Ever wondered how many members it would take to be told about torture before anyone went public or cried foul? Well, we now know it is somewhere above 68. The CIA has revealed that at least 68 U.S. lawmakers between 2001 and 2007 were briefed on torture. That obviously included many Democrats who later worked to avoid investigating torture and have been relatively silent as the Obama Administration has blocked any prosecution for torture or war crimes.
Continue reading “The Shameful Sixty-Eight: CIA Papers Reveal 68 Members Knew of Torture Program”
Category: Constitutional Law
A Pennsylvania school is accused of a remarkably abusive intrusion into the lives of its students. Papers in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, state that the laptops given to high-school students were equipped with webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools’ administrators. The lawsuit claims that officials not only activated the surveillance capability but disciplined young Robbins for “improper behavior in his home.” The Vice Principal reportedly used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence.
The Obama Administration continued the tradition of the “Friday night dump” by just releasing the Justice Department report on former Justice officials John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury. The report is linked below. The Justice Department confirmed that the investigation originally found professional misconduct by Yoo and Bybee, but an unnamed high-ranking official at the Office of Professional Responsibility overruled the finding to avoid any professional action against them. I discussed the story on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Justice Department Declines Punishment for Bush Officials for “Poor Judgment””
The Virginia legislature passed a flurry of bills stripping away limitations on gun possession in the state. After intense lobbying from the National Rifle Association and over $1 million in NRA campaign contributions, the lawmakers passed 20 gun bills expanding possession and ownership rights in the state.
Continue reading “Guns-O-Plenty: Virginia Passes 20 Gun Bills”
Senior Judge Geoffrey P. Morris has ordered the removal of two billboards proclaiming “hell is real” in Kentucky after finding that they have stood without a permit for five years.
Continue reading “Kentucky Judge Declares Permits (like Hell) Are Real”
Former Vice President Dick Cheney came out this weekend in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl to proclaim “I was a big supporter of waterboarding.” It is an astonishing public admission since waterboarding is not just illegal but a war crime. It is akin to the Vice President saying that he supported bank robbery or murder-for-hire as a public policy.
Continue reading “Cheney: “I Was a Big Supporter of Waterboarding””
The Obama Administration is appealing a ruling in favor of privacy before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit — seeking to allow it to track people by their cellphones and arguing that there is no privacy expectations to prevent tracking without probable cause. It is another example of Obama’s continued assault on civil liberties — and the failure of liberals to call him to account for such policies.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Seeks To Strip Cellphone Users of Privacy Protections”
Kenyan police showed the world what state-sponsored homophobia looks like this week when police raided a same-sex wedding and arrested all suspected homosexuals.
Continue reading “Wedding Crashers: Kenya Arrests Couple and Guests At Same-Sex Marriage While Protesters Call For The Suspects To Be Burned Alive”
The Obama Administration has taken the rare step of criticizing a British court. Why? Because the court released a few paragraphs of a report that confirmed our abuse and torture of detainees. Spokesman Ben LaBolt denounced the release of the information and threatened to cut off access of the British to classified information in the future. Note these paragraphs do not appear to reveal any new classified technique, but rather confirm our violations of international law — evidence that the Obama Administration has been refusing to release.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Blasts British Court For Disclosing Abuses at Guantanamo Bay”
Republican Iowa legislator Jason Schultz has introduced legislation to rid the state courts of the scourge of . . . precedent.
Continue reading “Iowa Legislator Seeks To Bar Courts From Using Precedent or Case Law”
This month, members of Congress have introduced an amendment to the Constitution to reverse a recent ruling by the Supreme Court to allow Congress to regulate corporation engaged in political speech. Constitutional reform is no simple task. However, if we are finally ready to amend the Constitution to achieve political reform, why not make some real changes to our system? The proposed amendment would do little but return us to the status quo before the decision in Citizens United which (in case you have a short memory) was hardly a period of celebrated good government. To paraphrase the Beatles’ song, if “you say you want a revolution,” this is not it but there is a way.
Before we can change the system, we have to change our attitude passivity and collectively declare “enough.” While our leaders control the political branches, they do not control the political process itself. That is controlled by the Constitution, which remains in control of the people, in our control. It is not too much speech or too much money that is draining the life from this Republic. It is a lack of faith in ourselves to force change without the approval or support of our leaders. If we are going to go through the constitutional amendment process, then let’s make it worth our while and achieve real political change in this country.
Below is today’s column on fundamental reforms that could change not just Congress but our political system. I discussed the column on this segment on National Public Radio.
Continue reading ““You Say You Want A Revolution”: How To Reform Our Political System”
President Barack Obama is preparing to ask Congress to ban vending machines of sugary snacks and drinks. It could raise another fight over federalism.
Continue reading “Snack Attack: Obama Administration Set to Seek Ban on Vending Machines With Sugarly Snacks and Drinks”
Previously, I have questioned the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act, which criminalized false claims of military medals and decorations. Now, two cases in Colorado could become a test for viability of the act — an appropriate forum given it is the home state of Rep. John Tony Salazar who was the chief sponsor of the 2005 law. The cases involve two men, Xavier Alvarez and Rick Glen Strandlof (shown left) who are challenging the law as a violation of their first amendment rights. Both claimed to be decorated Marines. Dan Elliott has an interesting article on these cases in The Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading “Semper Fraud: Two False Heroes Challenge The Constitutionality of The Stolen Valor Act”
After her husband former Prime Minister Tony Blair declared secularists to be an equal or greater danger than terrorists (here), his wife Cherie Booth is under fire for granting leniency to a man accused of criminal assault because he is religious. Her statement in court would suggest that, if the man were an atheist or agnostic, such leniency might not be appropriate.
Continue reading “The Good Faith Defense: Cherie Booth (Wife of Tony Blair) Under Fire For Sparing Man Due to the Fact That He is Religious”
Scott Maxwell at the Orlando Sentinel has an extraordinary story about the lengths that social conservatives and anti-gay advocates will go to block the adoption of children by gay couples. Vanessa Alenier and her partner, Melanie Leon, are affluent and loving parents who were awarded custody of a child who was in their foster care in Florida. One problem for the Florida Family Policy Council, it appears, is that they are also attractive, so (on the left) is the picture the council posted with their calls for opposition to the adoption while (on the right) is the actual couple.
Continue reading “Family Group Accused of Using False Picture of Lesbian Couple”