Posts

GOOD NEWS FOR GUN OWNERS: Supreme Court Rules on Confiscation of Legal Guns From Man’s Home

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By WND. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the generally accepted “community caretaking” responsibilities that police have, for example, to search an abandoned vehicle for dangerous weapons, does not apply to homes.

The ruling Monday came in a case brought by Edward Caniglia, a Rhode Island man, who charged that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights by promising they would not take his guns, but then immediately searching his home and taking them.

The dispute arose because Caniglia and his wife had argued. During the course of the dispute Edward Caniglia handed his wife an unloaded gun and told her to kill him. . .

They arrived at her home together, and found Edward Caniglia on the porch. He agreed to go to a hospital for an exam on the condition officers leave his guns alone.

They promised that, but immediately reneged and he sued. (Read more from “Supremes Rule on Cops Confiscating Legal Guns From Man’s Home” HERE)

_____________________________________________________________________

Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Warrantless Gun Seizure

By Daily Caller. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on Monday that Rhode Island police officers acted illegally when they seized a man’s guns without a warrant.

Edward Caniglia sued the city of Cranston, Rhode Island, after police officers located and took his guns while he was in the hospital for a mental health wellness check. He argued that the seizure violated his Fourth Amendment rights, although two federal courts ruled against him. Those courts relied on a provision of the law that allows police to seize guns from drivers while on the road. . .

“The very core of the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee is the right of a person to retreat into his or her home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the Court.

The police had argued that they were allowed to seize Caniglia’s guns during the wellness check because of the “community care-taking exception” to the Fourth Amendment. That exception allows police officers to conduct searches for what “may be described as community care-taking functions,” when “there is no claim of criminal liability.” (Read more from “Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Warrantless Gun Seizure” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

SCOTUS Agrees to Hear a Landmark Second Amendment Case

/0 Comments/in , /by

After a decade long hiatus, the Supreme Court has finally agreed to hear a landmark Second Amendment case.

(Read more from “SCOTUS Agrees to Hear a Landmark Second Amendment Case” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Clarence Thomas Rips SCOTUS Double Standard On Teen Maturity: ‘Child’ For Murderer vs. ‘Young Woman’ For Abortion-Seeker

/0 Comments/in , /by

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ripped the highest court in the land over its double standard on language surrounding abortions.

In his concurring opinion issued in Jones v. Mississippi decision on Thursday, Thomas tucked in a criticism of the court’s hypocrisy in considering juvenile criminals as “children” while pretending that young girls who want to have abortions are responsible enough to choose.

“When addressing juvenile murderers, this Court has stated that ‘children are different’ and that courts must consider ‘a child’s lesser culpability,’” Thomas wrote. “And yet, when assessing the Court-created right of an individual of the same age to seek an abortion, Members of this Court take pains to emphasize a ‘young woman’s’ right to choose.”

While the Supreme Court ruled that judges may give juvenile murderers life sentences, Thomas cited multiple abortion cases decided by the high court containing commentary from justices who were quick to note a teen’s ability to choose, such as in Lambert v. Wicklund, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, and Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health. (Read more from “Clarence Thomas Rips SCOTUS Double Standard on Teen Maturity: ‘Child’ for Murderer vs. ‘Young Woman’ for Abortion-Seeker” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

SCOTUS Punts on Second Amendment Cases, Raising Real Questions How “Conservative” New Members Are

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up three challenges to a federal ban on gun ownership for people convicted of nonviolent crimes, disappointing Second Amendment advocates who hoped a more conservative court would begin to chip away at the restriction.

By not taking the appeals, the nation’s highest court let stand a series of lower court rulings that prohibited people convicted of driving under the influence, making false statements on tax returns and selling counterfeit cassette tapes from owning a gun.

The decisions Monday, which were handed down without explanation, are the latest in a series of instances in which the Supreme Court has skirted Second Amendment questions. The high court last issued major guns rights rulings in 2008 and 2010, cases that struck down handgun restrictions in the District of Columbia and Chicago.

Gun rights groups vowed to continue to press the issue.

“While we are disappointed the Supreme Court chose to allow grossly improper lower court rulings to stand, (we) will continue our aggressive litigation strategy,” said Adam Kraut, senior director of legal operations at the Firearms Policy Coalition, which represented several of the petitioners. (Read more from “SCOTUS Punts on Second Amendment Cases, Raising Real Questions How “Conservative” New Members Are” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Democrats Launch ‘Raw Muscle Play’ To Take Over Supreme Court; GOP: Democrats Packing the Supreme Court Should ‘Scare Every Single American’ (VIDEO)

/0 Comments/in , /by

By WND. Democrats in Washington have launched a “raw muscle play” to take over the U.S. Supreme Court to assure their party of ongoing – and leftist – decision victories.

The plan from Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who orchestrated much of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s two failed impeach-and-remove campaigns against President Trump, and others was reported by the Intercept, and apparently would add four justices to the nine already on the bench.

Other promoters, so far, include Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.; and Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y.

Fox News reported even the usually liberal George Washington University law professor and constitutional expert Jonathan Turley was appalled.

“The House and Senate Democrats are moving forward with a bill to add 4 new justices to the Supreme Court. There is nothing subtle or elegant in the move. Just a raw muscle play to take control of the Court…,” he wrote on social media. (Read more from “Democrats Launch ‘Raw Muscle Play’ To Take Over Supreme Court” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

Democrats Packing the Supreme Court Should ‘Scare Every Single American’: McCarthy

By Fox Business. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, during a wide-ranging interview on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria” Thursday, argued that the Democrats’ proposal to add four seats to the Supreme Court “should scare every single American, regardless of where you stand politically,” and criticized the Biden administration’s lack of border security.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY: This should scare every single American, regardless of where you stand politically. The Democrats inside Congress today would rather dismantle this nation than dignify the Constitution. This just goes to show how far the Democratic Party has moved. There almost are no longer common sense or moderate Democrats elected.

Even Joe Biden in the past was opposed to this. Those Democrats on the Supreme Court were opposed to this because what this simply does is, it’s about control. It’s overtaking a branch of government simply to have your control over a nation. It must be the scariest thing I’ve ever heard them do. I never thought they would go this far. But now they’re not only proposing it, they’re moving it in legislation form.

(Read more from “Democrats Packing the Supreme Court Should ‘Scare Every Single American’: McCarthy” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Caught In Another Lie: Biden Orders Commission to Study How Democrats Can Pack the Supreme Court

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Joe Biden issued an executive order Friday directing a commission of 36 scholars, former judges, lawyers, and others led by a former Obama adviser to evaluate expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court.

The reportedly bipartisan commission has 180 days to provide a study to Biden examining and outlining “the genesis of the reform debate, the Court’s role in the Constitutional system, the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court” as well as “the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.”

“The Commission’s purpose is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals,” the White House said in a statement.

Despite Biden’s previous refusal to admit that he wants to pack the courts and the corporate press’s inability to pressure him further on his position, the Democrat has faced mounting pressure from progressives to take action and power away from what they see as a conservative-controlled judicial body. During his time on the campaign trail, Biden signaled that Court reform was a priority at the top of his agenda because the system is “getting out of whack.” (Read more from “Caught In Another Lie: Biden Orders Commission to Study How Democrats Can Pack the Supreme Court” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.

Abortion War Returns to Supreme Court in 2021

/0 Comments/in , /by

For the first time since President Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees were seated, giving the court what is widely regarded as a 6-3 conservative majority, the justices will hear an abortion case.

The case is a bid by the Kentucky attorney to intervene in a lawsuit against a state abortion ban, which the current Democratic governor refuses to defend.

Politico reported “the court’s new conservative supermajority” will be watched for signs of whether it wants to revisit abortion and review cases such as the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The Kentucky case, Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, is about the state’s 2018 ban on an abortion procedure in which the unborn infant is dismembered.

The law was signed by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, but federal courts blocked its implementation and Bevin’s successor, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, refuses to defend it. (Read more from “Abortion War Returns to Supreme Court in 2021” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE and MeWe HERE

Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court To Let Cops Enter Homes and Seize Guns Without a Warrant

/0 Comments/in , /by

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral argument in Caniglia v. Strom, a case that could have sweeping consequences for policing, due process, and mental health, with the Biden Administration and attorneys general from nine states urging the High Court to uphold warrantless gun confiscation. . .

In their opening brief for the Supreme Court, attorneys for Caniglia warned that “extending the community caretaking exception to homes would be anathema to the Fourth Amendment” because it “would grant police a blank check to intrude upon the home.”

That fear is not unwarranted. In jurisdictions that have extended the community caretaking exception to homes, “everything from loud music to leaky pipes have been used to justify warrantless invasion of the home,” a joint amicus brief by the ACLU, the Cato Institute, and the American Conservative Union revealed.

This expansion could also have perverse effects and disincentivize people from calling for help. As that brief noted, “When every interaction with police or request for help can become an invitation for police to invade the home, the willingness of individuals to seek assistance when it is most needed will suffer.”

But in its first amicus brief before the High Court, the Biden Administration glossed over these concerns and called on the justices to uphold the First Circuit’s ruling. Noting that “the ultimate touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is ‘reasonableness,’” the Justice Department argued that warrants should not be “presumptively required when a government official’s action is objectively grounded in a non-investigatory public interest, such as health or safety.” (Read more from “Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court To Let Cops Enter Homes and Seize Guns Without a Warrant” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE and MeWe HERE

Supreme Court Allows Release of Trump Tax Records

/0 Comments/in , /by

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 22 that it won’t stop a New York prosecutor from obtaining former President Donald Trump’s tax returns and other financial records as part of a criminal investigation.

The justices rebuffed Trump’s request to put an Oct. 7, 2020, lower court ruling on hold that directs the former commander-in-chief’s accounting company, Mazars USA, to comply with a subpoena to turn over the tax returns and documents to a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat.

The New York grand jury will be able to obtain the records and look at them in secret, meaning that the records will not become public any time soon, although the possibility of leaks to legacy news media can’t be ruled out.

The court issued a single-sentence ruling (pdf): “The application for a stay presented to Justice Breyer and referred to the Court is denied.” The justices didn’t provide an explanation.

In July 2020, the high court ruled that the president and any other citizen isn’t “categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.” They suggested Trump could challenge Vance’s subpoena on other grounds. (Read more from “Supreme Court Allows Release of Trump Tax Records” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE and MeWe HERE

Supreme Court Pushback on California Should Be Just the Start of Courts Standing up Against Endless Lockdowns

/0 Comments/in , /by

Like numerous judges across the country for the past year, some justices on the U.S. Supreme Court appear unable to put aside their political views and question the legality of lockdown orders. That’s apparent in last week’s late-night decision in the ongoing battle between California’s churches and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The order arose after Newsom ignored the Supreme Court’s prior decision that found bans on indoor worshipping to violate the First Amendment.

Just one week after the Supreme Court issued that decision, Newsom’s government issued a regional “stay at home” order that again banned all indoor church services during a sacred holiday season, but let grocery stores and large retailers like Costco and Best Buy stay open inside at 25 percent capacity. The order showed a shocking disregard for the law, particularly during the Holy Season and especially for a governor that has demanded complete fealty to his orders.

California must have known that it would be hauled back before the Supreme Court, and the court made it pay. Justice Neil Gorsuch’s plurality opinion hammered that point, saying: “Recently, this Court made it abundantly clear that edicts like California’s fail strict scrutiny and violate the Constitution …. Today’s order should have been needless; the lower courts in these cases should have followed the extensive guidance this Court already gave.” . . .

Of course, one may expect such defiance from California politicians, whose state voted nearly two to one for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, but it is much scarier to see it come from three Supreme Court justices—Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer—who discarded all respect for stare decisis and essentially accused their colleagues of killing people. (Read more from “Supreme Court Pushback on California Should Be Just the Start of Courts Standing up Against Endless Lockdowns” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE and MeWe HERE