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The Study Corner

448 – San Francisco v. EPA – Oral Arguments

How much pollution is too much? We all want clean air and water, but we still want to drive our cars and flush our toilets as well. The question in San Francisco v. EPA is how specific does the EPA need to be when it tells cities how much waste they can discharge into our…

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447 – A Constitution Catechism

When most people think of catechisms, they think of religious training tools. However, catechisms have been used for training in many subjects in our history. I was recently introduced to the Elementary Catechism on the Constitution of the United States, by Arthur J. Stansbury. While I have not been through the entire catechism, what I…

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446 – Importance of Jury Duty

Most of us have had the experience of picking up the mail, only to get that small pit in our stomach. Maybe we utter a curse or two and immediately begin thinking of ways to get out of it. The piece of mail that has caused these reactions is a jury summons. Almost no one…

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445 – Importance of Voting

Election day is just one week away. I’m sure many of you, like me, are ready for this election season to be over. For more than a year we’ve been hammered, badgered, and generally harangued with the idea of how important it is to vote. However, it has been my experience that the reasons given for our participation in the election process was more about getting their candidate election, or more often preventing their opponent from winning, than what actually makes voting so important. So as the day of reckoning for this crazy election cycle approaches, let’s take some time and look at the importance of voting without all of the political party rhetoric.

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444 – Bootstrapping or Malicious Prosecution

How far can law enforcement go when it comes to arresting someone? For example, say police have probable cause to charge you with a misdemeanor, how far can they “bootstrap” that charge to something more serious? That appears to be the question in the case Chiaverini v. City Of Napoleon, Ohio. While dealing with a misdemeanor situation, Mr. Chiaverini was subsequently was charged not only with that, but a felony. One little problem, the police had no probable cause for the felony.

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443 – Blowing Holes in the Fifth Amendment

Everyone knows we have a right to remain silent, correct? What if I told you that in 2013 the Supreme Court upheld a decision basically stating that is not true. That you only have the right to remain silent if you verbally claim the right in the first place, otherwise, according to SCOTUS, your silence can be used against you. Let’s take a look at this case and some of the history behind this violation of yout rights.

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442 – Interstate Firearm Possession

Can Massachusetts prosecute out-of-staters who can legally carry in their home state? That was the question before Massachusetts courts in two cases. Needless to say, when these courts agreed with the plaintiffs, the Commonwealth disagreed, appealing the cases the the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. While we wait for the court to decide the case, let’s look at the originating cases and the Commonwealth’s argument.

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441 – Constitutionality of OSHA

Was the Occupational Safety and Health Administration properly created? Was the grant of authority Congress gave the agency constitutional and valid, or did Congress create an overpowered agency, to micromanage businesses throughout the United States. That is the question in the case Allstates Refractory Contractors, LLC v. Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, et.al. Sadly, the Supreme Court decided not to year the case, even if Justice Gorsuch would have and Justice Thomas wrote a dissent.

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