Biden plan to ban menthol cigarettes unpopular

The GOP’s Newest Midterm Issue: Menthols? | Washington Free Beacon - Collin Anderson: 

April 25, 2022 - "With voters across the country already sour on Joe Biden's handling of immigration, foreign policy, and the economy, Republicans have identified another issue to rally midterm voters against Democrats: the president's proposed menthol cigarette ban. 

"According to an April Echelon Insights poll obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, swing-state voters in Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina widely disapprove of the ... ban. Fifty-two percent of Georgia and Nevada voters and 50 percent of North Carolina voters say the administration should keep menthols legal. Just 28, 31, and 30 percent of voters, meanwhile, want to ban the flavored cigarettes in Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina, respectively.... 

""Forty-nine percent of Nevada voters — including 60 percent of Hispanic voters in the state — would be less likely to support a candidate who 'vocally supported' a menthol ban, the poll shows. Just 21 percent of Silver State voters would be more likely to back a menthol ban supporter, according to the poll.

"The Biden administration announced its intention to ban menthol cigarettes on April 29, 2021.... Roughly one year later, however, the proposed ban is still in limbo, and the Biden administration's delay has not helped sell the move to voters ... nearly 90 percent of voters in Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina believe the administration should not 'spend their time banning menthol cigarettes,' the Echelon poll shows. As a result, more than 60 percent of voters in the three states believe Biden should take a pause on the ban....

"According to the Echelon poll, roughly two-thirds of Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina voters oppose the ban because they feel it would be ineffective. More than 60 percent of voters in the three states, meanwhile, believe the ban would 'push the product out of legitimate stores and onto street corners where gangs and violent criminals sell and generate profit for organized crime.' That number includes 77 percent of Hispanic voters in Nevada, 60 percent of Democratic voters in Georgia, and 64 percent of independent voters in North Carolina.

"The American Civil Liberties Union voiced a similar concern last year, calling the ban a 'policy disaster waiting to happen' because it would create 'large, underground illegal markets' and cause 'a massive law enforcement problem for states, counties, and cities.' Earlier this month, ... Democratic power broker Al Sharpton penned a letter to the Biden administration that said a menthol ban would 'expose consumers to dangerous contraband cigarettes' and 'promote criminal activity.'"

Read more: https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/the-gops-newest-midterm-issue-menthols/amp/

STATES Act reintroduced in Congress

Gardner re-introduces the STATES Act - Boulder Weekly - Paul Danish:

April 11, 2019 - "Last week Colorado Republican Senator Cory Gardner, Massachusetts Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, and eight other Senators re-introduced the legislation the two co-sponsored last year to allow states to legalize marijuana without federal interference.... The bill is called the STATES Act, for 'Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States'... .”

"[A]n identical bill, also called the STATES Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives with 26 cosponsors — half Democrats and half Republicans. The lead sponsors in the House are Oregon Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer and Ohio Republican Representative David Joyce....

"According to ... Warren’s office, the STATES Act is supported by the ACLU, the American Bankers Association, Americans for Prosperity (the Koch brothers funded political interest group), Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Cooperative Credit Union Association, the Credit Union National Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and a number of Indian tribes."
Read more: https://www.boulderweekly.com/features/cannabis-corner/gardner-re-introduces-the-states-act/

1 Big Reason Why U.S. Marijuana Legalization Might Actually Happen This Year - Keith Speights, The Motley Fool:

April 9, 2019 - "Gardner ... held up President Trump's judicial nominees after Jeff Sessions, then Secretary of the U.S. Department of Justice, overturned Obama administration policies about not intervening in states that had legalized marijuana [which] ultimately led to a deal with President Trump to keep the DOJ from taking any actions against Colorado or other states that allowed legal marijuana....

"There will be 22 Republican seats up for election [in 2020].... One of those seats ... is held by ... Cory Gardner. If Gardner can campaign on success in keeping Colorado's marijuana industry safe from federal intervention, it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.... Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky. ... knows that Gardner would be less vulnerable if the STATES Act is at least brought up for a vote. There's a reasonable chance that he will work behind the scenes to help Gardner....

"Democrats control the House by 36 seats. The STATES Act is virtually assured of sailing through committee review and is likely to win a solid majority vote in the full House. Passage of the bill in the House also could increase the chances that it isn't blocked in the Senate....

"There is one final hurdle if the STATES Act passes both the House and the Senate: President Trump must sign the bill into law. However, Sen. Gardner doesn't think that will be a problem. Gardner stated to Roll Call, 'The president has been very clear to me that he supports our legislation.'"
Read more: https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/04/09/1-big-reason-why-us-marijuana-legalization-might-a.aspx

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Libertarians & everyone else react to #TheMemo

Here's What Rand Paul, Mark Meadows, and Others in Washington Are Saying About the Nunes Memo - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Scott Shackford:

February 2, 2018 - "Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, released his short memo today after the White House agreed to its declassification. The document claims that the FBI withheld from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the 'Steele Dossier,' used as justification to snoop on former Donald Trump adviser Carter Page, was funded by Democratic Party sources and pushed by FBI officials with an agenda against Trump....

"House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calls the memo 'partisan spin'.... Yet she doesn't actually counter any of the claims in the memo itself.... John McCain (R-Ariz.), no friend of Trump's, does not want the Nunes memo to threaten the investigation of whether Russia colluded with members of Trump's campaign during the election outcomes....

"But some Republican lawmakers, like Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), have been philosophically consistent. This tweet may sound like what we've been hearing from other Trump supporters:

So, there it is. The FBI took an unverified political dossier, paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, and they used it as a central piece in their request to get a warrant for spying on American citizens and political opponents in the Trump campaign.

... but Meadows, as a member of the House Freedom Caucus, supported reforms to the FISA amendments that would have put tighter restrictions on using secret surveillance of American citizens....

"Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who tried to organize a filibuster to stop FISA from being reauthorized without reforms, applauded the memo's release for similar reasons....  Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) who attempted to get surveillance reform through the House and failed, has a like-minded thread of tweets....

"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is no fan of Trump's, but it's one of the major civil liberties groups concerned about unwarranted FBI surveillance of Americans. And in the wake of the Nunes memo, it wants more information to come out. From Christopher Anders, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office:

Rather than one side or the other cherry-picking facts, all Americans deserve to see all of the facts, including both the minority report and the underlying documents. The goal should be more transparency, not less, particularly when a congressional committee chairman makes serious charges of abuse but does not provide the facts to either prove the charges or allow Americans to make up our own minds.

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/02/heres-what-leaders-are-saying-about-the
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Rebel Media founder repudiates the alt.right

Ezra Levant’s staff memo on the alt-right - The Rebel:

August 22, 2017 - "When I first heard of the alt-right a year ago, I thought it simply meant the insurgent right, the politically incorrect right, the grassroots right, the nationalistic right, the right that was a counterweight to the establishment of the GOP, the right that backed Trump and his 'Make America Great Again' style over Jeb Bush and the swamp. It was unashamed right-wingedness, with a sense of humour.

"Prominent alt-right personalities back then included the outrageous but loveable Milo Yiannopoulos, who just happened to be a half-Jewish gay man who preferred black men. I remember when Hillary Clinton made her bizarre campaign speech attacking the alt-right, and it sounded no different than any of her other 'deplorables' insults, so that made me even more interested.

"But the alt-right has changed into something new, especially since Trump’s election. Now the leading figure — at least in terms of media attention — is Richard Spencer, and other white nationalists. By that, I mean people whose central organizing political principle is race.

"And that’s the starting point; there are also white supremacists, and even some neo-Nazis. There were actually some Nazi swastika flags in Charlottesville. Whether or not they were being genuinely carried, or carried by agents provocateurs trying to embarrass the alt-right isn’t even important. They were there — and Spencer’s torch-lit walk had other Nazi symbology, including the 'Sieg Heil' arm salute, and the chant of 'blood and soil'  —  which was a slogan popularized by the Nazis.

"Sorry, that’s not conservative, that's just racist, and I think it’s unpatriotic to mimic one of America’s greatest historical enemies. Spencer released an explicitly racist manifesto in Charlottesville. If pressed, Spencer positively admits he is not conservative; he does not believe in individualism; he is a communalist, an economic socialist, but most importantly, someone who believes your race is your key characteristic.

"We disagree. We believe that character and ideas and actions are more important than skin colour, or for that matter sex or sexual orientation. You can be a smart, thoughtful conservative who is black, gay, Jewish, whatever — and you can be a foolish, unethical, violent Communist who is white. In fact, there are quite a lot of them.

"We will still report on what the alt-right says and does, and we will surely report more accurately than the mainstream media does. We can stand up for their freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, and oppose censorship — like the ACLU courageously did in Charlottesville. We can stand up for the rule of law, especially when police seem to stand down to allow Antifa leftists do violence as they did in Charlottesville and Berkeley and other places.

"And of course we can point out the differences with which extremist black, gay, Muslim or feminist identity politics are treated by the establishment, as opposed to how white identity politics are treated....

"We are not alt-right. That term now effectively means racism, anti-Semitism and tolerance of neo-Nazism."

Read more: https://www.therebel.media/ezra_levant_s_staff_memo_on_the_alt_right
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American U cancels YAL meeting event

My Alma Mater American University Cancelled My Title IX 'Hate Speech' Panel - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

September 29, 2107 - "I was supposed to participate in a panel at my alma mater, American University, on feminism, free speech, and Title IX.... But in the days leading up to the event, the AU chapter of American Association of University Women organized a campaign to 'Keep Our Campus Safe,' describing the panel as 'hate speech' and 'violence'....

"The panel was put together by spiked as part of its "Unsafe Space" tour.... The event on American's D.C. campus was to kick off the tour, with me, spiked's Ella Whelan, former ACLU chief Nadine Strossen, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education director Robert Shibley on a panel moderated by spiked Deputy Editor Tom Slater.

"Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) was the student group hosting the event, and was in charge of making arrangements with the campus. An auditorium had been secured since summer, but a few days before the event AU administrators told YAL that the space was no longer available and then that the panel had to be canceled altogether.

"Annamarie Rienzi, D.C. chair of YAL and one of the student organizers of last night's event, told me that the school claimed it came down to YAL classifying the panel as a 'meeting' rather than an 'event.' But this is standard practice for YAL and other student groups, she says, when a talk or panel does not involve bringing paid speakers to campus or providing refreshments....

"The event went on ... in ... Reason's D.C. office.... We talked about how Title IX proceedings ... encompass a range of other areas that can have nothing to do with sexual activity or violence, and that can seriously jeopardize academic freedom and (often liberal) professors' livelihoods. Whelan talked about how Title IX proceedings and the general sexual climate on campus can infantilize female students and take women's progress a step backward.

"Shibley argued that Title IX had had many positive accomplishments before it was, only recently, expanded to its current form under the Obama administration.... I talked about how it's the feds, much more than any minority of illiberal students, who are forcing campuses into absurd 'safe spaces' ... rather than face steep fines or lose the ability to participate in federal student-loan programs....

"It was especially disappointing to learn today that this may have been provoked by a women's student group severely misrepresenting the event.... Here's how the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of AU described the spiked panel: 'The Unsafe Space Tour is coming to AU. What do they want to talk about? Completely revising and undoing decades of work by activists around campuses across the country to make campuses safer for victims of sexual violence'.... [I]t added: 'A note on First Amendment rights to free speech: AAUW at AU fully supports free speech. This does not mean we support forcing marginalized students to [experience] hate speech and other forms of violence and trauma'....

"After learning that AU had canceled the event, the group posted (twice): 'We are STOKED to announce that the Unsafe Space Tour has been canceled at AU! In their words, they, 'got word of resistance from some campus groups.' Good riddance! Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in [the "Keep Our Campus Safe" counter-event] and spoke out.'"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/09/29/au-campus-safe-from-title-ix-hate-speech
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Civil forfeiture without a conviction banned in CT

Connecticut Banned Civil Forfeiture Without A Criminal Conviction - Nick Sibilla, Institute for Justice - Forbes:

July 11, 2017 - "Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed HB 7146 on Monday, which curbs the state’s civil forfeiture laws. Not only did the bill earn endorsements from the Yankee Institute for the Public Policy and the state chapter of the ACLU, HB 7146 even passed both the House and the Senate without a single no vote.

"Under the new law, in order to permanently confiscate property with civil forfeiture, the property must be first seized in connection to either a lawful arrest or a lawful search that results in an arrest. If prosecutors do not secure a guilty verdict, a plea bargain or a dismissal from finishing a pretrial diversion program, the government must return the property to its rightful owner.... Connecticut now becomes the 14th state to require a criminal conviction for most or all forfeiture cases.

“'Civil forfeiture is one of the most serious assaults on Americans’ private property rights,' Institute for Justice Senior Legislative Counsel Lee McGrath said. 'The bill is a solid first step to ensure that innocent people do not lose their property to this use of 17th Century admiralty law applied to the 21st Century war on drugs'....

"According to data obtained by the Institute for Justice and the Reason Foundation, police and prosecutors generated more than $17.8 million in forfeiture revenue from 2009 to 2016. Nearly two-thirds of those proceeds came from civil forfeiture cases, where the owner did not have to be convicted....

"Although civil forfeiture is often defended as a way to stop large-scale drug cartels and criminal enterprises, in Connecticut, half of all civil forfeitures were under $570 in 2016. These small amounts suggest that many victims don’t have the means to fight back against a seizure in court. The state’s conviction requirement should protect many innocent Connecticutians."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2017/07/11/connecticut-just-banned-civil-forfeiture-without-a-criminal-conviction/#16bafd6452e7
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Illinois legislature passes asset forfeiture reform

Illinois Legislature Passes Asset Forfeiture Reform - Hit & Run : Reason.com - C.J. Ciaramella:

June 27, 2017 - "The Illinois legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill Friday tightening the state's civil asset forfeiture laws and shifting the burden of proof onto the government to show why it should be allowed to keep seized property.

"The vote came on the heels of an investigative report from Reason earlier this month showing lower-income neighborhoods of Chicago were hit hardest by asset forfeiture. Reason's report, analyzing more than 23,000 property seizures over the last five years, was cited by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx in a letter to the Chicago Tribune Saturday urging Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign the bill into law....

"The bill, approved unanimously in the state senate and with only one dissenting vote in the house, would raise the standard of evidence for forfeitures from probable cause to a preponderance of evidence and bar seizures under $500 in many drug cases.

"It would also abolish a requirement of residents challenging seizures that they pay a 10 percent bond on the estimated value of their property to file a petition, and expedite hearings for owners claiming innocence....

"Overall, civil liberties groups are pleased with the bill. 'The main thing is shifting the burden of proof clearly onto the state and relieving property owners of having to prove their innocence,' Ben Ruddell, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, says."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/27/illinois-legislature-passes-asset-forfei
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Johnson's the only candidate worth considering

Why Gary Johnson Is the Only Presidential Candidate Worthy of Consideration | HeatStreet - Sebastian Doggart:

October 24, 2016 - "When the Trump campaign imploded, I finally felt it was safe to come out as a supporter of Gary Johnson.... The response was more hostile than if I’d announced I was engaged to Kim Jong Un.

"'I’m genuinely concerned you’ve lost your mind,' wrote my pro-Clinton friend Eliza....  I knew Eliza opposed the death penalty, so asked her why she was voting for Clinton, who still believes the government can kill people legally. When I showed her that, unlike Johnson, Clinton is indeed a cheerleader for lethal injections, Eliza went silent.

"Capital punishment is just one issue where many Americans, in their heart of hearts, may well agree more with Johnson than with ClinTrump. Peace is another one. Hawkish Hillary voted for the Iraq war, backed military action in Libya and sending American troops into Syria. Trigger-happy Trump also gave the Iraq war a thumbs-up.... Johnson opposed the Iraq war, and has pledged to slash the military budget ... scale back on nuclear programs, close down some foreign bases and end foreign invasions.

"Johnson is a far braver free-speech advocate than ClinTrump. He has been steadfast in his opposition to the Patriot Act, censorship of the Internet, militarization of the police and the indefinite detention of prisoners. In 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union gave him the highest score of any presidential candidate....

"Johnson is the champion of the challenge to the bankrupt two-party system, with which millennials are so fed up. That’s especially true with Social Security ... an entitlements program that is heading off a cliff.... 'Millennials are getting screwed,' Johnson warns.... The same is true with healthcare. As Johnson said: 'President Obama’s affordable healthcare is dependent on young healthy people paying for older unhealthy people'....

"On education, Johnson ... will completely abolish the grossly wasteful Department of Education and will expand vouchers for private schools. Unlike Clinton, his plan favors teachers over unions; local educational processes over federalized testing.

"Johnson is passionate in his belief that the Federal government should stay out of both your bedroom and your wallet. That is most apparent in his tax plan, which would eliminate the IRS and replace most of the tax code with a single consumption tax. He’s promised to submit a balanced budget to Congress within his first 100 days in office....

"Johnson could win the White House it if he prevails in just one state, and neither Clinton nor Trump secures 270 electoral college votes.... Terror of this scenario is what’s brought out the Obamas to turn their sights on Johnson and led the liberal-limousine echo chamber to sink to personal insults. Bill Maher recently called Johnson a 'ventriloquist dummy' and a 'fucking idiot.' John Oliver drank the two-party Kool-Aid, laid into Johnson as 'weird… an ill tempered mountain-molester with a radical, dangerous tax plan.' David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, called him 'the least informed candidate for the presidency'.... The Clinton propaganda machine and their loyal media supporters ... hammered Johnson [and] MSNBC ... organized a Gotcha-ism orgy."

Read more: http://heatst.com/politics/pot-shot-heres-why-gary-johnson-should-be-the-next-president/
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Johnson opposes 'No fly, no buy' gun control

Gary Johnson Comes Out Against No Fly, No Gun Proposal | The Daily Caller - Alex Pfieffer:

June 15, 2016 - "Libertarian presidential nominee and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has come out against proposals to deny Americans on the no-fly list from purchasing guns on the grounds of due process.

“Gov. Johnson believes Second Amendment rights are too fundamental to be denied without due process, and being put on a list arbitrarily by the government is certainly not due process,' Johnson campaign communications director Joe Hunter told The Daily Caller in a statement Wednesday."

"His campaign pointed TheDC to a recent blog post by the ACLU titled, "Until the No Fly List is Fixed, It Shouldn’t Be Used To Restrict People’s Freedoms." The ACLU is currently in a legal challenge against the no fly list. They say it is 'unconstitutionally vague, and innocent people are blacklisted without a fair process to correct government error.'

"President Obama and Hillary Clinton have come out in favor of barring people from the no fly list and terror watch list from purchasing weapons. Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is going to meet with the NRA to discuss these proposals."

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/15/gary-johnson-comes-out-against-no-fly-no-gun-proposal/
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U.S. Border Patrol oversteps mandate by searching & threatening citizens

Libertarian Party: Stop Border Patrol drug-busting U.S. citizens : Frost Illustrated::

October 27, 2015 - "Agents of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in the southwestern United States are unconstitutionally harassing and detaining American citizens, on a fishing expedition for drug busts, sometimes as far as 100 miles from the border.

"According to a report by the Arizona American Civil Liberties Union, Border Patrol agents are routinely 'stopping and searching motorists without justification; threatening residents with assault rifles, Tasers, and knives; destroying and confiscating personal property; interfering with efforts to video-record agents; and using dozens of false alerts by CBP dogs to search and detain innocent people.'

"'Americans should not lose their constitutional rights just because they live within 100 miles of the border,' said Nicholas Sarwark, chair of the Libertarian National Committee. 'Border Patrol should be ordered to stop busting Americans for drugs and to stick to the border.'

"The ACLU reports that the CBP is 'systematically disregarding the law with impunity'” and that Border Patrol checkpoints are more directed at drug busts than at immigration enforcement. Eighty percent of recorded Border Patrol drug arrests were of U.S. citizens.

"'Not only is Border Patrol grossly overstepping its authority,' said Sarwark, 'It is prosecuting the failed War on Drugs, a war that most Americans now realize has been a complete and utter failure.'"

Read more: http://www.frostillustrated.com/2015/libertarian-party-stop-border-patrol-drug-busting-u-s-citizens/
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Ohio Rights Group now backs Issue 3

Pro-medical marijuana Ohio Rights Group endorses Issue 3 | cleveland.com - Jackie Borchard, Northeast Ohio Media Group:

October 13, 2015 - "The state's largest pro-medical marijuana group has endorsed Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize medical and recreational marijuana sales and use in Ohio.... Issue 3, on the ballot this fall, would legalize recreational and medical marijuana, but commercial marijuana could only be grown on 10 sites belonging to investors bankrolling the initiative.

"The organization was an outspoken opponent of Issue 3 and ResponsibleOhio, the political action committee bankrolling the initiative. Ohio Rights Group even filed an elections commission complaint claiming ResponsibleOhio leaders 'infiltrated' their campaign and undermined Ohio Rights Group's petitioning efforts....

"ORG Vice President John Pardee said the group would likely never receive the funding to pay for signature collectors and qualify for the ballot. Pardee said other legalization proposals planned for 2016, including one by Ohioans to End Prohibition, also lack the support needed to qualify for the ballot.

"Pardee said ORG would be doing patients a disservice to campaign against Issue 3 without a viable alternative and called Ohioans to End Prohibition's campaign ...an absolute farce'....

"Sri Kavuru, president of Ohioans to End Prohibition, said ... 'He knows nothing of what is going on in our organization and we have plenty of time to make it to the ballot'....

"Pardee said no money or financial benefits were promised in exchange for ORG's support, but the group did seek concessions from ResponsibleOhio.

"Pardee said ORG has agreements with four of the 10 growing sites to lease space for 'artisanal' marijuana growers and a plan to appoint an ombudsman to lobby on behalf of patients while the industry is established.... Neither aspect is in the proposed amendment, but Pardee was confident in agreements made with ResponsibleOhio....

"Ohio Rights Group joins national NORML and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio as the major proponents of Issue 3."

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/10/pro-medical_marijuana_ohio_rig.html
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Libertarian challenge to NH ballot law dismissed

Judge rejects Libertarian Party's ballot access challenge | Local News - WMUR Home:

August 28, 2015 - "A federal judge on Thursday upheld a New Hampshire law the Libertarian Party argued could prevent its candidates from getting on the ballot.

"Libertarians sued Secretary of State William Gardner last year, challenging new limits on how long parties have to collect signatures to petition their way onto the ballot.

"State law requires a third party to collect signatures equal to 3 percent of the total votes cast during the prior election. Under the change, parties can't begin gathering signatures until Jan. 1 of the election year.

"In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro said the law creates reasonable restrictions that are justified by the state's interest in requiring parties to demonstrate a sufficient level of support.

"'Reasonable minds can and do disagree about the wisdom of this country's present two-party political structure, and there is little question that, for better or worse, (this law) promotes that structure to at least some degree by making it marginally more difficult for third parties to gain ballot access in New Hampshire,' he wrote.

"But the law does not impose a severe burden on ballot access, he said, and is therefore constitutional.

"In 2012, the Libertarian Party ran candidates for president, vice president, congressional seats and several state-level seats after collecting the necessary signatures. But it began the collection process in 2011. For the 2016 election, it would need to collect 14,864 signatures. Represented by the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, the party argued that the window for collecting signatures is even shorter than what the law specifies given New Hampshire's harsh winters....

"Libertarians also argued that the time limit effectively prevents the party from meaningfully participating in the general election because it would have to use its limited resources on collecting signatures instead of campaigning and fundraising....

"Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the New Hampshire ACLU, said the party is considering an appeal.

"'This law limits voter choice and stacks the deck against candidates who - like roughly 40 percent of Granite Staters - don't belong to a major party,' he said."

Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/judge-rejects-libertarian-partys-ballot-access-challenge/34972248
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Scaremongering about PATRIOT Act sunset

Scaremongering about the Patriot Act Sunset | Just Security: Jameel Jaffer, American Civil Liberties Union:

May 24, 2015 - "In a last-ditch effort to scare lawmakers into preserving unpopular and much-abused surveillance authorities, the Senate Republican leadership and some intelligence officials are warning that allowing Section 215 of the Patriot Act to sunset would compromise national security.  (One particularly crass example from Senator Lindsey Graham: “Anyone who neuters this program is going to be partially responsible for the next attack.”)  Some media organizations have published these warnings without challenging them, which is unfortunate.  The claim that the expiration of Section 215 would deprive the government of necessary investigative tools or compromise national security is entirely without support.

"First, there’s no evidence that the call-records program is effective in any meaningful sense of the word.   The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which reviewed classified files, 'could not identify a single instance involving a threat to the United States in which the telephone records program made a concrete difference in the outcome of a counterterrorism investigation.'  The President’s Review Group ... determined that the call-records program had 'not [been] essential to preventing attacks,' and that, to the extent the program had contributed to terrorism investigations, the records in question 'could readily have been obtained in a timely manner' using targeted demands.

"Second, there’s no evidence that other forms of collection under Section 215 have been any more effective.... [A] report by the Inspector General released this past week states that FBI personnel were 'unable to identify any major case developments that resulted from use of the records obtained through use of Section 215 orders'...

"Third, the sunset of Section 215 wouldn’t affect the government’s ability to conduct targeted investigations of terrorist threats.... It can use administrative subpoenas or grand jury subpoenas.  It can use pen registers. It can use national security letters. It can use orders served under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.  If Section 215 sunsets, it can use the provision that Section 215 amended, which will allow it to collect business records of hotels, motels, car and truck rental agencies, and storage rental facilities.

"The sunset of Section 215 would undoubtedly be a significant political loss for the intelligence community ... but there’s no support for the argument that the sunset of Section 215 would compromise national security."

Read more: http://justsecurity.org/23196/scaremongering-patriot-act-sunset/
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NSA's bulk collection of phone records is illegal, U.S. appeals court rules

US appeals court rules NSA's bulk collection of phone records is illegal, asks Congress to act - News1130 - Larry Neumeister & Ken Dilanian, Associated Press:

May 7, 2015 - "The unprecedented and unwarranted bulk collection of Americans’ phone records by the government is illegal because it wasn’t authorized by Congress, a federal appeals court said Thursday as it asked legislators to decide how to balance national security and privacy interests.

"The National Security Agency’s collection and storage of U.S. landline calling records — times, dates and numbers but not content of the calls — was the most controversial program among many disclosed in 2013 by former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden. Some NSA officials opposed the program, and independent evaluations have found it of limited value as a counterterrorism tool. Snowden remains exiled in Russia.

"On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan permitted the NSA to continue temporarily as it exists, but all but pleaded for Congress to better define where boundaries exist....

"'The statutes to which the government points have never been interpreted to authorize anything approaching the breadth of the sweeping surveillance at issue here,' the court said. 'The sheer volume of information sought is staggering.'

"A lower court judge in December tossed out an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, saying the program was a necessary extension to security measures taken after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The appeals court said the lower court had erred....

"Opponents of the program say the information can enable the government to learn, for instance, whether someone has called a domestic violence, rape or suicide hotline or whether someone has reported a crime. They say it can also reveal civil, political or religious affiliations, an individual’s social status and whether the person is involved in an intimate relationship.

Read more: http://www.news1130.com/2015/05/07/us-appeals-court-nsas-bulk-collection-of-americans-phone-records-exceeds-what-is-allowed-2/
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LP challenge to NH ballot-access law OK'd

Judge allows Libertarians' court challenge in New Hampshire to proceed | Fox News - Associated Press:

January 1, 2015 - "A federal judge has ruled that the Libertarian Party can proceed with its challenge to a New Hampshire law it claims could prevent its candidates from getting on the ballot.

"A third party can have its nominees placed on the New Hampshire general election ballot by winning at least 4 percent of the vote for either governor or U.S. senator in the most recent election or by collecting signatures equal to 3 percent of the total votes cast during the prior election. Under a law that took effect in July, parties can't begin gathering those signatures until Jan. 1 of the election year.

"The state argues that the change ensures that signatures on nomination papers are valid, but the Libertarian Party sued, arguing that it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the party to petition its way onto the ballot.

"The state asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, but U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro refused. In a ruling this week, he noted that the right to vote must be balanced against the state's interest in conducting orderly elections, but said whether or not the new restrictions are reasonable depends on factors that have yet to be explored....

"'This signature-collection process is like a marathon that's hard enough just to finish, and now the state is essentially demanding that the Libertarian Party run the marathon in less than two hours. This is unfair and unconstitutional,' said attorney William Christie, co-counsel on the case along with the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union.

"Attorneys for the party argue that the time limit also effectively prevents the party from meaningfully participating in the general election because it would have to use its limited resources collecting signatures instead of on campaigning and fundraising."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/01/judge-allows-libertarians-court-challenge-in-new-hampshire-to-proceed/
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University libertarians win a free-speech battle

Coalition comes together to aid libertarian college group - Bob Kellogg, OneNewsNow:

September 5, 2014 - "Like many college conservatives and Christian groups, Young Americans for Liberty is finding their free speech rights threatened on college campuses.

"Young Americans for Liberty students at Boise State University were being charged a $465 "security fee" to hold a pro-Second Amendment event on campus.

"YAL spokesman Elliott Engstrom says a broad coalition of legal organizations stepped in to help. Those groups ranged from the conservative Idaho Freedom Foundation to the left-leaning ACLU, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which is libertarian.

"YAL is also a libertarian organization.

"'And the result was that the school refunded the fee to the student organization,' Engstrom tells OneNewsNow."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/education/2014/09/05/coalition-comes-together-to-aid-libertarian-college-group
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Insane Clown Posse, fans, and ACLU sue the FBI

Insane Clown Posse take the FBI head on - West Palm Beach Libertarian | Examiner.com - Karl Dickey:

January 9, 2014 - "Yesterday, January 8, 2014, two members of the music group Insane Clown Posse and four of their fans, known as Juggalos, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for claiming they are part of organized crime. The group claims the FBI and the DOJ have overstepped their bounds....

"In 2011 the FBI labeled the group and their fans as members of a gang if they had the'Juggalos' logo tattooed on their skin and fans have reportedly been involved in repeated altercations with police simply for exercising their right of free expression and association.... Individual Juggalos have reported suffering improper investigations, detentions and other denials of their personal rights at the hands of government officials.

"The group and the four fans are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.... 'The Juggalos are fighting for the basic American right to freely express who they are, to gather and share their appreciation of music, and to discuss issues that are important to them without fear of being unfairly targeted and harassed by police,' said Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan legal director. 'Branding hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members based on the acts of a few individuals defies logic and violates our most cherished of constitutional rights.'"

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/insane-clown-posse-takes-on-the-fbi-head-on
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Portland, Maine, votes 2-1 to legalize marijuana use

Portland voters approve marijuana legalization - Craig Lyons, Portland Daily Sun:

November 5, 2013 - "Portland became the first city on the East Coast to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, on Tuesday.

"Portland voters approved a citizens referendum that legalized the recreational use of marijuana in city limits by a vote of 9,921 to 4,823, according to unofficial results released by the city clerk Tuesday night.

"The ordinance will allow adults, who are at least 21 years old, to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and requisite paraphernalia for recreational use. While people can use marijuana on their personal property, the language bars them from using it on any public infrastructure, including sidewalks, parks and roadways; but landlords and building owners can opt to bar smoking on their property....

"The Citizens for a Safer Portland Coalition, which was comprised of the Portland Green Independent Committee, the Marijuana Policy Project and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, led the legalization effort and gained the support of the Libertarian Party of Maine, the Marijuana Caregivers of Maine and a group of local legislators."

Read more: http://www.portlanddailysun.me/index.php/newsx/local-news/10662-portland-voters-approve-marijuana-legalization
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Paul Ryan Doesn't Follow Ayn Rand on Civil Liberties | The Nation

Paul Ryan Doesn't Follow Ayn Rand on Civil Liberties | The Nation - Ben Adler::

August 15, 2012 - "Throughout his career Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) has proudly touted the influence of philosopher Ayn Rand on his political beliefs.... But Ryan does not share any of Rand’s commitments to freedom, other than the freedom to be selfish.

"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a report on the Republican vice-presidential contenders. Ryan’s record is just as bad as the others’, and his running mate’s. Writing in the Huffington Post, ACLU president Anthony Romero observed, 'There’s no constitutional daylight between Ryan’s civil liberties positions and Romney’s and that means a pall of darkness over our Constitution and the rights it guarantees'....

"Ryan has actually never supported many central tenets of libertarianism. Unless it is an excuse to support a policy benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor, Ryan has no interest in individual liberty."

Read more: http://www.thenation.com/blog/169412/paul-ryan-doesnt-follow-ayn-rand-civil-liberties#
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Gary Johnson Braves the ACLU - Reason Magazine

Gary Johnson Braves the ACLU - Reason Magazine - Mike Riggs:

January 31, 2012 - "On January 29 ... the American Civil Liberties Union ... invited the GOP field to its annual staff convention in Orlando.... ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero introduced Johnson to a crowd of 100 or so ACLU staffers.... Johnson [has] dropped out of the GOP and joined the Libertarian Party, where he is, for the first time since his days as a gubernatorial candidate in New Mexico, a frontrunner. 'I’m polling at 73 percent among libertarians,' Johnson told me before his speech....

"Johnson started his speech the same way he starts most of his speeches: by describing his commitment to cutting federal spending by 43 percent. As a result, the ACLU audience barely made a peep for the first 12 minutes of Johnson’s speech.... It wasn’t until he got started on legalizing marijuana that the crowd (figuratively) lit up. A steady stream of applause followed Johnson’s declarations after that.

“'I support gay marriage equality. I support repealing the PATRIOT Act. I would have vetoed the Department of Homeland Security, because I think it’s redundant. I would’ve never established the department of—the TSA agency. I think we should end the practices of torture. Period. I can understand the complexities in the following, but I think we should end the practices of detainment without being charged. There is nothing I want to see the government come in and fix with the Internet.'”

"Johnson also made a point throughout the evening of highlighting the differences between himself and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who sought and received Johnson’s endorsement in 2008.

“'I don’t think that Ron Paul is going to win the Republican nomination. For the most part, we are talking about the same message, but we do have differences. And when he drops out, or finds an end to the Republican primary, I don’t see this agenda moving forward,' Johnson said."

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/31/gary-johnson-braves-the-aclu
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