Page 41 - State Constitutions News Today

Different language, but i think the bigger picture here is that since the election and re-election of president obama there have been a number of attacks on voting rights and the courts are not going on our side, ruling on our side. thats why were on the ground. i truly believe where the answer is weve got to do the hard work and were moving to state rights now. now we have to get voting rights express sitly in the state constitutions. most state constitutions dont explicitly protect your right ...

So lets say a state decides -- you know, can they decide we will use the average of the last two gubernatorial elections, the partisan breakdown, whatever that average is, and say okay, if its 55/45 in favor of one party, well then no party can have a congressional district thats more than, say, 60% or something like that. is that what were going to need, maybe state laws or state constitutions to draw parameters about defining whats partisan and the outer edge of partisanship? >> many of us thi...

Founding, but in the same way the founder says -- said in the first amendment, congress shall make no law bridging freedom of speech and the press, but, of course, we say the president cant interfere with free speech and neither can federal courts and neither can states or localities. we have a broader view and rightly so, because after the civil war there was a new amendment passed, called the 14th amendment, and it actually says, heres its language, no state shall make or enforce any law which...

Education establishment feel threatened by the rise of school choice. nobody mandates that you take an uber or lyft over a taxi, nor should they. but if you think ride sharing is the best option for you, the government shouldnt get in your way. >> what did she mean by that from your perspective, congressman. state constitutions dont guarantee a cheap and comfortable ride to a restaurant but they do guarantee free public education. >> yes, they do. the best way to promote a free education is to h...

Playgrounds softer and safe for children. now, the fact they have that footnote in there, how does that affect how it is used as precedent going forward. three-fourths of the state have this marked in their state constitutions? >> i think it indicates that there will be a lot of litigation about stuff like this. the courts will struggle to figure it out. more liberal justices and judges will say no, we dont want any sort of funding of taxpayers dollars to go to religious institutions. more conse...

Injection. they are saying their supply of the lethal injection fluid is coming to an end. >> cant you get another shipment? >> bret: the governor wants to move fast with this, mollie. >> this is a proxy battle over whether we should have the death penalty. there are two ways you can talk about it. is it legally justified? its mentioned in the constitution, it is in many state constitutions. its a difficult front on which to wage the battle. instead, people talk about whether it is being carried...

Injection. they are saying their supply of the lethal injection fluid is coming to an end. >> cant you get another shipment? >> bret: the governor wants to move fast with this, mollie. >> this is a proxy battle over whether we should have the death penalty. there are two ways you can talk about it. is it legally justified? its mentioned in the constitution, it is in many state constitutions. its a difficult front on which to wage the battle. instead, people talk about whether it is being carried...

Numfour-numfour but it wont be one of those high profile splits. >> four five did the looking at, folks are looking particularly at one coming up, trinity lutheran church of columbia. i dont want to get in the weeds but why are conservatives looking at that? >> it has to do with state constitutions that says you cant use state funds in missouri to go to religious organizations and churches, the church is trying to get fund to construct a playground. >> they had daycare and school of the property...

Supreme court. >> a lot of publicity on those cases that i want to ask the implications on those. >> a constitutional amendment is in many state constitutions the missouris case it is extreme because literally say they cant send 9112 at church or synagogue, nothing government. that cant be right but theres probably a middle ground, how far can you go in refusing something available to everyone else and saying that is a religious organization, cant have that. those as well. all these take four vo...

Or loyal republican are not disqualifying characteristics for supreme court nominee. not in my book. let think back to 2004 election. lets look at ohio where you volunteered. ohio is one of 11 states in 2004 where republicans working to support the reelection campaign also worked to put antigay marriage amendments on the ballot. these state constitutions passed. the text varied state by state. the amendments define marriage between a man and woman. the amendment sent a clear message to lesbian a...