zlacker

Does the federal law apply to local government?

>>teduna+(OP)
Federal law applies to every part of the US. That’s why it’s a federal law rather than a local law.

Federal >> state >> local

>>teduna+(OP)
The applicability of this particular statute (42 USC § 2000aa) - as with most of the Federal government's power - hinges on this clause: "...in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce..."

It seems plausible that the paper might report on things that relate to or impact neighboring states.

But like I said - even if the statute weren't there - what's wrong with calling them up and asking them to surrender whatever they're searching for under subpoena instead? Especially for the purported crime of "identity theft"?!

>>fnordp+7
Does not mean it is enforced look at the cannabis status in different states and the lack of federal prosecution.

>>wyldfi+A
Besides precedent it's still more than that. At the least 14th amendment > No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;

And last clause says Congress has three power to enforce this

>>schuyl+g1
Right, but Congress passed a law which limited its own scope to interstate commerce. So while the 14th Amendment makes it eligible in general its specific applicability depends on it itself.

And sadly this perhaps qualifies as "due process" in Marion County.

>>wyldfi+x1
Due process isn't county specific and the judiciary has already stated that wheat that could in theory be sold in another state is interstate commerce Wickard v. Filburn US supreme Court.

I'm not sure what isn't interstate commerce maybe your kids lemonade stand as long as it's more than 100 miles from the state line?

>>ta988+81
Except this is a procedural law, enforcement happens judicially in court. Cannabis is a law enforcement and prosecutor discretion thing. If prosecutors brought a cannabis case to court the judges would enforce the law. But the DOJ has opted to deprioritize cannabis enforcement unilaterally.

>>ta988+81
It would be a serious mistake to mix up "they aren't currently" and "they can't".

>>teduna+(OP)
Yes.

>>teduna+(OP)
Yes, regardless of that State law certainly applies:

    Melissa Underwood, communications director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, replied by email to a question about whether the KBI was involved in the case.

    “At the request of the Marion Police Department, on Tuesday, Aug. 8, we began an investigation into allegations of criminal wrongdoing in Marion, Kansas. The investigation is ongoing,” Underwood said.

>>wyldfi+x1
> Congress passed a law which limited its own scope to interstate commerce.

What law is that? I'm not familiar with such a law but can't imagine it would even be constitutional. Eg the law Jack Smith indicted trump with recently is about protecting federal/conditional rights.

Yes, the commerce clause is quite expansive and is interpreted expansively, but at the least this would be a first amendment issue and Congress can enforce that and does

>>schuyl+ja
> What law is that?

That citation and the quoted bit limiting the law to interstate commerce is already in the first comment you replied to. I think you have misconstrued something.

>>teduna+(OP)
If you break constitutional protection 100% the feds can step in at any time. A lot of times they don't but if it is egregious they absolutely can.

>>ta988+81
of course not, they would need 10x their current police force to even start to do something like that. But if it's obvious constitutional laws are broken in an egregious way and the locals are obviously ignoring it, the Feds have stepped in many many many times in the past.

>>wyldfi+A
"in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce" was intentionally chosen, to ensure that the law falls under an allowed power of congress but also is exceptionally broad in applicability due to previous supreme court decisions.

E.g. Wickard v. Filburn, held that a farmer harvesting a small quantity of his own wheat and eating it affected interstate commerce, because the farmer did not consume other wheat available in interstate commerce.

Just about anything commercial affects interstate commerce by this definition.

>>schuyl+ja
> ... any work product materials possessed by a person reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce...

The law we're all talking about prohibits a government employee from searching or seizing any product materials intended for use in production of communication materials that affect interstate commerce.