Touchstone Of Freedom Powered By We The People

Newsletter | March 16, 2023

Red state governors led the fight to keep their states open, their children whole, and their businesses solvent when the federal government used every trick in the book – deception, fear-mongering, prison, job loss, etc. – to keep America perpetually locked down under COVID regulations. In so doing, red states scored a historic win for freedom as they successfully reestablished the original role of states by defending the rights and liberty of their citizens.

The federal government has arrogated to itself so much power we tend to forget that it’s not supposed to be that way, not according to the supreme law of the land – or its Framers.

States are sovereign entities, bound together by the Constitution, which conferred limited and enumerated powers to the federal government. As the Tenth Amendment puts it: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

In Federalist No. 45, James Madison, the fourth president of the United States and often referred to as the Father of the Constitution, sought to soothe concerns that the new government established by the Constitution would undermine the sovereignty of the 13 original states. He writes:

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce….The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.

In our ongoing discussion of The Federalist Papers, we’ve shown how the arguments made by Madison and his two co-authors, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, are as relevant now as when they were first written, nearly 250 years ago. In fact, some of the most significant fights Americans are waging today to restore their rights are taking place at the state level.

Certainly, there are big issues to worry about at the national level, like runaway inflation, the unabated flow of illegal aliens into America, and the rise of an anti-America bloc consisting of China, Russia, and Iran. These threats and others, if not mitigated, will certainly wreak havoc on worldwide stability. But consider the issues that will determine the character of our country in the years to come — nearly all of them are being decided at the state level.

There’s election integrity, for instance. State legislatures are responsible for ensuring free and transparent elections, without which we don’t have a country where citizens choose their representatives. And then there’s abortion. With the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs (2022) which overturned Roe v Wade (1973), the question is restored to elected officials of state legislatures to decide how each state will protect the lives of the unborn. Generally, issues of rising crime and education are also resolved at the state level, whether related to incarceration, bail, school choice, or ending the promotion of radical race and gender ideologies at public schools.

And don’t forget the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) agenda imposed by woke Wall Streeters pushing investors’ money into companies with progressive ideas and often bad balance sheets. State Attorneys General from around the country endlessly fight against the dangerous fad by using tools available to them such as delinking state pension funds from ESG-endorsed organizations.

Each of these battles is incredibly important on its own grounds, but taken together what we’re watching is the revival of state sovereignty. At America’s Future, we believe that the touchstone of freedom is strong states powered by We The People. Preserving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness comes down to citizen participation and standing up to fight for our children, for our future, for life. We urge you to join us and find a way to get involved.

Please participate in our Reader’s Survey. Your insight and thoughts are important to us to learn what is on the minds and in the hearts of our fellow Americans. We read them all and share some of them every Monday at 9 a.m. during America’s Future live broadcasts with our Executive Director Mary O’Neill on America’s Mondays With Mary. Thank You!

America’s Future Files Motion In Lake v Hobbs Election Case

Today, (March 16, 2023), America’s Future along with three other nonprofit organizations jointly moved Arizona’s Supreme Court seeking Leave to File an Amicus brief respecting two cases consolidated for appeal and docketed under Lake v Hobbs, Dkt No. CV-23-0046-PR. Our Amicus Brief is located here.

The brief, filed contemporaneously with our Motion for Leave, supports Plaintiff/Appellant Kari Lake and her position regarding Arizona’s 2022 election process for governor. Ms. Lake commenced litigation as the 2022 Republican nominee for governor of the state of Arizona. Her opponent in the 2022 race, Katie Hobbs, is one of the defendants in this case. Ms. Hobbs is being sued in her capacity as Secretary of State, the government official in charge of Arizona’s election administration. For the sake of clarification, Ms. Lake’s opponent, Ms. Hobbs, was the Secretary of State and, at the same time, the Democrat Party’s nominee for governor of Arizona. Ms. Hobbs was actually in charge of running the very election she was participating in. Ms. Hobbs could have recused herself from election responsibilities, but refused, even though she was in the throes of a glaring conflict of interest. Arizona’s 2022 governor election process placed Republican Candidate Kari Lake, along with all Arizona citizens in a precarious situation, one that serves as a reminder of just how important free and fair elections are to our survival as a Constitutional Republic.

What a bizarre set of circumstances Arizona, and our country is navigating. Election integrity and public trust in the outcome of elections is at the core of our Republic. Without exception, the ultimate decision-maker with respect to certifying a vote count should not ever be the same person who is responsible for carrying out election regulations and, at the same time, one of only two candidates in the running for an elected office dependent on said vote count and regulations.

Respecting election integrity and America’s system of free and fair elections, the Supreme Court of the United States(SCOTUS) has plainly explained, “No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”

Independent administration and sensible, judicious regulation of elections at the state level, is, of course, paramount to guaranteeing that every qualified voter’s right to cast a vote effectively and meaningfully, is, at all times, free from taint.

In this case, facts gleaned from the pleadings and other legal filings demonstrate that the integrity of the 2022 election for Arizona governor was an abject failure. In fact, the election was neither fair nor free from taint. Aside from the bizarre circumstances including Ms. Hobbs refusal to recuse herself as Secretary of State during her 2022 run for governor, our Amicus brief explains,

Maricopa County, in violation of Arizona law requiring all ballots to be counted upon retrieval from drop boxes, failed to actually count the EDDBs [election day drop ballots] transferred to a private third-party ballot counting firm, Runbeck, instead simply “estimating” that it transferred some 275,000…

Runbeck did in fact count the EDDBs received from the County, a total of 263,379…[However, and significantly]Runbeck’s logs reflect [Runbeck processed] 298,942 ballots, fully 35,563 more than Runbeck actually received from the County, which ballots it then sent back to Maricopa County. The number of additional ballots inserted by Runbeck is far more than the 17,117-vote certified margin of Hobbs over Lake.

As SCOTUS Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall eloquently and accurately recognized in a 1968 ruling, “Elections are of the most fundamental significance under our constitutional structure.”

America’s Future stands for free and fair elections and supports legitimate election scrutiny. Without a meaningful right to vote, no other rights survive.

Twenty-First Amendment – Federal Prohibition Ends

Welcome back to our series surveying the 27 constitutional amendments ratified over the course of our history as a sovereign nation, a Constitutional Republic. Each amendment revises our Constitution, alters the course of history, and, in one way or another, advances America closer on her path to exceptionalism. The article below reviews the Twenty-First Amendment.

The Twenty-First Amendment was proposed by Congress on February 20, 1933 and ratified by the states on December 5, 1933. Comprised of three sections, it repealed the Eighteenth Amendment ending the federal government’s ban on the importation, manufacture, sale, and/or transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States. Section two of the Amendment, however acknowledges and affirms the states’ rights to regulate alcohol within their individual jurisdictions. In fact, the phrase, “in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited” speaks to, and appreciates, the sharp teeth of state laws regulating alcohol. The text of the Twenty-First Amendment, in its entirety, states,

Section 1
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Of note is that this amendment is the only Constitutional Amendment by which Congress selected the ratification process of state ratifying conventions, as opposed to that of state legislatures.

Article V of the Constitution made available to Congress two methods to achieve ratification of an amendment to the Constitution: “Amendments to the Constitution may be ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof.”

By selecting ratification by state ratifying conventions, as opposed to ratification by state legislatures, Congress effectively avoided the strong presence of the Temperance movement in state legislatures. The Temperance movement was heavily behind the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, and while no precedential guidance existed as to the form and manner of how these state-ratifying conventions would be conducted, the popular sentiment to ban prohibition left little at issue as to the manner in which the state ratifying conventions were held.

While this Amendment ended America’s period of prohibition at the federal level, states were free to continue regulating and restricting alcohol. Two examples of states that maintained strict rules for a period of time include Mississippi remaining a “dry” state until 1966 and Kansas, which prohibited patrons from buying a drink made with alcohol at a bar or restaurant until 1987.

To various extents, restrictions governing alcohol and alcohol sales still exist in every state. Every state in the union and the District of Columbia has set the minimum legal drinking age at twenty-one years old. That said, most states allow underage consumption or possession of alcohol under limited circumstances if the person is over 18 years old, such as in the presence of parents, for religious or medical purposes, or while in a certificate or other type of seminar or class that requires tasting or while serving alcohol. Some states also offer prosecutorial exemptions for underage persons who have consumed alcohol but are reporting an assault or medical emergency.

Department of Justice Lawyers Weaponize the Voting Rights Act

This is the eleventh entry in our expanded IN FOCUS section addressing corruption in the U.S. Department of Justice and the self-destruction of the FBI. Readers will find the compilation of the complete series of articles at Unequal Justice Under Law.

Serious disputes over the manner in which both the 2020 elections and 2022 elections were conducted continue to this day. “Liberalized” voting practices that were implemented to allow voting by mail, use of drop boxes, and other devices led to serious questions about the integrity of those federal and state elections. Some of those election challenges are still being litigated. One of those challenges was filed by Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona, against Katie Hobbs, the former Arizona Secretary of State, who conveniently established and administered the rules for an election which declared her the victor.

To implement those liberalized voting practices, Democrat lawyers filed more than 200 pre-election lawsuits to undermine election law security practices in order to tilt the election results to Democrats. The Democrats attacked election laws in state after state, demanding wholesale, judicially-imposed changes to the laws passed by the elected representatives of the people. (Records show that during the 2020 election cycle, the Democrat Party paid more than $40 million to its favorite election lawfare firm, Perkins Coie.)

What is less well known is that in some cases, these state election laws are being overturned by judges at the request not of Democrat Party-funded lawyers, but U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers funded by taxpayers.

The Voting Rights Act

The DOJ has limited authority to review state election laws under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act contains a wide range of protections for racial minorities, as well as certain other minority groups. It provides protections against state laws which might disproportionately hinder minority voting, such as literacy tests that once had been used for that purpose. While Congress intended the Voting Rights Act to protect racial and even what are termed “language minority groups,” it is not surprising the powers entrusted to DOJ lawyers and appointees of the President, could be abused to achieve political objectives.

For example, in July of 2021, the DOJ sent a threatening memo to states warning them not to reverse pandemic-era exceptions to election security laws, despite the original plan that the exceptions be only a temporary COVID measure.

DOJ Attacks Voting Integrity Laws In Red States

After every national census, states re-examine the districts from which public officials are elected at every level of government. According to the establishment press, when Democrats adjust those lines, it is called redistricting. When Republicans adjust those lines, it is described using the pejorative “gerrymandering.”

It should come as no surprise that the DOJ has sued conservative states over their redistricting plans. In 2021, the DOJ sued Texas, arguing that because the 2020 redistricting created white majorities in the state’s two new congressional districts, the plan automatically was racist and illegal. “The Department of Justice’s absurd lawsuit against our state is the Biden Administration’s latest ploy to control Texas voters,” tweeted Paxton. Meanwhile, the DOJ has turned a blind eye toward extreme gerrymanders to disenfranchise Republican voters in Democrat states such as New York and Maryland.

Blue States Get A Pass

It is certainly not true that redistricting abuses never occur when Democrats are in control. In March, 2022, New York courts threw out the Democrat legislature’s congressional gerrymandering plan, noting that “the map was ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ illegally enacted with ‘political bias’ in violation of the state constitution.” Another state court threw out the legislature’s state senate map as well, noting that the redistricting process was “incapable of legislative cure.” However, the Justice Department appeared unperturbed at a process that tilted the playing field on behalf of Democrats in New York.

Maryland’s Democrat-controlled redistricting is also infamous for gerrymandering. “In the past, experts have agreed that Maryland has one of the worst cases of gerrymandering in the entire country. A federal judge once said the current map looked like a ‘broken-winged pterodactyl, lying prostrate across the center of the state.’”

Faith in elections is so low among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, that fully 55 percent of voters support forensic audits of election results to ensure there was no vote fraud, with only 29 percent opposing such audits.

It is bad enough when taxpayer-funded judges abuse their power to invalidate state election laws designed to ensure fair elections. It is even worse when the taxpayer-funded lawyers are the ones who file the suits to get those judges to require election laws which undermine election integrity.

To read the entire series of articles, please click here.

Reminders & Updates

America’s Future invites readers to submit the order form here to receive free print editions of our study series, Exploring America’s Founding Documents and Understanding The Separation of Powers Principles. Increase your knowledge about the vision of our Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the structure of accountability in government, and why our country is the greatest nation in the world. To access the digital versions, visit Know Your Constitution America!

Join hundreds of Americans who have signed up to be a part of America’s Future Project Defend & Protect Our Childrennetwork to help end child exploitation, abuse, and trafficking. Visit the Project’s web page here to watch multiple videos describing the initiative and download our tips sheets for suggestions you can do in your community. The first issue of the PDPC Bulletin is in production and will be released in the next weeks. Sign-up now to ensure you receive this inaugural edition.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The next Champions For America “Conversation with General Michael Flynn” webcast is scheduled for Tuesday, April 4, 11 AM ET. Become a Champion and join this live broadcast!

SHOP TIL YOU STOP: We hope you love America’s Future new online shop display and ease of accessing your favorite items! There are many new products, including a full assortment of tees for the whole family, a wide range of accessories like coffee mugs and totes, and a special line dedicated to our Project Defend & Protect Our Children. Thank you for your support!

AMERICA’S MONDAYS WITH MARY: Tune in every Monday morning at 9 a.m. (ET) to watch our Executive Director Mary O’Neill report out on the comments and insights submitted via our weekly Reader Survey and listen to updates about America’s Future activities and what’s ahead at America’s Mondays With Mary.

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