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The United States is a relatively young country, but we have the oldest written national constitution. On this Constitution Day, we honor this incredible document, which has persisted for over two centuries and inspired a host of other constitutions around the world.

Today marks the 234th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. Our Constitution has endured for so long thanks to a combination of unique features. As I discussed last year, one of the most important features is the way the Constitution divides power both among the three branches of the federal government and between the federal government and the 50 states. Another key feature is its protection of individual rights. Several prominent members of the founding generation believed that no legitimate law of the land could exist without specific, written guarantees of individual liberties. Their conviction eventually inspired the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights begins with the First Amendment, which enshrines rights that are most fundamental to a free society, among them the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. By protecting these essential liberties, the First Amendment affirms the right of every citizen to worship God in accordance with his conscience and to freely speak his mind.

The Second Amendment, which recognizes the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, enables the American public to protect the rights spelled out in the First Amendment and in all the other amendments that come after it. As George Mason, one of the principal advocates for a federal bill of rights, explained in 1774, an armed and capable citizenry is necessary to protect our ancient laws and liberty from tyranny. Historys most brutal dictators all rose to power while presiding over unarmed subjects: neither Stalin, nor Hitler, nor Mao, faced significant armed civilian resistance. By guaranteeing American citizens the right to defend themselves, the Second Amendment ensures that our nation will always have a check against despotism, both foreign and domestic.

The next eight amendments in the Bill of Rights list additional protections of individual freedoms. For example, the Fourth Amendment guards the right to be free from unreasonable searches or seizures, and the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. And the last of the original amendments, the 10th, protects both individual citizens and the states in which they live from federal overreach. It accomplishes this by affirming that any powers not granted to the federal government are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

These protections of liberty are among the most remarkable in the world. But we must not take them for granted. As history shows us, merely codifying rights on paper is not enough. Libyas constitution, for example, guarantees its citizens numerous human fundamental rights and freedoms, including equal civil and political rights, yet Libya remains plagued by an active slave trade, pervasive governmental corruption, and a litany of other human-rights abuses. North Korea has its own bill of rights, which rings equally hollow.

The reason Americas guarantee of rights has succeeded where others have failed is because our Bill of Rights is reinforced by a strict separation of powers, a federalist structure containing fifty sovereign states, and the liberty-loving spirit of the American people. As long as we hold fast to these principles and maintain our defense of liberty, we will be able to celebrate Constitution Day for centuries to come.

Jay Mitchell is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama

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Constitution Day 2021: Celebrating the Bill of Rights - Yellowhammer News

Rep. Chiproy (R-TX) outside the Houses of Parliament in Washington, DC (Photo courtesy of Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

Rep. Chiproy (Republican) said Joe Bidens Democrats have become more tyrannical and are pursuing gun rights. In a video released by his press office on Tuesday, Republicans in Texas explained why it was more important than ever to support Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment.

Roy argued that a gun for self-defense was very necessary because of the Biden border crisis and the Democratic Partys attempt to defend the police.

My Democratic colleague wants to make my streets less secure by funding the police, so I want the right to Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment, he insisted. My borders are wide open and run by cartels while dangerous individuals are pouring across borders, so I want my second amendment right.

The Democratic proposal, which appears to keep civilians safe after repaying police funds, appeared to target gun owners who enjoyed their rights.

The Texas gentleman gave up the game when he was talking about a friend of the North Carolina amendment, to prevent the city from continuing the stupid policy of funding the police. He explained. She said you dont have to do that, and she talked about these great programs targeting guns.

Roy also said he remembers when the individual criminals who abused the weapons were held accountable, not all civilians with guns, noting that crime had been significantly reduced. .. Democrats have proposed a law in which Texas legislators say they will reduce the freedom of Texas and all Americans.

Roy emphasized that one of the most important reasons for supporting Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment is to balance power between citizens and their governments.

One of those issues is to be able to maintain, maintain and protect the rights of Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment, he said. It sets this country far apart from other countries in terms of the proper balance between people and government power. Its a great equalizer.

Following the release of the video, Roy retweeted it to make a final comment. He said the only true defense from tyranny was armed civilians.

Rep. Roy speaks about the importance of Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment

Source link Rep. Roy speaks about the importance of Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment

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Rep. Roy speaks about the importance of Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment - Texasnewstoday.com

Judge J. Michael Luttig (via YouTube)

Judge J. Michael Luttig was one of the most conservative voices on the federal judiciary. His jurisprudence was rated consistently conservative by an early 2000s study conducted by political scientists, placing him somewhere between Attila the Hun and J. Harvie Wilkinson III. In fact, when John Roberts was ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court, conservatives were none too happy that Bush had overlooked the more reliably conservative Luttig.

Which is all to say that when Luttig, who left the judiciary in 2006, weighs in on a legal issue, hes not coming at it as a firebrand liberal. He puts on his Chick-fil-A bib with two hands just like the rest of them.

Luttig joined with Sidleys Carter Phillips, and former Acting AGs Peter Keisler (also of Sidley), Stuart Gerson (of Epstein Becker & Green), and 13 other prominent legal minds in an amicus brief supporting New Yorks gun regulations in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. The brief is, as one might expect from a conservative luminary, drenched in textual and originalist analysis. Part II is just a deep dive into the litany of Founding-era state laws regulating public gun possession putting the lie to the idea that the Second Amendments original public meaning signaled the Framers vision of America resembling a Fortnite arena.

A lot of people forget that the original sources conservative jurists have relied upon for the current gun regime were written over four score and seven years after the Founding. If youre wondering why they settled on a body of not-so-original testimony, its because they really did look into the original public meaning of the Second Amendment and learned that the reality of that legitimate originalist inquiry offended GOP lobbyists.

But the amici remember:

The writings of some 19th-century lower court judges and commentators decades after 1791 do not, and must not be allowed to, supersede the democratic judgments and decisions embodied in these founding era statutory restrictions.

Say what you will about interpreting the Constitution by channeling the ancients, at least its an ethos. For anyone who claims to adhere to an originalist judicial philosophy, this brief shouldnt be controversial and given the history clinic the authors put on should force some frank concessions from conservatives over the meaning of the Second Amendment.

Just kidding, theyre just going to drag the amici for their parents getting killed by gun violence!

Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal wrote of the brief, also on the brief is former Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Gun violence touched his family in 1994 when his father, John Luttig, wasfatally shot in a carjacking.

In response, Josh Blackman took to the Volokh Conspiracy to write:

The implication here is that their legal views on the Second Amendment were affected by their personal experiences. On balance, I think this interview reduces the effectiveness of the brief.

Yeah, the fact that his dad was killed is definitely why Virginia and Massachusetts had laws banning public carry in the 1790s. This isnt some Brandeis brief citing gun violence statistics, its an exploration of the original public meaning of the Second Amendment that finds, completely unsurprisingly, that the one pushed by the gun lobby is ahistorical nonsense like another staunch conservative pointed out years ago.

Before we get any further, lets dispense with the inevitable weak sauce response: well, Joe, this isnt really dragging Judge Luttig because of his fathers killing. Yes it is. The post says the Luttigs legal analysis is now suspect because of what happened to his father. How is that anything but an attack on him as a lawyer based on his personal life? An aspersion that his lived experience makes him bad at evaluating the law?

The idea that society is governed by law and not passion means legal arguments beat emotions, not that living outside a hermetic bubble renders all legal analysis void. That gun violence prompted his research doesnt invalidate that research. This is just a sly ad hominem that the only real gun arguments can come from people whove never even tangentially run afoul of a firearm. Which certainly tracks because this is the same movement that thinks the only real voting rights arguments can come from people whove never been denied a ballot and the only real womens health arguments can come from people whove never had a vagina.

But thats all these FedSoc guys have. As the brief explains:

Petitioners do not cite a single item of persuasive contrary founding era evidence that counters the historical support for public-carry restrictions provided by the founding era statutes. They do not cite anyone or any source that contemporaneously opposed or even criticized any founding era statutory restriction as infringing the right to carry. Neither do they cite any proponent or opponent stating that the Second Amendment was codifying a right that would nullify any existing or prior statutory restriction in any state or city. Nor do they cite a state constitutional provision from the founding era that nullified such a restriction. This silence in the face of these founding era proscriptions and limitations confirms that carrying loaded guns in most public places was not a matter of right, but rather was a matter intended by the Framers to be left for debate and decision within the legislative arena.

This isnt even touching the textualist point that the contrary view pushed by the right-wing renders well-regulated superfluous. In any actual legal discussion the gun lobby has bupkis.

But theyve got 6 partisan hacks and thats enough.

Joe Patriceis a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free toemail any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him onTwitterif youre interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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Conservative Drags Right-Wing Legal Legend Because His Dad Was Murdered - Above the Law

ASHLAND The Attorney Generals of Kentucky and West Virginia came to Ashland Thursday afternoon to chew the fat about the rule of law, guns, God and opioids.

The appearance at the Train Depot was part of a two-leg tour by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the first Black man to hold statewide office, and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, whos held that seat in the Mountain State since 2013.

Hosted by Ashland Alliance, Tim Gibbs the chamber's president played moderator, lobbing up the questions from a list of vetted topics to the two men who pretty much agreed on everything.

Here's what the top cops in the Bluegrass and the Mountain State had to say:

Rule of Law

Cameron: The Rule of Law means applying the statutes and constitution to everyone equally, without fear or favor. No one is above the law and whether you're an individual or a business entity, it doesn't matter.

Morrisey: Rule of Law means applying the law regardless of political or economic circumstances. There are no Republican laws or Democrat laws. I think in this environment, attorney generals need to apply the law without political goals.

Context: Cameron has come under fire nationally after refusing to indict the police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor, while Morrisey joined the suit by the Texas Attorney General to overturn the results of a lawful federal election.

Economic Development in Appalachia

Morrisey: We have to be optimistic because we have a richness in our people and that's where economic development starts. If you look at the COVID monies, we can use that on capital expenditures for broadband and entice a lot of people from the cities to move to West Virginia and Kentucky to work remotely.

Cameron: I was speaking with the Judge-Executive of Floyd County today and he said five years ago, his sons were going to leave for the big city because there were no jobs there. Thanks to expanded internet access, they stayed and now work remotely. I believe broadband will encourage people to stay at home and stay in place and we can stop this brain drain.

Context: According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, broadband access in the entire region (ranging from western New York to northern Alabama) is about 78%, while national it is 83%. However, counties in central Appalachia still lag behind, particularly in Kentucky and West Virginia. They're at around 70% access, according to the ARC. The ARC also notes there is divide between urban areas of Appalachia and the rural areas. Neither AG addressed how blue collar workers will be helped through broadband access.

Federal Overreach

Cameron: We fight federal overreach daily. Whenever a new administration comes in, there's a grace period to see what they do. What I've seen from this current administration, from taxes to COVID to energy is they have tried to overreach in many different areas. The new clean power rules contained in the infrastructure bill would be disastrous to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We could lose 30,000 jobs and see our electric bill increase by 27%.

Morrisey: When I started in 2013, I was up to my eyeballs in alligators with the Obama administration's overreach. This is Obama 4.0. The Biden administration does not have much respect for the rule of law. We see this in an unprecedented amount of illegal aliens and fentanyl flowing across the border, vaccine mandates that they're trying to push onto companies and an energy policy that would be cataclysmic for Kentucky and West Virginia.

Context: With all the talks about energy, in early July Cameron actually bucked against Morrisey by recommending the Kentucky Public Service Commission deny a request by Kentucky Power to put $67 million in upgrades into a coal fire plant in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Biden's current push for a COVID vaccine mandate in the private sector hasn't received much push back from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers or the Business Roundtable, some of the top business organizations in the country.

The Opioid Crisis

Cameron: I believe in a two pronged approach of putting the people who distribute drugs in jail and going after the manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs who marketed this poison in our communities. Kentucky is a part of a global settlement in which our commonwealth is getting $482 million to help restore our communities.

Morrisey: I think the opioid crisis is an example of how important it is to collaborate because this crisis does not recognize borders and jurisdictions. It is everywhere. I believe we should focus on the supply and the demand and look at the root causes of the problem. We need to spend this settlement money wisely.

Context: In July, the companies at the center of a massive class action lawsuit agreed to settle the litigation with a $26 billion payout, to be signed off by the states involved. According to an Aug. 24 Reuters article, West Virginia did not sign the agreement. Kentucky, however, did.

The Second Amendment

Morrisey: The Second Amendment is one of the most cherished basic liberties we have. When I took office, we increased reciprocity to 38 states, supported constitutional carry and are now opposing moves by the Biden Administration to regulate ghost guns and pistol braces. They're trying to say a pistol brace is a short-barreled rifle, when really it's a just a tool that allows the elderly and the disabled to exercise their rights.

Cameron: Our General Assembly has done a great job at protecting the Second Amendment and my office has helped craft resolutions for counties to say the federal government can't infringe on our freedoms. Right now, we are fighting for our ability to have bump stocks and continue to support the Second Amendment.

Context: While the Biden Administration is currently looking into regulating Ghost Guns guns put together with unfinished receivers the pistol brace regulations and the bump stock bans originated in the Trump Administration. The pistol brace rule was put out for public comment by the ATF in December 2020, during Trump's lame duck session, but rescinded within five days following an uproar by Congressional Republicans. The bump stock ban was put in place in 2019, in response to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre.

Religious Liberties

Cameron: We have seen during a period of emergency the scaling back of First Amendment rights when our executive here in Kentucky made the decision to shut down churches. You could go driving on a Sunday morning and see no cars in the church parking lots, but still see them at big box stores. I'm all for commerce, but religion is protected by the Constitution while big box stores are not.

Morrisey: When we started to see religions organized, people were prosecuted for their faith. Our Constitution was novel in that it has protections for peoples faiths. There's a lot of people eroding religion and we have to watch out for it because it's under assault. They're forcing business owners and bakers to do things they don't want to do and undermining the integrity of women's sports.

Context: During the lockdowns in 2020, Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order banning mass congregations, including at churches. Several churches flouted the rule and it was quickly rescinded. Also, the Bible doesn't mention a whole lot about women's sports.

(606) 326-2653 |

henry@dailyindependent.com

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Ky., W.Va. AGs visit Ashland | News | dailyindependent.com - The Independent

The Second Amendment Foundation invites run rights activists across the country to participate in the 36th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, which, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, will once again be a virtual event held online Sept. 25 and 26, hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

The theme of this years conference is Saving Freedom! The event will appear on multiple platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.

Last years virtual conference had more than 6,500 pre-registered attendees, and SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb anticipates equally big participation. This years presentations will include a discussion about how COVID impacted Second Amendment supporters, plus a look at the situation in Illinois with FOID licenses.And, of course, there will an in-depth discussion of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association case that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in November.

This yearsspeakers include:

To register for this years conference, go to http://www.saf.org/grpc/. You will receive information to join the event, which will be presented on the various platforms.

The conference agenda includes panel discussions covering such subjects as federal and state legislative affairs, grassroots activism, legal actions in defense of the Second Amendment, media and corporate attacks on the right to keep and bear arms, womens issues, advancing the gun rights message, and much more.

Despite the continuing attacks on the Second Amendment by the Biden administration, Gottlieb observed, the gun rights movement has seen many successful advancements of gun rights this year. We now have a record number of Second Amendment Sanctuary cities and counties pushing back on federal gun control mandates as well as a record number of constitutional carry states where you no longer need a permit to exercise your constitutional rights for personal protection and self-defense.

Since the first GRPC was held in Seattle in 1986, Gottlieb noted, the event has evolved from 20 speakers and 70 attendees more than 100 speakers several thousand people pre-registered for last years virtual event. The GRPC has become a must attend event for gun rights advocates and grassroots activists across the country, and more importantly so with Joe Biden in the White House.

And because the event is entirely online, gun rights activists can attend from the comfort of their own home. This will be an awesome event, Gottlieb predicted, and gun owners from coast to coast can virtually attend.

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SAF Invites Gun Owners To 'Join Us Online' For 2021 Gun Rights Policy Conference - The Free Press