Here is our picture of the week from our erstwhile colleague in the City of Light, Eric Tenin.
Continue reading “Sunday in Paris with Eric”
Category: Society
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
“There is no gambling like politics,” Benjamin Disraeli used to say, and this week’s Values Voters Summit inWashington was the biggest poker game in town with all 7 Republican candidates at the gaming table.
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
How many of you know the difference between a right and a privilege? As most of the audience for Res Ipsa Loquitur have an interest in law and/or politics, I’m going to hazard the guess that most of you have at least a rudimentary understanding of the difference in terms although it is a deceptively complicated subject on a philosophical level. However, just so there is no mistake in fundamental terms, we’ll start with basic relevant definitions.
rights, n.,
1) plural of right, which is the collection of entitlements which a person may have and which are protected by the government and the courts or under an agreement (contract).
privileges and immunities, n.,
the fundamental rights that people enjoy in free governments, protected by the U.S. Constitution in Article IV: “The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities in the several States,” and specifically to be protected against state action by the Constitution’s 14th Amendment (1868): “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” The definition of “privileges and immunities” was first spelled out by Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington in 1823: “protection by the government, with the right to acquire and possess property of every kind, and to pursue and obtain happiness and safety, subject, nevertheless, to such restraints as the government may prescribe for the general good of the whole.” However, the exact nature of privileges and immunities which the state governments could limit has long been in dispute, with the U.S. Supreme Court gradually tipping toward protecting the individual rights of citizens against state statutes that might impinge on constitutional rights. [emphasis added]
rights given or reserved to the people by the U.S. Constitution, and in particular, the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments). These rights include: writ of habeas corpus, no bill of attainder, no duties or taxes on transporting goods from one state to another (Article I, Section 9); jury trials (Article III, Section 1); freedom of religion, speech, press (which includes all media), assembly and petition (First Amendment); state militia to bear arms (Second Amendment); no quartering of troops in homes (Third Amendment); no unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment); major (“capital and infamous”) crimes require indictment, no double jeopardy (more than one prosecution) for the same crime, no self-incrimination, right to due process, right to just compensation for property taken by eminent domain (Fifth Amendment); in criminal law, right to a speedy trial, to confront witnesses against one, and to counsel (Sixth Amendment); trial by jury (Seventh Amendment); right to bail, no excessive fines, and no cruel and unusual punishments (Eighth Amendment); unenumerated rights are reserved to the people (Ninth Amendment); equal protection of the laws (14th Amendment); no racial bars to voting (15th Amendment); no sex bar to voting (19th Amendment); and no poll tax (24th Amendment). Constitutional interpretation has expanded and added nuances to these rights. [emphasis added]
Now what would you say if you knew that state senators were proposing legislation that would convert Freedom of Speech from a right to a privilege? This is not a theoretical question. Four state senators from New York are currently considering proposing such legislation. Fortunately, the 1st Amendment gives us the right to discuss what a bad and scary idea it is that they propose.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Two California teens tipped police off to a cache of child pornography allegedly owned by 54-year-old Kraig Stockard. Nothing too novel about that, except that the teens learned of the illicit material after burgling Stockard’s barn. Breaking into the Dehli, California property was easy enough and the pair thought they were taking 50 blank CDs as part of the loot. When they got home to divvy up the booty, they noticed about 30 of the CDs had pornographic images, many of them of children. The two thieves, age 19 and 15, contacted Merced County Sheriff”s deputies and fessed up.
The Eighth Amendment clearly states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Bridgett Nickerson Boyd found a new meaning to that prohibition after Deputy Sheriff Mark Goad pulled her over on a Texas highway. After she had to go to the hospital with a racing heart, she was handcuffed and, she alleges, required to listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. By any measure, that would shock the conscience as cruel and unusual punishment.
Continue reading “Cruel and Unusual Punishment? Woman Sues Over Arrest and Being Forced To Listen To Rush Limbaugh”
Florida may be facing rising unemployment, funding cuts of major social programs, and environmental threats, but Rep. Ritch Workman (R-Melbourne) has stepped forward to tackle an issue that few have even acknowledged, let alone addressed, in the halls of power: dwarf-tossing. Workman is seeking to lift the ban on dwarf-tossing and to return Florida to a competitive position in the sport.
Continue reading “Florida Legislator Seeks To Legalize Dwarf-Tossing”
Call it Survivor: Bettandorf. There is an interesting employment case out of Bettandorf, Iowa where a former convenience clerk was able to secure unemployment benefits after quitting an owner called “the boss from hell.” William Ernst, the owner of a Bettandorf, Iowa-based chain of QC Marts, created a contest where employees would guess which one of them will be the next one fired. The prize was $10. Misty Shelsky of Davenport, Iowa, quit rather than play along and recently won a ruling from an administrative judge to secure unemployment benefits.
Continue reading “Convenience Store Loses Employment Case After Boss Asks Workers To Bet On Who Will Be Fired Next”
Today, our country passes an important anniversary, which (unlike the 9-11 anniversary) will be largely ignored by politicians and the White House. We have now been in Afghanistan for ten years. That’s right, ten years. We have had 2 million troops in the country and lost roughly 1,700 lives. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet, the President and other politicians would prefer to have the anniversary pass without much notice for good reason. It has been a disaster and it is not improving. In the meantime, the public is heavily opposed to our presence in the country. In the meantime, a general has used the anniversary to assure the American people we are now halfway to meeting our goals.
Continue reading “Ten Years in Afghanistan: America’s Marks A Milestone With a Shrug and a Shutter”
I recently ran a couple of columns (here and here) and postings criticizing President Obama’s assertion of the right to kill citizens as a presidential prerogative. It now appears that he has delegated the selection of targets for killings to a panel of unnamed officials who determine which people should be killed without a trial or even a charge. When it comes to citizens like Anwar al-Awlaki, the killings raise serious constitutional problems that are being kept from the courts by the Administration.
Continue reading “Death Panel: Obama Delegates Hit List To Panel of Unnamed Officials”
In a previous, I expressed profound doubt over the latest installment of “Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: Action Hero.” If you recall, after his being featured a race car driver, great white hunter, jet pilot, oceanologist, martial artist and Hell’s Angel, Putin was shown as a scuba diver. While only having dived three times, Putin was filmed at an ancient Greek Black sea site and . . . you guessed it . . . he “discovered” two sixth century urns under the water — one of which was in pristine condition with nary a seaweed adhering to its surface. Most of us laughed at the display of unrestrained megalomania, but the Russians insisted that it just shows how superhuman Putin is. Now, after ridicule outside of Russian, an aide admitted it was staged.
Continue reading “Putin’ On A Show: Russian Aide Admits Putin Discovery of Ancient Urns Was Staged”
I was very saddened to very of the loss of Steve Jobs, one of the most influential and brightest minds of our generation. I had the first Apple computer and have had every major model since the start of the company. In other words, he had me at hello.
Continue reading “Farewell and Well Done”
Well, we finally have been cited as the inspiration for reforms in England. Prime Minister David Cameron is suggesting a “fat tax” on foods to combat obesity and to avoid becoming like the United States — a nation of fat people. He appears to be unaware that we prefer to call ourselves a Rubenesque nation.
Continue reading “PM Cameron Calls For Fat Tax To Prevent England From Becoming . . . Well . . . Us”
Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor has created a firestorm of controversy in Topeka, Kansas by announcing that his office will no longer prosecute domestic abuse cases and other misdemeanors due to a lack of funds. Notably, Taylor was faced with a 10 percent budget cut, but elected to simply bar prosecution of crimes like domestic abuse.
Continue reading “Topeka District Attorney Refuses to Prosecute Domestic Abuse Cases After His Budget is Cut”
Below is today’s column in USA Today (to run in paper form on Wednesday) on President Barack Obama’s claim to the right to kill citizens as dangers to the nation. Ironically, the day after I wrote the Los Angeles Times column on Obama’s disastrous impact on the civil liberties movement in the United States (including his assertion of the right to kill citizens on his own authority), the U.S. killed two citizens in Yemen. Notably, Ron Paul (who has emerged as the only candidate discussing these issues from a civil libertarian perspective) suggested an impeachment inquiry based on the killing of the two citizens. Below is the column in USA Today.
Continue reading “The Hit List: The Public Applauds As President Obama Kills Two Citizens As A Presidential Prerogative”
Researchers led by MIT professor Daniel Nocera have announced the creation of “artificial leaves” that can convert the energy of sunlight directly into a chemical fuel that can be stored and used later as an energy source. The leaf uses abundant material and could prove a breakthrough in the search for new fuel systems.