Today I will be speaking at Brazosport College in Lake Jackson, Texas. I have previously spoken at the college which was selected as one of the top ten community colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute. The Clute and Lake Jackson areas are also the location of the Ron Paul Institute. I will be speaking on “The Supreme Court and Society: A review of current and upcoming Supreme Court cases.” Continue reading “Turley to Speak on Supreme Court at Brazosport College”
Below is my column in Fox.com on the indictment of former President Donald Trump and how this case is a test not just for Trump but the New York legal system.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Yielding to Temptation: Why The Trump Case is a Test Not Just for the President but the Legal System”
Western Michigan University Music professor Daniel Mattson prides himself on being a “world-class trombonist.” He says that he had a promising and successful academic career when he was a gay faculty member. However, he alleges that changed when he found religion and declared that he was no longer gay. In a new lawsuit, Mattson claims that the university’s president, its College of Fine Arts dean, its School of Music director and a former director became openly hostile to him and ultimately denied the renewal of his contract after a quarter of century.
Vito Perrone is out of a job. The incoming Massachusetts school superintendent was ready to start as head of Easthampton Schools when scandal struck. No, it was not embezzlement or some stalking charge as principal of Easthampton High School where he previously served with distinction for eight years. Perrone made the unpardonable error of sending an email to Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and Suzanne Colby, executive assistant to the committee, that referred to them as “ladies.” What is most interesting about the outrage of Kwiecinski and Colby at being sent such a greeting is that it is considered a “microaggression,” but in this case had a decidedly macro impact. Continue reading “Microaggression Goes Macro in Massachusetts: Superintendent Loses Job After Referring to Two Individuals as “Ladies””
Below is my column on how the upcoming election could play out with three different criminal cases in New York, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. This morning we are reading new leaks from the Justice Department’s grand jury investigation. It is another disheartening example of intentional leaks in violation of federal law and DOJ policies. The federal judge in the case seems entirely unconcerned about the violations that are clearly meant to undermine former president Donald Trump and pressure witnesses.
Here is the column:
Below is my column in the New York Post on the level of joy being expressed by many over the indictment of former president Donald Trump, including former FBI Director James Comey. The thrill kill atmosphere ignores the blatantly political history behind this indictment. In the Sixteenth Century, the poet John Lyly wrote “The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war.” It also appears equally true “in love and War Trump.”
Here is the column:
NPR recently had to carry through on a long-announced series of layoffs due to a significant drop in revenue. The result was apparently a tense meeting with executives, according to Bloomberg, including accusations that the liberal outlet was racist and anti-trans in its selection of employees for termination. What was most interesting about the account were objections to “tone policing” and the claim that “civility is a weapon wielded by the powerful.” We have strived since the formation of this blog to encourage civility as a core value for our community. We have not been entirely successful, though I appreciate that the blog is better than most in the tenor of its commentary. It was, therefore interesting to see people in the media objecting to civility as a form of control by the powerful. Continue reading ““Civility is a Weapon Wielded by the Powerful”: NPR Employees Object to “Tone Policing””
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Tennessee law limiting drag shows on constitutional grounds. Like many, I have been appalled by some images of very young children watching highly sexualized routines in schools or businesses. However, many of these events are held off school grounds and with the support of their parents. As a parent of four, I cannot imagine taking my kids to some of these shows, but we all raise our kids according to our own values. Putting that concern aside, I have serious free speech concerns over the reach of these laws. Federal district judge Thomas Parker granted an injunction on the grounds that the Tennessee law is vague and overly broad. I think that Judge Parker is right.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Enjoins Tennessee Law Limiting Drag Shows”
There is an interesting controversy that has erupted at the University of Pittsburgh after Dr. Gabby Yearwood, who teaches in both the anthropology and law schools, was asked by swimmer Riley Gaines if he could tell the gender of persons from skeletal remains. He denied that it was possible despite the widely accepted ability to do so in his field. The answer may reflect the ongoing push in anthropology, discussed in an earlier blog column, to put an end to gender identifications. Some insist that anthropologists need to know how an ancient human may have chosen to identify themselves. Continue reading “Pittsburgh Law and Anthropology Professor Causes Uproar in Denying Ability to Tell Gender from Human Bones”
We have been discussing the rising intolerance on our campuses and the repeated cancelling of events by shouting down or obstructing speakers. The latest such example comes from Virginia Commonwealth University where pro-choice students obstructed a pro-life event. Continue reading ““Fascists Go Home”: Students Shutdown Pro-Life Event at VCU”
Below is my column in Fox.com on the Trump indictment. There is a report of 34 counts against former President Donald Trump, which may be count stacking based on individual payments or documents. We will have to wait to see. In the meantime, the prosecution came about in the most overtly political way from Bragg campaigning on charging Trump to a public pressure campaign to indict from his former lead prosecutor.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Trump Indictment: Making History in the Worst Possible Way”
I have often discussed in columns what I call our “age of rage.” There may be no more defining moment of that age than what unfolded today in the Capitol as Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., screamed about gun control. Various Democratic members, including former House Majority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md, tried to calm Bowman. However, after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, asked him to stop yelling, Bowman shouted “I was screaming before you interrupted me,” which could now go down as the epitaph for our age.
I recently wrote a column on how Democrats in California are being challenged to put their money where their mouth has been on reparations. For years, Democrats have insisted that reparations are a moral imperative. Now, however, the bill has come due and advocates in a Wednesday hearing confronted members of the California Reparations Task Force in asking “where’s the money?” Some are now demanding more than $5 million per resident as Reparations Board member Lisa Holder of the Equal Justice Society promised that the committee’s “recommendations will be breathtaking.”
Columbia University law students and alums are in an uproar over an Instagram post that showed students in the Federalist Society meeting with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at the Court. It would ordinarily be a singular experience for law students to spend time with one of the nine justices. That is not how it went over at Columbia where some are outraged by the meeting and Columbia’s posting the picture on its social media account. The Empowering Women of Color group announced it was “withdrawing our participation from Columbia Law School recruiting events.” Columbia’s own Center for Engaged Pedagogy, simply declared “WTF is wrong with you.” Continue reading ““WTF is Wrong with You”: Columbia Center and Law Students Protest Meeting With Justice Kavanaugh”
Aaron Edwards, a theologian at Cliff College in England, has been reportedly fired after he declared homosexuality a sin on Twitter. He was also threatened with being reported to authorities as a “terrorist” for his views. It is the latest attack on religious and political speech in Great Britain. Continue reading “Sins of the Father: Theologian Fired by Bible College for Calling Homosexuality a Sin”