You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to the presence of an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. You know those words. They are heard on TV screens all the time. They are the Miranda warnings. … Read More
Sense of Justice Anyone?
As you probably know, federal authorities nabbed the guy who they believe was responsible for the attempted Times Square car-bombing. His name is Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen, born in Pakistan. The investigation will, of course, continue, given that the suspected terrorist likely had accomplices. Of particular significance are questions about Shahzad's overseas contacts, and yesterday, control of the … Read More
The Arizona Immigration Law
There's no way in hell Arizona's new immigration law passes constitutional muster. The “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” requires that police officers determine the immigration status of a person “where reasonable suspicion exists” that the person is in the country illegally. The officer must then verify the suspects immigration status with the federal government. As many have … Read More
Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban On Animal Cruelty Videos
In 1999, Congress passed a law banning the sale or display (i.e., on the Internet) of animal cruelty. The law was passed in response to "crush videos" — i.e., videos of women in high heels stepping on kitten's skulls (yes, there is a fetish for everything nowadays). It's hard not to applaud such a law, which received wide bipartisen support. … Read More
Best Op-Ed On Constitutional Interpretation Ever
I could have written this (and probably have): Our Fill-in-the-Blank Constitution By GEOFFREY R. STONE Published: April 13, 2010 AS the Senate awaits the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice, a frank discussion is needed on the proper role of judges in our constitutional system. For 30 years, conservative commentators have persuaded the public that conservative judges apply the … Read More
Quote Of The Day
Texas' Lt. Governor: "The cancellation of the play, Corpus Christi, by the [state-run] university was the right thing to do. While I'm a strong defender of free speech, we must also protect the rights and reasonable expectations of Texas taxpayers and how their money is used. A play that is completely contrary to the standards of decency and moral beliefs … Read More
The GOP Not Done Fighting Against Health Care Reform
Looking around the internets, there seem to be two ways that the GOP intends to undo what has been done. (1) Constitutional challenge to the law itself. Several state attorneys general plan to file a lawsuit challenging the newly passed law, on the grounds that the federal government cannot constitutionally require citizens to purchase health insurance. Without getting too deep … Read More
The Golden Issue: Campaign Finance
If the Democrats were smart, they will take this issue and own it. The issue: the recent Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, where the Supremes ruled 5-4 that corporations have the same rights as individuals when it comes to political speech and can therefore use their profits to support or oppose individual candidates. The decision appears … Read More
Federal Judge Rules Forsyth County Prayers Are Unconstitutional
And indeed, they are unconstitutional: Federal District Court Judge James A. Beaty this morning ruled that Forsyth County is violating the U.S. Constitution by allowing prayers with sectarian references before meetings of the county board of commissioners. Beaty ordered the county to stop allowing prayers under its current policy, which had come under fire from those who said that the … Read More
Opening Statements In Prop 8 Trial
Apparently, the defense in the Prop 8 Trial isn't doing well. According to liveblogging reports, the opening statement by the defense included this statement: “Racial restrictions were never a definitional feature of the institution of marriage.” This was reportedly met with laughter from the courtroom. It is clearly not true. Even as late as the early 20th century, if women … Read More
SSM in Federal Court
The Washington Post has a nice preview of the federal case involving same-sex marriage, which is about to begin its trek through the federal court system. This will be the first case which attempts to argue that banning same-sex marriage violates the United States Constitution. If it succeeds, then all states (being subordinate to federal law) will have to allow … Read More
Asheville Seeks To Prevent Atheist From Serving On City Council
Here I was thinking Asheville was one of the more progressive little big towns of North Carolina, but nope. Opponents of a man named Cecil Bothwell are seizing on an obscure law to argue he should not be seated as a City Council member today. The North Carolina Constitution, according to this newspaper report, states that a peson is not … Read More
We Get Emails
I received this email from Erick Erickson, proprietor of Redstate, the pre-eminent right wing blog: Today Barack Obama is going to announce that the terrorist mastermind of September 11th, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court. In that trial, the terrorist will get all the rights afforded an American citizen … Read More
Oyez! Oyez!
It's the first Monday in October, so the U.S. Supreme Court is now in session. I've already outlined the big cases this term (as I see them) here. This week on the docket, the Court will hear arguments for two First Amendment cases — one about speech; one about religion. The speech one I find particularly interesting. The case is on … Read More
“Hold That Line! Hold That Line!” (Luke 3:7)
I don't have all the facts, just this: Cheerleaders at a north Georgia high school will have to fall back on school spirit alone to inspire the football team tonight against a longtime rival because the school district will no longer allow them to hold up signs bearing Bible verses. The Catoosa school district banned the signs over concerns they … Read More