Anti-gunners keep pushing bills that say if a person is on the terror watch list, then they can’t buy a gun. Of course, the trouble is you can’t really appeal that and you have no way of knowing. And since there have been senators and babies on the list, it’s probably not accurate.

Yet, we add 1,600 to it per day.

Thought crimes now make stuff that’s already illegal even more illegaller. They call it a hate crime prevention act. Which it’s not. It just increases the punishment and adds something else someone could be charged with. It will prevent nothing.

Good news:

The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws

Good for Obama. Via Phelps, who says: I’ll start to believe it when they stop raiding dispensaries.

Obama says he’ll end don’t ask don’t tell. But don’t ask when because he won’t tell you.

Interesting case. A registered sex offender goes to church. He is arrested because the law prohibits him from being near children and the church has a daycare. He’s suing, claiming his first amendment rights are being infringed upon.

Getting your neighbors to form a community terrorist watch list. What could possibly go wrong?

Federal agents decked out in Ninja gear and SWAT weapons ransack a 60 year old grandmother’s house. They don’t answer her questions and emptied file cabinets, pulled books off shelves, rifled through drawers and closets, and threw the contents on the floor. Prior to this raid, she and her husband were under investigation for six months. The reason for the resources, SWAT teams, body armor, and all manner of anti-terror, ninja suits? Orchids.

Yes, these domestic terrorist were guilty of cultivating, importing and selling orchids. Kevin addressed the case a few years back.

The linked article has more heavy-handed buffoonery:

Krister Evertson, another victim of overcriminalization, told Congress, “What I have experienced in these past years is something that should scare you and all Americans.” He’s right. Evertson, a small-time entrepreneur and inventor, faced two separate federal prosecutions stemming from his work trying to develop clean-energy fuel cells.

The feds prosecuted Mr. Evertson the first time for failing to put a federally mandated sticker on an otherwise lawful UPS package in which he shipped some of his supplies.

I’m glad to see these incidents getting more coverage to show the stupidity involved here.

Grandmother arrested for buying cold medicine.

You commit three felonies a day. And intent? Never heard of it.

On the PATRIOT Act:

Only three of the 763 “sneak-and-peek” requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.

Hats off to Al Franken, of all people:

Franken, who opened by acknowledging that unlike most of his colleagues in the Senate, he’s not a lawyer, but according to his research “most Americans aren’t lawyers” either, said he’d also done research on the Patriot Act and in particular, the “roving wiretap” provision that allows the FBI to get a warrant to wiretap a an unnamed target and his or her various and changing cell phones, computers and other communication devices.

Noting that he received a copy of the Constitution when he was sworn in as a senator, he proceeded to read it to Kris, emphasizing this part: “no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

“That’s pretty explicit language,” noted Franken, asking Kris how the “roving wiretap” provision of the Patriot Act can meet that requirement if it doesn’t require the government to name its target.

Via Phelps.

Katherine Mangu-Ward:

I’m the average American: Take 30 percent of my paycheck and I’ll shrug. Nationalize the car companies and I’ll change the channel to cartoons. Add 10 cents to the cost of my Cherry Coke and, so help me God, I will start a revolution.

It doesn’t make a lick of sense, but that’s the way people are. Tea parties notwithstanding, trans fat regulations, smoking rules, parental advisory stickers, and light bulb bans have long been some of the best recruitment tools libertarians have.

Under threat when you disagree with the establishment.

A good read:

What confounds me is the unmitigated refusal of county leaders to challenge law enforcement and to demand better — as if civil rights are somehow rendered secondary by the war on drugs.

Well, today, they are. That should be changed.

Obama administration looks to extend provisions of PATRIOT act.

A man pulled over for DUI was taken to the hospital and forced to a bed, then catheterized against his will. Seems, he had a problem with the whole thing and is now suing.

We libertarian sorts point out that it is to the point where there are so many laws that it’s impossible to not break them. Good thing that issue is getting some attention from law professors.

In the event of cybersecurity emergency, they want to shut down. From Tam, who notes:

the oft-derided USA-PATRIOT Act is still with us. I guess they only hate it during election season.

Obama administration getting sued for it’s boneheaded snitching on dissenters move:

“My hate mail started shortly after the White House issued the ‘fishy’ request,” said Kathryn Serkes, AAPS’ Director of Policy and Public Affairs. “We were quite visible and vocal before then, so it doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Who did they share their data with? With whom might they share it?”

David Codrea:

Mabell Labe

Blog about the police, spend time in jail.

I got sidetracked but I wanted to talk about the man open carrying at the Obama protest thing in New Hampshire from the point made in this post. Insty sums up the press reaction nicely:

EEK! A GUN!

And it’s having an effect. However, you couple the gun with the whole blood of tyrants sign and I think the guy made a poor marketing decision. Of course, he was also a half a mile away and there two hours before Obama’s arrival.

One of the more interesting dynamics I’ve found in this debate is the reaction from folks. Some folks are none too happy here. Take Aunt B. for example:

Because the whole “gun nuts” thing aside, the biggest progress gun lovers have made is in convincing the rest of us that y’all are normal people we have no reason to be afraid of.

Unlike the press, Aunt B. is not all EEK! A GUN!. She takes issue with the sign. I really doubt Aunt B. would be concerned if the guy was protesting and did not have that particular sign. It is New Hampshire. You know, live free or die. And NH has had handgun carry for probably longer than anyone. So, if you’re going to open carry at a protest, probably ought to leave the signs that advocate violence at home. In fact, leaving those signs at home when not carrying is probably a good idea too.

Meanwhile, PDB is utterly outraged.

Ben Garrett on the FTC’s pending nationalized media:

Interpretation: Five million bloggers exercising their First Amendment right isn’t a good thing for American democracy.

Walter Olson:

under a law Congress passed last year aimed at regulating hazards in children’s products, the federal government has now advised that children’s books published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or distribute. Merchants, thrift stores, and booksellers may be at risk if they sell older volumes, or even give them away, without first subjecting them to testing—at prohibitive expense.

The Mrs. collects children’s books. She has for years. It appears she’ll soon need a black market book dealer. HT to SIH who notes you need an interest group for everything.

Government to limit political speech and not just for corporations:

Under the government’s proposed rule, not even actual gratitude is required before the government can limit speech — it is enough that the government thinks that in some cases legislators might feel gratitude.

Shocker: Court rules amendment means what it says.

Good:

A federal judge in June threw out seizure of three fake passports from a traveler, saying that TSA screeners violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Congress authorizes TSA to search travelers for weapons and explosives; beyond that, the agency is overstepping its bounds, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley said.

Strip searching for Advil ruled to violate fourth amendment rights. Thomas dissented, which is inexcusable.

Jack Lail on the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Federal prosecutors who had made a broad request for user information of commenters on the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Web site backed down a bit

Man invited to airport to photograph Fathers’ day flight of a B24 Liberator. Photographer cuffed and held since we can’t have people taking pics of planes. Says one of the veterans:

It’s the U.S.A., not U.S.S.R. — I didn’t fight to protect this shit.

TSA agents harass Ron Paul supporter for carrying too much cash. Oh, did we mention he took an audio recording.

The .gov has this watch list that is suppressing our civil rights, the media tells us. But the same list doesn’t suppress the right to own guns and the media gets hysterical. The list has had servicemen, babies, congressmonkies, bloggers, and grandmothers on it. The list is flawed, involves no due process, and you can’t even inquire as to why you’re on it when you’re on it. Robb takes the bootlickers to task.

A little frightening:

Antiterrorism training materials used by the Department of Defense teach that public protests should be regarded as “low-level terrorism,” according to a letter of complaint sent to the department by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Scary:

It is legally permissible for police to zap a suspect with a Taser to obtain a DNA sample, as long as it’s not done “maliciously, or to an excessive extent, or with resulting injury,” a county judge has ruled in the first case of its kind in New York State, and possibly the nation.

I have always been of the opinion that the only time for using a Taser is when deadly force is justified.

New Hampshire set to become sixth state to butt out of contracts between two people whose genitalia aren’t different.

I forgot where I read this but someone pointed out that it’s a bit scary that the US government will own OnStar. By owning 70% of GM, they would control OnStar as well.

A judge says your right to free speech is not limited just because there’s an election. Good for him.

The NYT:

President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said.

Obama seems to be a continuation of Bush. Hell, even Glenn Greenwald is noticing that too.

No warrant needed for GPS tracking of automobile.

The TN AG says a ban on saggy pants is ‘Arguably Unconstitutional‘. One would hope so.