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The Nuts and Bolts of Nullification

I recently appeared on the Resistance Library Podcast. We talked about nullification as it applies to a wide range of issues, from the Second Amendment to surveillance.

I opened the discussion by giving an overview of the Tenth Amendment, what it means and why the founders insisted on including it. That moved us into a discussion about the work of the Tenth Amendment Center and our nullification efforts – both from a constitutional and practical standpoint.

From there, I explain how the strategy can be used to push back against federal overreach in a number of policy areas including the drug war, gun control and surveillance.

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Politicians and MSM Compare Those Who Question Vaccine Safety to “Domestic Terrorists”

As TFTP has reported, Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, who has sponsored a slew of mandatory vaccine laws throughout his career came out in 2019 to threaten the speech of those who question forced vaccination.

In a letter to the Attorney General of the United States, Pan wrote that the “deliberate spread of vaccine information discouraging vaccination” requires the surgeon general to “stop this attack on our nation’s health by addressing the spread of vaccine misinformation.”

He literally advocated for people to be jailed for questioning vaccines — and now he’s gone even further. In an oped for the Washington Post, this totalitarian likened “antivaxxers” to terrorists.

“This campaign to deny potentially life-saving vaccines to those seeking them, and to poison public opinion against vaccinations, could result in countless American deaths. That is akin to domestic terrorism,” Pan wrote.

Pan has also criticized Facebook and other social media groups for allowing vaccine skeptics to post their views.

“This movement not only puts out mis- or disinformation about vaccines or lies about vaccines, which in itself can be harmful, but they are also aggressively bullying, threatening and intimidating people who are trying to share accurate information about vaccines,” Pan told the New York Times.

Given the recent paranoia by the federal government following the Trump supporters marching on the Capitol, throwing around the term domestic terrorist is as dangerous as it is tyrannical. Whether or not you agree with “anti-vaxxers” or pro-vaccine safety groups, it is their right to say whatever they want, up to and including holding protests. It’s called freedom of speech and it shall not be infringed.

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Ban on 205 Different ‘Assault Weapons’ Introduced by Sen. Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a ban on more than 200 “assault weapons” after the House passed two gun-control measures pertaining to background checks.

Her bill (pdf), called the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2021,” is co-sponsored by 34 Senate Democrats and would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds—similar to the bans on magazines in New York state and California.

According to the legislation, which was also introduced in the House by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the ban would encompass more than 205 rifles. Feinstein’s bill would allow current owners of the guns to retain possession of them. If that gun is transferred, a person has to undergo an FBI background check before getting the firearm.

The bill also bans any weapon that has the capacity to use a magazine that isn’t a fixed ammunition magazine and has one or more characteristics such as a pistol grip, forward grip, a threaded barrel, a folding or telescoping stock, or a barrel shroud.

The bill “requires that grandfathered assault weapons are stored using a secure gun storage or safety device like a trigger lock” and prohibits the transfer of high-capacity ammunition magazines while banning “bump-fire stocks and other devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at fully automatic rates,” according to a news release from Feinstein’s office. Bump-fire stocks were made illegal in March 2019.

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“For The People Act” is NOT What it Seems, It Destroys 3rd Parties, Solidifies 2-Party Dictatorship

A new bill recently introduced to Congress and passed by the House of Representatives seeks to make it nearly impossible for any third party or independent candidates to meet the requirements necessary to participate in national elections.

But you wouldn’t know that if you read it’s title or were subjected to the gerrymandering praise of the corporate media. House Resolution 1, the unironically titled, For The People Act, is being promoted as the next milestone for voting rights. In reality, this is not entirely the case. A few barely noticeable caveats show it’s true purpose is a power grab for the two party establishment. While HR 1 does have some detractors in the GOP, it isn’t being met with much opposition outside of paradigm grandstanding. Ultimately it benefits them both.

Green Party US pointed out on Twitter — “Democrats are selling HR 1 as a “voting rights” bill, but they aren’t telling you about a little-known poison pill designed to further restrict voter choice by suppressing independent candidates & parties”.

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No Jail for “Monster” Cop Found Guilty for His Role Child Sex Ring Run by Fellow Officers

As TFTP has reported, since 2017, information over a years-long child abuse saga involving Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) officers has slowly trickled out, leading to multiple officers being arrested and sentenced to prison. Hardly an isolated incident, in total, a series of seven lawsuits names more than eight current or former LMPD officers. One of those officers — who was subsequently arrested for child sex abuse — was officer Brad Schuhmann, 32.

Despite horrifying details coming out in the case against Schuhmann, he was granted a sweetheart plea deal in which he will avoid jail for sexually abusing a little girl in the department’s explorer program.

According to his indictment, Schuhmann willfully deprived the victim of liberty without due process of law, which includes the “right not to have her bodily integrity violated by a person acting under color of law.”

Nevertheless, Schuhmann was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Jennings Grady on Wednesday to just six months of home confinement and two years of probation, the Courier Journal reported. He must also register as a sex offender.

The victim called Schuhmann a “monster” and a “predator” in an impact statement and said “this man robbed me of my goals.”

As the Courier Journal reports, identified only as “Jane Doe,” she said she has lived in shame since Schuhmann had sexual contact with her when she was a teenager in the now-defunct scouting program for youngsters interested in law enforcement.

Schuhmann did not deny the sexual abuse and instead admitted to having sexual contact with her at her home and other locations. He said he has since changed since that incident, which he called “the worst decision of my life.”

Schuhmann becomes the third cop in this child sex scandal to be convicted. It has taken years to make such a small headway as the department has been helping to cover it up.

As TFTP reported, inside information into the years-long child sex abuse saga was not at all easy to obtain and now we know why. The department hid 738,000 records documenting the sexual abuse of Explorer Scouts by officers — and then, according to records requested by the Courier Journal, lied to keep the files from the public.

According to the Journal, the newspaper requested all records regarding the sexual abuse of minors by LMPD officers involved in the Explorer program, a program for children who are interested in becoming cops. However, police claimed that they couldn’t turn over the records, telling the Journal that they had already been turned over to the FBI.

“LMPD does not have possession or control of the records,” LMPD records custodian Alicia Smiley wrote in a Sept. 3, 2019, letter to Assistant Attorney General Marcus Jones. “When the investigation was taken by the FBI, all copies of the investigative materials … were physically removed from the premises, digital devices and servers of LMPD.”

But that was a lie, the LMPD had hundreds of thousands of records on child sexual abuse by officers in the Explorer program.

According to the Journal, the department still had at least 738,000 records, which the city allowed to be deleted.

The records detail the actions taken — or rather not taken — when the department learned about the sexual abuse of children in the program.

“I have practiced open records law since the law was enacted 45 years ago, and I have never seen anything so brazen,” said Jon Fleischaker, an attorney for the Courier Journal. “I think it an outrage.”

Another lawyer for the Courier Journal, Michael Abate, said the city’s conduct was especially egregious given the case involves the sexual abuse of children by police officers and the department’s failure to prevent it. 

Metro Council President David James said, “it’s very disturbing to me that either the county attorney’s office or the police department was so dead-set on making sure those records never reached the public.”  

Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19th, said, “There aren’t the appropriate words to describe how indefensible this is. The administration oversaw the sexual exploitation of minors and then deleted evidence.”

Jean Porter, a spokesman for Mayor Greg Fischer, said his “focus is getting to the truth in this horrific case.”

But what does the truth matter when the abusers avoid jail for their actions?

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GOP Gov: ‘If You Legalize Marijuana You’re Going to Kill Your Kids’

Ricketts held a press conference this week to rail against a bill that would only make marijuana legal if it were recommended by a health care practitioner, come in oil form, pills, or tinctures. Additionally, the legislation would not make smoking marijuana, even in the privacy of a patient’s home, legal.

Ricketts said the legalization movement is “big industry” trying to skirt federal regulations at the state level.

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