Month: November 2018

The Supreme Court of the United States denied review on Monday in the case challenging California’s concealed carry law.

That case made its way to the Supreme Court via the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

It originated with Sacramento County residents James Rothery and Andrea Hoffman, who both argued that the structure of California’s concealed law opened the door to unequal application and favoritism, while closing the door to a consistent exercise of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

California has a “May Issue” policy for concealed carry permit issuance. This means, even for residents who lack a criminal record and are legally able to buy a firearm, the local sheriff has the discretion to refrain from approving their permit application unless they demonstrate “good cause” for carrying a firearm.

Rothery’s petition for certiorari noted these things, punctuating what they believed to be an arbitrary application of the permitting process:

There are no uniform state standards for the issuance of a permit; leaving the decision entirely within the discretion of the locally elected sheriff. The discretionary and arbitrary application process itself creates perverse incentives for the approval or denial of an application. Most individuals in many California counties, including Sacramento County, cannot obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon unless the individual is a friend or campaign contributor to the local county sheriff. Honorably retired California peace officers are exempted from this restraint as they are automatically granted a lifetime right to carry concealed weapons, regardless of need or merit.

Rothery was dismissed by a district court, then appealed to the Ninth Circuit, where the dismissal was affirmed. The case was then appealed to Supreme Court, where it was docketed on July 27. On November 5, the Court announced it would not hear the case.

“It is never any reflection on the legal merits when the Supreme Court declines to take a case,” explains Breitbart News Senior Legal Editor Ken Klukowski. “This petition was poorly written, making this case an unsuitable vehicle for the Supreme Court to take up such an important constitutional issue as Second Amendment rights outside the home.”

The case is Rothery v. Blanas, No. 18-121 in the Supreme Court of the United States.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that personnel from their Civil Rights Division will “monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws” at polling places in 35 jurisdictions across 19 states to ensure the integrity of the midterm elections against “fraud,” said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“Citizens of America control this country through their selection of their governmental officials at the ballot box. Likewise, fraud in the voting process will not be tolerated. Fraud also corrupts the integrity of the ballot,” said Sessions in a DOJ press release.

He said the department will use “every lawful tool that we have, both civil and criminal, to protect the rights of millions of Americans to cast their vote unimpeded at one of more than 170,000 precincts across America.”

Sessions emphasized that “voting rights are constitutional rights, and they’re part of what it means to be an American.” He noted, “The Department of Justice has been entrusted with an indispensable role in securing these rights for the people of this nation.”

The Justice Department will send representatives to monitor counties in Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

The DOJ routinely sends personnel to districts across the country during elections to ensure the integrity of the voting process, according to the press release. In 2016, the administration of then President Barack Obama deployed more than 500 personnel to 67 jurisdictions in 28 states for the 2016 presidential election.

The Justice Department also stated that the Civil Rights Division “has regularly monitored all kinds of elections in the field around the country throughout every year to protect the rights of voters, and not just in federal elections.”

Thus, on November 6, “the Division again will be monitoring in the field around the country.”

Despite the regularity of DOJ monitoring during elections, some are unhappy about the announcement. Kristen Clarke, president and executive director for the activist Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law immediately condemned the DOJ monitoring, alleging it promoted a “false narrative about voter fraud.”

In a statement, Clarke also accused Sessions of “voter suppression.” She asserted, “At every turn, this Justice Department has failed to take action to enforce the Voting Rights Act and protect the interest of minority voters.”

She added her organization will be “watching” the DOJ’s voter monitoring “with great skepticism.”

Conversely, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), a national election integrity law firm, commended the DOJ plan to “monitor and enforce federal election laws with personnel across 19 key states.”

“Jeff Sessions is doing a wonderful job directing the Department to enforce all federal election laws in sensitive jurisdictions and at large,” said PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams in a statement. “What a refreshing restoration of the rule of law. This DOJ leadership, unlike the last administration, are clearly setting a course for how to deter, detect, and confront violations of election law.”

Law Enforcement has been strongly notified to watch closely for any ILLEGAL VOTING which may take place in Tuesday’s Election (or Early Voting). Anyone caught will be subject to the Maximum Criminal Penalties allowed by law. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2018

Also, on Monday, President Donald Trump promised to prosecute anyone caught voting illegally in the mid-term election. “Anyone caught will be subject to the Maximum Criminal Penalties allowed by law,” he wrote.

Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Facebook and Twitter.

Far-left Democrats have made their general disdain for Christianity very well known. It’s no secret to anyone who has even remotely kept up with their narrative in recent years.

Despite that, leftists like to bring up Christianity as some sort of barometer when criticizing conservatives — and especially when criticizing anyone who supports President Donald Trump.

To the surprise of nobody, many liberals and Democrats only seems to applaud the merits of Christianity when the faith can be used to attack conservatives and Republicans.

In fairness, that line of liberal thinking has certainly befuddled some Christians. Do devout Christians sometimes struggle with supporting an organization or person who can at times do or say un-Christian things?

While that can certainly be hard for some to answer, it was no problem for White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. In fact, it may be the best response I’ve ever heard.

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In a recently published interview with the New Yorker, Sanders perfectly responded to any and all critics who claim Christians can’t work in or support the Trump administration.

“Frankly, if people of faith don’t get involved in the dirty process, then you’re missing the entire point of what we’re called to do,” Sanders said.

Honestly, had Sanders simply stopped right there, it would have been a simply great answer. Of course, she elaborated on the issue to further cement her point.

The New Yorker cited Trump’s alleged sexual encounter with a porn star as one of the reasons why many outsiders condemned Christians who hold high positions in the Trump administration. Sanders again had the perfect response.

“I’m not going to my office expecting it to be my church,” she said. Again, this is a very valid point. For many Americans and Christians, work is a wholly separate place from church.

Even if work involves unsavory accusations, Sanders is 100 percent correct to say that believing in Christianity means she should be wanting to go into work to spread the good word.

“You’re not called to go into the places where everyone already thinks like you and is a believer — you have to go onto a stage where they’re not,” Sanders said.

Sanders did clarify that she was not speaking directly about the White House, but rather her mission as a Christian in general.

“You have to take that message into the darkest places, and the dirtiest places, and the most tainted and dysfunctional places. If you can influence even one person, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” she added.

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When the New Yorker writer Paige Williams pointed out that she thought Trump specifically needed the most help, Sanders didn’t miss a beat.

“We all need help,” Sanders responded. “That’s the whole basis of Christianity. No one is perfect. We are all sinners.”

That, in particular, seems to be the biggest point the media is missing.

Nobody is perfect, and Sanders clearly realizes that.

The mainstream media that’s so intent on attacking the Trump administration that it seems blind to its own flaws ought to remind itself of that every once in a while.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

BY: Jeffrey Cimmino Follow
@jeffcimmino

November 5, 2018 5:42 pm

A lecturer at the State University of New York at New Paltz was caught on video stealing Republican yard signs in New York.

Laura Ebert, who is an economics lecturer, has been charged with misdemeanor larceny for stealing signs endorsing Rep. John Faso (R., N.Y.) for Congress and Marc Molinaro, the GOP gubernatorial candidate in New York. Video shows Ebert pulling up to a woman’s front yard, getting out, and putting the political signs in her pickup truck.

My lawn signs for #NY19
@JohnFasoNy and @marcmolinaro we’re just stolen from my front lawn 😡 pic.twitter.com/4IWbzojLIA

— 🇺🇸 Lisa McMerica🍀🇺🇸 Vote Red 🇺🇸 (@LisaMcGov) November 1, 2018

The police report names a Laura C. Ebert, born on Oct. 23, 1964, as the perpetrator of the crime. The Facebook page for a Laura Ebert, who is an economics lecturer at SUNY New Paltz, has Oct. 23 as her birthday. Furthermore, the Facebook page says she graduated from Bard College in 1986, consistent with a birth year of 1964.

Ebert is listed as a lecturer in economics on the university’s website.

According to the police report, Ebert apologized for stealing the signs.

“Based off my observation of the security footage, I patrolled to the residence and made contact with Ms Ebert and she was subsequently taken into custody for petit larceny,” the report reads. “Ms Ebert stated that she was ‘sorry’ and that she had disposed of the signs.”

Last month, Rep. Mimi Walters (R., Calif.) called out her opponent’s supporters for stealing and destroying yard signs. A few weeks ago, Minnesota state representative Sarah Anderson was punched in the arm after seeing a man destroying Republican yard signs.

Faso is engaged in a competitive race against Antonio Delgado in New York’s 19th Congressional District. Recent polls have shown a back-and-forth battle for the lead. Molinaro is running against incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D.) who holds a 13-point edge according to the most recent survey.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan led a chant of “Death to America!” on a solidarity visit to Iran this weekend, according to Iranian news sources. He also led a chant of “Death to Israel!”

Farrakhan visited Iran ahead of the renewal of U.S. sanctions against the regime at midnight on November 5. The renewed sanctions are the result of the American withdrawal from the agreement negotiated by the Obama administration, which purported to prevent Iran’s development of nuclear weapons but merely delated it.

The Algemeiner, a Jewish community newspaper based in the U.S., reported on Farrakhan’s visit, citing reports in the Iranian media.

The “semi-official state news agency” Mehr reported:

Louis Farrakhan made the remarks in a meeting with the Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei in Tehran on Sunday, during which he also called the United States a big liar.

Farrakhan expressed happiness with his visit to Iran, saying the goal of his visit is to demonstrate real friendship with Iran.

Meanwhile, he said that the Americans have always been plotting against Iran and are seeking to create an internal enemy in Iran.

“I understand how the enemies have plotted against the Iranian people and I would like to stay alongside you to stop their plots,” he asserted.

Mehr also reported that Farrakhan criticized the U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia and the U.S.-led war on the Ghadafi regime in Libya in 2011.

The Algemeiner also cited the IRIB news outlet, whose report is available through Google Translate. According to IRIB, Farrakhan delivered remarks to students at the University of Tehran:

Pointing to women’s freedoms in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Muslim Muslim leader said: “In the Islamic Revolution of Iran, men are alongside women and women are free to reach the ultimate level of their talent.”

…

He said that the United States and Israel are one of the most feared countries in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and if we do not resist them, we will leave nothing but death and destruction for our children.

The Muslim leader of the United States, in the end, stressed: Make a promise of self-striving to strengthen the interest of Muslims.

He then spoke the phrase “Death to America” ​​in Farsi, and a number of students also accompanied him.

Video of Farrakhan’s appearance circulated on social media:

Here is video of @LouisFarrakhan in Iran saying “Death to Israel!” in Farsi with a smile on his face.pic.twitter.com/VFoosQUmTt

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) November 5, 2018

The Jerusalem Post also cited Farrakhan as comparing President Donald Trump to Satan during his Iran visit.

In 2005, the Congressional Black Caucus met with Farrakhan — whose racist and antisemitic views have been well known for decades. At that meeting, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) interacted with Farrakhan and posed for a photograph with him. The photograph (above) was deliberately suppressed until 2018 to avoid damaging Obama’s political career.

Last month, Farrakhan posted a video of a recent sermon to Twitter in which he referred to Jews as “termites.” Leaders of the Women’s March, an anti-Trump organization aligned with the Democratic Party, are unapologetic about their ties to Farrakhan.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Photo: file

BY: Mikhael Smits Follow
@mikhaelsmits

November 4, 2018 10:22 am

A handicapped Texas man took to Facebook Tuesday to express frustration with a NBC News crew that had blocked the only handicap parking spots at his polling place.

James Berrie, who has multiple sclerosis, was driving to the Bayland Community Center for early voting. WTSP reports that the NBC crew was set up across two handicap parking spots. Berrie said the crew initially agreed to move, but said they needed a few minutes because the shot was live.

Berrie said that he eventually found a parking spot in a back lot far removed from the building entrance, but lowering the ramp to exit his car was difficult without the extra space a handicap spot provides.

In a Facebook post, Berrie recounts returning to the handicap spot after voting, and the crew was still just setting up. The crew had claimed the shot was live, preventing them from moving. “We’ll move in like three minutes. We’re going live. We’ve got a shot. We’re going live in like three minutes. We gotta do this,” Berrie recounts them saying. The move upset local voters, including Berrie’s wife and firefighters, who walked in the way of the shot to protest. Those protesting stayed in place until the NBC crew packed up its van and left.

“This is suppression,” Berrie said. “If I couldn’t park I couldn’t vote. Their van had no handicap placards.”

After his post went viral, Mariana Atencio, the MSNBC correspondent who had stood in the handicap spot, took to Twitter to apologize. “We made the wrong call,” she said.

We made the wrong call today by using a disabled parking spot for our live shot in TX. There’s no excuse. I apologize to the two people who were on their way to vote as it’s one of the most important parts of our democracy; we’d never want to jeopardize anyone’s ability to do so

— Mariana Atencio (@marianaatencio) October 30, 2018

Berrie called for media accountability between now and election day. “News will be out in force, now and until the general,” he said. “The media needs to be aware. Call them out if you see this.”