Idaho bill would repeal law banning private militias. Here’s how senators voted

The Idaho Senate on Monday cleared a bill that would repeal a longstanding state law prohibiting private militias and paramilitary organizations. The anti-militia law is currently not enforced, but legal experts say removing the statute would limit obstructions to private militias. The bill heads to the House, which overwhelmingly passed the Idaho National Guard bill last year, before it died in the Senate. Attorneys say current law is constitutionalAttorneys with Stoel Rives, a Boise law firm, and Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection in January sent a letter to legislative leaders opposing a previous version of Foreman’s proposal to repeal the anti-militia law. The Georgetown Law group in 2017 successfully sued the organizers of the “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, using a similar anti-militia statute.