Supreme Court Constitutional Analysis and Medical Freedom for Parents

On this Thursday, July 13, 2023 broadcast, Kim Monson welcomes constitutional scholar Rob Natelson to analyze the most significant Supreme Court decisions of the term, then speaks with medical freedom advocate Pam Long about protecting parental rights as children head back to school. Supreme Court Constitutional Analysis Start listening at 13:00 – Hour 1 Rob Natelson, constitutional scholar and head of the Independence Institute’s Constitutional Study Center, breaks down the Supreme Court’s most consequential rulings of the term. Despite media narratives about a conservative supermajority, Natelson reveals that liberal outcomes prevailed in six of ten cases with constitutional implications. Natelson provides detailed analysis of the affirmative action cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, explaining how these admissions policies functioned as a racial spoils system benefiting demographic groups aligned with the Democratic Party while discriminating against Asian and non-elite white students. The 6-3 decision to strike down these practices represents a significant victory for equal protection under the law. The discussion turns to the 303 Creative case involving a Colorado web designer who refused to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings. Natelson criticizes Governor Polis’s characterization of the ruling as an attack on freedom, drawing a sharp distinction between the designer’s natural right to control her own work and what he calls the attempted imposition of slavery when government forces someone to labor for another. “When you can use government to force somebody to work for you, that’s called slavery. What Lori Smith, the owner of 303 Creative, is exercising is freedom. Those people who tried to force her to work for them, they are trying to impose slavery.” Rob Natelson, Constitutional Scholar, Independence Institute Medical Freedom and Parental Rights Start listening at 62:00 – Hour 2 Pam Long, West Point graduate and former Army Medical Service Corps captain, sounds the alarm on the expanding government surveillance of families through vaccine tracking databases and mental health assessments in schools. Long clarifies that Colorado cannot legally mandate COVID vaccines for K-12 students because all available versions remain under Emergency Use Authorization, meaning parents need not file exemptions for these specific shots. However, she warns that universities have created their own illegal exemption processes with heightened religious scrutiny to coerce college students into compliance. The discussion exposes how Governor Polis used executive orders during COVID to force schools to violate FERPA protections and surrender student vaccine records containing personally identifying information. This data now feeds a vaccine compliance dashboard that publicly shames schools falling below arbitrary vaccination thresholds. Long urges parents to formally opt out of vaccine tracking databases, mental health surveys, and state assessment tests, providing practical steps for protecting their children’s privacy and educational time. “Your state cannot mandate a EUA drug, the COVID vaccine, and you do not have to file an exemption for those for your K-12 students in any type of school or daycare.” Pam Long, Medical Freedom Advocate