Author: rafflaw

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Military, Politics, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

Just Who Gains From Voter ID Laws?

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

It seems that almost everywhere you look, some State is trying to reduce the number of early voting days, purging the voting rolls and making it harder for citizens to cast their votes.  The State of Florida has recently attempted to remove legitimate voters off its voter rolls and the State of Georgia recently attempted to restrict the time when a military absentee ballot can be counted as I wrote about earlier on this blog. Georgia  Now, we have some hard evidence of just who is getting removed or impacted by the various State’s attempts to cure the imagined Voter fraud problem! Continue reading “Just Who Gains From Voter ID Laws?” →

Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Rocket Launchers and the Second Amendment

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw) Guest Blogger

I have discussed the Second Amendment and the difficulties I have in allowing citizens to own semi-automatic weapons and large capacity clips of ammunition in the past, but Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a recent Fox News interview, just took my concern over semi-automatic weapons and shot it down.. with a shoulder firing rocket!  Continue reading “Rocket Launchers and the Second Amendment” →

Congress, Media, Politics, Testimony

Corporate Liars and the Lies They Tell

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

I have written in the past about corporations dodging taxes, but this latest story out of Washington takes the cake. Susan Ford, an executive with Corning, Inc. testified recently at a House Ways and Means committee meeting and made the following claim.  “American manufacturers are at a distinct disadvantage to competitors headquartered in other countries. Specifically, foreign manufacturers uniformly face a lower corporate tax rate than U.S. manufacturers, and virtually all operate under territorial systems which encourage investment both abroad and at home.” Think Progress  That is a very strong statement coming from Ms. Ford.  What is really interesting is that her claim that foreign companies face a lower corporate tax rate would be important issue,  if it only was true! Continue reading “Corporate Liars and the Lies They Tell” →

Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Scranton versus the Courts

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

After writing an earlier article about the Pennsylvania Voter ID law, I saw another article about a Pennsylvania issue that seems a little hard to comprehend.  Recently, the City of Scranton, PA decided that it could not afford to continue to honor its contractual obligations with its City Fire, Police and Public union workers.  One problem with Scranton’s decision is that a Federal judge had ordered that the City must honor its obligations to the employees under the terms of a temporary injunction that he granted the employees. Continue reading “Scranton versus the Courts” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Politics

Et Tu Pennslyvania?

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

I guess I should not be surprised when I read of certain states trying to “cleanse” the voting rolls under the guise of voter fraud.  However, I was saddened to read that the State of Pennsylvania was joining the growing list of so-called Red and some not so Red states that are taking steps to disenfranchise voters prior to the November National elections.  The State of Pennsylvania is poised to possibly disenfranchise almost 10 percent of its voting population.  “Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law, which will take effect for the first time this November, may prevent 758,939 otherwise eligible voters, who do not currently have an acceptable ID, from voting.” Think Progress Continue reading “Et Tu Pennslyvania?” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Justice, Military, Politics, Things That Tick Me Off

Georgia On My Mind

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

With apologies to the writers of the famous song by the same title, I came across a small news item that didn’t make the big headlines this past week.  Our friends in Georgia just don’t seem to get the idea that their citizen soldiers deserve the same right to vote that on military members enjoy.  In the upcoming primary elections and general election cycle, Georgia has violated the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) by not providing military members the minimum amount of time between elections in order to assure that their absentee ballots arrive in time to actually be counted in the respective elections.  At least the Justice Department thinks Georgia does not have the military on its mind! Continue reading “Georgia On My Mind” →

Free Speech, Religion, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

The Vatican Goes to War Against the Nuns over the “M” Word

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

We have discussed the alleged War on Women in past blog articles here on Prof. Turley’s blog, as well as the Roman Catholic Church’s attempts to silence the Nuns over their support of Obamacare.  The Vatican is now battling the good Sisters over the alleged evilness of Masturbation!  The Vatican’s watchdog office called “The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith” has come out against a book written by Sister Margaret Farley’s  in 2006 titled, Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics, because, among other evil statements,  the female author states that masturbation never hurt anyone.  Such heresy! Continue reading “The Vatican Goes to War Against the Nuns over the “M” Word” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Religion, Things That Tick Me Off

Free Speech Versus Facts

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

I am sure you have all seen the comments and political advertisements and articles calling President Obama a Communist, a Socialist, a Kenyan citizen and various attempts to claim that he is a secret Muslim. I had thought I had seen them all when I came across the latest affront to reality.  A Gannet newspaper in Louisiana has agreed to run an “interesting” advertisement from an organization calling itself the SOAR Project.  SOAR stands for Save Our American Republic.

In my humble opinion, this advertisement goes far beyond any level of reasonableness when it leads with the question, “Will Obama and the Democrats Shoot Catholics and Christians “?  Continue reading “Free Speech Versus Facts” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Military, Society

Front Line Ladies

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

It was just a small news item on the blog site, but it had a big impact on me.  It was reported that two female soldiers have filed suit against the Defense Department in an attempt to force the military to allow women soldiers to fight on the front lines along with men.   They are alleging that women soldiers are being denied their Equal Protection rights under the Fifth Amendment by the military holding them back from fighting on the front lines in all military jobs. Continue reading “Front Line Ladies” →

Free Speech, Justice, Media, Politics, Society, Supreme Court, Things That Tick Me Off

The Clout of the Chicago Cubs

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

As a die-hard White Sox fan (sorry Professor Turley!), it was nice to see the White Sox beat the Cubs in the first two games of the 3 game series at Wrigley Field.  Now, I am not writing this article to rub Cub fan’s noses in it, but rather to discuss one of the Cub’s owners Super Pac political activities and the Cubs ownership that is looking for corporate welfare to help renovate venerable Wrigley Field.  I understand that many ball parks are subsidized by the voters, including beautiful Cellular Field on the South Side of Chicago.  However, there is a big difference in what the Cubs organization wants to do and how they are going about it. Continue reading “The Clout of the Chicago Cubs” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Justice, Media, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Health Insurance and Rebate Checks

Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

I have to admit that I was not aware that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as its detractors call it, mandates that the insurance companies who don’t spend at least 80% of premium money on actual medical care expenses, must send rebates to policy holders.  “But the rebate provision of the law — the fruits of the so-called “80/20 rule” — is about to kick in big time, as millions of Americans receive rebate checks or premium reductions from insurance companies who have failed to spend enough on patient care. This cash could be a true game changer in public attitudes about whether the law actually is beneficial and good public policy. The rebate provision of the law has been known and discussed in health care policy circles for months, but has largely flown below the radar in the political world and for voters—until now.”  Time   Continue reading “Health Insurance and Rebate Checks” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society, Supreme Court, Things That Tick Me Off

Shame on Yoo

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

We haven’t heard his name for quite some time now, but former Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel attorney, John Yoo is in the news again.  The United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out an appeal by convicted terrorist, Jose Padilla attempting to hold Yoo liable for the torture used on Padilla while in U.S. detention centers.

Believe it or not, the Justices stated that the law on what constituted torture was not clear when Padilla endured the Bush Enhanced Interrogation methods. “A three-judge panel of the court said laws governing combatants and the definition of torture were unclear during the years policies were crafted.  Padilla alleged he was subjected to death threats, given psychotropic drugs, shackled and manacled for hours at a time, denied contact with family or a lawyer for 21 months and refused medical care for potentially life-threatening conditions. “That such treatment was torture was not clearly established in 2001-03,” Judge Raymond C. Fisher, a Clinton appointee, wrote for the court.” LA Times Continue reading “Shame on Yoo” →

Military, Society

In Memory of Captain Lawrence E. Rafferty — American Hero

On our blog, we have all been enriched by the commentary and insights of Larry Rafferty. Larry is an attorney from Chicago and, despite being a White Sox fan, I asked Larry to be one of our weekend bloggers after reading his uniformly civil and insightful thoughts on legal and political issues. I was not aware until recently about Larry’s father and his disappearance after World War II. Last week, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about Larry’s father, Air Force Capt. Lawrence Rafferty, who was buried at Arlington this year. Mark Esposito and his wife were in attendance representing our community with the Rafferty family and friends. Larry’s mother, Frances, 89, (shown below) was present to see her husband given the honor that he so richly deserved. Captain Rafferty now has a place with other American heroes at Arlington and I wanted to share his incredible story with members of our blog.

Continue reading “In Memory of Captain Lawrence E. Rafferty — American Hero” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Don’t Mess with Texas’ Executions

Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

As an Illinois resident I was heartened by the fact that a former governor took the politically dangerous action to halt all executions and recently the current Governor of Illinois signed a bill to  end the death penalty in Illinois.   Tribune   With that background, I was saddened to read that since 1976, more than 1/3rd of all executions that took place in our country happened in Texas. Since 1976, Texas has executed 481 people.  Truth Progress  Why does Texas continue to execute people when many experts assert that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime?   Continue reading “Don’t Mess with Texas’ Executions” →

Bizarre, Politics, Religion, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

The Dangers of Holding Hands

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

As one who was taught by Benedictine nuns in a Catholic elementary school, I grew up with some strange and possibly severe restrictions on what the nuns called “mixing” the boys and girls. More recently, when my adult children were in school, the Diocese of Rockford forbade Altar boys being on the altar at the same time as Altar girls!  With that background, I thought I had seen it all.  However, the State of Tennessee has just beaten that sorry record of over restrictive rules for school children.  It seems that Tennessee state senators, in their infinite wisdom have updated their already suspect abstinence based sex education law by suggesting that holding hands is a gateway to sex.  Continue reading “The Dangers of Holding Hands” →