Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Few words have sparked as much emotion on the blog –and may have even cost it a victory lap in the ABA blog voting this year — as the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Seems the history of the Amendment was just as jumbled and ferociously fought, or so contends Law Professor David E. Vandercoy, in his short history of the Second Amendment.
Continue reading “Their Rights As Englishmen: A Brief History of the Second Amendment-Part I”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty(rafflaw), Guest Blogger
We have seen and heard on many occasions the Tea Party claim that it desires Congress and the Federal Government to follow the letter of the Constitution instead of reaching beyond the four corners of the document. With that thought in mind, I was intrigued by a recent article on the Think Progress site that reviewed the You Tube video claims made by U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, that Congress’ passage of laws outlawing and restricting Child Labor, was unconstitutional. http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/14/lee-child-labor/?wpmp_switcher=desktop
Continue reading “Are Child Labor Laws Unconstitutional in The Tea Party World?”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I thought I’d do a follow-up to my Let Civil Liberties & Freedom Ring! post about the erosion of civil liberties in Britain—which, in my opinion, is akin to what
has been happening here in the United States in the past decade. My inspiration for a second post on the subject was Glenn Greenwald’s most recent piece at Salon—Homeland Security’s laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez.
I have been reading about the seizures of cell phones and laptop computers by the DHS. I have found it troubling that our government has no compunction about confiscating the personal property of some of its own citizens without any warrant, probable cause, or suspicion that the citizens may have been involved in a criminal activity.
My former neighbor in Chicago BS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has an amazing story this week. Zekman found that Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has a county-supplied driver who makes $94,000 a year and a cleaning lady making $57,000 a year.
Continue reading “Cook County Treasurer Found To Have Driver Paid $94,000 a Year and a Cleaning Lady Paid $57,000 a Year”
A new study has confirmed what most of us already know: we have a crisis in emergency rooms where sick individuals customarily have to wait for hours before being seen. We have seen the horrible consequences of these delays in past postings (here and here). Now, researchers from Press Ganey Associates, a group that works with health care organizations to improve clinical outcomes, finds that in 2009, patients admitted to hospitals waited on average six hours in emergency rooms. Nearly 400,000 patients waited 24 hours or more.
Continue reading “Emergency Room Waits Now Average Six Hours”
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) once called the jurors in his recent trial his “brothers and sisters.” His view has changed a bit since they convicted him and he was sentenced to three years. DeLay has been making the talk show circuit and said on “The Today Show” that the jury was a liberal cabal led by a Greenpeace activist.
Continue reading “Twelve Angry Liberal Jurors: DeLay Slams Austin Jury Pool and Venue”
We have been following the general trend toward criminalizing conduct in America and particularly the use of criminal penalties in our schools (here and here). Now, a study by Texas Appleseed shows Texas schools routinely using criminal misdemeanors against unruly students.
I was struck by today’s response of Sarah Palin to criticism that her rhetoric and “targeting” of Rep. Gifford’s district may have added to the recent massacre in Tucson. In fairness to Palin, the family stated today that Jared Loughner did not watch news or listen to talk radio. However, I was most interested in her claim that the attacks against her and conservative commentators amounted to a “blood libel.”
Continue reading “Palin: Attacks on Conservatives Over Tucson Massacre Constitute “Blood Libel””
This is the rather bizarre mugshot of Jared Loughner that was released yesterday afternoon. He has been assigned lawyer Judy Clarke, who defended the Unabomber.
Continue reading “Meet Jared Loughner”
Unfortunately, one of the most predictable things to follow a madman’s attack in this country is a slew of new laws proposed by politicians — often laws that threaten first amendment or fourth amendment rights. In the first of what may be a slew of such measures following the Arizona massacre, Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) has indicated that he now plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress. The law will be designed on the model of the law criminalizing threats against the President. That law has long been controversial with civil libertarians and Rep. Brady’s law will only magnify the constitutional concerns.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
In his speech Restoring British Liberties (dated January 7, 2011), Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg talked about the freedom and the “hard-won liberties” that people in Britain have held dear. He talked about the standards of a nation that have been the hallmarks of a civilized society to which people who are victims of oppression in other places around the world have looked to as a beacon of hope…as an example of a better way of life.
Clegg claimed that in recent times under Labour many of Britain’s best traditions have suffered—and that many of its civil liberties “have been undermined, eroded, lost.”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, preparing for a run for President, has granted clemency to two African-American sisters serving life sentences for an armed robbery 17 years ago. The sisters were convicted of robbing at gunpoint two men who were driving them to a nightclub in northern Mississippi in 1993. They had no prior criminal record and got $11.00. Each was sentenced to two life terms. Civil Rights activists have lobbied for their release arguing the sentences were too long.
Continue reading “Miss. Governor Frees Sisters Who Robbed $11 – But With A Catch”
Submitted by Mark M. Esposito, Guest Blogger
Dr. Zahi Hawass is none too happy with New York Mayor Bloomberg. The Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council on Antiquities has sent the Mayor a letter demanding the City preserve a 3500 year old obelisk known as “Cleopatra’s Needle” or send it back. Since 1881, the red granite monument has stood in Central Park near the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is nearly 68 feet high.
Continue reading “Egypt Demands Return of “Cleopatra’s Needle.””
While the legal profession debates the propriety of his decision to participate in the educational sessions for conservative new members of Congress, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia is also causing a stir over his public statement that the 14th Amendment does not prohibit discrimination against women or gays.
Continue reading “Scalia Publicly Rejects the Use of the 14th Amendment to Bar Discrimination Against Women and Gays”
Colorado Senator Suzanne Williams (Dem. Aurora) is being accused of an extraordinary act in Amarillo, Texas. Police allege that, after her 3-year-old grandson was ejected in a head-on accident, Williams placed him back into a seat in her SUV after the wreck.