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The Orange County Register's editorial board mocked Gavin Newsom's failed push for a gun control amendment to the Constitution.
The post Orange County Register Mocks Failure of Gavin Newsom’s Gun Control Amendment for U.S. Constitution appeared first on Breitbart.
A suspect is under arrest after five people were shot on Friday outside of a nightclub in heavily gun-controlled Washington, DC.
The post Police: Suspect Under Arrest for Shooting Five People in Heavily Gun-Controlled Washington, DC appeared first on Breitbart.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) and Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) signed Second Amendment privacy acts this week barring the use of credit card merchant codes to collect data on retail firearm purchasers.
The post Tennessee, Georgia, Adopt 2A Privacy Acts to Bar Data Collection on Firearm Sales appeared first on Breitbart.
U.S. District Court judge William S. Stickman decided this week against Pennsylvania's prohibition on 18-20-year-olds securing a concealed carry permit in order to be armed on their persons for self-defense.
The post Federal Judge Finds Pennsylvania Law Barring 18-20 Year-Olds from Concealed Carry Unconstitutional appeared first on Breitbart.
A group of about a dozen activists physically shoved this reporter out of the "Palestine Solidarity Encampment" on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles, a public university, on Friday.
The post WATCH: Activists Assault Breitbart News Journalist at UCLA ‘Palestine Solidarity Encampment’ appeared first on Breitbart.
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Floridians "are not buying what Joe Biden is selling," DeSantis told reporters ahead of the president's abortion-focused visits to Tampa.
The post Ron DeSantis on Joe Biden’s Abortion-Focused Visit: ‘Floridians Not Buying What He’s Selling’ appeared first on Breitbart.
The Supreme Court will decide if the Biden-Garland Justice Department’s “Ghost Gun” Rule violates the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
The post Supreme Court to Tackle Biden DOJ’s ‘Ghost Gun’ Rule appeared first on Breitbart.
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Seventeen-year-old Andrea Ye was arrested Wednesday after Maryland's Montgomery County Police Department was alerted to his 129-page school shooting manifesto.
The post 17-Year-Old Arrested After Police Alerted to His 129-Page School Shooting Manifesto appeared first on Breitbart.
If those in federal office are willing to pay attention, the states are displaying the best—and the worst—of our republican form of government.
Every four years, American citizens get the opportunity to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, endorse a policy agenda for the nation, and hold the occupant of the highest office in our federal government to account for his leadership or lack thereof.
But in the intervening years between what some treat as a national Rorschach test, lawmakers are the policymakers entrusted to express the will of the people.
Fifty laboratories of innovation provide Americans with the freedom to vote with their feet by living in states that reflect the priorities around which their pursuit of happiness seems most reliably cultivated. The states also provide an effective case study for varying policy initiatives upon which our federal government can rely for evidence-based decision-making for the nation.
As an example, the Tennessee General Assembly recently passed landmark legislation addressing the disturbing trend of debanking. Once signed by Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, this law will provide consumer protection by prohibiting big banks from canceling accounts based on the constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and religious exercise.
Applying to the largest financial institutions, those with at least $100 billion in assets, the law provides a road map for other states to follow. Since the federal government is where banks that are “too big to fail” look for taxpayer-funded bailouts, Congress should follow Tennessee’s lead as well.
Contrast this approach of protecting access to basic financial services regardless of ideology with the state of New York. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard from the National Rifle Association, which is seeking to stop New York state officials from using political power to coerce banks, insurers, and other service providers to refuse service to the Second Amendment advocacy organization.
In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed HB 578, which will ensure that faith-based adoption and foster care providers are free to serve children in need and work with the state to find loving, forever homes for kids.
Meanwhile, next door in Oregon, Jessica Bates is prevented from adopting children because she won’t agree to the state’s demand that she promote gender ideology. Apparently, Bates doesn’t have a high enough “social credit score” to be deemed a worthy parent by the state.
Idaho simultaneously protects the right of conscience and promotes the best interests of children in need of loving homes, while Oregon prioritizes politics over people.
One might look at these polar-opposite expressions of policy preferences and despair of a nation plagued by irreconcilable differences. But to the federalists among us, these differences are not a bug but a feature of our system.
Our national political culture is divided, but no more so now than it was at our founding. Today we simply have divisions of 50 instead of the 13 that existed when our Constitution was adopted. Then, as now, life in the states can look drastically different across our internal borders.
From the beginning, these United States of America were a hodgepodge of varying ethnicities, religions, economies, and political beliefs. What united the states then can still unite them today—the recognition of our fundamental God-given rights and the implicit American compact to protect those rights for all, regardless of which direction the political winds may blow across a state or the nation.
If an executive or legislative branch of state or federal government, even with popular support, goes so far as to implement policy that conflicts with these fundamental rights, our judiciary is empowered to rein in the wayward whims of the democratic process. This ensures that our fundamental rights are recognized in all 50 states while allowing for policy differences on other matters.
American journalist H.L. Mencken once said: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”
Thankfully, our Founders were keenly aware of the fallen nature of man, the seductive trappings of power, and thus the perils of pure democracy for the God-given rights of the individual. They had the foresight to give us, as Benjamin Franklin reportedly quipped, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
When our federal government is focused on protecting fundamental rights guaranteed to all by the Constitution’s principles while respecting the role and differences of the states, we improve our chances of “keeping it.”
The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.
The post Differences Among States Are a Plus, Not a Bug, in Our System appeared first on The Daily Signal.
The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling and upheld the state's ban on so-called "ghost guns."
The post Nevada Supreme Court Upholds Ban on So-Called ‘Ghost Guns’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Maine Senate Democrats wrapped up their legislative session by passing gun control in response to the October 25, 2023, Lewiston shooting.
The post Maine Democrats Pass Gun Control That Would Not Have Prevented Lewiston Shooting appeared first on Breitbart.
New Orleans police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick wants gun-free zones within the city where even licensed carriers could not be armed for self-defense.
The post New Orleans Police Chief Pushes More Gun-Free Zones — Where Tourists Can’t Be Armed for Self-Defense appeared first on Breitbart.
Colorado House Democrats passed "assault weapons" ban legislation Sunday to prohibit the sale of AR-15s and certain 9mm pistols.
The post Colorado House Democrats Pass Bill Banning AR-15s and 9mm Pistols with Threaded Barrels appeared first on Breitbart.
VP Kamala Harris is continuing her abortion tour on Monday, stopping in Las Vegas, Nevada, to promote a proposed ballot measure that would create a constitutional right to abortion.
The post VP Kamala Harris Visits Nevada in Push for Abortion Amendment appeared first on Breitbart.
Californians are arming up for self-defense as the U.S. Border Patrol carries out street drop-offs of illegal immigrants in San Diego.
The post Californians Arming Up for Self-Defense as Illegals Flood into Cities appeared first on Breitbart.
The ATF’s background check rule changes the definition of "dealer" to now include people who smuggle guns into other countries to sell them.
The post ATF Rule Requires Smugglers to Get NICS Checks on Gun Sales appeared first on Breitbart.
At least 43 people were shot, seven of them fatally, during the weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson's (D) Chicago.
The post At Least 43 Shot During Weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Chicago appeared first on Breitbart.
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A Syracuse police officer and an Onondaga County sheriff’s deputy were shot in Salina, New York, Sunday shortly before 9 p.m.
The post At Least Two Officers Shot in Heavily Gun-Controlled New York appeared first on Breitbart.
A report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) indicates Americans own over 700 million ammunition magazines with a greater than ten-round capacity.
The post Report: Americans Own over 700 Million Ammo Mags with Greater Than 10-Round Capacity appeared first on Breitbart.
After getting a big win at UFC 300, Renato Moicano grabbed the mic from Joe Rogan and unleashed a pro-American rant for the ages.
The post WATCH: UFC’s Renato Moicano Goes on Epic Pro-America Rant After Big Win appeared first on Breitbart.
Eleven people were shot, one of them fatally, during a family get together Saturday night at around 9:30 p.m. in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood.
The post 10 Injured, 1 Killed, During Saturday Night Shooting in Mayor Johnson’s Chicago appeared first on Breitbart.
Oregon Court of Appeals refused Friday to override a hold in place on certain state-level gun controls by Harney County Circuit Judge Robert Raschio.
The post Oregon Appeals Court Leaves Hold in Place Against State’s ‘High Capacity’ Mag Ban and Permit Requirement appeared first on Breitbart.
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Nearly a third of Florida voters are "unsure" about how they will vote on a measure that would create a constitutional right to abortion.
The post Poll: One-Third of Florida Voters ‘Unsure’ About Abortion Ballot Measure appeared first on Breitbart.
Activists in Colorado say they have gathered enough signatures to place abortion on the ballot in November with a measure that would enshrine a right to unlimited abortion in the state constitution.
The post Colorado Activists Say They Have Enough Signatures for Abortion Ballot Measure appeared first on Breitbart.
The Texan pointed out on Thursday that the ATF's new background check rule is occurring "under a law from Sen. John Cornyn."
The post The Texan: ATF Background Check Rule Occurring ‘Under a Law from Sen. John Cornyn’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Eight allegedly armed jewelry store robbers fled Oakland's Phuong Jewelry Wednesday after the 76-year-old owner emerged from the back of the store holding a shotgun.
The post WATCH: Eight Alleged Armed Robbers Flee Jewelry Store When Owner Appears with Shotgun appeared first on Breitbart.
The ATF's background check rule redefines the word "sale" so that private sellers who receive services or barter in exchange for a gun are required to use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The post ATF Final Rule Redefines Word ‘Sale’ So that ‘Bartering’ for a Neighbor’s Gun Requires a NICS Check appeared first on Breitbart.
Kamala Harris posted a video to X on Thursday in which she praised the ATF's proposed rule forcing background checks on private gun sales.
The post VP Kamala Harris Lauds ATF Rule Forcing Background Checks on Private Gun Sales appeared first on Breitbart.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence falsely claimed that guns "are rarely used successfully in self-defense."
The post Fact Check: Brady Campaign Falsely Claims Guns ‘Are Rarely Used Successfully in Self-Defense’ appeared first on Breitbart.
An 85-year-old Idaho mother was attacked by an intruder in her home but was able to outsmart him, retrieve her .357 Magnum revolver, and shoot him dead to save her disabled son.
The post 85-Year-Old Mom With .357 Magnum Kills Intruder to Save Her Disabled Son appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden boasted Thursday morning as another executive gun control -- the ATF's expanded background check rule -- stood poised to take effect.
The post Biden Boasts over Latest Executive Gun Control Forcing Private Gun Sellers into Background Checks appeared first on Breitbart.
A proposed rule from the ATF will force private gun sellers to use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to sell their guns.
The post ATF Rule Forces Background Check System into Private Gun Sales appeared first on Breitbart.
At least two people were shot in Philadelphia around 2:40 p.m. Wednesday as people were gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan, 6ABC reported.
The post Report: Multiple People Arrested After at Least 2 Shot in Philadelphia Near Ramadan Celebration appeared first on Breitbart.
Police are searching for a gunman whom they believe specifically targeted a Birmingham, Alabama, UPS worker who was shot and killed Tuesday around 6:05 p.m.
The post Police: UPS Worker Shot, Killed in Targeted Attack appeared first on Breitbart.
During an interview with Univision that took place last Wednesday and aired on Tuesday, President Joe Biden stated that he would consider taking further executive action on guns and criticized 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because Trump “famously
The post Biden: I’ll Consider Further Unilateral Action on Guns, Can’t Believe Trump Said ‘No One’s Going to Touch Your Guns’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Jennifer and James Crumbley, parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbly, were convicted and sentenced to 10 to 15 years on Tuesday.
The post Parents of Michigan School Shooter Sentenced to 10-15 Years for ‘Lack of Acts’ to Halt Shooting appeared first on Breitbart.
On Monday, Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor found Washington state's "high capacity" magazine ban violated both the U.S. Constitution and Washington state's constitution.
The post Judge Finds Washington State ‘High Capacity’ Magazine Ban Unconstitutional appeared first on Breitbart.
A St. Louis, Missouri, resident shot an alleged naked intruder in an apartment building on Friday around 2 p.m.
The post St. Louis Apartment Resident Shoots Alleged Naked Intruder appeared first on Breitbart.
Shots were fired during a deposition in Las Vegas at a Summerlin law office Monday morning and two people were killed, according to KTNV.
The post Report: Two Dead After Suspect Opens Fire During Deposition in Las Vegas Law Office appeared first on Breitbart.
The ATF's National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment undermines the left's long-standing hysteria over the "gun show loophole."
The post ATF Report Undermines Left’s Hysteria Over So-Called ‘Gun Show Loophole’ appeared first on Breitbart.
At least 15 people were shot, two of them fatally, during the weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson's (D) Chicago.
The post At Least 15 Shot During Weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Chicago appeared first on Breitbart.
President Donald Trump-endorsed congressional candidate Austin Theriault said on Breitbart News Saturday that he plans to exploit Rep. Jared Golden's (D-ME) anti-Second Amendment votes to flip Maine's second congressional district.
The post Trump-Endorsed NASCAR Driver Austin Theriault to Expose Maine Democrat Jared Golden’s Anti-Second Amendment Voting Record appeared first on Breitbart.
Flying with a handgun is a viable option for concealed carriers, but TSA sets forth strict rules and restrictions that must be followed.
The post Flying With a Handgun: A Guide to TSA Rules, Restrictions appeared first on Breitbart.
The House seeks to reauthorize a controversial spy program when Congress returns from recess next week.
The post Speaker Johnson Hopes to Find Path to Reform Spy Powers appeared first on Breitbart.
Activists in Arizona say they have collected enough signatures to move forward with a ballot measure that would create a right to abortion.
The post Arizona Left-Wing Activists: We Have Enough Signatures for Abortion Ballot Measure appeared first on Breitbart.
Democrats in Colorado's Senate passed legislation barring licensed concealed carry permit holders from being armed for self-defense in five new places on Wednesday.
The post Colorado Senate Democrats Pass Bill Barring Concealed Carry for Self-Defense in More Places appeared first on Breitbart.
The FBI is now conducting non-instant background checks on 18-20 year-old would-be gun purchasers in compliance with a 2022 gun control law.
The post FBI Conducting Non-Instant Background Checks for 18–20-Year-Olds in Compliance with 2022 Gun Control Law appeared first on Breitbart.
Wisconsin voters approved an amendment on Tuesday night, banning the private funding of elections in the swing state.
The post ‘Goodbye, Zuckerbucks!’: Wisconsin Voters Ban Private Funding of Elections appeared first on Breitbart.
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An alleged home intruder in San Antonio, Texas, died Saturday shortly after being shot multiple times by a homeowner around 9 p.m.
The post Alleged Intruder Dies After Being Shot Multiple Times by Homeowner appeared first on Breitbart.
March 2024 ended as the fifty-sixth consecutive month of more than one million background checks for firearm sales/transfers.
The post March 2024 Marks 56th Consecutive Month of More Than One Million Gun Sale Background Checks appeared first on Breitbart.
The state's high court upheld a 15-week limit on abortion and allowed a proposed abortion amendment to appear on the ballot in November.
The post Democrats Descend on Florida Following State Supreme Court Abortion Rulings appeared first on Breitbart.
United States District Court Judge Sam A. Lindsay enjoined the ATF from enforcing its pistol brace rule against NRA members on March 29, 2024.
The post Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement of ATF Pistol Brace Rule Against NRA Members appeared first on Breitbart.
The Albuquerque Police Department released body cam footage showing an officer on horseback chasing an alleged shoplifter who was on foot.
The post WATCH: Officers on Horseback Chase Alleged Shoplifter appeared first on Breitbart.
Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) supports legislation that, if passed into law, would prohibit Arizonans from buying AR-15 rifles.
The post Democrat Ruben Gallego Would Prohibit Arizonans From Buying AR-15s appeared first on Breitbart.
Colorado Democrats are pushing an 11 percent excise tax on gun and ammunition sales, as well as numerous other California-style gun controls.
The post Colorado Democrats Pushing 11% Excise Firearms Tax, Other California Gun Controls appeared first on Breitbart.
At least 32 people were shot, four of them fatally, during Easter Weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson's (D) Chicago.
The post At Least 32 Shot During Easter Weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Chicago appeared first on Breitbart.
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One alleged intruder is dead and a second one injured Friday after a Philadelphia woman discovered them inside her apartment and opened fire.
The post Alleged Intruder Dead After Philadelphia Woman Opens Fire appeared first on Breitbart.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) is pushing legislation to make it easier for gun owners in the state to have their firearms confiscated.
The post Maine Gov. Mills Pushes to Make it Easier to Have Firearms Confiscated appeared first on Breitbart.
Watchtower Firearms is producing the Apache, a 2011 pistol that operates with incredible smoothness and delivers unsurpassed accuracy.
The post Apache 2011 Pistol: Smooth Operation, Unsurpassed Accuracy appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden posted on X Thursday to brag about how many times he has circumvented Congress by securing gun control via executive action.
The post Biden Brags About How Many Times He Has Skirted Congress with Executive Gun Control appeared first on Breitbart.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) launched an investigation into the recently announced National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center.
The post Rep. Jim Jordan Launches Investigation into Biden Administration’s Red Flag Law Center appeared first on Breitbart.
Sheriff Bob Johnson of Santa Rosa County, Florida, stands by 2022 comments he made encouraging homeowners to shoot intruders and points out the odds of a dead intruder committing another offense are "zero."
The post Florida Sheriff Notes Odds of Dead Home Invaders Re-Offending: ‘Zero’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed Democrat lawmakers' "assault weapons" ban on Tuesday, along with a number of other Democrat-backed gun controls.
The post Gov. Youngkin Vetoes Virginia Democrats’ ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban appeared first on Breitbart.
Thirteen Democrat Attorneys General wrote a letter to renowned gun maker Glock, noting Chicago's lawsuit against the company and expressing concern over "machine-gun Glocks."
The post 13 Democrat State Attorneys General Target Glock, Decry ‘Machine-Gun Glocks’ appeared first on Breitbart.
The mother of a 12-year-old Harris County, Texas, boy who allegedly stabbed a 59-year-old says she is sorry but her son is "just a boy" and "we learn from our mistakes."
The post Mother of 12-Year-Old Accused of Stabbing 56-Year-Old Woman: ‘He’s Just a Boy, We Learn from Our Mistakes’ appeared first on Breitbart.
31-year-old NYPD officer Christopher Diller was fatally shot during a traffic stop Monday by a man with multiple prior arrests.
The post NYPD Officer Shot, Killed During Traffic Stop, Allegedly by Man With 21 Prior Arrests appeared first on Breitbart.
For some time now, Athens-Clarke County has refused to honor requests that it hold criminal aliens for pick-up by ICE. So, despite Mayor Girtz’s claims to the contrary, it is a de facto sanctuary jurisdiction whether it has passed an ordinance to that effect or not.
The post Exclusive–O’Brien: Emails Reveal Athens Mayor Saw Laken Riley’s Murder as a PR Problem appeared first on Breitbart.
RealClearFoundation president David DesRosiers has announced the inaugural winners of of its Samizdat Prize. Tonight’s the night. The Samizdat Prize is intended to honor the most important users of the First Amendment in the United States. The prize aspires to confer the honor that various of the Pulitzer Prizes bestow and should replace them in the mind of right-thinking men and women. In the words of DesRosiers, the award that is given by Real Clear to journalists, scholars, and public figures who have fought censorship and stood for truth, whatever the cost.
The first three recipients of the Samizdat Prize could not be more worthy: Miranda Devine (for her work on the Biden family business), Jay Bhattacharya (the anti-Fauci), and Matt Taibbi (for his work on the Twitter Files). I have written about all three many times on Power Line. DesRosiers talked about the prize with Buck Sexton here in a discussion posted at RCP.
Dr. Bhattacharya received the prize this past September. His remarks are posted here at RCP. Matt Taibbi has just posted “America enters the samizadat era” at his Racket News site. He looks back on his career in acknowledging the honor he receives tonight. Thanks to John Hinderaker, I met Matt last year. Politics aside, we have cheered him on and sought to follow his path in our own way.
Miranda Devine wrote in her New York Post Devine Online newsletter this morning:
I am thrilled to be in Palm Beach tonight to receive the inaugural Samizdat award from RealClearPolitics, alongside pandemic refusenik Dr Jay Battacharya and Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi.
It’s an honor to be part of this grassroots movement to reclaim honest journalism in an era of lies.
“Samizdat” was the name of the underground press resisting the tyranny of the former Soviet Union.
It means ‘We publish ourselves” and was the inspiration for David DesRosiers, publisher and president of RealClear Foundation, to set up a rival journalism award to the Pulitzers.
Bravo to RealClear for bucking the establishment.
I couldn’t agree more. I would only add our congratulations to the inaugural recipients of the Samizdat Prize.
Background: In 2008, I was in Florida covering Rifqa Bary’s court hearings to return her to her devout family who promised to kill to her because the teen had left Islam and converted to Christianity.
I was waiting on my ride to the courthouse when I saw this ad on a bus:
Thus began the very first of my many bus ad campaigns. I responded with this ad and the greatest putsch against free speech commenced:
Check out my latest at The Thinker:
After Ten Years, Court Strikes Down Ruling Banning Ads Offering Help to Those Leaving Islam
It took nearly twelve years, but we did it. My organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), has just won an important victory for the freedom of speech.
Back in 2009, the Detroit area’s SMART transit refused to run our AFDI ads offering help to people who were in fear for their lives for wanting to leave Islam or having left it. After an incredibly protracted court battle, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals just stood up for the First Amendment and completely reversed the judgment banning our ads. It’s a total victory for freedom: we won our free speech lawsuit in Detroit by a unanimous decision.
Our ad read: “Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Got Questions? Get Answers! RefugefromIslam.com.” That’s all it said. It offered a life-saver for those who were completely and utterly alone with no system of support or help.
Islamic law mandates death for those who leave Islam; even in the United States, those who leave the religion live in fear that a devout Muslim might decide to apply this penalty. So we were offering help. That is all. But as Eugene Volokh explains at The Volokh Conspiracy, “Michigan’s Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) rejected this ad under two of its speech restrictions. The first prohibits ‘political’ ads; the second prohibits ads that would hold up a group of people to ‘scorn or ridicule.'”
Our ad was not political and didn’t scorn or ridicule anyone. It’s ridiculous to say saving lives is a political act, and so of course we won the initial case. The first judge who ruled on this case, Judge Denise Page Hood, understood the law and so ruled in favor of our free speech rights. She understood the First Amendment. Therefore, although she was clearly not sympathetic to us, she had to rule for us.
But then SMART appealed. SMART adamantly refused to run outreach ads that might have helped Muslims living in dangerous households and appealed to the notoriously leftist Sixth Circuit. You might have thought the Muslim Brotherhood was running SMART. It was astounding. And consider the fact that Detroit was bankrupt around this same time. Sharia adherence was still more important to the broken city’s failed leaders than were the freedom of speech and fiscal responsibility.
And so SMART continued to refuse our ads and appealed in the notoriously leftist Sixth Circuit. The court called our religious ads political and created a new narrative out of whole cloth. Our ads were never actually rejected on political grounds. Individually and in her official capacity, Beth Gibbons, marketing program manager of SMART, said our ads were rejected because they were controversial — not because they were political. It was always understood that these were religious ads. Gibbons testified that she saw “nothing about [the advertisement] itself that was political[.] … I knew that [the fatwa advertisement] was of concern in that there is controversy on both sides of the issue on whether they should be posted.” That was the position of SMART. In fact, that was the agency’s official testimony.
We in turn appealed. In 2013, I was deposed and harassed for six hours by a small, profane blowhard attorney — all billable hours to fight an ad created to help Muslim girls escape honor violence. And the deposition was so hostile that you would think I had committed a heinous crime. Apparently, blasphemy in America is.
The case dragged on and on. But now, in American Freedom Defensive Initiative v. Suburban Mobility Auth. for Regional Transp. (6th Cir.), the court makes the correct ruling, noting that “the Free Speech Clause limits the government’s power to regulate speech on public property. The government has little leeway to restrict speech in ‘public forums.'” Accordingly, “SMART’s ban on ‘political’ ads is unreasonable for the same reason that a state’s ban on ‘political’ apparel at polling places is unreasonable: SMART offers no ‘sensible basis for distinguishing what may come in from what must stay out.’ Likewise, SMART’s ban on ads that engage in ‘scorn or ridicule’ is not viewpoint neutral for the same reason that a ban on trademarks that disparage people is not viewpoint neutral: For any group, ‘an applicant may [display] a positive or benign [ad] but not a derogatory one.'” Consequently, the court declared: “We thus reverse the district court’s decision rejecting the First Amendment challenge to these two restrictions.”
This is all common-sensical and clear even to those with no legal training or experience, but it has taken an incredibly long time to get here. The American Freedom Law Center, whose ace lawyers David Yerushalmi and Robert Muise fought long and hard to win this case, noted: “AFDI’s religious freedom advertisement was rejected even though SMART had no problem accepting and running an anti-religion ad sponsored by an atheist organization. That approved ad stated, ‘Don’t Believe in God? You are not alone.'” However, now “the Sixth Circuit ruled unanimously in favor of AFLC, finding that SMART’s rejection of the ad was unreasonable and [a] viewpoint based in violation of the First Amendment. This is a final ruling.”
Bottom line: Everyone has the same right to a free life. The Sixth Circuit agreed.
If you weren’t reading this, you would likely never know that it had happened at all. No media covered it. If we had lost, then you would have heard about it, because the media would have been popping open bottles of champagne and running huge pieces on how sharia restrictions on speech are altogether reasonable — as heads roll (literally).
Jessica Mokdad, an honor killing victim living in that area at the time, might have been saved. We know that the ads have helped Muslims — they told us. The ads save lives. Contribute here.
Pamela Geller is the president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of The Geller Report, and author of the bestselling book FATWA: Hunted in America as well as The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Another city bans free speech. Chilling. Read this.
Related:
Seattle Imposes Ad Ban to Annul Pamela Geller’s Free Speech Lawsuit Victory
Officials who oversee Seattle’s transit system moved to ban political, religious, and other ads from its facilities and public transportation vehicles soon after Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) prevailed in a freedom of speech lawsuit against the city, earning the right to run FBI’s Most Wanted terrorist posters, Breitbart News has learned.
By: Edwin Mora, Breitbart, April 16, 2019:
“People should realize that this is a struggle for the very foundation of any free society: the freedom of speech. If there is a group you can’t criticize, then that group can impose tyranny over you. If we lose this free speech battle, all our other freedoms are lost” Geller recently told Breitbart News via email.
She argued the advertisement ban sidestepped the September 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling in AFDI’s favor, which allowed the group to advertise the Most Wanted terrorist list in Seattle.
However, the new restrictions, dubbed the “Geller ban” and instituted in December 2018 by the King County Department of Transportation’s Transit Division that oversees Seattle’s public transportation system, have ended up preventing AFDI from running the terrorist wanted ads, Geller pointed out, noting that her free speech lawsuit victory was bittersweet.
Before the appeal court’s ruling, judges had denied AFDI the right to place public service ads featuring images of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists on Seattle’s public transportation system, due to a perceived disparagement of Islam.
The city’s rejection prompted AFDI to sue the King County Metro system for its suppression of free speech.
“We won the right to run the FBI wanted terrorist poster that Seattle prevailed upon the FBI to withdraw [ in 2013]. And as soon as we triumphed, Seattle transit imposed the infamous Geller ban, banning political, religious and cause-related ads in Seattle (following NY, Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, etc),” Geller told Breitbart News in the email.
In a document outlining the transit agency’s advertising restrictions, King County officials noted that the policy bans advertising on transit facilities and vehicles that fall within the categories of political, religious, government (except for the county’s), and other forms of “speech.”
“They banned all political ads, as that was the only course of action they could possibly take in order to continue to avoid running my ads,” Geller said. “They’re so determined to continue whitewashing Islam and denying and obfuscating the roots of jihad terror that they are willing to lose immense amounts of revenue from all political advertising.”
Transit agency officials argued that their “viewpoint neutral” ban seeks to prohibit “advertisements that interfere with and divert resources from transit operations, that detract from transit purposes by creating substantial controversy, and/or that pose significant risks of harm, inconvenience, or annoyance to transit passengers, operators, and vehicles.”
“Such advertisements create an environment that is not conducive to achieving increased revenue for the benefit of the transit system or to preserving and enhancing the security, safety, comfort, and convenience of its operations,” the officials added.
Responding to the agency’s argument Geller noted, “I see ads that annoy me all the time. If that is the criterion [for the ban], whose annoyance counts, and whose doesn’t, and why?”
She told Breitbart News that King County’s decision to ban FBI wanted posters featuring some jihadis amounts to the “enforcement of Sharia blasphemy law in another American city.”
King County officials described the transit agency’s advertising ban as“restrictions” that “foster the maintenance of a professional advertising environment that maximizes advertising, revenue, and protects the interests of the captive audience that uses Metro’s transit services.”
In other words, the county’s transportation department believes that banning certain ads will allow the county to generate more revenue.
“The ban will, obviously, drastically curtail their ad revenues. To argue otherwise is plain deception” Geller noted.
Nevertheless, the county asserted that the advertising policy intends to fulfill the following goals:
Maximizing advertising revenue; maintaining a position of neutrality and preventing the appearance of favoritism or endorsement by the county; preventing the risk of imposing objectionable, inappropriate or harmful view on a captive audience; preserving the value of the advertising space; maximizing ridership and maintaining a safe environment for transit customers and other members of the public; avoiding claims of discrimination and maintaining a non-discriminatory environment for riders; preventing any harm or abuse that may result from running objectionable, inappropriate, or harmful advertisements; [and] reducing the diversion of resources from transit operations that is caused by objectionable, inappropriate or harmful advertisements.
Geller vowed to keep fighting for free speech all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary to ensure Seattle upholds the appeal court’s ruling.
Background: In 2008, I was in Florida covering Rifqa Bary’s court hearings to return her to her devout family who promised to kill to her because the teen had left Islam and converted to Christianity.
I was waiting on my ride to the courthouse when I saw this ad on a bus:
Thus began the very first of my many bus ad campaigns. I responded with this ad and the greatest putsch against free speech commenced:
Check out my latest at The Thinker:
After Ten Years, Court Strikes Down Ruling Banning Ads Offering Help to Those Leaving Islam
It took nearly twelve years, but we did it. My organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), has just won an important victory for the freedom of speech.
Back in 2009, the Detroit area’s SMART transit refused to run our AFDI ads offering help to people who were in fear for their lives for wanting to leave Islam or having left it. After an incredibly protracted court battle, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals just stood up for the First Amendment and completely reversed the judgment banning our ads. It’s a total victory for freedom: we won our free speech lawsuit in Detroit by a unanimous decision.
Our ad read: “Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Got Questions? Get Answers! RefugefromIslam.com.” That’s all it said. It offered a life-saver for those who were completely and utterly alone with no system of support or help.
Islamic law mandates death for those who leave Islam; even in the United States, those who leave the religion live in fear that a devout Muslim might decide to apply this penalty. So we were offering help. That is all. But as Eugene Volokh explains at The Volokh Conspiracy, “Michigan’s Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) rejected this ad under two of its speech restrictions. The first prohibits ‘political’ ads; the second prohibits ads that would hold up a group of people to ‘scorn or ridicule.'”
Our ad was not political and didn’t scorn or ridicule anyone. It’s ridiculous to say saving lives is a political act, and so of course we won the initial case. The first judge who ruled on this case, Judge Denise Page Hood, understood the law and so ruled in favor of our free speech rights. She understood the First Amendment. Therefore, although she was clearly not sympathetic to us, she had to rule for us.
But then SMART appealed. SMART adamantly refused to run outreach ads that might have helped Muslims living in dangerous households and appealed to the notoriously leftist Sixth Circuit. You might have thought the Muslim Brotherhood was running SMART. It was astounding. And consider the fact that Detroit was bankrupt around this same time. Sharia adherence was still more important to the broken city’s failed leaders than were the freedom of speech and fiscal responsibility.
And so SMART continued to refuse our ads and appealed in the notoriously leftist Sixth Circuit. The court called our religious ads political and created a new narrative out of whole cloth. Our ads were never actually rejected on political grounds. Individually and in her official capacity, Beth Gibbons, marketing program manager of SMART, said our ads were rejected because they were controversial — not because they were political. It was always understood that these were religious ads. Gibbons testified that she saw “nothing about [the advertisement] itself that was political[.] … I knew that [the fatwa advertisement] was of concern in that there is controversy on both sides of the issue on whether they should be posted.” That was the position of SMART. In fact, that was the agency’s official testimony.
We in turn appealed. In 2013, I was deposed and harassed for six hours by a small, profane blowhard attorney — all billable hours to fight an ad created to help Muslim girls escape honor violence. And the deposition was so hostile that you would think I had committed a heinous crime. Apparently, blasphemy in America is.
The case dragged on and on. But now, in American Freedom Defensive Initiative v. Suburban Mobility Auth. for Regional Transp. (6th Cir.), the court makes the correct ruling, noting that “the Free Speech Clause limits the government’s power to regulate speech on public property. The government has little leeway to restrict speech in ‘public forums.'” Accordingly, “SMART’s ban on ‘political’ ads is unreasonable for the same reason that a state’s ban on ‘political’ apparel at polling places is unreasonable: SMART offers no ‘sensible basis for distinguishing what may come in from what must stay out.’ Likewise, SMART’s ban on ads that engage in ‘scorn or ridicule’ is not viewpoint neutral for the same reason that a ban on trademarks that disparage people is not viewpoint neutral: For any group, ‘an applicant may [display] a positive or benign [ad] but not a derogatory one.'” Consequently, the court declared: “We thus reverse the district court’s decision rejecting the First Amendment challenge to these two restrictions.”
This is all common-sensical and clear even to those with no legal training or experience, but it has taken an incredibly long time to get here. The American Freedom Law Center, whose ace lawyers David Yerushalmi and Robert Muise fought long and hard to win this case, noted: “AFDI’s religious freedom advertisement was rejected even though SMART had no problem accepting and running an anti-religion ad sponsored by an atheist organization. That approved ad stated, ‘Don’t Believe in God? You are not alone.'” However, now “the Sixth Circuit ruled unanimously in favor of AFLC, finding that SMART’s rejection of the ad was unreasonable and [a] viewpoint based in violation of the First Amendment. This is a final ruling.”
Bottom line: Everyone has the same right to a free life. The Sixth Circuit agreed.
If you weren’t reading this, you would likely never know that it had happened at all. No media covered it. If we had lost, then you would have heard about it, because the media would have been popping open bottles of champagne and running huge pieces on how sharia restrictions on speech are altogether reasonable — as heads roll (literally).
Jessica Mokdad, an honor killing victim living in that area at the time, might have been saved. We know that the ads have helped Muslims — they told us. The ads save lives. Contribute here.
Pamela Geller is the president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of The Geller Report, and author of the bestselling book FATWA: Hunted in America as well as The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Another city bans free speech. Chilling. Read this.
Related:
Seattle Imposes Ad Ban to Annul Pamela Geller’s Free Speech Lawsuit Victory
Officials who oversee Seattle’s transit system moved to ban political, religious, and other ads from its facilities and public transportation vehicles soon after Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) prevailed in a freedom of speech lawsuit against the city, earning the right to run FBI’s Most Wanted terrorist posters, Breitbart News has learned.
By: Edwin Mora, Breitbart, April 16, 2019:
“People should realize that this is a struggle for the very foundation of any free society: the freedom of speech. If there is a group you can’t criticize, then that group can impose tyranny over you. If we lose this free speech battle, all our other freedoms are lost” Geller recently told Breitbart News via email.
She argued the advertisement ban sidestepped the September 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling in AFDI’s favor, which allowed the group to advertise the Most Wanted terrorist list in Seattle.
However, the new restrictions, dubbed the “Geller ban” and instituted in December 2018 by the King County Department of Transportation’s Transit Division that oversees Seattle’s public transportation system, have ended up preventing AFDI from running the terrorist wanted ads, Geller pointed out, noting that her free speech lawsuit victory was bittersweet.
Before the appeal court’s ruling, judges had denied AFDI the right to place public service ads featuring images of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists on Seattle’s public transportation system, due to a perceived disparagement of Islam.
The city’s rejection prompted AFDI to sue the King County Metro system for its suppression of free speech.
“We won the right to run the FBI wanted terrorist poster that Seattle prevailed upon the FBI to withdraw [ in 2013]. And as soon as we triumphed, Seattle transit imposed the infamous Geller ban, banning political, religious and cause-related ads in Seattle (following NY, Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, etc),” Geller told Breitbart News in the email.
In a document outlining the transit agency’s advertising restrictions, King County officials noted that the policy bans advertising on transit facilities and vehicles that fall within the categories of political, religious, government (except for the county’s), and other forms of “speech.”
“They banned all political ads, as that was the only course of action they could possibly take in order to continue to avoid running my ads,” Geller said. “They’re so determined to continue whitewashing Islam and denying and obfuscating the roots of jihad terror that they are willing to lose immense amounts of revenue from all political advertising.”
Transit agency officials argued that their “viewpoint neutral” ban seeks to prohibit “advertisements that interfere with and divert resources from transit operations, that detract from transit purposes by creating substantial controversy, and/or that pose significant risks of harm, inconvenience, or annoyance to transit passengers, operators, and vehicles.”
“Such advertisements create an environment that is not conducive to achieving increased revenue for the benefit of the transit system or to preserving and enhancing the security, safety, comfort, and convenience of its operations,” the officials added.
Responding to the agency’s argument Geller noted, “I see ads that annoy me all the time. If that is the criterion [for the ban], whose annoyance counts, and whose doesn’t, and why?”
She told Breitbart News that King County’s decision to ban FBI wanted posters featuring some jihadis amounts to the “enforcement of Sharia blasphemy law in another American city.”
King County officials described the transit agency’s advertising ban as“restrictions” that “foster the maintenance of a professional advertising environment that maximizes advertising, revenue, and protects the interests of the captive audience that uses Metro’s transit services.”
In other words, the county’s transportation department believes that banning certain ads will allow the county to generate more revenue.
“The ban will, obviously, drastically curtail their ad revenues. To argue otherwise is plain deception” Geller noted.
Nevertheless, the county asserted that the advertising policy intends to fulfill the following goals:
Maximizing advertising revenue; maintaining a position of neutrality and preventing the appearance of favoritism or endorsement by the county; preventing the risk of imposing objectionable, inappropriate or harmful view on a captive audience; preserving the value of the advertising space; maximizing ridership and maintaining a safe environment for transit customers and other members of the public; avoiding claims of discrimination and maintaining a non-discriminatory environment for riders; preventing any harm or abuse that may result from running objectionable, inappropriate, or harmful advertisements; [and] reducing the diversion of resources from transit operations that is caused by objectionable, inappropriate or harmful advertisements.
Geller vowed to keep fighting for free speech all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary to ensure Seattle upholds the appeal court’s ruling.
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