Nationals-3

Medical marijuana perscription problem with lack of research

"It's a product that most doctors don't know anything about," said Ehsan Abdeshahian, a Waldorf-based pain specialist appointed to the cannabis commission in July by Gov. Larry Hogan (R). "The priority now is to educate the providers."

Schumer QUOTE on his decriminalization bill

"The bill lets the states decide and be the laboratories that they ought to be," Schumer said. "It also will ensure that minority- and woman-owned businesses have a dedicated funding stream to help them compete against bigger companies in the marijuana business. Critically, we ensure that advertising can't be aimed at kids, and put real funds behind research into the health effects of THC," referring to the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana.

New budget bill's big $$ for russian interference

"The federal Election Assistance Commission will receive $380 million to dole out to states to improve their election-related cybersecurity. And the FBI is set to receive $300 million in counterintelligence funding to combat Russian hacking."

Democrats wanting more power to the states-QUOTE

"We have a national administration that is not keeping with where the American people are, and when it becomes as evident as it is, then it's incumbent on people with half a brain to figure out a way around that," said Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Medicaid

A Federal program that provides healthcare to really poor people. Part of President Lyndon Johnson's program called "The Great Society" which was one of the biggest expansions of federal programs in history. Most of it was done through the spending power -- the federal government just started spending lots more money on making life better for poor people.

Trump connection with NRA

He took $30 million from the NRA for his campaign.

criminalization of marijuana in Cali STAT

Last year, Oakland produced a report showing that 77 percent of cannabis-related arrests in 2015 were of African-Americans, who make up around 30 percent of the city's 420,000 residents.

Senators promoting legalizing bills: EXAMPLE

Last year, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced the Marijuana Justice Act, which would legalize the drug nationwide; it was later endorsed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

laws similar to SB4 (banning sanctuary cities)

Laws similar to S.B. 4 (the Texas law banning sanctuary cities) were introduced in at least 33 state legislatures last year.

McDonald v Chicago (2010)

The main issue before the Court in that case was whether the 2nd Amendment should be incorporated as against the states -- it was one of the few rights in the Bill of Rights that had still not been incorporated at that point. The Court held that it should be incorporated, then went on to strike down Chicago's ban on keeping handguns at home.

city of chicago v sessions

The City of Chicago, like many localities across the nation, receives federal funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant ("Byrne JAG") Program to help the City enhance public safety as it sees fit. Byrne JAG grant amounts are calculated using a statutory formula keyed to the jurisdiction's population and violent crime rate, and there are minimal limits on the public safety and criminal justice uses to which funds may be allocated. Despite this, in July 2017, United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions sought to mandate new funding conditions for every Byrne JAG grant in an attempt to coerce cities into changing their immigration policies. The City of Chicago brought suit against Sessions in federal district court challenging his authority to impose the new conditions. The district court ruled for Chicago, and the government appealed to the Seventh Circuit.

Federalism

the federal principle or system of government

new federalism

us v lopez, us v morrison reduced rights through comm. clause

Legalizing medical marijuana for social justice- cons

Ronald Rice (NJ Black senator) fears the consequences would be dire in cities like Newark, which is already wrestling with a variety of problems, including widespread heroin addiction and a foreclosure crisis. Cannabis stores, he believes, would proliferate in black communities, much like liquor stores, and would produce a new generation of drug abusers. Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, and in Denver, most merchants are based in low-income neighborhoods where residents have complained about lingering and strong odors, according to local news media accounts.

US v California- SB 54

SB 54 prevents local law enforcement from providing information to federal authorities about the release date of undocumented immigrants who are in their custody and bans the transfer of these criminal immigrants to federal custody. This breaks federal law that pertains to communication between government agencies and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, DOJ officials said. This seems like the statute that is most likely to survive preemption -- it just prevents law enforcement officers from sharing information about immigrants or transferring them into federal custody. Advocates of this law argue that it is justified based on the anti-commandeering cases, but the US will argue that those don't apply -- this will be a close case. There is a federal law that prohibits states from barring officials from cooperating with DHS. It is 8 USC section 1373. It provides: a state "may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual." As a super nerdy law blog I just read says, "The question concerning Section 1373 is this: is it proper for Congress to prevent states from preventing their local officials from voluntarily providing immigration information to federal officials?" Here is a link to the article discussing this -- I have no conclusion on what the answer is! But it does involve the anti-commandeering cases.

Sanctuary City v Sessions related CASE

Sanctuary cities are claiming that Sessions is trying to force them to enforce federal immigration law and that the loss of federal funds would violate the holding in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012).

dual citizens-- sending money outside of us econ

"Earlier this year (2015), Mexico's central bank released data indicating Mexicans abroad sent home $23.6 billion in 2014, almost all of it from the United States. Payments from workers abroad make up just 2 percent of Mexican GDP, but they can play a much bigger role in particular local economies. One study concluded that "the poorest rural areas" of the country derive 19.5 percent of their income from remittances.

recent increase in mexico border crossing

"Federal agents arrested or denied entry to 50,308 unauthorized migrants in March, the highest one-month total since President Trump took office and a 200 percent increase over the same period last year, when crossings fell to historic lows.

marijuana w/ opiod epidemic QUOTE

"I'm convinced de-scheduling the drug is needed so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities," Boehner (previous speaker of the house) tweeted.

Quote about Dep. of Edu. siding with companies and STAT

"Once again, the Department of Education has revealed that it is on the side of companies instead of standing by borrowers and their families," Whitney Barkley-Denney, a policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending, said in a statement. "Acting at the behest of servicers and their lobbyists denies an opportunity for comment by the 44 million Americans who share the burden of a still-growing $1.4 trillion in student loan debt."

SIC election security report

"States should remain firmly in the lead on running elections, and the federal government should ensure they receive the necessary resources and information," reads the first recommendation — an apparent nod to state-level pushback to a 2016 decision by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson to designate election systems "critical infrastructure." call for Congress to "urgently" pass legislation that would increase federal assistance for states and provide a voluntary grant program to help states boost cybersecurity and conduct audits of their systems. calling for it to "clearly communicate to adversaries that an attack on our election infrastructure is a hostile act, and we will respond accordingly."

Russian election interference quote- Denis McDonough (NBC)

"The lack of urgency that we saw from the Republican leadership in 2016, we continue to see to this day today," he said. "It's beyond time for Congress to work with the administration, to work with the states, to ensure that our electoral systems are ready to go. This is not a game."

National Institute of Family and Life center v. Becerra QUOTE

"There are pro-choice states, and there are pro-life states," Justice Stephen Breyer said. "If a pro-life state can tell a doctor you have to tell people about adoption, why can't a pro-choice state tell a doctor, a facility, whatever it is, you have to tell people about abortion?"

TRUMP quote on guns

"They start with training and then they have additional training every year, and I think they should get a bonus. ... I want highly trained people that have a natural talent, like hitting a baseball, or hitting a golf ball, or putting. "

Example/quote of where states are getting more done than the capital

"This is the tale of two Washingtons: Washington state and Washington, D.C.," Inslee said. "In the real Washington, we just passed a $4 billion dollar infrastructure plan and the largest infrastructure transportation plan in the history of the state of Washington. In Washington, D.C., Donald Trump can't build a birdhouse."- Jay Inslee, the Washington governor who's a member of the Climate Alliance and chair of the Democratic Governors Association

Article IV, privileges and immunities clause

"We feel no hesitation in confining these expressions to those privileges and immunities which are, in their nature, fundamental; which belong, of right, to the citizens of all free governments; and which have, at all times, been enjoyed by the citizens of the several States which compose this Union," Justice Washington's opinion explains

state sovereignty

"When today we speak in terms of state powers, it is generally with reference to residual, rather than exclusive, sovereign authority. As the Tenth Amendment confirms, therefore, states retain those powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to them by the Constitution." remember limitations on state power that are in the constitution like Article I, section 10 and Article IV.

Marijuana business STAT

$7 billion-a-year marijuana market.

Republicans backing immigration

-- The Koch-backed LIBRE Initiative and Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce are launching a seven-figure national ad campaign calling for a permanent solution for "dreamers."

US v. California.

--The purpose is to stop California's enforcement of three statewide "sanctuary" laws. The federal government is arguing that these laws are preempted by federal immigration law. --The US is relying heavily on the case from a few years ago, Arizona v. US. One of you read that and presented on it.

Sanctuary cities and Fugitive Slave Act

1850, the Congress passed and President Millard Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act, which not only required state and local governmental officials to aid owners and their agents who'd come North to capture and re-enslave the runaways, but also required the same level of cooperation from all citizens. The only "crime" that most undocumented immigrants have committed — and the only one that places them in federal legal jeopardy — is that of being undocumented. Likewise, the only "crime" that most escaped slaves had committed — and the only one that placed them in federal legal jeopardy — was escaping.

Stat- gun deaths

96 Americans are shot and killed every day.

states fighting national corruption

A federal judge ruled that the District of Columbia and Maryland may proceed with a lawsuit against President Trump alleging that Trump's business dealings have violated the Constitution's ban on receiving improper "emoluments," or payments, from individual states and foreign governments.

2nd Cali Values Act outcome w/regards to jails

A second aspect of the federal suit concerns a part of the state budget bill that gives the state attorney general the power to monitor immigration detention centers in the state. A state has no authority to monitor federal facilities. But this is about local jails that contract with the federal government to hold detainees and private facilities that contract with the federal government. Here, California is again on strong constitutional grounds to make sure that those detained in the state are treated humanely and their rights are respected. The state is not impeding the federal government's immigration policies when it inspects the conditions of detention facilities.

census is provided for by constitution

A. 1 S. 2- The U.S. Constitution empowers the Congress to carry out the census in "such manner as they shall by Law direct"

US v California AB 103

AB 103 imposes a state-run inspection and review of the federal detention of immigrants held in facilities pursuant to federal contracts and includes a review of immigration processes and the circumstances in which immigrants were apprehended. This review applies only to facilities with civil immigration detainees. The law seeks to regulate federal immigration detention, according to the complaint, which is not allowed under the Constitution. AB 103 provides for state inspection and review of federal detention facilities, and immigration processes and the circumstances of apprehension. Whoa. I can't think of any similar state laws that provide for states overseeing the federal government but I will look! This reminds me of McCulloch v. Maryland -- the state of Maryland taxing the bank of the United States. You'll remember that there were two big issues in that case -- one was whether Congress had the power to create the Bank of the United States. It did. The second was whether Maryland had the right to tax the bank. The Court held it did not. Here is some of what the Court said about the power of the state over the federal government: "The sovereignty of a State extends to everything which exists by its own authority or is introduced by its permission, but does it extend to those means which are employed by Congress to carry into execution powers conferred on that body by the people of the United States? We think it demonstrable that it does not. Those powers are not given by the people of a single State. They are given by the people of the United States, to a Government whose laws, made in pursuance of the Constitution, are declared to be supreme. Consequently, the people of a single State cannot confer a sovereignty which will extend over them." I think if I were the US I would argue that if California doesn't like immigrant detention or immigration procedures (a position with which I am in total agreement), then there answer is to get federal law changed, not to try to regulate the federal government itself. Maybe I'm missing something but I'm thinking AB 103 is not going to survive!

US v California- AB 450

AB 450 prohibits private employers from cooperating with federal immigration officials and requires that private employers notify employees in advance of a potential worksite enforcement inspection. DOJ claims that this forces California employers to be caught between state and federal law. Business owners could be fined $2,000 to $10,000 for failing to comply with AB 450. The first one, AB 450, would seem possibly preempted by IRCA, the federal law that makes it illegal for employers to hire undocumented workers. It requires employers to retain documents about the status of their employees. I don't know if it explicitly requires employers to cooperate with federal immigration officials, or prohibits them from notifying employees of worksite enforcement, but I can see the government making an argument that AB 450's requirements of employers will frustrate the purpose of IRCA. It seems to be requiring employers to get on the bad side of DHS, at the very least.

sessions adding points to COPSP giving more money to those that work with ICE

Additional points would be awarded to police departments that helped Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents identify and apprehend jail inmates believed to be in the country illegally. To get the point boost, police departments had to be willing to alert ICE 48 hours before releasing inmates who agents had targeted for deportation and were required to give ICE agents access to jail facilities so they could interview inmates and review records. Los Angeles, which refused to abide by the new rules, was not awarded any funds, while 80% of the departments that did receive money cooperated with ICE, court records show.

dual federalism

states rights believed states had power over fed gov (14th amend, priv and imm., due process, equal prot) New Deal (FDR) - social security etc.

Trump admin. acknowledging Russian interference

Along with imposing sanctions on 19 individuals and five entities including Russian intelligence services, the Trump administration publicly blamed Moscow for the first time for a campaign of cyber attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the U.S. power grid including nuclear facilities. The United States also joined Britain, Germany and France in demanding that Russia explain a military-grade nerve toxin attack in England on a former Russian double agent.

Marijuana legalization poll STAT

And the great majority of voters oppose current federal marijuana law. This kind of result — 83 percent of Americans choosing anything but a current policy — is exceedingly rare in any kind of polling.

Problem with arming teachers w/Trumps plan

And the reality is, even highly trained police officers hit their targets about 18 percent of the time. We cannot turn volunteer teachers into sharpshooters.

nullification crisis- 1832

Andrew Jackson- This crisis was about high tariffs which, before the implementation of the income tax in 1913 through the Sixteenth Amendment, was one of the main sources of income for the federal government. High tariff rates were resented throughout the South, particularly in South Carolina. While they benefited manufacturers in the northern states, they hurt the mostly agricultural southern states.

other border wall funding options

Another option is to tap into the emergency military construction funding known as MILCON. Up to $50 million can be used without congressional approval in cases of national security or to protect US military officers.

car emission standards

At the Safe Climate Campaign, Director Dan Becker projected that retaining the Obama rule would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 6 billion tons and save 12 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of vehicles complying with these standards. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced Monday that he would revoke Obama-era standards requiring cars and light trucks sold in the United States to average more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025, a move that could change the composition of the nation's auto fleet for years.

what should be shared between governments

Big federal programs like low income housing, welfare, and medicaid that involve distributing benefits are often administered locally, and sometimes states are given the ability to set policy about how the money is distributed. That can make sense because the local government can be more responsive to local needs. In many areas the states and federal governments regulate concurrently -- with state regulation going beyond a federal floor, or covering areas that the federal law doesn't cover (like local crimes versus interstate crimes).

cities are also laboratories of democracy

Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a $200 million effort called the American Cities Initiative with the goal of funding new ways for city leaders to collaborate with each other and improve their residents' lives. Bloomberg funded a domestic version of the Mayor's Challenge, one of the funders long-running international programs, which typically asks city leaders in some global region to compete for funding by submitting bold solutions to their most pressing issues. The contest will eventually award one winning city $5 million to implement its idea, along with giving an additional $1 million to four runners-up. So far, Bloomberg has narrowed the pool of 320 applicants down to 35 so-called "Champion Cities," all of whom will receive up to $100,000 in grant funding to rapidly prototype their radical ideas.

CSA federalism and preemption (purpose)

CSA desgined to implement federal-state cooperation in law enforcement with state criminalization of drugs reinforcing federal law.

Student Loans

Companies in that world have come under scrutiny in recent years for lying and being unfair to borrowers. President Obama attempted to crack down on these organizations to make sure they were not being abusive. There is a federal law, the Higher Education Act that regulates these loans. But states have also passed their own laws about student loan collection, and sometimes those state laws are tougher. Now the Trump administration is easing way up on enforcing the federal law, and news has come out that they intend to undermine state efforts to regulate borrowers too! One of the ways it sounds like they are going to do that is to argue that the federal law preempts the state laws -- or get Congress to pass a law that explicitly exempts lenders from state regulations.

dual citizenship with illegal residents

Compared to other issues — such as a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the country illegally — dual citizenship hasn't been the subject of significant debate in recent years. That may be partly because there is no authoritative tally of how many U.S. citizens possess another nationality. Michael A. Olivas, an immigration professor at the University of Houston Law Center, believes that the number is well over 1 million and could be several times that number.

Direct Loan Program

Congress created and expanded the Direct Loan Program with the goal of simplifying the delivery of student loans to borrowers, eliminating borrower confusion, avoiding unnecessary costs to taxpayers, and creating a more streamlined student loan program," the memo reads. "Recently, several States have enacted regulatory regimes or applied existing State consumer protection statutes that undermine these goals."

funding of border wall

Congress has allocated $1.6 billion for the border wall through the Department of Homeland Security, with specific instructions that those funds had to go toward repairing existing fencing or toward double fencing where barriers already exist. Posse Comitatus Act forbids using the military in civilian law enforcement

census update

Even though the Constitution requires apportionment to be based on persons, the Trump administration is trying to hurt high immigrant states by adding a question to the census that asks if people are citizens. The census has not contained a question about citizenship status since 1950.

right to vote

Expanding the right to vote is something that states should handle to increase government legitimacy and promote equality. Oregon was the first state to pass automatic voter registration and have the highest voter turnout, with a 29 point increase in the voting of people of color. Legislators have introduced at least 206 bills to expand access to the ballot in 30 states this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice- such as Florida's bill to restore voting rights to ex-felons, a move that would enfranchise 1.5 million Floridians, including 1 in 5 African Americans who are currently unable to vote.

Opiod crisis- fentanyl- needing federal gov help

Fentanyl is between 50 and 100 times more deadly and more potent than heroin is. It's not just in our (Maryland) state, but it is spreading to many states across the country. And we had 2,000 people in Maryland die last year. And this was the number one cause. This is — that is an interstate and international trafficking situation. commerce clause

DEA new policy to licence more research on marijuana-- but not acted on any of the applications into the program

For decades, all cannabis used for research in the U.S. has been grown at a single farm at the University of Mississippi. Researchers have long argued that it is difficult to access cannabis from the facility, and that the product is often of low quality. In 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration enacted a new policy intended to license more research cultivators, and the agency has reportedly since received at least 25 applications to participate in the new program. But it has not yet acted on any of them.

wrongs with trump infrastructure plan

For example, through the creation of an Infrastructure Incentives Program, the proposal is skewed to reward high-growth places. Using a $100 billion pot, but capping the federal match at 20 percent, the program would reward states and localities based overwhelmingly on their ability to develop new revenue sources, whether via higher taxes, shifting current spending, or attracting private capital. But economic growth is inconsistent across the country, with many sizable U.S. counties and entire metropolitan areas facing slow population growth, stalled wage growth, and fiscal stress. This program won't work for them.

NJ Ronlad Rice bill proposal

For his part, Mr. Rice has proposed his own marijuana bill that would decriminalize the possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana, and make carrying more a disorderly persons charge that would impose only a fine. It would also expunge criminal records and release incarcerated people serving sentences for possessing small amounts of marijuana. But Mr. Scutari said that decriminalization would simply create an open-air drug market that would allow drug dealers to get richer without creating any kind of regulatory system to control how marijuana is sold

voting rights pendulum STAT

From 2010 to 2017, 23 states passed new voting restrictions. Now, the pendulum is starting to swing in the other direction: Legislators have introduced at least 206 bills to expand access to the ballot in 30 states this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Marijuana middle path ideas

Galvanized by a desire to reduce the racially disproportionate impact of the war on drugs, on Nov. 4, 2014, voters in the District of Columbia approved a referendum that fully legalized -- imposed no penalties whatsoever on personal possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and the cultivation of up to six plants in their homes. As a direct result, marijuana possession arrests decreased by an astonishing 98 percent from 2014 to 2015, dropping from 1,840 to just 32. The commercialized sale of marijuana, that is, marijuana commercially cultivated and sold at retail dispensaries, remains illegal.

dual citizenship and integration

Governments that take in many immigrants also see benefits from allowing them to keep their old passports. Research suggests that immigrants who do not fear losing their existing nationality are more likely to pursue naturalisation in their adopted countries—and subsequently more likely to integrate than those who maintain long-term residence as aliens.

home rule and marijuana

Home Rule is the power of local government to set up its own system of governance and give that local government the authority to adopt local ordinances without having to obtain permission from the state.

Trump relying on programs etc. of Obama for Dep. of justice- QUOTE (Kevin R. Johnson, the dean of the law school at the UC Davis)

I think it's important to remember that the Trump administration is relying in large part on many of the removal programs that President Obama used. Secure Communities was a program that the Obama administration refined and it led to large numbers of deportations of noncitizens who had brushes with the criminal justice system. President Obama did try to get rid of that program, try to narrow it, but President Trump has brought it back.

Emerald Steel Fabricators, Inc. v. BOLI- example to preemption

If Congress chose to prohibit anyone under the age of 21 from driving, states could not authorize anyone over the age of 16 to drive and give them a license to do so. The state law would stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment of the full purposes and objectives of Congress (keeping everyone under the age of 21 off the road) and would be preempted.

California sanctuary state law

Immigrant Worker Protection Act, which took effect Jan. 1. The law prohibits companies from cooperating with ICE without a subpoena, and from letting ICE agents into nonpublic areas. It also requires them to post notices alerting workers that ICE will be reviewing records — a tip-off to those who may not be legally allowed to work. Any company found violating the law faces fines of $2,000 to $10,000.

using census w/ japenese internment

In fact, information from the 1940 Census was secretly used in one of the worst violations of constitutional rights in U.S. history: the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. census officials cooperated with the government, providing data to target Japanese Americans.

dual citizenship QUOTE (anti)

In 1849 George Bancroft, an American historian and diplomat, said that for a man to have two countries was as intolerable as for him to have two wives. In 1930 the League of Nations proclaimed that "every person should have a nationality and should have one nationality only".

Afroyim v Rusk

In 1967 the Supreme Court decided a case, Afroyim v. Rusk, involving an American who served in the Israeli army. It used to be that serving in a foreign army constituted renunciation of citizenship, but the Supreme Court held in Afroyim that a renunciation had to be explicit - just serving in another country's army or voting in their elections was not enough.

Portugal and marijuana

In 2000, Portugal had one of the worst drug problems in Europe. Then, in 2001, a new drug policy decriminalized all drugs. Drug control was taken out of the criminal justice system and put under the Ministry of Health. Five years after Portugal's decriminalization, drug use by young people was down. Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18, for example, were 27.6 percent less likely to use drugs. What's more, the number of people going to treatment went up, while drug-related deaths decreased. Fifteen years later, Portugal still had lower rates of heroin and cocaine seizures, and lower rates of drug-related deaths, compared to the rest of Europe. Cannabis use in Portugal is now the lowest among all European countries. Moreover, Portugal's policy change contributed to a reduced number of drug addicts with HIV.

dual citizenship countries STAT

In 2008 the Migration Policy Institute, a think-tank, found that almost half the world's countries tolerate dual nationality in some form.

Georgia- anti sanctuary city laws

In 2009, Georgia passed a law banning sanctuary cities. Last year the state also passed a measure (HB 269) requiring local governments to submit an annual certification that they don't have sanctuary policies in order to receive government funds. And last month the state's governor signed a bill (HB 37) that bans sanctuary policies at private colleges.

voting rights pendulum EXAMPLE/STAT

In Florida, voters will decide whether to restore voting rights to ex-felons, a move that would enfranchise 1.5 million Floridians, including 1 in 5 African Americans who are currently unable to vote. Nevada will vote on an automatic voter registration ballot initiative.

Trump backing up legal mar states

In January, the Colorado Republican said he would block all DOJ nominations after Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo that heightened the prospect of a federal marijuana crackdown in states that had legalized the substance. Cory Gardner's (rep. senator in colorado) home state made recreational marijuana legal in 2014. Gardner held up about 20 Justice nominees, a significant number considering Senate Republicans and the White House have for months accused Democrats of slowing down consideration of other Trump picks.

Marijuana legalization support-STAT

In January, the Pew Research Center found 61 percent of Americans supportive of legalization, with support reaching 70 percent among millennials.

NJ Marijuana stat

In New Jersey, African-Americans are three times more likely to be charged with marijuana possession than whites, even though both populations use the drug at similar rates. That has galvanized civil rights groups like the N.A.A.C.P. and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey to support legalization.

OREGON and Marijuana/ rolling back COLE MEMO

In early January, Attorney General Jeff Sessions alerted states that had legalized recreational marijuana that he was rolling back the previous administration's guidance on marijuana prosecutions. Sessions' memo effectively leaves it up to federal prosecutors in each state to exercise individual discretion when it comes to enforcing violations of federal marijuana law. Billy Williams, Oregon's top federal prosecutor, claimed Feb. 2 that the state has a "massive marijuana overproduction problem," and that weed grown in Oregon is leaking into the illicit market and across state lines. And state auditors said in a Feb. 7 report that Oregon's cannabis licensing and tracking systems have weaknesses that could overlook illegal activity. Those challenges, in conjunction with the infancy of the legal marijuana market, changing regulations for medical marijuana growers, and the explosion of people interested in entering the industry, appear to be prompting the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to ask for more funding in the middle of the two-year budget cycle. The agency is asking for $2.74 million for 17 new positions, including a chief information officer, and its director supports more funding targeted toward illegal marijuana activity.

Gerrymandering federalism issue/ Maryland court

In the Maryland case (Benisek v. Lamone) the folks challenging the gerrymander are relying on the equal protection clause but in Gil v. Whitford the challengers are relying on the First Amendment right to freedom of association, based on the idea that voting is a form of associating. Diluting votes by gerrymandering arguably violates your ability to associate with like-minded people.

budget bill for Russian election interference

In the budget bill just passed into law, Congress stepped up and provided nearly $400 million for a vital purpose: to protect our election systems from future hacking by Russia or other malevolent actors. This is a critical, necessary first step to protect our democracy and ensure that the 2018 election is free, fair and accurate.

dual citizenship threatening democratic legitimacy

In the last few days there was an election in Hungary. Hungary is one of those places that has a right wing, anti-immigrant populist leader, Viktor Orban. He has Europe on edge because he is so horrible. His party won the recent election. Part of the way they did that was by getting people with Hungarian heritage who live outside of Hungary to become citizens so they could vote in the election -- these are the Hungarians who share the anti-immigrant beliefs of Orban, even though they don't even live in Hungary. Orban's party pushed through changes to the law to make it easier for people outside of Hungary to apply for and get Hungarian citizenship.

S.C. declines to enter controversy over dreamers

In the past, the court has granted such cases only in matters of grave national importance, such as the controversy over President Richard Nixon's White House tapes or solving the Iranian hostage crisis. The Supreme Court on Monday declined to enter the national controversy over "dreamers," turning down the Trump administration's request to immediately review lower court decisions that keep in place the program that protects from deportation undocumented immigrants brought here as children. Federal district judges in California and New York have issued nationwide injunctions against ending the program, siding with states and organizations challenging the administration's rescission. The court orders effectively block the Trump administration from ending the program on March 5, as planned.

South Dakota v Wayfair

In what's been dubbed the "tax case of the millennium" by the National Conference of State Legislatures, South Dakota is looking to repeal a 1992 decision from the case Quill v. North Dakota, which ruled that companies only had to collect sales tax in states where they are physically located.

Indiana and Medicaid

Indiana has become the second state to win permission from the Trump administration to require certain low-income residents on Medicaid to work, study or perform public service to qualify for the safety-net health insurance. Blocked in 2015 from compelling people on Medicaid to hold or prepare for jobs, Indiana officials created a voluntary "Gateway to Work" as part of their expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The state has been referring people working fewer than 20 hours a week to programs that could help them train or search for jobs.

Death penalty allowed under 8th amendment and looking at international law

It is consistent with the "evolving standards of decency" recognized by a "maturing society" and respects the "human dignity" that is at the core of the Eighth Amendment.

What states are good at

It is good to leave things to the states to respond to regional variation in preferences (like higher state taxes to pay for good schools); to compete for taxpayers and businesses (with things like schools, parks, universities, roads, pollution regulation); so they can experiment to develop better policy and because it is easier for voters to monitor to prevent corruption (and mismanagement) on the local level -- so the more that can be done on the local level the better.

us v darby quote

It is no objection to the assertion of the power to regulate interstate commerce that its exercise is attended by the same incidents which attended the exercise of the police power of the states

take care clause

It is no objection to the assertion of the power to regulate interstate commerce that its exercise is attended by the same incidents which attended the exercise of the police power of the states. "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"

Is using Marijuana a Privilege & Immunity? That gets us to the old case I was telling you about, Corfield v. Coryell.

Justice Bushrod Washington interprets the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article 4, Section 2 and articulates a list of fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. This early reference to fundamental rights not expressly stated in the Constitution foreshadows Twentieth Century Constitutional law. What is even more interesting about Corfield is that Justice Washington had no problem applying the Article 4, Section 2 Privileges and Immunities Clause to the states. A decade later, Justice Marshall's opinion in Barron ex rel. Tiernan v. Mayor of Baltimore, holds that the Bill of rights does not apply to the states. Under Marshall's reasoning, the articles, including the privileges and immunities clause, do not apply to the states either although Corfield was never reversed.

Community Oriented Policing Services Program-- LA v sessions

LA applied reg to program, in 2016 was awarded 3.125 mill -- use this money to add officers to its Community Safety Partnership program (coaching sports teams and leading mentor programs) EFFECTS

historical use of crackdown on drugs

Marijuana and racism have long been intertwined, dating back to the post-Prohibition era in the 1930s when the country's first drug czar gained traction for his war on marijuana by invoking a fear of black people. In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon's war on drugs targeted black people, as well as hippies.

Inc in sanctuary cities under Trump

More than 24 localities were notified by the Department of Justice in November 2017 demanding they comply with immigration enforcement directives otherwise they risked losing federal funding. Despite these threats, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center found that sanctuary protections were strengthened across 410 localities and five states in 2017, restricting the use of their agencies' time, money, or other resources from being spent on federal immigration enforcement efforts.

OREGON fed. pre-emption case

On April 15, 2010, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the statute prohibiting disability discrimination in employment does not protect medical marijuana users. The Court based its decision on ORS 659A.124, which states that the protections of the disability discrimination statute do not apply to employees "engaging in the illegal use of drugs if the employer takes action based on that conduct." The Court found that the use of medical marijuana, though authorized by state law, was an "illegal use of drugs" under federal law, which pre-empts state law in these circumstances. The Court held that because the employee was currently engaged in the illegal use of drugs, and the employer discharged him on that basis, the protections of the disability discrimination law, including the obligation to engage in a meaningful interactive discussion, do not apply. The Court's ruling means that employers are allowed to terminate employees with medical marijuana cards who fail drug tests.

what fed gov is good ad

On the other hand, there are reasons that some policy should be made at the national level. First, It makes sense to do some things only once instead of 50 times because of economies of scale. We shouldn't have 50 NASA programs or 50 Centers for Disease Control. Second, national action can overcome the high costs of collective action. It would be time-consuming and expense for 50 states to act collectively on foreign policy, national defense or economic policy -- so if there wasn't a national government to do that it would be a BIG FAT MESS! Our relationships with other countries would be hurt, our economy would be a mess (like it was in the Articles of Confederation period!) This is related to the race to the bottom issue. Even on things less obvious than foreign policy, defense and the economy, there are some issues that should be regulated nationally so there is not a race to the bottom. Pollution and labor laws that protect workers are two good examples. Another area where national action is needed is in areas where what the states do could hurt other states because the bad things travel over state borders. Air and water pollution are two good examples. Guns might be another example. Interstate crime -- like organized crime organizations or international drug trafficking -- would also fall under this category. Finally, Civil Rights issues

Take Care Clause

One of the arguments in that lawsuit (US v. Texas) was that President Obama was refusing to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. The Courts did not reach that issue, however, because they decided the case on statutory grounds -- that the Obama administration had not followed proper administrative procedure in changing the rules. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's grant of a preliminary injunction to stop DAPA and the DACA extension pending a later trial, but then Donald Trump was elected and rescinded them so the issue is moot.

opponent opinion on citizenship question

Opponents of asking the citizenship question argue that it will reduce the response rate for the census and undercount the population in areas with high numbers of undocumented immigrants, who could fear participating. As a result, opponents say, states with significant immigrant populations, which are mostly controlled by Democrats, could stand to lose seats in Congress, along with electoral college votes in presidential elections and federal funding based on census counts. Democrats could also lose seats in those state legislatures. NY and Cali suing

Automatic voter registration STAT

Oregon became the first state to implement automatic voter registration in 2016, with impressive results. More than 270,000 new voters were registered that way in 2016, and Oregon had the highest turnout increase of any state in the last presidential election. Registration among voters of color increased by 26 points. Currently, 1.3 million eligible voters in Washington—23 percent of the electorate—are not registered to vote. Voting rights advocates project that 90 percent of eligible voters will be registered under the state's new system. These new registrants will then receive ballots in the mail under Washington's vote-by-mail system.

Marijuana legalization STATS

Polls show 94 percent of Americans - and 91 percent of Republicans - support medical marijuana, and two-thirds of Americans and more than half of Republicans support making it legal for recreational use.

Russian Interference STAT

Polls show 94 percent of Americans - and 91 percent of Republicans - support medical marijuana, and two-thirds of Americans and more than half of Republicans support making it legal for recreational use.

Can local governments limit their cooperation with the feds when it comes to immigration enforcement?

President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have answered with a resounding no, vowing to strip funding from sanctuary cities. Some local governments have fired back with lawsuits and maintained that they won't go out of their way to help an immigration crackdown that puts members of their communities at risk. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill banning sanctuary cities in his state (SB- 4)

state role in immigration power (constitutional citation)

Section 8 of Article I gives Congress exclusive authority to "establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization," just as Section 8 gives Congress the exclusive authority to establish and collect all "Imposts and Excises" or tariffs. The states have no authority in these areas at all. They can no more dispute the immigration rules established by Congress than they could dispute the tariffs imposed by Congress back in 1832.

net nuetrality

Seventy-five days after the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality rules — and five days after the vote was published in the Federal Register — Congress has introduced a Congressional Review Act to block the FCC's decision. A CRA allows Congress to overrule agency rules within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register with a simple majority vote. As of Tuesday, the CRA is backed by all 47 Democrats in the Senate, two independents and one Republican. The measure needs one more Senator to sign on. In the House, the bill has the vote of 150 Democrats and needs 218 votes to pass.

senators going against state-- old EXAMPLE

Southern senators repeatedly voted to renew the Voting Rights Act. The last vote to renew it was in 2006 and 98 Senators voted yes, O voted no (which means a couple abstained), so many senators whose states were subject to the preclearance provision voted yes!!!!!

Election day registration STAT

Studies have shown that the 15 states with Election Day registration have seen voter turnout increase by as much as 10 percent.

Comity Clause- definition

The Article IV Privileges and Immunities Clause (also known as the COMITY CLAUSE because it promotes comity) is a very important protection of our nation as a nation. It requires states, with some exceptions, to treat citizens of other states the same way they would treat their own citizens. It prevents states from making citizens from other states into second class citizens.

CDC

The CDC programs train front-line workers in outbreak detection and work to strengthen laboratory and emergency response systems. A coalition of groups supporting the program reminded the Trump administration recently that the Ebola outbreak alone cost U.S. taxpayers $5.4 billion in an emergency supplemental appropriation. The CDC program is a good example of a relatively small investment that can pay big dividends and is part of a global health security initiative launched during the Obama years.

Trump admin. suing california

The California law, called the Public Lands Protection Act, attempts to give the state veto power over any sales of federal land — not just parks or wilderness — in the state. "More than 75% of Californians recently polled say they oppose Trump's rollback of protections for public lands. This suit is just another tone-deaf greedy grab."

Sanctuary cities and 4th amendment- Trump point

The Constitution and Federal statues allow for ICE to detain illegal aliens, and for local police to do so at ICE's request, relying on ICE's determination of probable cause. Detainers themselves establish probable cause of an alien's removability and it would be absurd to require ICE to obtain a judicial warrant every time it detained an illegal alien. Indeed, Congress authorized immigration officers, rather than Federal judges, to issue administrative warrants to arrest aliens based on probable cause to believe they are in violation of the immigration laws. If this was necessary under the Fourth Amendment, immigration enforcement would grind to a halt. This makes it seem like the 4th Amendment issue with detainers is all sewn up. Not so! Because being in the country subject to a removal order is not a crime several courts have held that a detainer based on ICE's determination of removability is not enough. I know this is a picky point, but it is the point where the rubber meets the road. If states are refusing to comply with detainer requests because they might be violating the 4th Amendment if they do so it is important to understand why the 4th Amendment is in play, even if ICE says the detainer is based on probably cause of removability. Arizona v US set stage for detainer debate by significantly limiting state authority to enforce civil provisions of federal immigration law.

US v Texas & Trump with marijuana relation

The Court in the 5th Circuit case on DAPA, US v. Texas, said that when DHS adopted DAPA it was making a rule, and that it had not gone through proper rule-making procedures under the APA. Is President Trump making a Rule? Should it go through administrative procedures? Because what he's doing is popular it will probably not be challenged and we'll never know.

DEA stance on CBD in marijuana

The DEA's stance, all along, has been that cannabinoids are marijuana and thus are a Schedule I substance and illegal in all circumstances. Marijuana reformers often point to Hemp Industries Association v. DEA to say that non-psychoactive hemp is not a controlled substance. While the judge in that case ruled that not all cannabis plants fall under the Controlled Substances Act, most courts,

states lawsuit against citizenship q on census

The District, Virginia, Maryland and 15 states filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the Trump administration from adding a last-minute citizenship question to the 2020 decennial Census. The lawsuit asserts that adding the question violates the mandate in the U.S. Constitution to conduct an "actual Enumeration" every 10 years to determine "the whole number of persons" in the United States, and it calls the survey "one of the most critical constitutional functions our federal government performs."

LA wins against Trump on sanctuary cities

The Justice Department cannot require that local police departments help immigration agents in order to receive federal funding, a federal judge has ruled. The ruling is a significant victory for local governments that have opposed the Trump administration's stance on immigration and vowed to stay out of enforcement efforts. United States District Judge Manuel Real in Los Angeles issued a permanent, national injunction against the federal funding rules, giving the city an important win in a long-running legal battle with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House. The ruling is "a complete victory," Mike Feuer, the Los Angeles city attorney, said Thursday. "This is yet another dagger in the heart of the administration's efforts to use federal funds as a weapon to make local jurisdictions complicit in its civil immigration enforcement policies."

ICE and sanctuary cities

The Justice Department has threatened to deny millions of dollars in federal grants to communities that refuse to share information with federal immigration authorities. Many cities have defied the threats, with lawsuits pending in Chicago, Philadelphia and California over whether the administration has overstepped its authority

example of state soveriegnty in judicial system; Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a redistricting plan in Pennsylvania based on the Pennsylvania Constitution. The Republicans asked the Supreme Court to review it but the Supreme Court refused. This is an example of state sovereignty -- the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is allowed to interpret the Penn. Constitution as long as it doesn't violate the federal constitution.

Federalism/Immigration- sc deny hearing dreamer case

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to enter the national controversy over "dreamers," turning down the Trump administration's request to immediately review lower court decisions that keep in place the program that protects from deportation undocumented immigrants brought here as children.

states action on guns

The Washington Legislature has sent a ban on bump stocks to Gov. Jay Inslee for his signature. A bump stock is a trigger modification device that make a semi-automatic rifle function more like an automatic weapon. The final bump stock bill includes a buy-back program. During the first year the ban is in place, bump stock owners could sell their device back to the Washington State Patrol for $150.

Dormant Commerce Clause- South Dakota v. Wayfair

The case is about whether states can require on line retailers to collect and reimburse the state sales taxes when they sell goods to people who live in the state. The Supreme Court held in 1992 in a case called Quill v. North Dakota that the answer is generally no because of the DORMANT COMMERCE CLAUSE. But that was before the internet was really a thing, and especially before e-commerce was a thing. Not being able to collect taxes on e-commerce is KILLING the states financially so this is an important issue with huge consequences for the states (except Oregon, of course, because we don't have a sales tax!)

Comity clause example

The classic example of states violating the Art. IV P&I Clause is the Negro Seaman Acts passed in Southern states. Those laws required free black men who were citizens of Northern states, and who were working as sailors on merchant vessels on the Atlantic coast, to either stay on their ships or be locked up in jail when the ships were in southern ports. Their own free black people did not have to be locked up in jail. They were afraid of Northern agitators so they treated those free black people from Northern states to have even the freedom that their own free black persons had.

Herion overdose STAT in CANADA

The heroin maintenance programs reported an overdose rate of roughly one per 6,000 injections, according to a review of the research. None resulted in death, since staff could treat users with naloxone. The researchers said that the rate of overdoses is "well below the hazard from injecting street heroin," but the overdoses show that heroin use always has risks.

sessions v dimaya

The issue was whether an immigration statute providing for mandatory deportation of violent felons was too vague to be constitutional. The Court decided it was. This is very important because, as you know, the Supreme Court often defers to the political branches in reviewing immigration proceedings and law, but here they applied the same type of analysis they did in a recent case involving a very similar law in a criminal case. The government sought to deport him on the theory that he had committed an "aggravated felony," which the immigration law defined to include any offense "that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense." In 2015, in Johnson v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that a similar criminal law was unconstitutionally vague.

Budget bill helping protect marijuana users

The new budget will continue to prevent the Department of Justice from spending resources to target medical marijuana patients and providers who are in compliance with state law, protections that were put in place in 2014 and were set to expire on Sept. 30, according to the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project.

already producing 2x amount of marijuana needed in Cali

The state has issued more than 2,000 licenses to about 600 growers this year, some of whom hold dozens of them. These already-licensed growers will produce about 4.1 million pounds of marijuana annually — almost double the demand for legal weed, with tens of thousands of farmers still deciding what to do.

purpose of marijuana scheduling

The tapes also make it clear that Nixon wanted to link marijuana use and its negative effects to two groups who he held in contempt: African Americans and hippies. Nixon even appointed a commission to look into the ills of marijuana — the Shafer Commission

dual citizenship stat

There are now 93 countries that allow dual citizenship, many just added to the list in the last few years. 17 of the top 20 countries sending immigrants to the US, including Mexico, allow dual citizenship

Marijuana legal states= lower opioid use STAT

They found a 14 percent reduction in opioid prescriptions in states that allow easy access to medical marijuana. They estimate that these dispensary programs reduced the number of opioid prescriptions by 3.7 million daily doses. States that allowed homegrown marijuana for medical use saw an estimated 1.8 million fewer pills dispensed per day. To put that in perspective, from 2010 to 2015 Medicare recipients received an average of 23 million daily doses of opioids, the researchers say.

S.C. abortion case w/ police power and STATES

This is an example of how state laws under the police power can be limited by the incorporation of the Bill of Rights under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. The challenge to the law is based on the First Amendment -- that the court is compelling speech by the crisis pregnancy centers that they don't want to make. The state argues that it is allowed to regulate the speech of professionals who provide services. The case is National Institute of Family and Life Centers v. Becerra [he is the California Attorney General]

NFIB v Sebelius

This is the Supreme Court decision that upheld Obamacare but found that the Medicaid portion of Obamacare, which required states to significantly expand their Medicaid coverage or risk losing all Medicaid funding, violated the Spending Clause of the Constitution. The federal government was "commandeering" the states by compelling them to "enact or administer a federal regulatory program."

Violation of the way DACA would be ending- quotes

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled in December that challengers are probably right that the way the administration is ending the program violated the Administrative Procedure Act, because it is arbitrary and capricious. A nationwide injunction is warranted, Alsup said, because "our country has a strong interest in the uniform application of immigration law and policy." Earlier this week, a district judge in New York came to an almost identical conclusion. Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the court that the administration was ending the program because of the threat of legal challenges from a coalition of states led by Texas, and a belief that the program instituted during the Obama administration could not be successfully defended in court.

California Values Act - suing possible outcome

Under Supreme Court precedents, this California law should be upheld. The Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government cannot coerce state and local governments to cooperate with federal mandates. For example, in Printz v. United States in 1997, the court declared unconstitutional a provision of the federal Brady Handgun Control Act which required that state and local governments do background checks before issuing permits for firearms. The court said that this impermissibly commandeered state and local governments. Likewise, forcing state and local governments to share information is unconstitutionally coercing their actions.

Voting Rights Act EXAMPLE

Washington becomes the second state after California to adopt a state Voting Rights Act, intended to boost minority representation at the local level. shifting from citywide to district-based local elections. Yakima, Washington, for example, is 45 percent Hispanic, but there were no Latinos on the city council as of 2014, because elections were conducted on a citywide basis and the city's white majority declined to vote for a Hispanic candidate. But after the city switched to district-based elections following a lawsuit by the ACLU, three Latina city council members were elected for the first time.

Afroyim v Rusk

Yet dual citizenship has been specifically sanctioned by the United States Supreme Court. In 1967, the court ruled that the State Department had violated the Constitution when it refused to issue a new U.S. passport to a U.S. citizen who had voted in an election in Israel. (Afroyim v Rusk) The decision overturned a law saying that "a person, who is a national of the United States, whether by birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voting in a political election in a foreign state."

14th amendment (1868)

all citizens born/naturalized are citizens of the US/state. No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

heroin maintanence

allow some addicts to satisfy their drug dependency without a big risk of deadly overdose — since they're supervised, with staff ready to use the overdose antidote naloxone should it be necessary — and without resorting to other crimes to obtain the drugs, such as robbery and burglary. And once users are in, they're offered — or forced into — more standard rehabilitation programs, although some patients may go on using for life.

Senator Schumer's proposed DECRIMINALIZATION BILL

allow states to decide whether to make the drug available commercially. It would end the limbo that marijuana sellers find themselves in, months after Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded Obama-era guidance that prevented federal law enforcement officials from interfering with the marijuana business in states where it had legal status.

funny fact

approval ratings for marijuana higher than any politician's, including in deep red states like Texas and Utah.

Example of States taking the initiative

calling for passage of HB 4155, my legislation to require state divisions or subdivisions to only purchase broadband access from internet providers who are in full compliance with Net Neutrality principles. That means transparency in network management practices, full access to all websites and EQUAL traffic speeds. No limitations, no censorship, no throttling or slowing down of access. Oregon is a frontier state. We respect individualism. The right to freedom. The idea of exploring without boundaries. I believe, along with most Oregonians, that the new electronic frontier of the Internet should be free and open forever--not sold to the highest bidder or controlled by big corporations that put profits first and people last.

marijuana and alcohol STAT

counties located in medical marijuana states showed almost a 15 percent reduction in monthly alcohol sales.

Jennings v Rodriguez

focuses on asylum seekers and legal permanent residents, led to a 2013 ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that immigrants detained for six months or longer are entitled to a bond hearing. In 2016, the federal government asked the Supreme Court to review the 9th Circuit's decision. What the court did not decide — and this is very important — is whether the statute that doesn't require a bond hearing is constitutional. In fact, what the court said is the lower court [the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals] should determine whether or not the statute is constitutional.

10th amendment

is "but a truism". doesn't give states sovereignty power. States historically used 10th amendment to reason for specific actions, such as seceding but ended with the civil war, showing how they didn't have the power to do that under the 10th amendment.

The solution to the Highway Trust Fund's perpetual funding woes is to raise more money from the same source that has supported the fund for decades: the federal gasoline tax.

lawmakers alike argued for a modest boost in the gas levy, which has been stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. Because the tax was not set to rise with inflation, its value has eroded steadily for 25 years. Gas tax revenue has now lost 40 percent of its purchasing power, a representative from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported. The typically tax-averse group favors a 25-cent increase.

Nebraska & Oklahoma v. Colorado

legalization in Colorado was creating a headache because additional marijuana was coming in and being sold illegally and people were driving into those states under the influence creating additional law enforcement issues. In their argument Nebraska and Oklahomo argued that federal law (the CSA) preempts state laws setting up legal pot regimes. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case!

less marijuana states= less opiod deaths

opioid overdose death rates are 25 percent lower in states with legal medical marijuana

Post Parkland- states passing gun safety laws

oregon, Washington, illinois measures being considered in new york, new jersey, and vermont

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act

post parkland shooting; raise the legal age for purchasing a gun from 18 to 21 in the state and waiting period of three days for anyone looking to purchase a gun, and it bans devices such as bump stocks, among other provisions.

sanctuary state opinion: going against federal law

sanctuary states and cities want to "frustrate effectuation" of federal enforcement of our immigration laws. The absence of such cooperation, as the Second Circuit said, would force federal officials to "resort to legal processes in every routine or trivial matter, often a practical impossibility." This was the same type of resistance exhibited by local governments to Brown v. Board of Education: "a refusal by local government to cooperate until under a court order to do so."

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

the law at issue prohibited people from owning handguns and required that any other guns they own be disabled in the home. The Court struck that law down -- it was too much of an infringement on the right to bear arms (2nd amendment) because it limited the individuals to use guns to protect their homes. BUT the Court indicated that this limit was not the definitive rule on what kinds of regulations could be upheld. The Court was indicating that lots of gun regulations could pass muster -- and that they would deal with them as they were presented to the Court.

rights that states have that cannot be abridged by the federal government.

the right to existence (the constitution assumes the existence of the states and protects it in places like Article V, which provides the states a role in the Amendment process and the Guarantee clause) the right to separateness (States can do things without federal interference like establishing voter qualifications for state and local elections [as long as they don't violate the Voting Amendments], the location of the state capitol, choose their own officials and establish their qualifications; the right to political participation (the constitution expressly provides for the states' role in the Article V amendment process); and the right to interpretive independence (this means that state courts are the highest authority on state court laws, as long as those laws don't violate the Constitution or federal law).

LA Community Safety Partnership Program (with money from Comm. Oriented Policing Services Program)

violent crime dropped by more than 50% and arrests CUT IN HALF within the programs first 3 years