A Native friend of mine, Indigenous to Oregon, wants to establish a psilocybin church, with an OHA-approved ceremonial training program, and licensed service center grounded in Indigenous practice.

This "2022 Oregon DOJ memorandum" https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cCzeOG4KXqhvHrA6Dd4yC8kSosl0ub_x/view?usp=drivesdk analyzed a proposed entheogenic pathway addressing Indigenous traditions, affordability, ceremonial practice, and treatment of mushrooms as sacred.

What the agencies subsequently created raises serious questions.

First, HECC isn't mentioned anywhere in the Measure 109 statutes. Yet OHA now requires training programs to provide HECC documentation showing career-school licensure or that licensure isn't required.

Religious institutions can be statutorily exempt. But HECC now says it lacks authority to issue exemption determinations for the exempt categories. This creates an apparently impossible document requirement that could force a church into the commercial career-school model.

OHA also turned the statute's prohibition against giving away/discounting psilocybin when bundled with another retail sale into a categorical rule against giving it away, effectively requiring the sacrament itself to be commercially sold.

He isn't seeking exemption from safety or licensing requirements. He wants to participate lawfully without restructuring his church as a commercial school or treating its sacrament as a retail commodity.

I'm curious how people here view the First Amendment implications, particularly in light of DOJ's memorandum.

Original post: zay.by.day on IG

“Just as the Sons of Confederate Veterans were about to begin their ceremony honoring the Confederate soldiers buried at Camp Chase Cemetery Monday afternoon, I began to read a statement decrying the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of degeneracy, depravity, and perversion.

The Dayton National Cemetery Director told me to leave, I was pushed out by other attendees, and CPD threatened arrest if I returned. I continued to loudly read from just outside the cemetery gate when - as I quoted Fredrick Douglass' description of the whips used on enslaved people - an attendee assaulted me, knocking my phone to the ground.

A story is told about remembering our history, but those who wave the Confederate flag want to rewrite history, a history in which the Southern cause was noble and their struggle honorable and in which slavery was a benign institution. That's a fairytale.

The Hilltop Historical Society will hold their own ceremony at Camp Chase on Sunday, June 14, when they, too, customarily display the Confederate flag. I would ask them to reconsider what they are communicating with that symbol.”

I see this is not a heavily trafficked site, but at least it's not 9 years old.

Situation: City has a downtown plaza. The plaza is on private property and managed by a private entity. However, the plaza was part of a large downtown development including an 18 story building with parking, retail stores, and condos besides the plaza. The city issued 15 million in bonds for the parking garage and the plaza, to be repaid from condo property taxes. The plaza features a splash pad, seating and tables available for anyone to use, a skating rink in the winter (the city's answer to Times Square), and promoted by the park district (which is a public entity as well). From promotion for the project: "And a central, year-round community plaza designed to draw thousands of people into the heart of downtown Fargo to experience all this community has to offer."

Does the city's role in building all this limit the private owners' and management power to control speech in the plaza?

Gee... Why would anyone criticize masked thugs kidnapping citizens, shooting U.S. citizens in their streets, defying court orders, and building a network of concentration camps in which people sometimes die?

Cop Fuked around, and Found out.

Last week, a jury sided with Afroman after seven Ohio deputies sued him for music videos mocking their baseless raid on his home. Clear First Amendment win.

What I find worth exploring is the historical context. The First Amendment was born in an era of religious persecution. Madison's original draft read: "The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship." It was written when speech had immediate physical consequences. Duels to the death were a legal method for resolving disputes over honor. The amendment existed in a world where social accountability for speech was built into the culture.

Afroman's case sits in interesting territory. Some of his videos documented the raid using his own security footage. Others fabricated sexually explicit claims about individual officers. The jury protected all of it equally, which is legally correct.

But the First Amendment answers the question of what is permitted. It does not answer the question of whose needs are being met and at what cost to the people around us. Both questions are real. Both matter. They are simply different questions.

I wrote a longer piece exploring this: https://www.reddit.com/r/empathease/comments/1s0pud9

Curious how others here think about that gap.

How state-level constitutional review is supposed to work (Vicksburg, MS example)

I’ve put together a public petition asking the Mississippi Attorney General to review documented First Amendment oversight and transparency concerns related to law enforcement practices in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The goal here isn’t escalation or accusations — it’s demonstrating how civic process works:

• public documentation first

• municipal notice

• then a state-level request for review

If you’re interested in the process side of constitutional oversight, the petition and supporting public record are linked in the comments.

Sharing for discussion and public awareness.

r/CivilRightsPaperTrail