A usurpation of state function under the 10th Amendment

“The Department of Justice is launching an effort to combat what it said is an “increase” in “threats of violence” against school officials and teachers across the country.

“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said of the effort in a statement Monday. “Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.”

Garland directed the FBI and U.S. attorney’s offices to hold meetings with federal, state and local law enforcement leaders in the next 30 days, during which they will discuss ways to combat what the DOJ called a “disturbing trend” of harassment and threats against school officials.” foxnews

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” 10th Amendment to the constitution of the US.

Comment: Merrick Garland knows very well that the federal government has NO authority to interfere in the functioning of local school boards. NONE. Therefore he is basing this action on some claptrap about “interstate commerce.” What nonsense. pl

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-launching-effort-to-combat-threats-of-violence-against-school-officials

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26 Responses to A usurpation of state function under the 10th Amendment

  1. RHT447 says:

    Nonsense indeed. So what do you do when this nonsense comes knocking at your door? Wave your copy of the Constitution at them?

  2. Babeltuap says:

    Scoffing at our upgraded “Magna Carta” and spending more time on illegal sham “work arounds” never ends well. At least not until it has to be upgraded again.

  3. Very glad you mentioned this.
    I couldn’t agree more with your comment.
    The conflicts between the educational system and many parents is clearly a local matter, to be worked out locally.

    Sundance/CTH has a post on this, which includes the text of the letter from Garland to the FBI et al:

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/10/04/u-s-attorney-general-instructs-fbi-to-begin-investigating-parents-who-challenge-school-board-policy-and-decisions/

    PDF of the Garland letter:
    https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1438986/download

  4. Fred says:

    It appears the Biden administration supports illegal aliens tracking US Senators into restrooms for harrassment purposes, and apparently also on airlines.
    https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1445165583423660038
    I wonder how long we have to wait until one of his political oppenents is assassinated? Who released the senator’s travel schedule to this ‘activist’ and who paid for the tickets? Which airline let this go on, the one that throw’s families off the flight because a toddler isn’t masked or another one?

  5. Barbara Ann says:

    Invoking the Commerce Clause seems to be the least of it. A section of the letter from the National School Boards Association:

    “As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes”

    Of course. FBI, DHS, Patriot Act & the whole counter domestic terrorism apparatus will now be deployed. Resistance of any kind to subjugation symbology mask mandates & the indoctrination of children will be ruthlessly put down. How long before a political commissar is posted in every school?

    There is a link to the letter (pdf) in the CBSN article Fox links to:

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/school-board-violent-threats-mask-mandates-critical-race-theory/

  6. scott s. says:

    If they were actually “servants” there wouldn’t be need for threats, would there?

  7. akaPatience says:

    Now it’s easier to see why charter schools have been vilified by Democrats: they’re a threat to the monopoly of public education and all of the baggage that goes with it when it comes to costs and controversial curricula. I wonder how many — IF any — actual threats of violence have been made against the complainants? I’d think anything of the sort would’ve been hyped BIG TIME by the MSM. So far, I’m not aware of anything egregious.

    And boy, does it seem like the Left is really spoiling for a fight with actions such as this? This, as well as the overly-zealous prosecution, denial of due process, etc., related to Jan. 6 trespassers at the Capitol? It seems as though it’s trying to provoke violent conflict, perhaps even hoping to incite armed confrontation — with what ultimate goal in mind — gun control??? – so we end up like the defenseless of Melbourne, Australia when beset by goons – laughably for health’s sake? What a nightmare.

  8. Deap says:

    FLA Gov. DeSantis strong response to AG Merrick Garland’s threats, hit it out of the park. Again. Bravo.

    Don’t tread on me, federal agents.

  9. Deap says:

    The US Constitution Commerce Clause – “federal government has to power to regulate commerce among the several states” – was stretched out beyond all literal recognition to justify “social action” rulings by activist SCOTUS justices.

    Used to pass federal Civil Rights legislation back in the 1960/70’s since racial discrimination impacted “commerce among the several states” -if it prevented equal access to interstate travel accommodations.

    Putting just about anything one wants under the umbrella of “impacting interstate commerce” will face greater scrutiny since we now have more originalists sitting on the bench – who claimed they look to the four corners of the document to justify their SCOTUS rulings and won’t just make up new rights or fanciful stretches to justify a social engineering agenda.

    At least, that is what they promised in their senate confirmation hearings. To be soon tested – Roe v Wade being a classic example of working well outside the express terms found within the four corners of the document.

    I just rattled off a letter to our local newspaper writer who claimed there were now 6 “conservatives” and 3 “liberal” justices, due to Trump’s appointments to SCOTUS. I recommended he lower the partisan political attacks on the bench by referring to them as either originalists or activist judges instead and use these designations as teaching moment when describing future news stories about SCOTUS.

  10. A very angry and determined MO Senator Josh Hawley confronts and even, dare I say it, attempts to intimidate DAG Lisa Monoco in a dramatic, fiery five-minute confrontation over Garland’s letter:

    https://youtu.be/xh5IQWaqZDs

  11. Leith says:

    It is a state crime to intimidate a public servant by use of a threat to influence a vote, opinion, decision, or other official action. It is a class B felony in my state. Probably also a felony in most other states is my guess.

    Are the states not taking action against those issuing the threats?

    And what does ‘interstate commerce’ have to do with it?

    • Deap says:

      She was on a plane flying back to Washington DC – interstate commerce. FAA.

      Federal protection first amendment and right to assembly to peacefully protest against one’s government (duly elected government officials).

      You can scream at and harass government officials, while engaged in interstate commerce …..apparently, esp if they are not following liberal partisan orthodoxy. (See how you can stretch the commerce clause?)

  12. A. Pols says:

    And to think they tried foisting this douchebag off on us as a Supreme Court Justice. Next it’ll be Chesa Boudin..

  13. AK says:

    If anyone wants to understand the behavior of public school unions in any depth, I highly recommend Charter Schools and Their Enemies by Thomas Sowell. He lays bare the motives and machinations of this cancerous entity, with his conclusion and assertions backed by hard evidence, as well as the laudable success of most charter schools against the performance of their government indoc (i.e. public school) counterparts, again backed by hard evidence. In short, public schools, especially in major cities, are a giant tax-funded graft, so grand in scale that they likely run second only to the military industrial complex. See California’s gargantuan public education budget juxtaposed against its woeful results. Charter schools deliver real results and are fundamentally based on freedom of choice for parents. Can’t have that. Must protect the graft, whatever it takes. In the case of local school board activism, if it means putting the boot of the almighty federal gov’t on the necks of parents who want a say in what their children are taught, so be it. They are happy to twist the heel, too. It will get uglier, but it was always going to end up here anyway. None of this is surprising once you understand the real stakes involved for the people who have been suckling on that gov’t teat lo these many decades.

  14. AK says:

    Succinct and digestible analysis of this whole sordid effrontery by the DOJ from Andrew McCarthy at National Review.

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/10/the-biden-justice-departments-lawless-threat-against-american-parents/

  15. A.Pols says:

    Public schools were community based institutions when I was a kid (I was graduated from High School in 1965) and were largely answerable to the local school board and to meeting state standards for basic curricula. I went to school in Maine and as far as I know there was very little federal tampering with what went on in public schools. What we see now is the Sovietization of public school with teachers having to walk on red hot coals lest they be denounced. American parents who want their kids to be free of the sort of rubbish peddled by the likes of Garland’s daughter would do well to organize into self help cells of mutual assistance for home schooling their kids, but I recognize the difficulty of this for many “middle class” households where both parents work and are obliged to abdicate their role in pedagogical function and turn it over to the public school’s tender mercies

    • Pat Lang says:

      A. Pols

      I, too, went to high school in Maine.

    • Deap says:

      Government employees were given the right to unionize by JFK – so all bets are off about public education after 1970. It was a slow takeover and has reached full flower in 2021.

      I recall local school board members in the 1950/60’s were local businesspeople, members of your local churches, people – you knew as neighbors and you played with their kids.

      Then unions make education big business and in California Prop 98 put an automatic 50% of all general funds automatically on the table for K-14 education (90% to K-12; 10% to community colleges.

      Once that much money was on the table, the unions found ways to spend it because it came with absolutely not accountability strings. Taking over local school boards became the imperative, because ordinary local folks might start demanding accountability for dollars spent. Unions would not, as long as it was spent mainly on themselves.

      Then came the massive school bond issues to fund school construction and maintenance, so Prop 98 funds (the 50% off the top) would not be diluted for buildings and could be dispenses mainly for personnel costs.

      Turning school kids into voting agents for the teachers unions telling their parents who to vote for was the easy part. The command, control and funding of the now highly organized teachers unions is hard to break.

  16. Tucker Carlson has an excellent column on Garland’s memo:

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/tucker-carlson-biden-attorney-general-making-family-rich-calling-you-domestic-terrorist

    The question is:
    who is threatening these teachers and school board members?
    Is it Al Qaeda? Is it the Russian government? Is it ISIS-K?
    No. It’s parents. Parents are angry about what’s happening in schools. Why are they angry?

    You’ll notice if you look closely that nowhere in Merrick Garland’s recent order, or the DOJ’s press release, is any explanation of these “threats of violence.”
    What threats of violence? Has violence occurred at these school board meetings? No.
    Look closer, and you’ll find this line:
    “The Justice Department will also create specialized training and guidance [that] will help school board members … understand the type of behavior that constitutes threats.”

    Oh. So it’s a propaganda operation, funded by you out of the Department of so-called Justice designed to tell teachers and school board members that
    when parents complain, it’s domestic terrorism.

  17. Sam says:

    REVEALED: AG Garland’s daughter is married to founder of education group promoting Critical Race Theory: Parents accuse Biden admin of conflict of interest as DOJ ups investigation into parents

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10069425/Garland-accused-conflict-ties-education-group-promoting-Critical-Race-Theory.html

    Now we know the real reason for Garland’s action. Feathering the nest should never be overlooked in government actions.

    • JerseyJeffersonian says:

      This is hilarious in a sad, sad way. Merrick Garland siccing the FBI on citizens to protect a family grift, when still the FBI is trying to hide the evidence contained on Hunter Biden’s laptop concerning the Biden family’s influence-peddling grifts. Implicit (barely…) threats against citizens exercising their rights by, or concealment of actionable information by, a supposed law enforcement agancy in furtherance of self-dealing by government officials and their families. No wonder they don’t like Rudy Giuliani; he’s a guy who knows a thing or two about rackets and what needs be done about them.

      Anarcho-tyranny on the march. The nation becomes less “exceptional” seemingly with each passing day.

  18. Fred says:

    Is what Don Surber reported today, that “Fairfax schools have a $3.1 billion budget this year. They are spending $16,505 per student.”

    That’s a heck of a lot of money and shouldn’t be apportioned out by morons.
    https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2021/10/fairfax-schools-are-everything-that-is.html

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