Podcast

470 – Automatic License Plate Readers

There will always be tension between our desire for privacy and safety. We’re all for privacy, until we find that an invasion of said privacy could have stopped some terrible event. But are we willing to trade our privacy for safety?

“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.”
— Benjamin Franklin

In the case of SCHOLL and BEDNARZ v. Illinois State Police the privacy question revolves around automatic license place readers (ALPRs) and what makes a search reasonable.

469 – The Latest SCOTUS Gun Rights Infringement

second amendment, 2nd amendment, gun control, firearm, frame, receive, gun control act,

468 – Whose Safety Matters More?

Imagine you are stopped by law enforcement. Maybe you were doing something wrong, maybe not. At this point, when you are in the custody of law enforcement, whose safety matters more? In the 2017 Fourth Circuit case United States v. Robinson, the question came up, does officer safety trump your right against unreasonable search and seizure, even your own safety?

467 – Duty to Violate your Rights

As a lifelong gun owner, I understand the awesome responsibility of owning a weapon. After getting my concealed carry license many years ago, I came to understand the greater responsibility of having a deadly weapon on my person. But as a constitutional scholar, I’ve come to realize just how badly states are infringing on our rights, simply because we decide to exercise one of them.

Today, I want to talk about “duty to inform” laws. After all, if the presence of a firearm is a threat to officer safety, than the officer’s firearm is a threat to my safety.

466 – Heterosexual Discrimination

Ibriam Kendi is often quoted as saying “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.” But is that true? Above the main entrance to the Supreme Court is a promise chiseled into the marble façade, “equal justice under law”. How can we have equal justice under law if one side is always discriminating against another?

Enter the case of Ames v. OH Dept. of Youth Services, where Marlean Ames claims she was discriminated in her job because of her sexual orientation. What makes this case uniques is, Ms. Ames is heterosexual, and the Sixth Circuit claimed that ment she had a higher burden of proof than a homosexual.

465 – Free speech vs abortion

Free speech jurisprudence has rested on shaky ground for decades in this country. Looking back at cases like Hill v. Colorado, Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health has left a confusing and contradictory morass of precedence, most if not all of it contradicting the Constitution of the United States. With the recent case Coalition Life v. City of Carbondale, Illinois, the court had the opportunity to set the record straight once and for all. Instead, the court whiffed, and declined to even head the case.

464 – Permitting for Profit

In poker there’s a move called “Buying the pot”. This is when one person makes a very large bet in an attempt to discourage others from continuing the hand. But what if we’re not talking poker? What if we’re talking permit fees for the use of your own land? That is exactly what George Sheetz sued the County of El Dorado California for.

462 – Age limit on Constitutionally Protected Rights

There are certain things in life with a minimum age limit like driving, drinking alcohol, and even voting, but is there a minimum age limit for your constitutionally protected rights? That was the question Caleb Reese and others wanted asked, when they filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives regarding 18 USC §§922(b)(1) and (c)(1), which prohibit the selling of handguns to 18-20 year old adults.