due to Trump’s presidential

Read more

Phil Murphy Continues War Against the Second Amendment in New Jersey

Phil Stilton0

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has been a vocal advocate for gun control since his inauguration in 2018. Citing public safety concerns and gun violence statistics, Murphy has pursued a series of legislative measures aimed at tightening New Jersey’s already-strict gun laws. But for Second Amendment advocates and many in the state who oppose these measures, Murphy’s actions appear to be more than just a safety initiative—they see it as an ideological endeavor aimed at reducing, if not eliminating, the feasibility of gun ownership in the Garden State. Murphy’s Legislative Moves One of Governor Murphy’s first actions upon taking office

Read more

Dems Seethe After Ballot Board Approves Amendment Language Changing ‘Fetus’ To ‘Unborn Child’

The Daily Caller0

Dems Seethe After Ballot Board Approves Amendment Language Changing ‘Fetus’ To ‘Unborn Child’ Kate Anderson on August 25, 2023 Democrats called out new language added to a proposed abortion amendment Thursday that changed the term “fetus” to an “unborn child,” according to the Ohio Capital Journal. The members of the Ohio Ballot Board, which include Secretary of State Frank LaRose, voted 3 to 2 to alter the previous version of the amendment from “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability” to new language that reads the state must “always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of

Read more

The Supreme Court Is Taking Another Major Second Amendment Case. Here’s What You Need To Know

The Daily Caller0

The Supreme Court Is Taking Another Major Second Amendment Case. Here’s What You Need To Know Katelynn Richardson on August 19, 2023 The Supreme Court will hear a case this coming term, United States v. Rahimi, that could have significant ramifications for Second Amendment law. The case centers on Zackey Rahimi — an individual who is “hardly a model citizen,” as the Fifth Circuit acknowledged while siding with him — and his constitutional challenge to the statute he was convicted under, which bars subjects of domestic violence restraining owners from possessing firearms. “The question is whether a restraining order achieved

Read more

‘Blowtorch To The First Amendment’: DOJ Backs Down From Effort To Block YouTuber From Publishing Gun Case Court Doc

The Daily Caller0

‘Blowtorch To The First Amendment’: DOJ Backs Down From Effort To Block YouTuber From Publishing Gun Case Court Doc Katelynn Richardson on August 14, 2023 The Department of Justice (DOJ) backed down Friday from its effort to block YouTuber and writer John Crump from distributing a confidential court document he obtained from the defendant in a gun case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor initially sought to require Crump to destroy any copies he obtained of a presentence report from the case of Auto Key Card owner Kristopher Justinboyer Ervin and YouTuber Matthew Hoover, who were found guilty in April

Read more

ALAN DERSHOWITZ: No, The 14th Amendment Can’t Disqualify Trump

The Daily Caller0

ALAN DERSHOWITZ: No, The 14th Amendment Can’t Disqualify Trump Alan M. Dershowitz on August 14, 2023 Several academics—including members of the conservative Federalist Society—are now arguing that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits Donald Trump from becoming president. They focus on the language that prohibits anyone who “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion…or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from holding “any office.” The amendment provides no mechanism for determining whether a candidate falls within this disqualification, though it says that “Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.” Significantly, the

Read more