On behalf of the Association of Priority Mail Users, Inc., our firm filed comments with the Postal Regulatory Commission addressing some of the problems associated with implementing the new Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (“PAEA”), P.L. 109-435, which changes the manner in which rates are set for Priority Mail and other types of mail now classified by Congress as “competitive
Michael New v. Donald H. Rumsfeld — Reply Brief of Petitioner
We filed in the United States Supreme Court a reply to the Government’s brief in opposition to former Army Specialist Michel G. New’s petition for review of his January 1995 court-martial conviction (for violation of an order requiring him to wear the United Nations uniform prescribed for deployment to a U.N. operation in Macedonia).
After we had filed the Petition for Certiorari in November
Wisconsin Right to Life — Amicus Brief
Today we filed a Brief Amicus Curiae in the U.S. Supreme Court in the Wisconsin Right to Life case. The brief asks the Court to reconsider its prior holdings in the McConnell and Buckley cases, and to strike down the Congressional ban on “electioneering communications.” (We had previously filed an amicus brief in support of Wisconsin Right to Life when the case
The Right of the People of Maryland to Keep and Bear Arms
Maryland Shall Issue, Inc. commissioned our firm to prepare an analysis of a 13-year-old Opinion of the Maryland Attorney General currently being used in the Maryland General Assembly to support SB 43, the so-called “assault weapons” ban. Our analysis — “The Right of the People of Maryland to Keep and Bear Arms: A Refutation of a 1994 Opinion of the Maryland Attorney
Free Speech Coalition Constitutional Analysis of Restrictions on Grassroots Lobbying Contained in Section 220 of S.1
The Campaign Legal Center recently issued a memorandum concluding that pending Senate restrictions on grassroots lobbying in Senate Bill 1 were clearly constitutional under existing law. We could not disagree more. Working with Free Speech Coalition Legal Co-Counsel Mark Weinberg of Weinberg & Jacobs, LLP (http://wjlaw.com),we
“Pelosi Set to Attack Conservatives”
Bill Olson was quoted in this NewsMax.com article regarding the “frontal attack on the First Amendment and political speech” of the Public Citizen/Pelosi bill.
The Risk of War to Our Liberties
Bill Olson’s 2001 statement about the increased risk to our liberties at times of war now appears in a collections of quotations about war at the following website: http://allthingswilliam.com/war.html
“There’s no question that historically the liberties of a people are at greatest risk in times
Michael G. New v. Donald H. Rumsfeld — SG ordered to file response
On December 21, 2006, William K. Suter, Clerk of the Supreme Court, wrote to the Solicitor General informing the General that, although his office had waived a right to respond to the Michael New’s petition for certiorari, the Court has directed the Clerk to request that the Solicitor General file a response to the petition on or before January 22, 2007. (This deadline was subsequently was
Free Speech Coalition Press Coverage
Bill Olson is quoted in this Investor’s Business Daily article, “Free Speech Coalition: Public Citizen has ‘Ethics’ Problem With its Grassroots Lobbying Legislation.”
Firm’s FOIA Litigation Against Social Security Administration Leads to Release of U.S. – Mexico Totalization Agreement
In response to our firm’s still-pending FOIA lawsuit on behalf of TREA Senior Citizens League (TSCL) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) finally released the “U.S.-Mexico Social Security Totalization Agreement,” hand-delivering it to the firm in late December 2006.
This is the first known release of the Mexican Totalization
Michael G. New v. Donald H. Rumsfeld — Petition for Certiorari
Today, we filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, seeking review by the United States Supreme Court of the dismissal of Michael G. New’s collateral attack on his January 1996 court-martial. (Former Army Specialist New was convicted of disobedience of an allegedly lawful order for failure to wear the United Nations uniform prescribed for his unit’s deployment as part of a U.N. commanded
Gun Owners Foundation Amicus Brief in United States v. Stanko
Mr. Rudolph Stanko was convicted of possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(1), which prohibits any person from possessing a firearm or ammunition if that person has been convicted of certain types of crimes punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. According to the statutory definition, the predicate crime cannot be any federal or state
State of Wyoming v. BATF District Court Oral Argument
On October 6, 2006, our attorneys had the opportunity to present oral argument in support of the Gun Owners Foundation amicus brief in Wyoming v. BATF. At stake in this litigation before the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming is the statutory and constitutional right of the state of Wyoming to conduct its own criminal background check for purchasers of firearms in Wyoming.
Outgoing California Attorney General Seeks Money from Car Makers
Today Bill Olson was quoted in an article in the Washington Timescommenting on a lawsuit based on “public nuisance” law filed by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer against General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
“The Constitution and the High Court: The Case for Constitutional Fidelity”
A paper by Herb Titus, “The Constitution and the High Court: The Case for Constitutional Fidelity,” was published in the Fall 2006 edition of The Christian Lawyer. (The paper begins on page 5 of the PDF.)
State of Wyoming v. BATF Amicus Curiae Brief for Gun Owners Foundation in District Court
Today, our firm filed an amicus curiae brief for Gun Owners Foundation in the U.S. District Court for the State of Wyoming on behalf of the State of Wyoming, and the Wyoming Attorney General, Patrick J. Crank.
The brief was submitted in opposition to a BATF ruling that a Wyomingconcealed carry permit based on a Montana criminal background check is not sufficient to allow an FFL dealer to transfer
Michael New Petition for Rehearing En Banc
Today, the legal team for Michael New filed a petition for rehearing en banc of New’s collateral attack on his court-martial conviction for disobedience of a “lawful” order. In his petition, New documents the unmistakable fact that the three-judge panel decision — affirming the district court’s dismissal of his complaint that he was denied due process of law
Paper Demonstrates Threat to Second Amendment Rights Posed by Recent Supreme Court Reliance on International Law
In July, 2006, our firm prepared a paper entitled “Assessing the Threat to Second Amendment Rights Posed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Use of Foreign Law In Constitutional Interpretation” which was published by Gun Owners Foundation.
The paper critically analyzes two recent Supreme Court cases (Roper v.Simmons, and Lawrence v. Texas) in which the Court has relied
Social Security Totalization Agreement: TSCL’s Freedom of Information Act Complaints Filed
On June 29, 2006, we filed Freedom of Information Act complaints against both the United States Department of State and the Social Security Administration in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaints arise from requests for records made by TSCL beginning in 2003 relating to the Social Security Totalization Agreement which the United States Government has negotiated
Postal Law Press Coverage
Bill Olson is quoted in this Govexec.com article “Legislative Provision Would Benefit Postal Service Competitors.”
Religious Liberty Not to Have a Social Security Number (Idaho Court of Appeals)
On March 17, 2006, we filed a supplemental reply brief bringing to the attention of the Idaho Court of Appeals the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Gonzales v. UDV, in which Chief Justice John Roberts — writing for a unanimous court — construed the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to provide very favorable protection to individual liberty
United Seniors Association v. Social Security Administration Amicus Brief Filed to Attack Federal Statute Censoring 15 Political Words
We filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Free Speech Defense and Education Fund, Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, Citizens United Foundation, and Downsize DC Foundation in support of United Seniors Association’s (USA) petition for a writ of certiorari.
The amicus brief takes issue with the casual
Michael New Oral Argument Press Coverage
This Washington Times article, “Ex-soldier Appeals Conviction for Refusing Order,” discusses the oral argument in the Michael New case and quotes Herb Titus.