Virginia House Moves to Nullify NDAA Detention of America Citizens

Virginia may be on the verge of saying “NO!” to one of the most blatant abuses of federal power in recent years.

As you know, at the end of last year, Congress passed and Barack Obama signed a defense authorization bill which contained a provision [section 1021] allowing American citizens to be arrested on American soil, detained indefinitely, tried in a military court, and deported to a Third World country for torture.

An American could be detained if he “substantially supported” an individual who engaged in a belligerent act against the U.S. or its allies, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Thus, if you were to sell a gun to a Timothy McVeigh, unaware of his intentions, you could have all of your constitutional rights summarily taken away by Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder under the terms of this new law.

But now, Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall has introduced legislation to prohibit Virginia law enforcement officials from enforcing this unconstitutional language. That bill is House Bill 1160, which has already passed out of its initial subcommittee.

House Bill 1160 implicitly piggybacks on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision partially invalidating the Brady Law. That case, the Printz case, held that, under our system of federalism, a state can’t, against its will, be turned into a “go-fer” to enforce a federal law enforcement regulatory scheme.

ACTION: Please call your delegate and ask him to support House Bill 1160.

CONTACT: To identify and contact your delegate, go to http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform and enter your address in the form provided.  When the results display, clicking on the “More about” link will lead you to your delegate's e-mail address.

NOTE: using the “Send a message” link on the results page is not recommended, as that will automatically send the message to both your delegate and senator.

A pre-written letter is provided below so that you can copy-and-paste it into the e-mail message you send your delegate.

 ----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Delegate:

Virginia may be on the verge of saying “NO!” to one of the most blatant abuses of federal power in recent years.

At the end of last year, Congress passed and Barack Obama signed a defense authorization bill which contained a provision [section 1021] allowing American citizens to be arrested on American soil, detained indefinitely, tried in a military court, and deported to a Third World country for torture.

An American could be detained if he “substantially supported” an individual who engaged in a belligerent act against the U.S. or its allies, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Thus, if a person were to sell a gun to a Timothy McVeigh, unaware of his intentions, he could have all of his constitutional rights summarily taken away by Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder under the terms of this new law.

But now, Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall has introduced legislation to prohibit Virginia law enforcement officials from enforcing this unconstitutional language. That bill is House Bill 1160, which is already beginning to move toward the House floor.

House Bill 1160 implicitly piggybacks on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision partially invalidating the Brady Law. That case, the Printz case, held that, under our system of federalism, a state can’t, against its will, be turned into a go-fer to enforce a federal law enforcement regulatory scheme.

Please support House Bill 1160.

Sincerely,