by Bob Barr | Jan 17, 2022 | Daily Caller Article |
Daily CallerIn recent weeks, state governments across the country have begun prioritizing the issue of criminal justice reform, and at the federal level it is high time for Congress to return to this vital issue.It has now been four years since Congress, on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, passed the First Step Act — the most significant criminal justice reform in decades. While the legislation arguably did more than any other to get low-risk, nonviolent offenders back on their feet, even President Donald Trump acknowledged that the federal government still has more work to do in this matter.The 50 states have similarly acknowledged as much. That is why states such as New York and Pennsylvania have made passing the Clean Slate Act a priority. This bill will expunge the records of certain low-risk, nonviolent offenders who have already completed their sentences, allowing them to better qualify for work, education, and housing opportunities.While it is commendable to see so many states take action to reform their own criminal justice codes, as a former U.S. Attorney I know all too well that the federal government needs to do the same with the federal criminal code.The Kyle Rittenhouse case provided the American people a glimpse into why reform on the state and federal levels needs to become a top priority.Although much of the country, including most legal analysts, recognized that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, the politicized prosecutors in Wisconsin still invested heavily to see Rittenhouse put in jail.Rittenhouse was lucky. Most defendants do not have the resources to fight prosecutorial abuse as aggressively as did Rittenhouse’s legal team. In most cases, especially at...
by Bob Barr | Jan 12, 2022 | Townhall Article |
TownhallWhether it is their fear of Donald Trump or their hatred of him, congressional Democrats will stop at nothing in their incessant drive to destroy him. Most recently, they have dredged up a post-Civil War era provision in the Constitution as a possible way to keep him from serving a second term as president in 2025.Democrats’ latest anti-Trump gambit is Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. If you are not familiar with this provision, you are not alone; it was ratified in 1868 and was last used more than a century ago. The language was inserted into the otherwise important 14th Amendment, which secures our vital “privileges or immunities of citizen” along with “due process” and “equal protection of the laws.”Section 3 of the Amendment, however, has nothing to do with those important guarantees. Its purpose was simply to prevent individuals who had taken up arms against the United States, or who had rendered “aid or comfort” to enemies of the United States, from later serving in the federal or state government.Section 3 was last used in 1919 against a sitting United States Senator alleged to have given assistance to Germany in World War I. Even then, he was later reseated, and Section 3 has lain undisturbed for well over a century. Until now.A year ago, Democrats were quick to label the January 6th demonstrations on Capitol Hill an “insurrection,” and their Google search of that word appears to have led them to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment because – you guessed it – the phrase “insurrection or rebellion” appears in it as an apt description, not of a demonstration but of...
by Bob Barr | Jan 5, 2022 | Townhall Article |
TownhallAs legislative red flags go, they don’t get much bigger than what the Biden Administration is attempting — $80 billion of additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service so the agency can more than double the number of employees it now has.At the moment, Biden’s plan to hire 87,000 new IRS employees is stuck in senatorial limbo — part of his “Build Back Better” plan passed late last year by the House. While Senate Republicans are holding firm against passing “BBB,” there is a real danger Democrats could slip the IRS provision (or major pieces of it) into some other “must pass” legislation and “Presto!” the agency doubles in size and power.Democrats appear perfectly comfortable buying the President’s absurd claim that not only will the massive BBB “cost nothing,” but that increasing the size and power of the IRS will turn a profit and will target only “the rich.” Their IRS expansion plan is a massive lie, with major consequences not just for the wealthy but for all citizens; and its successful implementation could be aided thanks to the hubbub surrounding the one-year anniversary of the events of last January 6, which provides a perfect cover for Democrats to sneak these changes through under the radar. As a threshold question, why would the IRS need to double in size and rake in $80 billion in additional funding if its agents are only going after the rich? After all, the agency already does this, as evidenced by the fact that audit rates for the wealthy are significantly higher than for those in lower income brackets. If the IRS was truly short-staffed, and the...
