Constitution Archives - Page 2 of 3

Gov. Walz to Extend Emergency Powers for 15th Time Monday

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Gov. Tim Walz plans to extend his emergency powers for another 30 days on Monday, making it the 15th month in a row that the peacetime emergency has been extended.

A Minnesota statute says that a governor who declares a peacetime emergency may have emergency powers for only five days, after which he must ask his Executive Council to extend his powers for an additional 30 days.

Walz has requested that his powers be extended 15 times since first declaring the peacetime emergency in March of 2020, and thus has had emergency powers for over 450 days.

Former Border Officials Say Biden’s Mass Amnesty Proposal Will Worsen Migrant Crisis

May 3, 2021May 2, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Former Trump administration immigration officials criticized President Joe Biden on Thursday for proposing mass amnesty for illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

Biden told Congress to pass his American Dream and Promise Act if they believe in securing the southern border or a pathway to citizenship for around 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally. Former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials and Heritage Foundation experts said Biden’s proposal would worsen the migrant crisis at the southern border, according to a press release.

“This is a crisis of his own making,” former DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement. “Instead of returning to commonsense enforcement, the Biden administration is pushing forward with a massive amnesty proposal that will exacerbate the crisis and undermine the rule of law.”

Commentary: A Monsoon of Manure

February 13, 2021February 12, 2021 RealClearWire

I refuse to watch the impeachment trial as a matter of principle. To devote any attention to this charade would legitimize the corruption of our Constitution. Tuning in would be a tacit acceptance of the blizzard of BS that has buried the national discourse. At least since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, Democrats and their media allies have demanded that we view their smears and lies as high-minded pursuits of the truth. Consider:

Growing Chorus of Lawmakers Join Effort to Prevent Packing Supreme Court

February 6, 2021February 5, 2021 Jason M. Reynolds

An organization dedicated to preserving the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court reports it has won several large victories in the past week.

Keep Nine said in a statement that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona has endorsed its work, making him the first governor to do so.

Commentary: How to Restore Faith in the Constitution

January 20, 2021January 19, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

In one of the most extraordinary passages of his most extraordinary book, C.S. Lewis, the 20th century’s greatest Christian apologist, wrote of Jesus Christ, that he was either the son of God, as he claimed, or a madman. In the Christmas season, believers take comfort in their faith and joyfully embrace the first alternative.

The United States has a tradition of separating church and state, but there is a competing tradition, equally venerable, that our government is only fit for a religious people, one that understands there is a divine order to which humankind ought to conform, and that, as Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett once explained, it is our task to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God.

Mark Levin Commentary: On January 6, We Learn Whether Our Constitution Will Hold

December 31, 2020December 30, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

January 6 is the day we learn whether our Constitution will hold and whether congressional Republicans care.

Commentary: Reflections on the Bill of Rights

December 20, 2020December 19, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The deep divisions plaguing our country may find a remedy in the most unlikely of places: the Bill of Rights. Ratified 229 years ago on December 15, 1791, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. There is little public commemoration of December 15, in contrast to the tradition of celebrating two famous dates in the history of the United States—the Fourth of July, the day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, and September 17, the day that the members of the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787. Yet, of the three documents, the Bill of Rights is perhaps the one most invoked by citizens and advocates in everyday life.

106 GOP Members File Amicus Brief in Texas SCOTUS Election Lawsuit

December 11, 2020December 10, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

A total of 106 House Republicans on Thursday filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the plaintiffs in Texas v. Pennsylvania, et al, including Tennessee’s U.S. Representatives Mark Green, Tim Burchett, Chuck Fleischmann, David Kustoff, John Rose, with U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) taking the lead.

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07) tweeted, “100+ House Republicans and I have filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the Texas case. The election for the presidency of the United States is too important to not get right.”

December 8 Deadline for Selection of Electors Does Not Apply to Disputed States, Amistad Project Says

December 6, 2020December 5, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

In a white paper released Friday, The Amistad Project of the non-partisan Thomas More Society is arguing that the current Electoral College deadlines are both arbitrary and a direct impediment to states’ obligations to investigate disputed elections.

The research paper breaks down the history of Electoral College deadlines and makes clear that this election’s Dec. 8 and Dec. 14 deadlines for the selection of Electors, the assembly of the Electoral College, and the tallying of its votes, respectively, are not only elements of a 72-year old federal statute with no Constitutional basis, but are also actively preventing the states from fulfilling their constitutional — and ethical — obligation to hold free and fair elections. Experts believe that the primary basis for these dates was to provide enough time to affect the presidential transition of power, a concern which is obsolete in the age of internet and air travel.

Minnesota, Virginia Congressmen Propose Constitutional Amendment to Limit Supreme Court Size at Nine Justices

September 26, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Reps. Collin C. Peterson (D-MN-07) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA-05) said they want to make sure that neither political party can ever pack the Supreme Court.

In a bipartisan joint press release issued Thursday, the representatives said they introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to permanently set the number of U.S. Supreme Court Justices at nine.

Minnesota, Virginia Congressmen Propose Constitutional Amendment to Limit Supreme Court Size at Nine Justices

September 26, 2020September 25, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Reps. Collin C. Peterson (D-MN-07) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA-05) said they want to make sure that neither political party can ever pack the Supreme Court.

Commentary: For the Sake of the Constitution, and the Country, Fill Ginsburg’s Seat Quickly

September 20, 2020September 19, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at the age of 87. Her passing was not unexpected. On the contrary, her steadily worsening condition over the past several years left her increasingly incapacitated. After Donald Trump’s election in 2016, many on the Left expressed dismay that she chose to stay on the court rather than resign and let President Obama nominate her replacement.

Harvard Poll Shows Voters Overwhelmingly United on Many Issues, But View Many Rights as Under Threat

September 16, 2020September 15, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Americans largely agree on rights and values that they deem fundamental to the United States, a Harvard University Carr Center poll shows, despite all-time high political polarization.

The survey shows that over 70% of Americans “have more in common with each other than people think” and that they favor an expansive view of rights beyond those in the Constitution. The poll also shows that most Americans believe those rights are under threat.

Oregon Coronavirus Fund May Violate Constitution by Excluding Non-Black Applicants, Experts Say

September 4, 2020September 3, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

A COVID-19 relief fund for African-Americans operated out of Portland, Ore., with federal tax dollars may run afoul of both the Constitution and 1964 Civil Rights Act if it excludes non-black applicants, legal experts warn.

The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief + Resiliency said it seeks to offer “economic relief for the Black community, who are among Oregon’s most vulnerable groups due to systemic divestment and disparities widened and exacerbated by COVID-19.” The program is administered by two local nonprofits, the Contingent and the Black United Fund of Oregon.

Commentary: Where Did ‘Cancel Culture’ Begin?

July 17, 2020July 16, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Bari Weiss was not the first victim of “cancel culture,” and certainly she will not be the last, but her exit from the opinion pages of the New York Times has finally focused national attention on the steadily increasing toll of intellectual intolerance among the soi-disant progressive elite. Ms. Weiss’s public resignation letter, which described “constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views,” with her superiors at the newspaper evidently condoning this harassment, exposed a cult-like climate of ideological conformity at the Times. Because she is rather young — she was born in 1984, the year Ronald Reagan was reelected — Ms. Weiss is not old enough to remember when liberals posed as champions of free speech and open debate. Some of us are old enough to remember, however, and have a duty to teach young people how it was that liberalism slowly succumbed to totalitarianism.

Commentary: The Unelected Parts of Government, Including the Military, Are Revolting Against the Electoral Control by the People

June 9, 2020June 8, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

During the Iraq War, the insurgency spent a lot of its resources attacking infrastructure, particularly the electrical grid. This made life miserable for ordinary Iraqis.

That outcome seems to go against the logic of insurgency, where the center of gravity is the people’s allegiance. But making life uncertain and unbearable means that even if the insurgents cannot win, they ensure the regime cannot win either. The cultivation of chaos exposes the government as ineffective and ultimately removes its legitimacy.

Sheriffs Across the Country Are Refusing to Enforce Unconstitutional Stay at Home Orders

May 18, 2020May 17, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Dozens of sheriffs across the country are refusing to enforce stay-at-home orders because of their unconstitutional nature.

Commentary: Rep. Thomas Massie Defends the Constitution Again

April 25, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

As the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives finally came back into session to appropriate another tranche of $484 billion in coronavirus economic relief, one principled limited government constitutional conservative stood up to ensure their was a quorum of the House present to conduct business and to ask for a roll call vote – Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-4).

Ohio Health Director Amy Acton Sued for Ban on Non-Essential Businesses

April 19, 2020April 18, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

The Ohio Department of Health was sued in federal court Thursday for its ban on “non-essential businesses” during the coronavirus pandemic.

Commentary: Constitution-Respecting Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Lockdowns

April 7, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Across the country governors, county commissioners and executives, and city and town officials have announced “lockdowns” or stay-at-home orders of dubious constitutional validity. The result of these orders is the bizarre situation in which jails are being emptied of criminals while individuals engaged in their ordinary business at appropriate social distance have been arrested for the crime of being outside their home.

One of the most high-profile examples of this inverted constitutional order happened in California, where a paddle boarder was arrested near the Malibu Pier for ignoring orders from lifeguards to get out of the water. CBS News Los Angeles reports the unidentified man spent 30 to 40 minutes paddling in the ocean waters off Malibu Beach after refusing to heed orders from L.A. County lifeguards to go ashore. LASD Harbor Patrol brought in a boat, at which point the paddleboarder voluntarily swam in and was taken into custody.

Roseau County Becomes Minnesota’s First Second Amendment Sanctuary Jurisdiction

February 13, 2020February 12, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

The Roseau County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to become Minnesota’s first Second Amendment sanctuary county.

Seventeen Benjamin Franklin Quotes on Tyranny, Liberty, and Rights

January 19, 2020January 19, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Americans remember Benjamin Franklin as one of our founders. That is fitting because he was not just our most famous citizen at our country’s birth, but he was also so much a central part of that birth that he has been called “The First American.”

Commentary: Do We Own Our Military?

December 29, 2019December 30, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

The preamble to the Constitution lists a number of core functions for the American government. Any American who has ever listened to “Schoolhouse Rock” (or maybe just an obsessive listener like yours truly) can name them all:

Commentary: Attorney General Barr is Right, the Left is Deconstructing the Constitution and the Presidency

November 20, 2019November 19, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

Apparently now saying that Article II of the Federal Constitution’s vesting of executive power to the President was an unambiguous, broad grant of unitary executive authority to the President of the United States by the Framers of the Constitution, and arguing for preserving such separation of powers from encroachment, is an impeachable offense.

Battleground State Report: Nancy Pelosi Continues to Divide the Country with Her Unconstitutional Impeachment Inquiry

October 13, 2019October 12, 2019 Julie Carr

On Friday’s Battleground State Report with Michael Patrick Leahy and Doug Kellett – a one-hour radio show from Star News Digital Media in the early stages of national weekend syndication roll out – with Kellett out of the studio, Leahy broke down the constitutional mechanics of a ‘legal’ impeachment process as they have played out historically.

Commentary: The One-Two Punch to Knock Out Electoral Democracy

June 18, 2019June 17, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Michael S. Kochin If you thought, or hoped, that the brave (or nobly self-interested) Democratic Governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak had thwarted the push for a National Popular Vote by vetoing the bill, think again. On June 12, 2019, Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown signed it into law for her state.…

Commentary: The American Founding’s High-Minded Purposes

June 17, 2019June 16, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Edward J. Erler James Madison is justly celebrated for his frequently stated opinion that “all power in just and free Government is derived from compact.” But Madison’s view is not endorsed by all purported champions of the founders. A recent article, “Our Unwritten Constitution: Orestes Brownson and the Foundation…

Commentary: The Rise of Administrative Law Over Legislative Law

June 11, 2019June 10, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by William Haupt III “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” – Abraham Lincoln Administrative law is the procedure of creating laws by bureaucratic bodies in our municipal, state and…

Commentary: Death and the Democrats

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Sebastian Gorka Our nation is unique. Most every other nation was established in a capricious fashion. Whether defined by an ethnicity, a linguistic community, or the happenstance of being ruled by a royal dynastic elite, other countries were not the result of their people appealing to first principles,…

Commentary: Does the Constitution Mandate Universal Birthright Citizenship?

May 25, 2019May 24, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Amy Swearer Who is a United States citizen by birth? This question has increasingly received national attention, in large part because of President Donald Trump’s promise to “end birthright citizenship.” As I explain, however, in my recent Heritage Foundation legal memo titled “The Citizenship Clause’s Original Meaning and…

Wisconsin Supreme Court to Hear Extraordinary Session Challenge

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Benjamin Yount Who controls when the Wisconsin State Assembly meets? The Assembly itself, or the state’s constitution written in 1848? The Wisconsin Supreme Court hear arguments on that question Wednesday. The Wisconsin League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit earlier this year that challenges a number of laws passed…

Commentary: No Constitution for Divided Men

March 31, 2019March 30, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Helen Lamm Whether we like it or not, the defining political disagreements of our time are no longer based on differences of constitutional interpretation. “Limited government” is probably the most broadly accepted unifying principle of the conservative movement. You can find the phrase in the mission statements of…

Commentary: Progressive Leftists vs. Common Sense

March 1, 2019February 28, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Robert Curry Have you heard this one? A federal judge has ruled that the all-male military draft is unconstitutional. How did you feel about this bit of news when you first learned of it? Did you think the ruling was ridiculous? An outrage? Did you feel hopeless about…

Minnesota’s Betty McCollum Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Make Health Care a Right

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN-04) recently introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would make health care a right for all American citizens. The Health Care for All Amendment, H.J. Res. 17, is currently co-sponsored by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI-02) and states “health care, including care to prevent and treat…

President Trump’s Ingenious Plan to Get the Supreme Court to Rule on the Constitutionality of Birthright Citizenship

December 7, 2018December 7, 2018 Admin

by Dr. Carol M. Swain On October 30, President Donald Trump announced plans to issue an executive order ending the practice of giving U.S. citizenship to children of illegal aliens. By taking this bold action, the President is poised to make history by forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to…

Michigan Activists Prowling the State for Anything Even Remotely Religious

November 17, 2018November 17, 2018 Anthony Gockowski

A Michigan “civil rights” organization has spent the past few years removing any hint of religion from public spaces, most recently forcing a group of public-school football players to stop praying before games. In October, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) sent a complaint to Muskegon Community College…

Commentary: The Democratic Party’s Reckless Disregard for the Nation’s Institutions

November 10, 2018November 10, 2018 Admin

by Jarrett Stepman Sometimes progressives do a great job of becoming caricatures of themselves. The progressive worldview is marked by a tendency to embrace utopian dreams, and a general disregard for tried and true traditions and institutions. Ted Kennedy captured this instinct in 1968 when he said, quoting George…

Despite the Media-Driven Rhetoric, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment Does Not Grant ‘Birthright Citizenship’

October 31, 2018January 2, 2020 Admin

by James D. Agresti Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration, recently argued in a Washington Post op-ed that the current federal practice of granting citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants “is an absurdity—historically, constitutionally, philosophically and practically.” A number of media outlets have published fiery rebuttals declaring that…

Victor David Hanson Commentary: Who and What Threaten the Constitution?

October 21, 2018October 21, 2018 Admin

by Victor Davis Hanson Donald Trump on occasion can talk recklessly. He is certainly trying to “fundamentally transform” the United States in exactly the opposite direction from which Barack Obama promised to do the same sort of massive recalibration. According to polls (such as they are), half the country…

Commentary: Decisive Political Victory is the Only Way to End This Cold Civil War

October 8, 2018October 7, 2018 Admin

by Ryan Williams As even NeverTrump Republicans are coming around – grudgingly, and with caveats, of course – to recognizing the stakes in our ongoing domestic political fights, it is perhaps impolite to note: Some of us drew these conclusions quite a long time ago. The last two weeks of psychodrama in the…

Commentary: Democrat Lynch Mob Shows We Have a Government of Fools, Not Laws

September 21, 2018September 20, 2018 Admin

by Jeffery Rendall After you’ve finished snickering at the notion consider the reason Trump’s so-called loyal opposition (a.k.a. Democrats and #NeverTrumpers) hate the outsider president so much – isn’t it because he’s so different from most other Republicans? From the beginning you could tell Trump not only didn’t want to…

Walter Williams Commentary: Brett Kavanaugh’s Opponents Aren’t Really Against Him, They’re Against the Constitution

September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 Admin

by Walter E. Williams One of the best statements of how the Framers saw the role of the federal government is found in Federalist Paper 45, written by James Madison, who is known as the “Father of the Constitution”: The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal…

The Constitution Series: A Republic, If You Can Keep It

August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 Claudia Henneberry

This is the first of twenty-one weekly articles in The Star News Constitution Series, which will be published between now and February 2019 in the following Star News Digital Media, Inc. publications: The Tennessee Star, The Ohio Star, The Minnesota Sun, and The Michigan Star. Statewide Star News Constitution…

Registration is Open for the 2019 Ohio Star Constitution Bee, Which Will Be Held on April 13

August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 Admin

The 2019 Ohio Star Constitution Bee is open for registration! If you have a secondary school-level student enrolled in a public or private school, or an accredited homeschool program, they are eligible to participate in this original, one-day event to be held Saturday, April 13, 2019. This will…

The Double Standard of Justice in the U.S. Is Risking the Collapse of the Entire System

August 19, 2018August 18, 2018 Admin

by Printus LeBlanc The political world is waiting with bated breath for the outcome of Paul Manafort’s trial. The former one-time Trump campaign chairman is being prosecuted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for various tax and bank fraud crimes, most of which occurred over a decade ago. Manafort is also…

Commentary: When Did It Become Okay to Disrespect the Culture, Traditions, and Values of America?

August 17, 2018August 16, 2018 Admin

by Jeffery Rendall Wake up any particular morning and glance out the window. Do you notice anything different from the day before? Changes in weather or the seasons don’t count. Chances are you’ll see things appear pretty much the same – and if you’ve lived in one place long…

Commentary: It’s Time For President Trump To Go Full Andrew Jackson On Overreaching Judges

August 8, 2018August 7, 2018 Admin

by CHQ Staff The news that a Bush-appointed federal district judge, John D. Bates (pictured), has ruled that Obama’s executive amnesty, not actual immigration law, is the law and that Trump must fully restore and renew the program is such a radical exhibition of judicial overreach that it should…

EXCLUSIVE: The 202 Year Ratification Saga of the 27th Amendment

August 2, 2018August 2, 2018 Gregory Watson

Gregory Watson has been recognized by historians, academics, and elected officials as the only individual in American history whose singular efforts are responsible for the ratification of an amendment to the United States Constitution. Mr. Watson has provided this first hand account of his successful efforts to persuade state legislatures…

Despite the Media-Driven Rhetoric, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment Does Not Grant ‘Birthright Citizenship’

July 30, 2018July 29, 2018 Admin

The Top Ten Most Epic Presidential Vetoes in American History

July 28, 2018July 28, 2018 Admin

George Washington, Ronald Reagan, Grover Cleveland

by Lawrence W. Reed President James Garfield named his beloved dog Veto. The pooch was a monstrous but lovable black Newfoundland weighing more than a hundred pounds. Congress got the message: A bad or unconstitutional bill would go straight to the Garfield doghouse. (Sadly, none ever did because Garfield served…