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Feds own the dams, but who owns the water?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National

Feds own the dams, but who owns the water?

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A couple years ago, I criticized the Bureau of Reclamation for draining Blue Mesa Reservoir without bothering to tell the people in Gunnison whose livelihood is affected. I got a little push-back for saying that while the Bureau owned the dam, it did not own the water. A close friend and water lawyer told me to be careful, that the Bureau does in fact own some water rights in the Gunnison River. I admit the legal nuance but still insist it is a debatable point. That’s because Congress never funded such water projects for the purpose of the federal government owning and controlling the West’s water. The Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956 led to construction of Glen Canyon, Flaming Gorge, and Navajo Dams, as well as ...
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Boulder Climate Case Risks Imposing Local Agendas on the Entire Nation
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The Federalist, Approved, Commentary, National

Boulder Climate Case Risks Imposing Local Agendas on the Entire Nation

By Christopher Mills | Commentary, The Federalist This week, the U.S. Supreme Court should consider a basic constitutional reality: county officials from Boulder, Colorado, cannot force their preferred climate policies on the rest of the nation. Obvious as it seems, that is what’s at stake in Suncor Energy Inc. v. Boulder County, a climate change case the court will weigh for review on Dec. 12. Like the other thirty-odd copycat climate lawsuits filed by states and localities from Honolulu to my hometown of Charleston, Boulder’s suit weaponizes tort law to try to transform state courts into vehicles for deploying sweeping climate mandates. If Boulder gets its way, the casualties won’t be confined to the energy companies it endeavors to bankrupt; American consumers an...
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Justices Take Key Immigration Case on Trump Order Limiting Birthright Citizenship
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Justices Take Key Immigration Case on Trump Order Limiting Birthright Citizenship

By Jack Birle | The Washington Examiner The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear arguments in a case challenging President Donald Trump‘s executive order on birthright citizenship later this term. In an order released Friday afternoon, the justices said they would take up for review Trump v. Barbara, a case originally brought in a federal court in New Hampshire by a group of people whose children could be affected by the order. The Justice Department filed petitions to the high court to hear the Barbara case and Trump v. Washington, a challenge brought by Democrat-led states, in September, arguing the justices should rule on the legality of the order. “The government has a compelling interest in en...
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Colorado’s clash with federal law: Why Tina Peters’ case poses a Supreme Court question
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Colorado’s clash with federal law: Why Tina Peters’ case poses a Supreme Court question

By RMV Editorial Board What began as a state prosecution of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters now sits at the junction of presidential pardon pertaining to federal election law and state authority. Colorado barred key evidence from the jury, sealed portions of the grand jury record, then fought to keep those materials from appellate review.  A recent analysis by Amuse asserts that the Supreme Court has never ruled on whether a presidential pardon can neutralize a state conviction when the conduct arises from a federal duty. Amuse also argues that when a state interferes with administering a federal election, those prosecutions become offenses against the United States—whatever the state calls them. https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1989394815616770528?s=46 Appe...
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Calls Grow For Red States To Challenge SCOTUS Ruling On Schooling For Illegal Aliens
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The Federalist, Approved, Commentary, National

Calls Grow For Red States To Challenge SCOTUS Ruling On Schooling For Illegal Aliens

By: Shawn Fleetwood | The Federalist If Republicans play their cards right, they could potentially topple a SCOTUS decision that opened America’s schools to illegal aliens. The culmination of a disastrous 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision granting illegal aliens access to American public schools has seemingly taken center stage in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week. After the Department of Homeland Security revealed Saturday that U.S. immigration officials would be conducting enforcement operations throughout the city, local media began reporting that an unusually high number of students were marked absent from school. According to data in these reports, roughly 30,000 students did not attend Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Monday. (“Officials initially rep...
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EPA Moves To Clarify Water Rules After Years Of Costly Confusion and Federal Overreach
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The Federalist, Approved, National

EPA Moves To Clarify Water Rules After Years Of Costly Confusion and Federal Overreach

By: Beth Brelje | The Federalist The soon-to-be-replaced significant nexus rule meant a ditch in a rainstorm or pooling water that occurs only in the rainy season could be grounds for the federal government preventing land use. The Trump administration is about to curb an overzealous Obama-era environmental regulation by revising the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and Adam Telle, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, introduced a proposed WOTUS rule change Monday that is meant to establish a clear, durable definition of the rule that won’t be changed every time a new administration comes in. There will be 45 days of public comment on the propos...
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Climate Case From Colorado Could Backdoor Carbon Taxes and Cripple U.S. Energy
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Fox News, Approved, National

Climate Case From Colorado Could Backdoor Carbon Taxes and Cripple U.S. Energy

By Emma Colton | Fox News Conservative lawmakers warn an energy case originating in Colorado could bankrupt oil industry. A massive climate lawsuit that could land before the Supreme Court is an attempt at a back-door "carbon tax," a climate attorney previously involved in the case said during a recent legal forum.  "Woke lawfare is finally being exposed for what it really is: a radical attempt to impose Progressive Lifestyle Choices on the American people via the courtroom," O.H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance For Consumers, a nonprofit focused on preserving consumer protection efforts, told Fox News Digital. "Whether it's dark money left-wing nonprofits lying about their efforts to indoctrinate judges or climate lawyers telling the truth about their ...
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Supreme Court Casts Doubt on GEO Group’s Immunity Claim in ICE Labor Case
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DENVER7, Approved, National

Supreme Court Casts Doubt on GEO Group’s Immunity Claim in ICE Labor Case

By: Jessica Porter | Denver7 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a class action lawsuit by immigrants against the Aurora U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center owned by The GEO Group Inc. The original lawsuit was brought in 2014 by Alejandro Menocal, a former detainee at the GEO ICE Detention Facility in Aurora, alleging forced labor in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Menocal said he and other detainees were required to do unpaid janitorial work and threatened with solitary confinement if they refused. Detainees were paid just $1 a day for voluntary work, such as cutting hair or cooking. In court Monday, the GEO group argued that it has immunity from litigation as a government contractor....
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Oracle Health and Epic Accused of Helping Hospitals Hide Gender Procedures from Parents
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Just The News, Approved, National

Oracle Health and Epic Accused of Helping Hospitals Hide Gender Procedures from Parents

By: Greg Piper | Just the News Oracle and Epic control nearly two-thirds of electronic health records market, and "may be enabling – or even reinforcing – restrictions on parental rights through the way these systems are marketed and customized for clients," Do No Harm warns. As parents fight school districts in the courts to disclose when their children express gender identity at odds with sex, allied with a transgender child psychologist who has repeatedly urged judges to clue in parents, they face a lesser known roadblock to transparency about their children's health: electronic health record systems that lock them out. A report by medical advocacy group Do No Harm said "it appears that healthcare systems are using sexually transmitted infections, mental h...
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Democrats Turn to Courts After Voters Reject Climate Mandates
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Washington Examiner, Approved, Commentary, National

Democrats Turn to Courts After Voters Reject Climate Mandates

By Washington Examiner Staff | Commentary, The Washington Examiner Democratic Party policies were soundly rejected by voters last November, so activists are turning to courts at the state, federal, and international levels to impose costly and painful climate change policies on consumers. But there are signs that common sense may prevail. A federal court in Montana threw out a case last week that was funded by an activist group called Our Children’s Trust, holding that judges are ill equipped to dictate energy policy for the federal government.  “Granting plaintiffs’ injunction would require the defendant agencies and — ultimately — this court, to scrutinize every climate-related agency action taken,” wrote Dana Christensen, who was appointed by ...
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