freedom of association Archives | Page 2 of 17

A Lesson on Racial Discrimination

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published May 14, 2014 on Townhall.com.Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers owner, was recorded by his mistress making some crude racist remarks. Since then, Sterling's racist comments have dominated the news, from talk radio to late-night shows. A few politicians have weighed in, with President Barack Obama congratulating the NBA for its sanctions against Sterling. There's little defense for Sterling, save his constitutional right to make racist remarks. But in a sea of self-righteous indignation, I think we're missing the most valuable lesson that we can learn from this affair — a [...]

ACRU2020-04-23T21:56:55-04:00Categories: Economic Liberty, In the Courts, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, Supreme Court|

The IRS Conspiracy Killers in the News Media

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published May 9, 2014 on The Washington Times website.After the full House of Representatives cited former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official Lois Lerner for contempt of Congress on Wednesday, The Washington Times fittingly made it the lead story.Over at The Washington Post, however, print readers had to go 19 pages deep to "The Fed Page," a union-style newsletter for federal employees. If The Post had buried the story any deeper, it would have been wedged into the classifieds or crumpled up in a backyard mulch barrel.Here's how The New York Times handled the story:"The House of Representatives voted [...]

ACRU2014-05-12T11:36:55-04:00Categories: In the Courts, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, supreme court|

Obama Liberals Expand Government to Fill Hole Left by Declining Morals

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published January 31, 2014 on The Washington Times website.The trouble with liberals is not just that they eventually run out of other people's money, as Margaret Thatcher observed. It's that they find new ways every day to project their own dysfunctional worldview on the rest of us.It's like living next door to a nuclear-waste dump run by the Bumpusses. You'd like to ignore it, but shards of spent fuel keep falling into your yard and setting your dog on fire.This is how non-progressive Americans increasingly view our ever-coarsening, "progressive" popular culture and the ruling elites who promote it.They're [...]

ACRU2020-04-23T21:52:39-04:00Categories: First Amendment, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, Health Care, Obamacare|

For Democrats, Scorched-Earth Politics is War by Other Means

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published January 24, 2014 on The Washington Times website.On Thursday, the FBI announced an indictment of Dinesh D'Souza, maker of the hit documentary "2016: Obama's America," in what appears to be a Hugo Chavez-style payback.Mr. D'Souza is accused of making illegal campaign contributions to a U.S. Senate candidate in New York. Also in New York, conservative activist James O'Keefe reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, of which he has been critical, is targeting his Veritas group with subpoenas.In Hollywood, Fox News is reporting that the Internal Revenue Service has targeted a conservative group, Friends of Abe, whose members [...]

ACRU2014-01-29T11:44:16-05:00Categories: OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, Health Care, Obamacare|

ACRU Sends Motor Voter Act Violation Notices to Texas Counties

WASHINGTON D.C. (Sept. 18, 2013) -- The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) has put numerous Texas counties on notice that they are violating Section 8 of the National Voter Registration ("Motor Voter") Act. The counties have more registered voters than voting age-eligible residents, according to official data from the U.S. Census and state voter registration offices.Three of the counties notified by letter were Brooks County, which has more than 126% of living citizens old enough to vote registered, Kenedy County with 113%, and Duval County with 102%. Amazingly, an election complaint filed in Brooks County regarding the May primary election for District Attorney alleged that 18 of [...]

ACRU2013-09-17T13:41:13-04:00Categories: In the Courts, OPED, Press Releases|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, Press Release, supreme court, Voting Rights|

'Hope And Change' Means Punishingly Slow Growth for Obama's Biggest Supporters

This column by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara was published September 13, 2013 on Forbes.com.Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal explained President Obama's 2012 reelection in the September 4 edition as follows: "Mr. Obama was reelected with 51% of the vote....He cleaned up with 60% of the youth vote, 67% of single women, 93% of blacks, 71% of Hispanics, and 64% of those without a high school diploma, according to exit polls."But it is precisely these groups that President Obama's economic policies have punished the most. The latest data on incomes shows that since the end of the recession in June, 2009 incomes for black heads [...]

ACRU2013-09-17T13:13:01-04:00Categories: In the Courts, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, supreme court|

You Don't Have to Stay Poor

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published September 11, 2013 on Townhall.com.No one can blame you if you start out in life poor, because how you start is not your fault. If you stay poor, you're to blame because it is your fault. Nowhere has this been made clearer than in Dennis Kimbro's new book, The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires.Kimbro, a business professor at Clark Atlanta University, conducted extensive face-to-face interviews, took surveys and had other interactions with nearly 1,000 of America's black financial elite, many of whom are multimillionaires, to discover the secret [...]

ACRU2013-09-12T09:27:21-04:00Categories: In the Courts, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, supreme court|

Blowing Hot and Cold on Devotion to States' Rights

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published September 9, 2013 on The Washington Times website.Holder is cool with marijuana, but not with preventing election fraud.I'm all for according public officials the dignity due their positions, but I must say that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is beginning to resemble Puff the Magic Dragon.How else to explain his department's memo ordering U.S. attorneys not to enforce federal marijuana laws? The action came in the wake of voters in Colorado and Washington legalizing recreational marijuana use last year.It's one thing to have people in Seattle beating the munchies at Starbucks, or wandering around Aspen in [...]

ACRU2020-04-23T21:59:45-04:00Categories: Election Integrity, In the Courts, OPED, Redistricting|Tags: Federalism, First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, Supreme Court|

Christian Airman Punished by Lesbian Commander Faces Possible Court Martial

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published September 6, 2013 on Breitbart.com.Updating our earlier report on Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk, a Christian serving in the Air Force whose unit is now commanded by a lesbian: according to Monk's complaint filed with his superiors, he was relieved of duty for refusing his commander's order to say he supports gay marriage.Now the Air Force has taken the first steps to criminally investigate Monk for talking to the media about his situation. Despite the fact that earlier this year the Obama-Hagel Pentagon said they would never court-martial a service member for their Christian faith, they [...]

ACRU2013-09-09T09:51:09-04:00Categories: In the Courts, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, supreme court|

Touchy Topics

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published September 4, 2013 on Townhall.com.Here's a question: What is the true test of one's commitment to freedom of expression? Is it when one permits others to express ideas with which he agrees? Or is it when he permits others to express ideas he finds deeply offensive? I'm betting that most people would wisely answer that it's the latter, and I'd agree. How about this question: What is the true test of one's commitment to freedom of association? Is it when people permit others to freely associate in ways of which [...]

ACRU2013-09-06T07:40:05-04:00Categories: In the Courts, OPED|Tags: First Amendment, freedom of association, in the courts, supreme court|