Seventeen states have either introduced or passed bills banning foreign money from influencing state ballot measures.
All of them are red states.
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky , Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming have all introduced or passed such bills. Five of the states have passed the laws: Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Wyoming. Six states have had their bills passed by a house of the legislature already: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, and Tennessee, as Americans For Public Trust (APT) has <a href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/stop-foreign-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documented</a>.
“Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to candidates and Super PACS, but there is no federal prohibition against foreign nationals funding ballot issue campaigns,” APT <a href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/reports/sixteen-thirty-fund-cumulative-spending-on-ballot-issue-campaigns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>. “Without closing this foreign influence loophole, states are leaving their public policy open to being influenced by foreign interests.”
One organization APT examined was the Sixteen Thirty Fund. It was described by <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/17/dark-money-sixteen-thirty-fund-522781" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a> in 2021, as a “left-leaning, secret-money group” that “ doled out a whopping $410 million in 2020, aiding Democratic efforts to unseat then-President Donald Trump and win back control of the Senate. The group, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, financed attack ads against Trump and vulnerable Republican senators and funded massive get-out-the-vote and issue advocacy campaigns amid the coronavirus pandemic”
One of the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s donors is a Swiss billionaire, Hansjorg Wyss, whom APT says has contributed $280 million to the fund. “Sixteen Thirty Fund takes advantage of this loophole and has spent $130 million on ballot issue campaigns in 26 states. It is also important to note that as Mr. Wyss’ foreign money runs through the Sixteen Thirty Fund, there is nothing stopping foreign adversaries from taking advantage of this same loophole.”
The Sixteen Thirty Fund spent over $33 million in Michigan, over $20 million in Ohio, almost $17 million in Florida, almost $13 million in Missouri, almost $11 million in Colorado, and almost $7 million in Nebraska and Nevada.
Issues the Sixteen Thirty Fund has focused on include abortion, electoral reform, minimum wage, paid sick leave, and taxes.

SWITZERLAND-ECONOMY-BANKING

17 States Have Bills Banning Foreign Funding For Influencing Ballot Measures. All Of Them Are Red.

Ballot Measures

Foreign Funding

Red States

Nearly two dozen Republican governors conveyed their approval to President Donald Trump for a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-backs-senate-budget-plan-key-trump-one-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget plan</a> that lays the groundwork for his &#8220;one big, beautiful bill.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Gov-Letter-to-President-Trump.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> dated Monday, the governors expressed gratitude to Trump for supporting an amended budget reconciliation resolution. Having passed the GOP-led Senate, it is now advancing toward a vote in the Republican-controlled House. Once finalized, the resolution will enable Congress to proceed with legislation aimed at realizing Trump’s domestic priorities.
&#8220;We, like you, understand that more must be done to fully implement the agenda for which millions of Americans voted to see realized,&#8221; the governors said. &#8220;In particular, Congress must deliver to your desk a reconciliation bill that reinforces your executive actions and codifies in permanent law policies to secure the border, unleash American energy, restore military supremacy, fight wasteful spending, prevent a debilitating tax hike on working class Americans, and prevent a debt default.&#8221;
Early Saturday, the GOP-led Senate passed its <a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_amendment_h_con_res_14.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">version</a> of the budget reconciliation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">framework</a>, which seeks to extend the 2017 tax cuts set to expire this year, raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and increase spending on border security and defense. It also includes several billion dollars in spending reductions — far less than the over $2 trillion goal in the plan narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> by the House in February.
While the <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1905623315378471013" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Byrd Rule</a> constrained the Senate&#8217;s budget resolution to focus solely on fiscal measures like extending tax cuts and raising the debt ceiling while stripping out non-budgetary provisions, the gap in spending-reduction targets has frustrated some House Republicans, who might join Democrats to derail the resolution.
The Senate plan is &#8220;unserious and disappointing,&#8221; House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) <a href="https://budget.house.gov/press-release/chairman-arrington-statement-on-reconciliation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement, arguing that it would create &#8220;$5.8 trillion in new costs and a mere $4 billion in enforceable cuts, less than one day’s worth of borrowing by the federal government&#8221; while setting &#8220;a dangerous precedent by direct scoring tax policy without including enforceable offsets.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114298964268045690" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social, Trump said, the Senate version had his &#8220;Complete and Total Endorsement and Support.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;All of the elements we need to secure the Border, enact Historic Spending Cuts, and make Tax Cuts PERMANENT, and much more, are strongly covered and represented in the Bill. Thank you to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson for their hard work and attention to detail. There is no better time than now to get this Deal DONE! The House, the Senate, and our Great Administration, are going to work tirelessly on creating &#8216;THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,&#8217; an appropriate name if Congress so likes. Everyone is going to be happy with the result. Passage will make, even the subject of World Trade, far easier and better for the U.S.A. THE HOUSE MUST PASS THIS BUDGET RESOLUTION, AND QUICKLY — MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!&#8221;
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, a former Trump spokeswoman, joined Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and 18 other Republican governors in assuring Trump they have his back on this issue.
&#8220;We are on your side in supporting the Senate amendment to the House budget resolution because we know that failure cannot be an option,&#8221; the governors said. &#8220;The Democrats’ open border policies created a deadly flood of illegal immigrants in all our states. Inflation and punishing energy regulations have siphoned money from the pocketbooks of families. Without an extension of your Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers will suffer a multi-trillion-dollar tax hike.&#8221;

Trump and Gov. Sarah Sanders

‘Congress Must Deliver’: Republican Governors Stand With Trump On Senate Budget Resolution

Budget

Congress

Donald Trump

Politics

Spending Bill

In a recent interview on MSNBC, President Joe Biden took another shot at red states, claiming they “really screwed up in terms of the way they handled their economy.”
Biden told MSNBC&#8217;s Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell, “I got a lot of criticism, understandably. We’ve invested more in red states than blue states. &#8230; For two reasons. One: red states really screwed up in terms of the way they handled their economy, the way they handle manufacturing and the way they handle supply chains.”
Biden then launched into one of his stories that may or may not have been apocryphal: “You know, I remember being out in Iowa, and I remember one of the big issues was there was a plant, a small plant of 300 people, been around for 70 years; my grandfather worked there, I worked there, my son works there, and they had the best education system at the time and made it the best state education system in the country, and all of a sudden the kid comes home after he graduates and says, ‘Mom, I gotta leave. There’s no job for me here. The factory shut down.’ Well, guess what? How do you run a country that way? How do you do that?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BIDEN: &quot;Red states really screwed up in terms of the way they handled their economy!&quot;
(Biden&#39;s brain is literal pudding — red states are at the top of job creation and economic growth post-pandemic) <a href="https://t.co/wPt43fQXYJ">pic.twitter.com/wPt43fQXYJ</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1880098813404410359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Biden’s jab at red states simply does not comport with reality. As The Republican National Committee <a href="https://gop.com/research/red-states-are-outperforming-blue-states/">pointed</a> out last September, Labor Department data showed that through last August, “16 of the top 20 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and 16 of the states have Republican-controlled legislatures. Out of the top 10 states with the least jobs recovered, eight are Democrat-led. Republican-led states, on average, have recovered 143 percent of their lost jobs compared to just 118 percent for Democrat-run states.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." data-sk="tooltip_parent">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/red-states-winning-post-pandemic-economy-migration-11657030536?mod=hp_lead_pos5">reported</a> in July 2022:
<blockquote>
By many measures, red states—those that lean Republican—have recovered faster economically than Democratic-leaning blue ones, with workers and employers moving from the coasts to the middle of the country and Florida.Since February 2020, the month before the pandemic began, the share of all U.S. jobs located in red states has grown by more than half a percentage point, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Brookings Institution think tank. Red states have added 341,000 jobs over that time, while blue states were still short 1.3 million jobs as of May.
To track each state’s progress toward normal since the pandemic began, Moody’s Analytics developed an index of 13 metrics, including the value of goods and services produced, employment, retail sales and new-home listings. Eleven of the 15 states with the highest readings through mid-June were red. Eight of the bottom 10 were blue.
</blockquote>

President Biden Speaks At Commander In Chief Farewell Ceremony

Biden Rips Red States, Says They ‘Screwed Up’ Their Economies. The Facts Differ.

Economy

Executive

Joe Biden

Lawrence O'Donnell

MSNBC

Peter Vlaming lost his job teaching high school French because he could not refer to a transgender student according to the student’s preferred pronouns without violating his sincerely-held religious beliefs. Now, his lawsuit against the <a href="https://vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opnscvwp/1211061.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">West Point school board</a> is a prime example of why Americans must pay closer attention to religious freedom protections at the local and state level.
Thankfully, Napa Legal Institute’s 2nd inaugural <a href="https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/map" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Faith and Freedom Index</a>” shows which states are lacking in religious freedom protections. It also provides a roadmap as to how state governments can strengthen these protections and best allow their citizens to flourish.
Vlaming represents countless Americans who have been unlawfully punished for exercising their First Amendment rights, and who remain fearful about the future of the nation – especially in an uncertain election year. From preferred pronouns, abortion, and transgenderism to burdensome tax regimes and regulations, there are countless ways that people of faith are essentially being told to renounce their beliefs or step away from the public sphere altogether.
Properly addressing these attacks goes far beyond federal elections and policies, however. Local and state governments often make the decisions that have the most direct consequences on American’s daily lives, from zoning and land use regulations to tax laws. And local institutions – churches, schools, charities – often make a greater impact on the lives of ordinary Americans than the White House and Congress.
This means that those seeking to protect religious Americans from discrimination must focus more of their time and attention on the laws that help local institutions thrive, particularly the faith-based nonprofit organizations that do so much to benefit society.
This is why this week, the <a href="https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Napa Legal Institute</a> released the second annual <a href="https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/map">Faith and Freedom Index,</a> an unprecedented state law analysis. The Index looks at 14 types of state laws – from religious freedom restoration acts and employment laws to charitable registration laws and tax exemptions – and ranks all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C.) on their friendliness (or lack of friendliness) towards faith-based nonprofits.
There are some results that are not surprising: Alabama and Indiana receive the highest overall scores in the country; Kansas, Texas, and Mississippi round out the top 5. But there are other results that do not quite fit the political narrative. Red states like South Dakota and West Virginia score in the bottom 10 for overall scores, while Oregon and California are both in the top 10 for regulatory freedom for faith-based nonprofits. The results do not fall on purely partisan lines.
Some laws have changed for the better since Napa Legal first released the Index in June 2023. For example, several states (including Nebraska, Iowa, and Utah) have passed religious freedom restoration acts. These crucial laws, which are now in place in 28 states, protect the free exercise of religion against intrusions by “neutral” laws that may not directly target religion but that can seriously affect religious exercise in practice.
Additionally, a major development took place in Virginia in December 2023, when the Virginia Supreme Court decided the <a href="https://vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opnscvwp/1211061.pdf">Vlaming</a> case. Vlaming’s case ultimately clarified that, under the Virginia Constitution, the free exercise of religion receives much stronger protection than the minimum required by the First Amendment.
The Vlaming decision is an encouraging reminder that states have the ability to strengthen religious freedom protections and better support the work of faith-based nonprofits. Yet while it is encouraging to be able to highlight positive changes in state law, the fact that no state in the nation scores above a 72% on the Napa Legal Faith and Freedom Index means there is much more work to be done, even in states friendly to religion and to faith-based nonprofits.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28</a></h3>
State legislatures can do much to allow faith-based nonprofits to flourish within their states. They can create just employment and public accommodation laws that respect the beliefs and work of faith-based nonprofits. They can ensure that state of emergency laws do not violate the freedom of worship and religious exercise. They can enact corporate governance laws that respect the internal autonomy of religious organizations.
And they can pass charitable registration laws and tax laws with proper exemptions for religious organizations, so that these nonprofits that do so much good for society can be free from unnecessary taxes, fees, paperwork, and administrative burdens that prevent them from accomplishing their missions.
Local institutions in general and faith-based nonprofits in particular are a foundational part of a healthy society. While these institutions are formed privately by citizens of good will, the government plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the laws help rather than hinder the work of faith-based nonprofits.
By reviewing the Faith and Freedom Index, passing laws that respect religious freedom, and eliminating burdensome regulations, state governments can do their part to achieve the common good and help our society to flourish.
No American should be forced to lose his job because of his religious beliefs like Peter Vlaming did. Through a better understanding of where state religious freedom protections are lacking and the ways to address them, the Napa Legal Institute hopes to create an America where no one is prevented from or punished for living his faith.
* * *
Frank DeVito serves as Counsel at Napa Legal. Prior to his position at Napa Legal, he served as the full-time solicitor for the Carbon County, PA Children &amp; Youth Services Agency and as an associate at the law firm of Lesavoy Butz &amp; Seitz LLC. His written work has been published in the Penn State Online Law Review, The American Conservative, The Federalist, First Things Online, The Public Discourse, and several other publications.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

landscape of church tower in autumn mountain forest during sunset

Why Americans Must Fight For Religious Freedom At The Local Level

Blue States

Catholic Church

Christians

Churches

Faith

First Amendment

Opinion

Religious Freedom

Transgender

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed 30 gun control bills on Tuesday afternoon, using his perch as a Republican governor to restrain Democrats from taking the state in a leftward direction despite the party having taken full control of the legislature in November.
“I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia, and that absolutely includes protecting the right of law-abiding Virginians to keep and bear arms,” Youngkin said in a statement.
In the batch of 30 bills blocked on Tuesday, the governor explained his reasoning for each. He blocked a bill that would criminalize gun possession at public colleges, saying that the Democrats failed to consider &#8220;Virginia&#8217;s diverse geographic, cultural, and societal norms across different regions,&#8221; and that individual colleges can already prohibit guns if they want to.
Another bill, prohibiting home-based firearms dealers near schools, appeared to be targeted at one specific individual, and is therefore constitutional, he said.
For decades, Virginia&#8217;s legislature was largely controlled by Republicans, but in recent years, population growth in Northern Virginia led to become essentially a blue state. Democrats gained full control of the legislature in 2019, and aggressively pushed a slew of far-left actions.
Voters rebelled and elected Youngkin in a surprise victory in 2021, along with returning the House of Delegates to Republicans. Dem. Sen. Louise Lucas, then the leader of the Senate, frequently gloated that the Senate was a &#8220;brick wall&#8221; that would prevent Youngkin from getting his way.
Democrats took the House and retained the Senate in November, but now the tables have turned, with Youngkin serving as a brick wall against the legislature. He is currently blocking the Democrats&#8217; proposed budget, which would raise taxes, and seeking a compromise.
Tuesday&#8217;s vetoes show that in order to get bills passed, they will have to work with Youngkin and moderate their positions.
Among the other bills vetoed include one that would have blocked widely-used gun safety courses from being used for concealed carry permits, having people take them instead from the state&#8217;s Department of Criminal Justice Services.
House Bill 799 would have required fingerprints to be submitted to obtain a concealed carry permit, which would be kept by the FBI. Youngkin said in 2012, members of both parties agreed this was superfluous given existing background checks, and that &#8220;concealed carry permit holders are known for being law-abiding citizens in the Commonwealth.&#8221;
House Bill 318 could have issued civil penalties to firearm companies, even though &#8220;the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) already provides a framework for addressing civil actions against firearms industry entities concerning negligent entrustment and defects,&#8221; Youngkin explained. He also said that the &#8220;Department of Justice has consistently defended the PLCAA.&#8221;
&#8220;The DOJ has argued against attempts by states to implement regulatory schemes as a loophole to the PLCAA, deeming them unconstitutional and lacking merit,&#8221; he said.
The veto &#8220;prevents baseless litigation that could financially devastate a lawful industry with exorbitant legal fees. Other lawful industries, such as vaccine producers, have similar protections,&#8221; he wrote.
Youngkin also blocked an attempt to reduce concealed-carry permit reciprocity with other states, a waiting period to purchase guns.
He said an attempt to punish people who left their gun in the car and had it stolen focused on criminalizing legal gun owners instead of the criminals who stole it, and that &#8220;the Commonwealth should prioritize prosecution and severe punishment for individuals who commit crimes.&#8221;
Another bill would have criminalized possessing a firearm within 100 feet of voting locations, which in combination with Democrats&#8217; months-long voting using myriad ballot boxes &#8220;would necessitate individuals to navigate around various locations permanently, regardless of their purpose in the area.&#8221;
Another would use a government entity &#8220;to study the social, physical, emotional, and economic health effects of gun violence,&#8221; which Youngkin said &#8220;would expand the use of studies based on political beliefs.&#8221;
Other bills were unconstitutional, duplicative, vague, or had been overturned by courts when employed in other states, he said, including an age limit of 21 for purchasing guns.
The flurry of dozens of anti-gun bills by Democrats may not be designed to actually reduce violence, as Democrat prosecutors in the commonwealth have increasingly let violent criminals go.
A Virginia man arrested for 12 counts of rape this week was able to allegedly commit those offenses in part because far-left Fairfax County prosecutor Steve Descano had dropped more than a dozen charges for felonies and serious misdemeanors against the man since 2020, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-sexual-assault-suspect-dozens-of-prior-charges-dropped-criminal-history-kevin-lopez-altan-crime-arrest-virginia-prosecutor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WJLA</a> reported.
Virginia governors are limited to a single term, and the next governor will be elected next year.

Glenn Youngkin

Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin Vetoes Dozens Of Gun Control Bills, Emerges As ‘Brick Wall’ Against Democrats

Gun Laws

Virginia

Just months after three children were slaughtered at a Christian school in the state&#8217;s capital, a Tennessee public school district returned a student to the classroom who last year threatened to shoot up his school — putting him in close quarters with the students who had testified against him in court, a Daily Wire investigation found.
Ninth graders at Giles County High School, in a rural community an hour south of Nashville, showed up for the new school year this August to find that the boy who sixteen months prior was arrested for his plan to shoot up their middle school had rejoined them in high school.
About seven of them had testified against him in court last year, detailing how he had a list of students he intended to kill, had a date picked out, and was running drills to practice the act. Now he was back and, they believed, had an additional motive for carnage.
When parents raised their concerns to the school district, it falsely stated that laws from the Republican-controlled statehouse were to blame for the situation. Parents say the school told them to become &#8220;activists&#8221; in the special session, where Democrats were pushing for gun control, if they had a problem with it.
Hannah Riley, whose son testified that he was warned by the would-be shooter not to come to school on a certain date so that he would live, said she and numerous others have pulled their children out of school because they believe their children are sitting ducks. She said the culprit, who The Daily Wire is not naming, disclosed his plan to her child because her child once showed him kindness, and he told authorities.
“My child’s desk is empty at my choosing because I don’t want it empty permanently,” Riley told The Daily Wire, adding that it brought tears to her eyes to have him miss out on key high school moments. “My child did the right thing and now he’s the one being punished…. This child has stated his motives repeatedly. My child saw the list.”
Parents have been pleading with the school to do something, but officials have tried to pass the buck onto state lawmakers. The administrators told them that if they had concerns about school violence, they should become “activists” at the state Capitol, which was at the time embroiled in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gun-control-protesters-show-up-in-tennessee-as-public-safety-special-session-begins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debate over gun restrictions</a>.
Parents say handling of the incident sent the message that the top priority isn&#8217;t stopping school shootings, but rather pushing gun restrictions. They fear that the school was willing to put parents through a nightmare in order to get them to join with left-wing activists protesting in Nashville.
“They just told us you need to get in touch with your reps so you can change the law,&#8221; said Natalie Johnson, whose child was on the hit list. &#8220;Gun laws are not going to affect kids who are not supposed to have guns anyway. It’s sad that our kids are being used as pawns.&#8221;
The state has long given school districts tools to respond to students threatening mass violence&#8211;but Giles County Public Schools didn&#8217;t use them. While state lawmakers this summer were considering adding a “red flag” law that would flag people with questionable backgrounds to prevent them from buying guns, there is already a system in place to flag students who could pose a threat of violence so schools can keep an eye on them. The school system won’t explain why it apparently failed, with the district saying the high school wasn&#8217;t aware of the student&#8217;s recent disciplinary record.
As Riley pressed the school for answers, the school system directed her to its outside attorney, Tim Underwood. Riley and her husband asked him how their child was being kept safe, but the attorney &#8220;kept wanting to bring in gun rights.&#8221;
&#8220;If I had it my way there’d be more gun restrictions,” the lawyer told them, she recalled.
&#8220;The school wanted to look at us and say, &#8216;Our hands are tied and you’ll have to take it to Capitol Hill.&#8217; It&#8217;s about pushing their own agenda,” she said. “’Activism. Where’s your activism?’” she says she heard over and over again.
“My husband said, &#8216;Last time I checked a 14-year old can&#8217;t buy a gun already,&#8217;” Riley said. “I don’t know why [Underwood] even brought politics into it, my husband was like this was so irrelevant.”
After the culprit returned to school, he immediately began engaging in violence again. He punched the child of Caleb Slagle, who learned of the backstory and began pressing school superintendent Vickie Beard on the issue.
Seemingly struggling to explain how the Republican-controlled statehouse had anything to do with the situation, Beard appears to have invented an explanation, according to emails reviewed by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Tennessee law does not authorize or allow expulsion of students from public schools,&#8221; Beard told Slagle in an email. &#8220;Tennessee law does allow suspension of students for a calendar year or up to 180 days for zero-tolerance offenses. Due to Constitutional and privacy rights, we cannot discuss specifics.&#8221;
None of that is true.  The <a href="https://tsba.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-Student-Discipline-Guide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee School Board Association</a>, which Beard says she consulted, makes clear that “zero-tolerance offenses require [suspension] for not less than one calendar year” and local school boards may deem any offense a “zero-tolerance offense.”
Longstanding <a href="https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r76/gov.tn.tca.title.49.html#t49c06s49-6-3401ol1g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee code</a> states that regardless of whether an infraction is “zero-tolerance,” school officials can set a suspension to be any length they want. The ability to expel students is also laid out in state law.
<div id="attachment_641421" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-641421" class="size-large wp-image-641421" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/code-1024x202.png" alt="Tennessee state code" width="1024" height="202" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/code-1024x202.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/code-300x59.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/code-768x152.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/code.png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Tennessee state code</div>
The Tennessee General Assembly’s Office of Legal Services confirmed that reading to The Daily Wire, stating that &#8220;Tennessee Code Annotated did not limit the length of punishment for a student who threatened mass violence against others at a school.” In July, a new law went into effect that requires districts to suspend a student for a year or more for threats of mass violence, but schools always had the authority to suspend them for longer, the office explained.
Internal emails obtained by The Daily Wire under the Freedom of Information Act show that after Slagle wrote to county and school officials, County Executive Graham Stowe replied privately to fellow officials that there were not any state laws tying the schools&#8217; hands, and it was a matter of school policy.
&#8220;There are no statutes providing any guidance in matters like this, so the decision to retain this student resides w/ the Schools,&#8221; he wrote, adding that he had also discussed it with a state lawmaker. &#8220;Given that allowing this student to return to class was a policy decision, I asked Dr. Beard to take the lead in responding to Mr. Slagle.&#8221;
Beard then did so by telling Slagle the opposite: that state laws tied the school district&#8217;s hands on punishment.
<div id="attachment_632151" style="width: 490px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-632151" class="size-full wp-image-632151" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/beard-square.jpg" alt="Vickie Beard, superintendent of Giles County, TN schools" width="480" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/beard-square.jpg 480w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/beard-square-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/beard-square-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" />Vickie Beard, superintendent of Giles County, TN schools</div>
Slagle, whose son was attacked, became a thorn in the school system’s side with his relentless push for an explanation. He told officials that if the issue was that state law prevented it from suspending him for more than a year for his 2022 threat to shoot up the school, it could use the assault on his son to remove him from the school now. But Slagle was told that if he wanted to go down that road, they would arrest his son too, for punching back.
Parents of students who testified during the court process were among the only ones who realized that their children may be sitting ducks, because from the beginning, the school district concealed from parents that their children&#8217;s lives may have been in danger, according to the materials obtained under FOIA.
The only communication about the incident from administrators came through a vague 15-second voicemail message drafted by Beard: “Hello parents! We are aware of a rumor that may be circulating regarding some inappropriate comments. This situation has been investigated and proper authorities are involved and assisting in this matter. Thank you and have a great evening!”
But it wasn’t a rumor about inappropriate comments. The culprit was charged with five counts of threats of mass violence on school property, as well as one count of harassment, The Daily Wire learned.
Riley said she called the school district this summer to ensure the culprit wouldn’t be matriculating at the high school alongside witnesses, but the district ignored her. On the first day of school, her son texted her that the boy was there, and she immediately picked him up.
The principal told Riley that he was unaware of the student&#8217;s background — even though Riley had reminded the district in advance — and that her son could have an excused absence for his safety. But when she met with the school resource officer days later, she learned that the principal still hadn’t even told security the student’s name, she said.
Riley enrolled her son in an out-of-district school at considerable personal cost.
When numerous others withdrew their kids from the school, fearing for their lives, it became clear that it would be the subject of controversy at a school board meeting August 17. The school board, perhaps anticipation of the impending uproar, used a parliamentary maneuver to remove the usual public-comment portion of the meeting. Discussion was limited to matters such as what it should do with an old Xerox machine, according to <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KnCkXuw3YhxawN1ew_o1V-UYjRGg7eT_CPfoSEigfXM/edit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting minutes</a>.
Giles County School Board members and superintendent Beard ignored repeated questions from The Daily Wire.
Captain Joe Purvis of the Giles County Sheriff’s Office said there were policy failures. Tennessee has a system designed to flag students with a serious history, &#8220;and they either didn’t use it or it was down at the time,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not trying to tell the school board what they should do, but I need my SROs to know when someone like this is in school,&#8221; Purvis said. &#8220;They&#8217;re talking about red flag laws all over the news, I&#8217;m not a believer in that necessarily but this seems like an opportunity for a red flag&#8221; on the student’s transcript, he said.
Though Beard claimed that the “Constitution” barred her from talking about the matter, Purvis said that while the name of a criminal who is a minor is normally secret, information necessary for parents to be informed about public safety is not.
Purvis said that prior to the school shooting threats, the culprit had also been arrested for an unrelated assault in school on May 17, 2021. He was suspended for the remainder of the school year, Purvis said — a brief 12 days.
It was near the end of the following school year, in April 2022, that he was charged with five counts of threats of mass violence on school property and one count of harassment, Purvis said.
District Attorney Brent Cooper declined to tell The Daily Wire if the student was convicted of those charges and what criminal punishment he faced, if any. As a minor, the court records are sealed.
Purvis said he understands the culprit attended a middle school across town the next school year. Both schools feed into Giles County High School. The school system refused to say what action it took against a would-be school shooter, even with no name attached.
While Beard falsely claimed that the district was forbidden from suspending anyone for more than a year, it’s unclear that he was even suspended for that long. If the culprit spent any time at an alternative school or juvenile detention, that would have presumably been apparent in transcripts available to his high school.
“It frustrates me to no end when people in government just won&#8217;t accept and acknowledge that they made a mistake. That’s all you gotta do,” Purvis said. “If I’ve got 20 other kids suffering, the greater good is to remove that kid. I don’t get it.&#8221;
Parents continue to live in fear that each morning when they send their children to school, they may not come home. Some are likely still under the false impression, fed to them by the school officials, that it’s because state law forbids the school from suspending him for longer.
“I can’t in good conscience leave my kid here. He’s no longer viewed as the &#8216;kid who was kind to me,&#8217; now he’s the &#8216;kid who turned me in,” said Riley. “He’s got the means, he’s got the motive, it’s just when’s it gonna happen.”

Nashville Shooting

Tennessee School Put Would-Be Shooter In Classroom, Told Parents To Become Left-Wing Activists If They Objected

Kids Who Testified Against A Would-Be School Shooter Now Find Themselves Sitting In Same Classroom

Education

School Shooting

Tennessee

The Covenant School

Democrat state lawmakers are more unified and committed to a leftist ideology than Republican lawmakers are to conservatism, according to a report from the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Republicans voted for conservative policies 77% of the time, while Democrats voted for liberal policies 87% of the time, according to the <a href="https://www.digital.cpac.org/foundation/centers-legislative-accountability">analysis</a> of all 7,400 lawmakers in the 50 statehouses during last year&#8217;s legislative sessions.
The study by CPAC&#8217;s affiliated Center for Legislative Accountability concluded that Democrats were more likely to &#8220;stick together&#8221; on issues important to the party&#8217;s base, while Republicans &#8220;broke apart.&#8221;
&#8220;Republicans run on conservative promises, but after they win more of them abandon the tough votes on key conservative policies when compared to Democrats whose first rule is to stick together,” the group said. “Our analysis shows how moderate Republicans broke apart on key issues like parental choice in education, securing strong voter ID, or putting a stop to COVID mandates.”
The analysis found a mismatch between the desires of the populace and how state representatives acted.
Ranking among the 10 states with the most liberal Republican lawmakers were Mississippi, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Idaho. That&#8217;s despite Republicans holding strong majorities in those legislatures, and the state&#8217;s population overwhelmingly voting for Republican in election after election.
As a group, Mississippi Republican lawmakers had an average conservative score of 58%, making them less conservative than Republicans in New Jersey, Maryland, and Oregon. The state where Republicans voted most conservative was a swing state: Wisconsin.
The findings emphasize that the states advancing conservative legislation are not doing it because of legislative dominance, but because of committed policymaking. Florida, for example, is a traditionally swing state in presidential elections, and Republicans don&#8217;t hold nearly the percentage of seats in the state legislature that they do in places like Wyoming. But those Florida Republicans take full advantage of the majority they do have, with a conservative score of 89%.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-616095" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/cpac-746x576.jpeg" alt="CPAC rankings of state Republicans' conservatism" width="746" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/cpac-746x576.jpeg 746w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/cpac-300x232.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/cpac-768x593.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/cpac-1536x1186.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/09/cpac.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px" /></div>
Looking at state lawmakers regardless of party, West Virginia was rated the most conservative in the country. Not only did Republicans dominate the chamber, but they were also complemented by Democrats who were not particularly liberal.
The most-radical Democrats were in New Jersey, where they had a 0% conservative ranking, followed by Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine, and Oregon, at 1%.
A 2021 analysis by The Daily Wire, which relied in part on CPAC&#8217;s categorizations of state bills, led to similar conclusions.
“The red states are actually the worst” when it comes to moderate Republicans, Andrew Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, told The Daily Wire in 2021. “A lot of Democrats know they can’t get elected with a D next to their name, so they put an R next to their name and then vote like liberals.”
The exact reason for the failure of the most conservative state legislatures to behave like conservatives is unknown. Candidates who are more apolitical tend to run as Republicans, since it&#8217;s the only way to win elections in deep red pockets of the country. The result is that statehouses in 2022 follow a similar pattern as local school boards: Often liberal even in conservative places, with few voters paying enough attention to local politics to notice.
Activists say that if the goal is conservative policy rather than just winning elections, voters and big donors alike should shift their focus from congressional seats and the presidency to state laws in red states, where they can notch wins and show the rest of the nation the result of conservative policies.
“Conservatives need to get real that maybe spending all this money on congressional races to get one vote that doesn’t actually affect policy is not nearly as meaningful as spending money in states where the money goes further and they can actually implement policy,” Thomas Bradbury, CPAC&#8217;s director of policy and advocacy, said.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/19-statehouses-have-bigger-republican-majorities-than-florida-this-group-is-making-sure-they-act-like-it">19 Statehouses Have Bigger Republican Majorities Than Florida. This Group Is Making Sure They Act Like It.</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-did-wyoming-kill-school-choice-deep-red-states-often-dont-act-like-it-data-shows">Why Did Wyoming Kill School Choice? Deep-Red States Often Don’t Act Like It, Data Shows</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-legislatures-in-the-deep-red-states-that-sent-romney-and-cheney-to-washington-vote-like-liberals">Why Legislatures In The Deep-Red States That Sent Romney And Cheney To Washington ‘Vote Like Liberals’</a>
How conservative were the Republicans in your statehouse in 2022?
1. Wisconsin: 94% 
2. Michigan: 93% 
3. New Hampshire: 92% 
4. California: 91% 
5. Iowa: 90% 
6. Maine: 89% 
7. Colorado: 89% 
8. Florida: 89% 
9. North Carolina: 89% 
10. Pennsylvania: 87% 
11. West Virginia: 87% 
12. Georgia: 86% 
13. Ohio: 86% 
14. Kentucky: 86% 
15. Montana: 84% 
16. Tennessee: 84% 
17. Texas*: 83% 
18. Delaware: 82% 
19. Oklahoma: 81% 
20. Arizona: 81% 
21. Kansas: 80% 
22. Arkansas*: 79% 
23. Alabama: 78% 
24. Washington: 78% 
25. Minnesota: 78% 
26. Louisiana: 77% 
27. Missouri: 77% 
28. South Carolina: 77% 
29. Massachusetts: 75% 
30. Indiana: 75% 
31. New York: 74% 
32. Vermont: 74% 
33. Rhode Island: 74% 
34. Utah: 74% 
35. North Dakota*: 73% 
36. Virginia: 73% 
37. Illinois: 72% 
38. New Mexico: 71% 
39. Nevada*: 70% 
40. Idaho: 68% 
41. South Dakota: 68% 
42. Oregon: 68% 
43. Wyoming: 66% 
44. Maryland: 65% 
45. New Jersey: 59% 
46. Mississippi: 58% 
47. Alaska: 57% 
48. Connecticut: 54% 
49. Hawaii: 26%

Texas Legislature Returns For Third Special Session

Dem Lawmakers Vote For Leftism In Lockstep, While Republicans Routinely Abandon Conservatism, Analysis Finds

CPAC

Florida

Wyoming

The State of Tennessee is vowing to defend its law against child sex changes from a Biden administration challenge, floating an aggressive legal theory that could hold medical providers to account even if a federal judge imposes the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-sues-tennessee-to-reverse-ban-on-trans-treatment-for-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">injunction</a> sought by the White House.
The law, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-bill-to-ban-sex-change-procedures-on-minors-advances-to-governors-desk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">S.B. 1,</a> was triggered in part by The Daily Wire’s September 2022 exposes on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/huge-money-maker-video-reveals-vanderbilts-shocking-gender-care-threats-against-dissenting-doctors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s</a> (VUMC) sex-change treatments on children. The state law is scheduled to take effect July 1, but the Biden administration joined the ACLU and several teenage plaintiffs suing to stop it and is now seeking the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-sues-tennessee-to-reverse-ban-on-trans-treatment-for-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">injunction</a> in order to block its enforcement until a judge rules on the case.
Adam Mortara, an outside attorney hired to argue the case for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, said in a May 19 <a href="https://www.aclu.org/cases/l-w-v-skrmetti?document=Defendants-Response-in-Opposition-to-Plaintiffs-Motion-for-Preliminary-Injunction">brief</a> that even if a judge imposes an injunction, VUMC should resume treatments at its own peril because if the injunction is later overturned, the state may retroactively prosecute it.
“A preliminary injunction is, by definition, preliminary,&#8221; Mortara said. &#8220;It will disappear if this Court rules for Defendants at trial, and it could be stayed or reversed on interlocutory appeal. If either occurs, VUMC can be held liable for its violations of the Act while the preliminary injunction was in place,” he wrote.
The gist of the theory, which cites a 1982 case called Edgar v. Mite Corp, is that an injunction doesn’t actually strike down the law, it merely prohibits the defendant — the Attorney General — from initiating enforcement action while it’s in place. If the injunction is eventually lifted — whether through a ruling by District Court Judge Eli Richardson, the Sixth Circuit, or ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court, then Tennessee can resume enforcement, including retroactive prosecution for the period in which the law was in place but the injunction was in effect.
The result is that an injunction could have little effect, because VUMC and others who might perform gender surgeries likely believe conservative appeals courts will ultimately side with Tennessee, and may be afraid of costly litigation and punishment after the fact.
The maneuver, which could provide a blueprint for other states that ban gender surgery but then face an injunction, takes a cue from the Texas Heartbeat Act, which largely succeeded in banning abortion in Texas even before the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade. The Texas bill was written by Jonathan Mitchell, an unorthodox conservative attorney who is close friends with Mortara. Mitchell wrote an academic paper laying out the case that injunctions are not as powerful as they have traditionally been regarded.
“When a court enjoins the executive from enforcing a statute, it is not suspending, revoking, or delaying the effective date of that law. The statute remains in effect; the injunction simply forbids the named defendants to enforce the statute while the court’s order remains in place,” he wrote in an <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3158038">87-page paper</a> laying out his legal reasoning. “If a court were to dissolve the injunction, the executive would be free to enforce the statute again — both against those who will violate it in the future and against those who have violated it in the past… This leaves the political branches with many tools for inducing compliance with statutes that the judiciary has disapproved.”
Those methods were in display in Texas after the Heartbeat Act. After a judge said the bill violated the state’s constitution and should not be enforced in court, an anti-abortion activist who was a party to the case <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/09/texas-abortion-law/">said</a> “This doesn&#8217;t really change the status of Senate Bill 8 at all… It is just as risky for the abortion industry to perform a post-heartbeat abortion tomorrow as it has been for the last 100 days.”
A lower court imposed an injunction in the Texas case, but it was overturned by an appeals court 48 hours later, highlighting the risk that Tennessee medical professionals could face if they take an injunction from Judge Richardson as a green light to proceed.
“The way the Tennessee law is written is a perfect model. It worked in Texas,” Mitchell told The Daily Wire. “The abortion providers just gave up. The Biden administration filed a lawsuit against Texas and got a preliminary injunction, it was vacated 48 hours later but all the abortion providers stayed in compliance. Ninety to ninety-five percent compliance because they knew they could be sued retroactively,” he said.
He said that other states like Florida and Alabama — which have also banned the procedures but had injunctions imposed — should say “We’re going to obey the injunction, because we will not initiate an enforcement action while it’s in effect. But once it’s gone we’ll do it after appeal.”
“It’s not the consensus view of an injunction, but in my view its the correct view. People have fallen victim to this fallacy for decades. Federal courts do not have the ability to act directly on legislation,” Mitchell said.
“The state can go after Vanderbilt if the injunction is lifted for what they did while it was in effect. Then VUMC can say ‘no fair, there was an injunction,’ and that would be litigated in state or federal court,” he said. Ultimately, such cases would be decided by an appeals court that is conservative, he said. “Just the threat and possibility is enough to deter&#8230; I think we’d win with the current SCOTUS, but there’s uncertainty and it works to our advantage,” he added.
The Tennessee law separately draws lessons from Texas by relying partly on private enforcement. Mitchell’s infamous loophole for passing an abortion ban during Roe was that private citizens could enforce it by suing abortion providers — a loophole based on the same logic that an injunction only binds a specific defendant who is already in court, generally the state attorney general.
The Tennessee law doesn’t allow random citizens to sue, but it allows children who underwent surgeries to sue decades later if they conclude that they were taken advantage of when they did not have the ability to consent — for example, if as an adult, they want to have children, and become angry that they are sterile. An injunction wouldn&#8217;t affect that part of the law.
“VUMC would be absolutely crazy to proceed with these treatments on the basis of an injunction. They could be sued by private citizens, and if the injunction is overturned on appeal they can be prosecuted,” Mitchell said.

Activists gather near the Tennessee State Capital building in Nashville, Tennessee, May 14,2022. (Photo by SETH HERALD / AFP) (Photo by SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images)

Tennessee Isn’t Backing Down From Trans Surgery Ban Even If Judge Imposes An Injunction

Abortion

Texas

A legal advocacy group led by former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-vows-to-sign-order-to-end-birthright-citizenship-if-re-elected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump administration</a> official Stephen Miller has set its sights on five taxpayer-funded hospitals in Republican-led states that appear to be involved with gender transitions, demanding that they provide statistics about their operations on children.
America First Legal Foundation (AFL), which has outraged liberals by winning court battles finding that discriminating against whites is illegal, fired off Freedom of Information Act requests to hospitals in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Utah, and Virginia. The letters note that even European countries have moved away from providing gender surgeries on minors, raising the question of why conservative states were using taxpayer dollars to do so.
“For example, in 2021, Swedish hospitals halted the use of puberty blockers in five out of six clinics, with a single clinic only using them for clinical trials,&#8221; the letters state. &#8220;Sweden also now emphasizes psychotherapy for gender dysphoric minors instead of puberty blockers.&#8221;
Targets include the <a href="https://uihc.org/services/lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-and-questioning-lgbtq-clinic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Iowa’s LGBTQ and Questioning Clinic</a>, which says it provides “post-surgical care for those who have undergone gender affirming surgery” and “gender-affirming voice services”—something AFL calls “brazen” in a rural state like Iowa.
Another is the <a href="https://childrens.uvahealth.com/services/transgender-youth-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Virginia Health’s Youth Transgender Clinic</a>, whose website shockingly says “we offer transgender youth health services for ages 11 to 25” and adds that “Our services include… puberty blockers … cross-sex hormones [and] referrals for gender affirming surgeries.” Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won office in part for his stand against gender ideology in schools.
In Georgia, the <a href="https://www.gradyhealth.org/care-treatment/primary-care-centers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grady Center in Atlanta</a> says it has a “Gender Center [that] supports gender transition for transgender and gender non-conforming people.” AFL asked the Georgia Department of Public Health how many minors have been transitioned at Grady, how many had complications to their surgeries, and how many “desisted,” or change their mind, afterwards.
AFL said that Utah has passed a law placing an “indefinite moratioum” on puberty blockers and hormones for minors, but that the University of Utah Health’s <a href="https://healthcare.utah.edu/transgender-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gender Management and Support Clinic</a> has used a “loophole” to continue to provide services. Indeed, the university’s web page features a section titled “Health Services for Transgender Teens &amp; Youth” that lists “puberty blockers” and “gender-affirming hormones.” Utah’s legislature is about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-did-wyoming-kill-school-choice-deep-red-states-often-dont-act-like-it-data-shows">80% Republican</a>, though an analysis found that those Republicans often behave surprisingly liberal.
Then there is <a href="https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/gender-affirming-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ohio State University Wexner Medical Clinic</a>, which says it is an “academic health center” that offers “bottom gender-affirming surgery” as well as “facial feminizing surgery” and “prosthetics.”
Finally, in Cleveland, Ohio, Metro Health has a unit called <a href="https://www.metrohealth.org/lgbtqi-pride-network/kids-pride" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kids Pride Gender Care</a>. The unit says “the initial intake includes three appointments,” one with parents, one with the child, and the third with both, “to review what has been said and to discuss the next steps,” such as “their gender goals and interest in transitioning.”
The groups are likely to be sued if they do not turn over the records.
“While children and adults across the United States are being experimented on, the American public remains largely in the dark about these clinics and their insidious practices,&#8221; the foundation said in a statement. &#8220;America First Legal is determined to obtain documents related to the total number of minors treated by these clinics each year, data regarding puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones prescribed annually, and other critical data on these so-called &#8216;transitions.&#8217;”

University of Utah

Watchdog Says Taxpayer-Funded Hospitals In Conservative States Are Transing Kids

Georgia

Stephen Miller

Utah

The Covenant School in Nashville and a group of its parents will join with the local government in arguing that records related to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-deny-daily-wires-request-for-trans-shooters-manifesto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March shooting</a> in which a woman who claimed to be transgender killed six at the school should not be released.
Judge I&#8217;Ashea Myles permitted the groups to &#8220;intervene&#8221; in a public records lawsuit, according to The Associated Press. That pits them against journalists and a Republican state senator who want the records, including a &#8220;manifesto,&#8221; to be released as the state considers legislative remedies to prevent further tragedies.
An attorney for the parents, Eric Osborne, argued that the parents are victims who have a constitutional right to be free from harassment. But attorney Nicholas Barry, who represents the Tennessee Star newspaper, said state laws around how victims are treated in the criminal system have no bearing on the Tennessee Public Records Act, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nashville-school-shooting-covenant-eb94f7bbc7bdebb149b3c4ebaead8d0f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the AP</a>.
Attorney Robb Harvey, who represents two other plaintiffs, said the parents are not crime victims under the law and that their concerns are only speculative since they don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s contained in the records.
Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake told Lee last month that he would release the records shortly before <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-refuse-to-release-school-shooters-manifesto-citing-pending-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backtracking</a> by citing the lawsuit over not releasing the records.
The school and Covenant Presbyterian Church said they fear that releasing some materials could put them at risk of another shooting, according to <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2023/05/24/covenant-parents-intervene-lawsuit-records-judge-rules/70247784007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Tennessean newspaper</a>, which is also a party in the lawsuit seeking the records&#8217; release.
The parents, who entered the lawsuit using pseudonyms, also feared the release of the records would &#8220;further traumatize&#8221; their children, the Tennessean reported.
On Wednesday, Nashville&#8217;s legal department said in legal filings that it is invoking five different exemptions to public records laws, including that &#8220;there is an ongoing criminal investigation into the case.&#8221;
The police department denied The Daily Wire&#8217;s public records request on similar grounds, even though the perpetrator is dead after she was killed by police at the scene.
Republican state Sen. Todd Gardenhire is a party to the lawsuit, arguing that the materials need to be released because the public must understand the facts of the shooting before the legislature can craft legislative remedies. Governor Bill Lee has called the body to reconvene for a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservatives-slam-tennessee-gov-lee-for-calling-special-session-after-lawmakers-reject-gun-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special session in August</a> that is expected to focus on gun laws.
The plaintiffs did not oppose the church and school&#8217;s limited motions, but opposed the group of parents&#8217; motion, which went further, arguing that it will have a &#8220;chilling effect upon the exercise of fundamental First Amendment rights,&#8221; the Tennessean reported. The judge will consider arguments from the parties on June 8.
A spokesman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told the AP that under state law, legislators <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nashville-school-shooting-covenant-eb94f7bbc7bdebb149b3c4ebaead8d0f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could access</a> the records if a committee passes a resolution, but they have not done so. A spokeswoman for Lee told AP that the governor can also review the records under state law, but he has declined from doing so until police &#8220;provide clarity&#8221; on them for the public.

US-SHOOTING-SCHOOL-WEAPONS

Group Of Covenant School Parents Moves To Keep Records Secret

Nashville

Conservative state lawmakers across the country on Wednesday slammed Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, saying he is pressuring the GOP-led state to adopt a &#8220;red flag&#8221; law by dragging lawmakers back to the Capitol for a &#8220;special session&#8221; after they ended their regular session without passing a gun bill.
The chairmen of all 11 chapters of the State Freedom Caucus Network, representing states such as Arizona, Idaho, Mississippi, and Montana, wrote that &#8220;Republicans in Tennessee already correctly rejected gun control legislation during their session and the Executive branch should respect those decisions made on behalf of their constituents.&#8221;
The out-of-state lawmakers were writing to support four Tennessee Republicans, led by Rep. Bryan Richey, who this week called on Lee to abandon the special session, which would start August 21.
&#8220;It is true that the Governor has the constitutional prerogative to call a special session. It is in our view wholly inappropriate to do so when the legislature, which has a supermajority of Members of the same political party as the Governor, has voted to adjourn,&#8221; they <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanRichey20/status/1661445804026994688/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.
&#8220;Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson has flatly stated that &#8216;the Tennessee General Assembly will not pass any red flag law, period.&#8217; Accordingly, your proposed special session, apparently calculated to pressure legislators to pass such a law, strikes us as an expensive, disruptive, futile, and counter-productive publicity stunt,&#8221; the letter continued.
The lawmakers said the session would simply provide a forum for Left-wing activists to continue their disruption of the legislature. &#8220;Press reports indicate that left-wing activists are planning to use the proposed special session to state disruptive protests that will make the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-will-host-tennessee-three-but-has-no-plans-to-invite-covenant-victims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8216;Tennessee Three&#8217; circus</a> look like a dress rehearsal,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Why would you want to provide a platform for such political theatre?&#8221;
Some Republicans have said that something has to be done following the Covenant School shooting, where a gunwoman who identified as transgender killed three children and three adults.
But &#8220;the Covenant tragedy would not have been averted by a &#8216;red flag&#8217; law,&#8221; the letter said.
Conservatives said that the FBI and police&#8217;s concealment of the shooter&#8217;s manifesto has deprived lawmakers of knowing facts about the shooting necessary to craft a legislative solution.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake last month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-refuse-to-release-school-shooters-manifesto-citing-pending-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reneged on a promise</a> he made to Lee to release the records &#8220;very soon,&#8221; with the police department claiming it could not release the documents because it was being sued for not releasing them.
John I. Harris III, the president of the Tennessee Firearms Association, previously told The Daily Wire that mental illness could be the cause of the shooting, but it could also be political terrorism committed by a sane person committed to an ideology.
“We’ve already seen three bills, a Democrat red flag bill that’s draconian, one the governor filed that we think is unconstitutional, and a third one that says if you’re taking a prescription for these ten medications, you can’t get the medications unless you sign a waiver saying you can’t purchase firearms,” Harris said.
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But the actual cause of the shooting could be more definitively known if police would simply release records, Harris said.
In a blog post, Harris <a href="https://tennesseefirearms.com/2023/05/bill-lees-insistence-on-a-red-flag-special-session-a-potential-benefit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> that he had heard that Lee was &#8220;&#8216;inviting&#8217; legislators individually or in small groups to come meet with him&#8221; and that they could be told that they &#8220;might see their districts miss out on funding or improvements that the governor or the administration has the ability to control like grants, road projects, etc.&#8221; if they do not support his aims for the legislative session. But ultimately, any bills sponsored will have individual legislators&#8217; names on them, he said, noting that &#8220;next year, 2024, is an election year.&#8221;
Jade Byers, a spokeswoman for Lee, told The Daily Wire that &#8220;the Governor does not support red flag laws. His proposal is different from any law across the country and would strengthen Tennessee&#8217;s existing mental health order of protection law by supporting law enforcement, ensuring due process, requiring a high burden of proof, and strengthening mental health support.&#8221;
&#8220;We worked with the General Assembly to call a special session focused on ensuring public safety and preserving constitutional rights, and the Governor looks forward to discussing thoughtful proposals with lawmakers this August,&#8221; she said.
Lee said in a <a href="https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2023/5/8/gov--lee-announces-special-session-on-public-safety-to-begin-august-21.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> announcing the special session that “There is broad agreement that action is needed, and in the weeks ahead, we’ll continue to listen to Tennesseans and pursue thoughtful, practical measures that strengthen the safety of Tennesseans, preserve Second Amendment rights, prioritize due process protections, support law enforcement and address mental health.”
The State Freedom Caucus Network argues that states with Republican supermajorities have frequently had leaders that, unbeknownst to most voters, often <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-did-wyoming-kill-school-choice-deep-red-states-often-dont-act-like-it-data-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">capitulate to the Left</a>. A Daily Wire analysis found that the more Republicans a state had in its legislature, the more moderate those Republicans tended to act.
Andy Roth, the head of the Network, told The Daily Wire, &#8220;It’s unacceptable for any Republican to propose red flag laws, let alone in a conservative state like Tennessee.&#8221;
This story was updated to include a comment from Gov. Lee.

Three Tennessee Lawmakers Face Expulsion After Joining Gun Protest

Conservatives Slam Tennessee Gov. Lee For Calling Special Session After Lawmakers Reject Gun Bill

General

Nashville Police have backtracked on plans to release the so-called manifesto of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-christian-school-shooter-planned-massacre-months-in-advance-considered-previous-mass-murderers-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trans school shooter</a> who last month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-christian-school-shooter-identified-as-transgender-authorities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed six people, including three children</a>, citing a pending lawsuit.
The decision, announced Wednesday, comes amid substantial public pressure to release documents believed to lay out the motive of the 28-year-old shooter, who was killed by police inside the Covenant School to end the March 27 attack. Metro Nashville Police Department officials notified the public in a terse <a href="https://www.nashville.gov/departments/police/news/covenant-update">statement</a>.
“Due to pending litigation filed this week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been advised by counsel to hold in abeyance the release of records related to the shooting at the Covenant School pending orders or direction of the court,” read the statement.
Several media outlets, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-deny-daily-wires-request-for-trans-shooters-manifesto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, have filed Freedom of Information Requests in an effort to win release of the documents. The requests were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-deny-daily-wires-request-for-trans-shooters-manifesto">denied</a>, with authorities citing a provision that allows them to withhold records relating to an ongoing case. But late last month, police officials said they were preparing to make the papers public.
The litigation cited by the department appeared to refer to a lawsuit filed by the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) asserting that the police had wrongfully denied its public records request. Ironically, that would mean that the department was refusing to release records because it’s being sued for refusing to release records — even though the lawsuit would presumably become moot, saving taxpayers money, if Police Chief John Drake followed through with a pledge he made to Gov. Bill Lee.
“The Covenant shooting was a tragedy beyond comprehension, &amp; Tennesseans need clarity. We’ve been in touch with the Nashville Police Department, &amp; today, Chief Drake assured me that documents &amp; information regarding the shooter will be released to the public very soon,” <a href="https://twitter.com/GovBillLee/status/1651757045551452161">Lee</a>, a Republican, said on April 27.
TFA’s lawsuit questioned how there can be an open criminal case when the perpetrator is dead.
“Respondent’s denial failed to identify any underlying criminal proceeding, or even a potential defendant, such that the requested records would be a ‘case’ under Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure,” the lawsuit said.
Tennessee resident Clata Brewer also sued over alleged public records violations related to the case on April 28.
The killer, who believed she was a man, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blueprint-on-total-destruction-astronomically-dangerous-fbi-delaying-release-of-nashville-shooters-manifesto-officials-say">killed three children and three adults</a> inside the Christian school during a period when transgender activists were outraged at actions taken by Tennessee Republican lawmakers. The Daily Wire is not naming the shooter to avoid giving notoriety to killers. Since then, authorities have used a shifting series of reasons to delay releasing any information about the shooter.
According to the killer herself, her motive was not a mystery, and would be easily discerned by authorities.
“One day this will make more sense. I’ve left <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-shooter-sent-chilling-messages-to-a-friend-moments-before-entering-christian-school">more than enough evidence</a> behind,” she told a friend just before the shooting.
But as the Metro Nashville Police Department withheld those records, Metro Nashville Democrats portrayed the cause of the shooting in unambiguous terms: Guns. A police spokeswoman told The Daily Wire that the advice to withhold the records came from Metro Legal, Nashville’s law department. Neither Metro Legal associate directors Laura Fox and Wllison Bussell nor Deputy Director Tom Cross provided any information about the reasoning in response to Daily Wire questions.
Following the shooting, Justin Jones, a state lawmaker from the Nashville area, joined with protesters to disrupt a proceeding of the state assembly and turn it into a demand for gun control, even shouting into a bullhorn on the Capitol floor. He was expelled from the body as a result, but the Metro Council, which was tasked with filling the temporary vacancy, voted to fill it with Jones himself.
John I. Harris III, the head of TFA, told The Daily Wire he is skeptical about the reasoning behind withholding the documents.
“You hate to jump to that conclusion that this is a conspiracy, but right now the only answer they’ve given is there’s an ongoing criminal investigation,&#8221; Harris said. &#8220;I guess theoretically it could be an investigation into someone who’s now deceased, but for what purpose? They are now beyond prosecutorial effect.”
“The Democrat legislators that were expelled and the one that was targeted for expulsion were clearly engaged in a rally that disrupted the General Assembly and was driven by the Covenant shooting and was seeking outright gun control,” he added.
Democrats and Republicans alike have drafted bills that seem to imply various causes for the shooting, ranging from easy access to guns to prescription medications.
“We’ve already seen three bills, a Democrat red flag bill that’s draconian, one the governor filed that we think is unconstitutional, and a third one that says if you’re taking a prescription for these 10 medications, you can’t get the medications unless you sign a waiver saying you can’t purchase firearms,” Harris said.
But the actual cause of the shooting could be more definitively known if police would simply release records, Harris said. Authorities said they uncovered a “manifesto” and diary entries.
Harris said that mental illness could be the cause of the shooting, but it could also be political terrorism committed by a sane person committed to an ideology.
“The 9/11 Twin Towers, anybody can make the argument that someone who decides to fly a plane into a tower is insane, but were they insane or were they just a terrorist? To their like-kind believers, they weren’t insane, they were fulfilling an agenda of their belief system,” he said. “Was this insanity or a vendetta? Because of the lack of disclosure, we don’t know, but the legislators should know if they’re going to use it to consider legislation.”

Six Killed In Mass Shooting At A Private School In Nashville

Nashville Police Refuse To Release School Shooter’s Manifesto, Citing Pending Lawsuit

Nashville Police Refuse To Release School Shooter's Manifesto, Citing Pending Lawsuit

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