So much for Independence Day. “The majority opinion in Earls reflects some of the worst results-based decision-making we’ve seen since Bush v. Gore. And like Bush v. Gore, it is rooted in panic, expediency, and a twisting of prior precedent to fit the facts.” Dahlia Lithwick excoriates the Supreme Court for their recent decision to force urine tests on high school kids.
Category: Civil Liberties
Executing the Death Penalty.
A US District Court Judge declares the (federal) death penalty unconstitutional. Let’s hope the decision fares better than the Pledge one did.
One Nation and Countless Careerists, Under God.
“Oh my name it is nothin’, my age it means less
The country I come from is called the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there the laws to abide
And that land that I live in has God on its side.”
Bob Dylan, “With God on Our Side”
A Federal Court declares the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, and all Hell breaks loose, with editorialists, Senators, and even our Fearless Leader lining up to decry the decision. (For their part, the House scurried out onto the steps of the Capitol to recite the Pledge en masse.) I dunno. I know I’m not the mean in these particular instances, but as a kid forced to recite the Pledge every morning in elementary school, I always found the name-dropping of God a bit strange and superfluous. I guess the lesson here, folks, is don’t vote against God in an election year. Speaking of which, the GOP are latching on to the decision as a centerpiece to their fall campaigns. Hmmm…corporate malfeasance still seems a higher priority to me than this judicial slighting of our national deity. Somehow, I think He can handle it. (But, just in case, the Supreme Court today ensured that everyone’s tax money can be used to pay Him tribute.)
Card-carrying members of the public library.
Armed with the Patriot Act (what a wonderfully Orwellian name) signed by Dubya last October, the FBI begins scouring libraries to check “terrorist” reading habits. Good news for your local Barnes and Noble, I suppose, who’ll probably be selling a lot more copies of The Anarchist’s Cookbook from now herein. I’d love to see a sample list of what books make the FBI’s red flag list.
Minority Reporters.
The Voice takes a look at the legal dream team who are leading Dubya’s assault on civil liberties.
Off the reservation?
Is John Ashcroft becoming a liability to the Bush White House as well as a national embarrassment?
Making Sensenbrenner.
A key Republican comes out against the Ashcroft revisions to the FBI.
Paging J. Edgar.
Ashcroft loosens restrictions on the FBI in the name of fighting terrorism. Hmmm…I wonder if he’ll let them conduct surveillance on gun nuts.