Category: Politics

Media, Politics, Science

Computer Scientist Gives Virginia Voting Machines F- Security Grade

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

WinVote User Interface
WinVote User Interface

A six year effort by Computer Scientist Jerry Epstein of SRI International has finally achieved fruition in his quest to decertify AVS WinVote Machines for election use due to what can described as extremely broken security measures and weaknesses in its design. Such deficiencies were so magnified the machines had not only the potential for fault but a relatively unsophisticated hacker could have brought down the State of Virginia’s election system.

Mr. Epstein reportedly stated the WinVote system “would get an F-” in security.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society

Tennessee Moves To Make Bible The Official State Book

h35180px-Gideons_BibleDespite far more pressing problems, Tennessee Senate and House committees have been working to make the Bible the official book of Tennessee — adding the Bible with catfish (the state fish) as a symbol of the state. Of course, cat fish are not matters of faith (beyond the hope and prayer of every fisherman). The House sponsor, Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, added “talking points” to bill. Sexton was only elected in 2015 but is wasting no time in trying to rollback on the separation of church and state.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, International, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Private Detective Arrested With Silencer and Arsenal Of Weapons States That He Was Hired To Shadow Father Of Church Leader David Miscavige

488px-scientology_symbolsvgWest Allis, Wis., police had a bit of a surprise when they responded to a call about a mysterious man in the neighborhood near Milwaukee in July 2013 and found Dwayne S. Powell, a private detective, with two laptop computers, binoculars, a GPS tracking device, a stun gun, two rifles, four handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a homemade silencer in a rented SUV. While first resisting to give his name, Powell reportedly admitted that he was hired to keep continual watch on the father of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology, who had separated from the church. Powell further stated that, after seeing what he believed was a possible heart attack, he contacted David Miscavige, who allegedly told him to let his father Ronald Miscavige Sr. die and not intervene or call help. The case has not led to litigation but it could.

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Bizarre, Congress, Politics, Society

No Comprendo: Federal Government Approved “Disability” Payments to Puerto Ricans Who Cannot Speak English . . . in Puerto Rico

220px-US-SocialSecurityAdmin-Seal.svgJust when you think that the federal government could not be more moronic in the spending of money, you read a story like this. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been approving disability benefits for hundreds of Puerto Ricans because they do not speak English. However, these “disabled” individuals are living in a predominantly Spanish-speaking territory. Having worked for the Puerto Rico House of Representatives years ago, the story seemed to me a belated April Fool’s joke but it appears to be true.

Continue reading “No Comprendo: Federal Government Approved “Disability” Payments to Puerto Ricans Who Cannot Speak English . . . in Puerto Rico” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

U.S. Postal Service Issues “Forever” Stamp For Maya Angelou With Quote From Different Author

ST-maya7341428096065The U.S. Postal Service not only has issues with a new limited edition “Forever” stamp honoring Maya Angelou with a quote written by another author but it doesn’t appear particularly disturbed about it. The stamp above features the quote “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” However, that is a quote from child book author Joan Walsh Anglund.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Russia’s Culture Minister Fires Theater Director For Staging Wagner’s opera “Tannhauser”

Bayreuth, Festspiele, "Tannhäuser", SchlussRussia’s culture minister Vladimir Medinsky on Sunday fired the director of a Siberian theater. Boris Mezdrich as director of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theater had committed the sin of staging Wagner’s opera “Tannhauser” which offended the powerful Russian Orthodox Church. It is the latest example of the rollback on free speech under the Putin regime.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Video Shows Islamic Fighters Destroying The Ancient Hatra Site

Screen Shot 2015-04-06 at 9.16.36 AMWe have yet another disgusting video of Islamic fighters systematically destroying their own history and culture in the name of Islam. The latest images are from Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is in an area controlled by the Islamic State. We have previously discussed videos of these fanatics destroying museums and ancient cities as offensive to their Islamic values.

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Columns, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Critics of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law Are Trying To Have Their Cake and Eat it, Too

Wedding_cake_with_pillar_supports,_2009Below is my Sunday column in the Washington Post on Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

The column below raises the question of line drawing and states that I would prefer an absolute rule requiring all services. However, I could not support such a rule if we are going to strip protection from “wrong” views while allowing others to refuse on the ground that other symbols or language are clearly offensive. One variation on the “No Cake For You” approach below was suggested by a colleague who said that we could allow bakers and others to refuse any offensive language — religious or non-religious — unless the government could show that the baker would have sold the cake but for the status of the prospective buyer (e.g., gay or straight, Jewish or not, etc.). Thus, as long as the basis of the refusal was the actual language or symbols, it would be protected as an expressive act.

As I say in the column, I continue to struggle with drawing this line. None of the options are particularly satisfying. However, I do think that we have to have a real dialogue on this issue free of low-grade efforts to those on the other side as bigoted for wanting to discuss the range of free speech conflicts. The point is that, when dealing with the question of the right to refuse to create offensive symbols or language, one must address the fact that there are a wide array of such conflicts that can arise among different religious, cultural, or political groups. One does not have to agree with their speech to raise the question of their right to engage in such speech. Indeed, the first amendment is designed to protect unpopular speech. We do not need it to protect popular speech. Some may ultimately decided that no business can refuse any message under the “Let Them Eat Cake” approach despite rulings like Hobby Lobby and Citizens United. However, the first step is to have the debate, preferably free of personal attacks or attempts to silence those who would raise the speech of other unpopular or offensive groups.

Here is the column:

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Religion, Society, Supreme Court

What RFRA Hath Wrought

By Mike Appleton, Weekend Contributor

“Property does become clothed with a public interest when used in a manner to make it of public consequence and affect the community at large. When, therefore, one devotes his property to a use in which the public has an interest, he, in effect, grants to the public an interest in that use, and must submit to be controlled by the public for the common good, to the extent of the interest he has thus created. He may withdraw his grant by discontinuing the use, but, so long as he maintains the use, he must submit to the control.”

-Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 113, 126 (1876)

The events in Indiana and Arkansas during the past week contain at least two lessons. The first is that hypocrisy is like teeth; most of us have some and exposure usually produces a nasty bite. Second, interminable debates on the topic of comparative victimology are, well, interminable. Neither lesson is useful. So perhaps it is time to take a deep breath and engage in a bit of dispassionate reflection on the scope and application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Let us begin with the oft repeated claim that a person operating a business ought to have the right to refuse service to anyone at any time for any reason (or no reason at all). Whatever merits this claim may have as a philosophical position, it has never found approval as a principle of law. The reason is that historically the common law has recognized that there are categories of commercial enterprise of sufficient importance to the general welfare to mandate their availability to all members of the public on equal terms. Continue reading “What RFRA Hath Wrought” →

Politics, Society

Bad Precedent Set By Seattle Mayor And Washington Governor Issuing Orders Prohibiting Government Employees Travelling On Business To Indiana

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Mayor Ed Murray
Mayor Ed Murray

In the wake of the State of Indiana passing into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act—a law crafted to allow businesses to curtail services to customers based upon religious objections—Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and later Governor Jay Inslee issued executive orders prohibiting government funded travel of employees to Indiana in protest.

The proffered reasons of these executives is to voice protest in that Indiana’s statute is incompatible with either state anti-discrimination laws or is in alignment with the political values of these local governments.

Orders of this type are actually counter to the idea of sovereignty of each state and interfere with the judicial, executive, and legislative processes that are inherently reserved to the voters and citizens of, in this case, the state of Indiana.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Malaysia Charges Cartoonist With Sedition For Criticizing Its Courts

125px-Flag_of_Malaysia.svgPrisonCellWe have yet another attack on free speech and the free press from one of our allies. Malaysian cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, better known as Zunar, has been hit with nine counts of sedition for tweets critical of the country’s judiciary. It is an outrageous prosecution brought under a law that defines sedition as any comment that promotes hatred toward the government. Zunar previously defended his art against claims that it is defamatory. Zunar faces up to 43 years in jail if found guilty on all nine charges.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Survivors of Paris Attack Sue Media For Revealing Their Hiding Place In Live Coverage

"A Revolutionary Committee during the Terror." An engraving of 1798 with a negative portrayal of policing functions during the Terror carried out by radicalized sans-culottes in Paris.There is an interesting lawsuit in France by six survivors of the January attack by Islamic extremist Amedy Coulibaly at the Hyper Casher Jewish supermarket in Paris. The six people were mortified after learning that French media broadcasted their hiding location in a refrigerator while Coulibaly was looking for hostages and threatening to kill them all.

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Academia, Environment, International, Politics, Science

Study: Global Deaths Due To Air Pollution Are Substantially Higher Than Previously Estimated

220px-AlfedPalmersmokestacksA new study has raised the disturbing question of whether we are substantially under-estiminating the annual death toll from air pollution, which currently stands at around 3.4 million a year. The reason is the failure to measure the lethality of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), emitted during fossil fuel burning.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Torts

Word on the Street: Obama Advisor David Axelrod Sued By Fellow Political Advisor Over Claim In Book

9k=220px-David_AxelrodThere is a bizarre legal tiff between political operatives in Philadelphia over who came up with an attack strategy to save the career of Democratic Mayor John Street in 2003. Street was implicated in a “pay-to-play” scandal. While he was not charged, a slew of his associates and fundraisers were. Now, Philadelphia campaign consultant Frank Keel has sued Obama presidential campaign adviser David Axelrod over Axelrod’s claim that he came up with the attack strategy that saved Street. Keel insists that Axelrod is taking credit for the idea of attacking the George W. Bush Administration to spin the scandal. While that strikes me as a pretty obvious strategy, it appears a defining moment that both men want to claim. Keel also sued Penguin Random House.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Cake Wars: Is the Indiana RFRA Coverage Skirting The Difficult Questions Of Conflict Between Anti-Discrimination Law and Free Exercise?

Wedding_cake_with_pillar_supports,_2009This week, I appeared on the CNN special addressing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in Indiana. While I have been a long-standing supporter of same-sex marriage, I raised concerns over the dismissive treatment of religious concerns over the scope of anti-discrimination laws and how they may curtail free exercise of religion. I have previously written both columns and academic work on this collision between the two areas of law. In the program, I raised an example of the growing conflicts that we discussed earlier on this blog of a bakery that refused to make a cake deemed insulting to homosexuals while other bakers are objecting to symbols that they view as insulting to their religious views. This issue also came up with an advocate for LGBT rights on the show:

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