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Was Rittenhouse’s Possession of the AR-15 Unlawful?

JonathanTurley

In covering the motions hearing last week in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, I noted a surprising comment from Judge Bruce Schroeder that he had “spent hours” with the Wisconsin gun law and could not state with certainty what it means in this case. It is also hard to instruct a jury on an ambiguous statute.

Statute 57
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Locked and Loaded: Third Circuit Declares Federal Gun Law Unconstitutional Over Ex-Felon Rights

JonathanTurley

However, when Range pleaded guilty in 1995, his conviction was classified as a Pennsylvania misdemeanor punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment. When his wife recently bought him a deer-hunting rifle, he learned that he was barred under federal law. That triggered the federal ban.

Laws 44
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Connecticut High School Student Arrested For Posting Racist Slur

JonathanTurley

Here is what the provision states: “Any person who, by his advertisement, ridicules or holds up to contempt any person or class of persons, on account of the creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race of such person or class of persons, shall be guilty of a class D misdemeanor.” Free speech demands bright lines.

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Fourth Circuit Overturns Conviction Of Retired Air Force Colonel For Using Racial Slur

JonathanTurley

” The language of the statute in my view is unconstitutional due to its sweeping criminalization of any “curse or abuse” that could “provoke a breach of the peace.” ” However, the appellate panel corrected noted that such laws are narrowly construed in light of controlling precedent. .”

Statute 39
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California Dreaming: Newsom’s Kidnapping Claim Against DeSantis is Long on Politics and Short on the Law

JonathanTurley

Newsom cited the kidnapping statute but apparently failed to read it or the underlying cases. It reportedly includes claims of felony and misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint, but didn’t name individual suspects. state once they are released by the federal government.

Laws 37
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The Land that Law Forgot: The Supreme Court and the New York Legal Wasteland

JonathanTurley

Through various contortions, Bragg converted a dead misdemeanor case into 34 felonies in an unprecedented prosecution. New Yorkers and the media insisted that such selective prosecution was in defense of the “rule of law.” Bragg did not bother to state clearly what that crime was, originally alluding to four different crimes.

Legal 56
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August 2021 Updates to the Climate Case Charts

ClimateChange-ClimateLaw

The Supreme Court called the appellate court’s conclusion that there are always reasonable legal alternatives to disobeying constitutional laws “untenable,” and held that “reasonable legal alternatives” must be effective. The court further found that EPCA’s legislative history did not support the plaintiff’s “expansive interpretation.”

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