Two bills have been introduced in the Tennessee legislature to stop the indefinite detention provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act from being complied with by local and state law enforcement officials.
House Bill 1059 and Senate Bill 1290 were introduced on Feb. 11 and Feb. 14, respectively. They were referred to the State Government Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee where they currently await further action. HB 1059 was sponsored by Rep. Rogers (R-Goodlettsville) with seven more House members adding their support. SB 1290 was sponsored by Sen. Summerville (R-Dickson).
HB 1059 says, “Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no agency of this state, political subdivision acting in his or her official capacity, member of the Tennessee National Guard on official state duty or member of the Tennessee state guard and civil air patrol shall aid an agency of the armed forces in any investigation, prosecution or detention of any United States citizen pursuant to section 1021 of the national defense authorization act of fiscal year 2012.” The Senate Bill contains the same text.
Although these bills do not interpose any criminal penalties for feds who try to kidnap Americans without proper legal protections, they do get the incredibly important idea of non-compliance to federal laws out there to Tennesseans. These bills are a firm stand against the dangerous idea promulgated all too often that the states wield nothing more than vestigial power and are meant to acquiesce to whatever their federal masters dictate to them, no matter how obviously unjust it is.
Sadly, there are still many voices of the soon-to-be obsolete political establishment spewing the same old tired nonsense in opposition. A great example of this is Tennessee State House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner. He said to the Knoxville News Sentinel that “[Republicans and Democrats] need to show some courage to put these extremists in line. … There are extremists in both political parties. A lot of their extremists got elected to the Legislature. Our extremists didn’t get elected to the Legislature.”
Turner is once again regurgitating the meme that anyone who dares to fight back against unconstitutional federal power-grabs is some type of lunatic or extremist. But the good news is that our presence is making the worst within our political scene show their true colors. Turner and his ilk are proving with their words and their actions to be people who do not have the slightest bit of concern about protecting the natural rights of those whom they represent.
ACTION ITEMS
1. If you live in the state of Tennessee, make sure to contact your legislators and respectfully demand that they support HB 1059 and SB 1290. We will make the Mike Turners of the world know that there are far more of us than he cares to admit and that we will not be ignored! You can find out more information on how to contact your State House Reps by clicking HERE and your State Senators by clicking HERE.
2. Encourage your local community to take action as well. Present the Liberty Preservation Act to your city county, your town council, or your county commissioners. Various local governments around the country are already passing similar resolutions and ordinances. Local legislative action present a great way to strengthen a statewide campaign against NDAA indefinite detention
Model legislation here:
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/ndaa
3. Share this information widely. Please pass this along to your friends and family. Also share it with any and all grassroots groups you’re in contact with around the state. Please encourage them to email this information to their members and supporters.
LEGISLATION AND TRACKING
If you live anywhere outside of Massachusetts, please contact your own legislators regarding anti-NDAA legislation. If none has been introduced in your state, you can email them The Liberty Preservation Act model legislation.
Track the status of NDAA nullification in states around the country HERE
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you need more information about the NDAA of 2012 and why action needs to be taken against it at the state and local levels, please watch the following video presentation by our legal analyst Blake Filippi:
