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Civil Liberties

June 24, 2022

Supreme Court Makes the Right Call on New York's Handgun Law (Audio: Podcast)

New York’s ban on handguns outside the home was always a violation of the Second Amendment, but it took this long for the right case to get to the right court. IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss the fact that SCOTUS made it very clear that not only was the New York law unconstitutional, but that the court also made it clear that there is abundant room for reasonable regulations and restrictions on access to firearms.

May 12, 2022

Conservatives and Criminal Justice (Audio: Podcast)

IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Director of Development & Events Addie Crimmins discuss some recent death penalty drama in Texas, and relate that to the overall effort in recent years for conservatives to recognize that the criminal justice system as currently constituted doesn’t necessary reflect the values of the inherent dignity of human beings, justice, redemption and forgiveness, and thus needs reform in many areas. And we introduce our upcoming virtual policy briefing on this same topic scheduled for May 25, 2022.

April 20, 2022

Judicial Supremacy and the Mask Mandate (Audio: Interview)

IPI President Tom Giovanetti and 660AM The Answer's Mark Davis tackle a number of topics including: World Intellectual Property Day, intellectual consistency regarding judicial supremacy and the place of religion in the Republican Party. 

January 5, 2022

No, Conservatives Should Not Empower Government to Regulate Content Moderation

IPI President Tom Giovanetti joins 660AM the Answer guest host Scott Braddock in a discussion prompted by Twitter’s banning of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.  In this conversation, Tom reminds the listeners that although he objects to the bias imposed by the company, they are a private company with the rights to make such business decisions and warns conservatives to not let their frustration regarding social media platforms cause them to become a proponent of government regulation of speech.

September 30, 2021

IPI Policy Basics: What Is Compelled Speech and Why Is It Important? (Audio: Podcast)

Most people understand that the First Amendment protects Americans from government censorship of their speech, but more poorly understood is that it also protects Americans from government compelled speech. Government cannot compel private actors to “support” speech they do not agree with, and this has enormous policy implications for both right-leaning efforts to regulate social media, and left-leaning efforts to punish conscientious objectors like Jack Phillips, the Christian baker in Colorado. With IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

August 26, 2021

IPI Policy Basics: Where Do Our Rights Come From? (Audio: Podcast)

IPI President Tom Giovanetti explains that our rights come neither from government, from the Bill of Rights, or from the Constitution, and thus are not limited to those enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Further, if your rights come from government or a document, government can take your rights away by changing the document. With IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.

August 19, 2021

IPI Policy Basics: The Proper Use of Eminent Domain (Audio: Podcast)

Eminent domain, or the taking of property for a public use, is a perfectly constitutional, if sometimes controversial, function of government and government-approved private actors. So long as the constitutional requirements are met—that it be for a public use and the owner receive just compensation, eminent domain is legitimate. But what is a public use? And what is just compensation? And was the Kelo decision right or wrong? IPI President Tom Giovanetti leads a discussion about eminent domain with the assistance of Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews

August 10, 2021

Local Control vs. the State

Tom Giovanetti and Mark Davis (660AM the Answer) discuss the new reality of co-existing with Covid-19 and how this impacts the continuing struggle between state and local control. 

July 2, 2021

Our Declaration of Independence

On this Fourth of July, we invite you to revisit our great charter of liberty by listening to this dramatic reading.

June 10, 2021

The ProPublica Tax Scandal (Audio: Podcast)

This week ProPublica released personal tax information it obtained from an anonymous source, which is a criminal act under federal law. IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss why this is such a significant problem, why there are laws against such disclosures, and what might be the policy implications from this incident.

Total Records: 47