Author: rafflaw

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Supreme Court

Corporate Veil and Hobby Lobby

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

We have heard the phrase for quite some time now.  “Corporations are people”.  It sounds so simple, but what does it mean in practice?  The corporate structure is designed to protect individual shareholder assets from creditors of the corporation.  If you maintain your corporate structure requirements and corporate book, the individual’s assets cannot be attached or claimed by a creditor of the corporation.

Corporations are also afforded special tax breaks and tax rates that individual persons cannot take advantage of.  How has the Hobby Lobby decision altered or not altered the corporate veil protection provided to corporations?  Continue reading “Corporate Veil and Hobby Lobby” →

Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Supply Side Kansas and ALEC

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

In these post Recession days, we have seen various stories of state and municipalities economies make positive strides toward recovery.  According to economist Paul Krugman, the state of Kansas is not one of those success stories.  If you don’t recall, the Republican Governor, Sam Brownback, signed legislation granting huge tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

Brownback crowed that these tax cuts would lead Kansas into the promised land of economic nirvana.  Unfortunately for regular, non-wealthy Kansans, the recovery has not materialized.  As Krugman states, the economy in Kansas tanked.

“Sam Brownback, the governor, proposed the legislation — in percentage terms, the largest tax cut in one year any state has ever enacted — in close consultation with the economist Arthur Laffer. And Mr. Brownback predicted that the cuts would jump-start an economic boom — “Look out, Texas,” he proclaimed.

But Kansas isn’t booming — in fact, its economy is lagging both neighboring states and America as a whole. Meanwhile, the state’s budget has plunged deep into deficit, provoking a Moody’s downgrade of its debt.” New York Times  Continue reading “Supply Side Kansas and ALEC” →

Congress, International, Military, Politics, Science

Forty Billion Dollar Failure

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

Forty Billion Dollars is a heck of a lot of money.  It seems like an even larger number when you realize that just one defense program spent that large sum, and it has arguably been a disaster.  I am talking about the highly political missile defense system program.  You have probably heard about that program.  It is supposed to stop any wild-eyed dictators from successfully sending any ICBM’s into our air space.  It may just be an amazingly expensive pipe dream! Continue reading “Forty Billion Dollar Failure” →

Society, Uncategorized

Happy Fathers Day Sonny

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend contributor

This is a personal story that I need to share with you.  For many years before I became a Dad, Fathers Day always gave me mixed emotions.  Growing up without knowing my Father always made me uncomfortable on this special day.  While I always considered that my Mother did a masterful job handling being both a Mother and a Father to me and my siblings, there was still something missing.  My Dad would have turned 93 this past week and his birthday went by with only a few Facebook posts and comments from my siblings and relatives.  I am sure that my Mother was thinking about him on that day, but when I was young, Fathers Day was not a holiday in our house.

My Dad was born in 1921 and was one of 11 children born to Alex and Min Rafferty.  He grew up in Northern Lake County, Illinois and his father and my Grandfather, ran a moving and storage business that kept the entire family busy.  My Dad was named Lawrence, but was called Sonny by his Mother and Father and his siblings because he was born after a few girls in a row so my Grandfather was happy to have another Son.  I was never able to personally wish him a Happy Fathers Day because he was killed in the Service in March of 1951, just a few short weeks before I was born.  However, in the last several years I have thought about him often and written about him and his life, but I still have never wished him a Happy Fathers Day.  Continue reading “Happy Fathers Day Sonny” →

Academia, Criminal law, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

How Many Children Died to Protect the Honor of the Catholic Church?

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

It is an agonizing story, and a book has been written about it and a movie was also recently made about it.  The story I am referring to is the story of Philomena Lee who at the age of 19 gave birth to a baby boy, out-of-wedlock, at the Sean Ross Abbey in County Tipperary, in Ireland.  If you are unfamiliar with the story, Philomena became pregnant out-of-wedlock after being raised in a convent after her mother died at the age of 6.  Her father kept 3 boys at home and put Philomena and her two sisters in the convent because he was unable to care of all of them.

After she left the convent at age 18, she became pregnant and was sent to the Sean Ross Abbey where her son was born and three years later, was adopted and moved to America.  If you have seen the movie or read the book you know what happened to her son, who she never saw alive again.  But the story of Philomena is not the main focus of this article.  Philomena was one of thousands of Irish women who were forced by religious beliefs and societal pressures to hide their “sin”.  However, what happened to some of the children who did not get adopted?  Continue reading “How Many Children Died to Protect the Honor of the Catholic Church?” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Politics, Science, Society, Uncategorized

The NRA Has Blood on its Hands

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor

 

It has happened again.  A mass killing at the hands of a person armed with knives and three semi-automatic handguns and 400 rounds of ammunition.  This time the alleged shooter stabbed three to death and then went on a shooting spree that ended with at least three more dead and a total of 8 injured/wounded people from gunshot wounds and 5 more injured by his knives or by being hit by his car. Continue reading “The NRA Has Blood on its Hands” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Supreme Court, Testimony, Uncategorized

Did The Justice Department Lie to the Supreme Court…And Get Away With It?

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor

Thanks to the disclosures made by whistleblower Edward Snowden, we now know how far our government went to hide the warrantless surveillance by the NSA. “If you blinked this week, you might have missed the news: two Senators accused the Justice Department of lying about NSA warrantless surveillance to the US supreme court last year, and those falsehoods all but ensured that mass spying on Americans would continue. But hardly anyone seems to care – least of all those who lied and who should have already come forward with the truth. Continue reading “Did The Justice Department Lie to the Supreme Court…And Get Away With It?” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

May 4th, 1970, The Day My Generation Lost Its Innocence

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Submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

I was going to write this last weekend on the actual 44th anniversary of a very sad event.  For some reason, I had a hard time focusing on what I wanted to say, in light of the many emotions that were going through my head.  I don’t want the anniversary to go by without writing about the personal significance that day in May had on my life, and I believe on the lives of many in my generation.  The Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by John Filo, included above from Wikipedia, is one that I have never forgotten.  Nor should anyone forget it. Continue reading “May 4th, 1970, The Day My Generation Lost Its Innocence” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Politics, Society

The Arizona Solar Tax and Who Benefits From It

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

When I think of places that would be ideally suited for taking advantage of solar power, Arizona is high on the list.  There are approximately 20,000 Arizona buildings utilizing solar collection technology to replace or supplement normal power sources. However, that number may soon decrease if a new “solar tax” is implemented.

“A new interpretation of state law in Arizona could force customers to pay property taxes on leased solar panels. In a state with an estimated 20,000 solar customers and 85 percent of new solar installations being leased systems, the implications of an extra charge are tremendous. The new tax could result in an additional $152 per year for a residential solar array and even more for larger installations, the Arizona Republic reported. What’s more, the tax would apply to both new and existing customers.” Think Progress

At first glance, I guess it should not surprise anyone that a new tax may be initiated.  However, when that tax is a tax on solar panels on commercial and residential buildings and includes solar panel arrays that are leased, it raised some eyes in Arizona.  Why would the State of Arizona decide on a tax on the collection of power of the sun?  The answer may surprise you. Continue reading “The Arizona Solar Tax and Who Benefits From It” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Communications Management Units and Prisoners Rights

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty-(rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor

If you were like me, you may never have heard the term “Communications Management Units” before.  They are basically a section of a prison where certain prisoners are housed with limited or no access to communications or family visitations.  The reason very little was known about the CMU’s is that when they first were initiated at prisons in Indiana and Illinois, their existence was kept from the public.

“The units opened almost in secret in 2006 and 2008. Critics say they flouted federal law by not publishing the proposed rule and opening up a period for public comment.” Readers Supported News  If a lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights had not been filed in 2010, we may never have known much about these abusive tactics in our domestic prison system.  Maybe the harshest aspect of being sent to the CMU was the realization that you may never know why you were sent there or how you could get out of it. Continue reading “Communications Management Units and Prisoners Rights” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Military, Politics, Supreme Court, Uncategorized

The CIA Psychologist Who Designed the Torture Program Claims It Was Not Torture

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Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor

We have seen and heard the claims from Donald Rumsfeld and others that the leaked Senate torture report is off base because the enhanced interrogation techniques were not only legal according to the Office of Legal Counsel, but they also produced results.  Putting aside the idea that just because an allegedly illegal act is claimed to have been successful in producing actionable intelligence, does not make it any more legal or illegal, is there a reason why we should listen to the participants who authorized the waterboarding and other torture procedures when they claim that all is well?

Now it seems that Donald Rumsfeld has company.  “In an uncompromising and wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, his first public remarks since he was linked to the program in 2007, James Mitchell was dismissive of a Senate intelligence committee report on CIA torture in which he features, and which is currently at the heart of an intense row between legislators and the agency.

The committee’s report found that the interrogation techniques devised by Mitchell, a retired air force psychologist, were far more brutal than disclosed at the time, and did not yield useful intelligence. These included waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation for days at a time, confinement in a box and being slammed into walls.

But Mitchell, who was reported to have personally waterboarded accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, remains unrepentant. “The people on the ground did the best they could with the way they understood the law at the time,” he said. “You can’t ask someone to put their life on the line and think and make a decision without the benefit of hindsight and then eviscerate them in the press 10 years later.” ‘  Reader Supported News  Continue reading “The CIA Psychologist Who Designed the Torture Program Claims It Was Not Torture” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Mr. Mayor, Show Us the Money!

 

220px-Rahm_Emanuel,_official_photo_portrait_colorRespectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

I guess you don’t have to be from Chicago or Illinois to know who Rahm Emanuel is.  The current Mayor of the City of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel is the former chief of staff to President Obama and a former Congressman. He is also a former investment banker.  It has been alleged that this former investment banker has been crying poor since he entered office and proposing that city workers must pay more into their pension funds and get less pay and benefits.

“If you’ve read the financial news out of Chicago the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard that the city faces a major pension shortfall, supposedly because police officers, firefighters, teachers and other public workers are selfishly bleeding the city dry.

You’ve also probably heard that the only way investment banker-turned-mayor Rahm Emanuel can deal with the seemingly dire situation is to slash his public workers’ retirement benefits and to jack up property taxes on those who aren’t politically connected enough to have secured themselves special exemptions.” Pandodaily  Continue reading “Mr. Mayor, Show Us the Money!” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Supreme Court

Hobby Lobby and the Truth

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

Unless you have been in a coma the last few weeks, you have probably heard of or read about the Hobby Lobby case recently argued in front of the United States Supreme Court.  Hobby Lobby is challenging a section of the Affordable Care Act that requires companies to provide medical insurance for their employees or pay a fine.  The mandate also requires the insurance to include coverage for contraception services.  Services that its owners claim violates their religious beliefs.

“…. the battle for its Christian identity was revived this week when lawyers for the company argued before the Supreme Court that the company should not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. The issue, says Hobby Lobby co-founder Barbara Green, isn’t that the company wants to meddle with women’s rights to take contraceptive drugs. “We’re not trying to control that,” she said. “We’re just trying to control our participation in it.” ‘ Reader Supported News

Mrs. Green claims they are not trying to control their female employees use of contraceptives, but the network of causes that they are involved with seem to indicate that the Greens want to mix their religious views into everyone else’s business. Continue reading “Hobby Lobby and the Truth” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Supreme Court, Uncategorized

The United States Supreme Court of the Chamber of Commerce

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

This session the record is 7-1.  Since October of 2011, the record is 28 wins and 4 losses. That is a record that any team would be proud of and evidence of a significant amount of work and effort to improve its performance on the court.  However, I am not talking about any particular basketball team currently involved in March Madness and the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball tourney.

I am talking about the record a team called The United States Chamber of Commerce has in cases it has argued or filed a brief in front of the Supreme Court.  Even Coach K or Coach Izzo would be jealous of that record. Continue reading “The United States Supreme Court of the Chamber of Commerce” →

Congress, Courts, International, Justice, Military, Politics, Science, Society, Uncategorized

Time to Clean House at J-PAC?

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor

As the son of a fallen Air Force pilot whose remains were never found, I am sensitive to the plight of family members of servicemen and women whose remains may be recoverable, but yet are still not identified.  There are multiple military and defense department agencies who are responsible for locating and identifying the remains of veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam and Cold War missions.

The purpose of this article is to examine the efforts of just one of those agencies.  The Joint Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command, or J-PAC, is an example of an agency that is crucial to both locating and identifying remains, but because of bureaucratic constraints, outdated methods and the possible stubbornness of its scientific head, has produced very little results at a very expensive cost to the taxpayers. Continue reading “Time to Clean House at J-PAC?” →