EARLIER THIS year, I was moved to write about the victims of gun crimes who are considered fortunate survivors because they were 'only' shot and injured - when, in fact, many of these 'lucky' victims, their families and care-givers are sentenced to a lifetime of unimaginable suffering and need. The constraints of space will only allow me to provide one example. There is a young man I have known since bis boyhood and have watched him grow into an incredibly decent, caring, responsible, progressive and hard-working young man - just the kind of person whom our country desperately needs. We are quick to legislate burdensome, punitive and sometimes oppressive measures in the name of taxation or crimefighting. However, we officially ignore the weak, the helpless, the many victims of crime and...
Gay marriage ban would legislate morality To the editor:
Provinces have jurisdiction says new paper from The School of Public Policy CALGARY, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Earlier this year the federal government introduced sector-by-sector emissions reduction regulations as its stand on climate change. However, according to Prof. Al Lucas and co-author Jenette Yearsley, the Constitution limits Ottawa's ability to enact climate change legislation limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, Canada can only enact comprehensive emission limits if the provinces are at the table and agree to the plan.
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Humane Association is looking forward to examining a proposal announced today for federal legislation by United Egg Producers and the Humane Society of the United States to move egg-laying hens into the kind of "enriched colony systems" long endorsed and promoted by American Humane Association. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101108/DC97343LOGO )
Recently, I listened to gun-rights advocate Tina Wilson-Cohen, chairman of She Can Shoot, say the gun-violence measures currently before the Senate were reasonable, that she was in favor of background checks and that most gun owners were in favor of them. She also said that the problem with more background checks is that they fuel the paranoia of gun owners and certain members of Congress about a federal registry of gun owners. The word paranoia struck me. There have been times in the history of the United States when the government has made decisions based on paranoia. I'm thinking of the Red Scare of the 1920s, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II or the McCarthy trials of the Cold War. When our leaders have made decisions based on the paranoid beliefs of their con...
Contrary to manufactured hysteria, a recent Supreme Court ruling will not allow drug dealers to skirt prosecution in Virginia. There is no need for Gov. Tim Kaine to hasten lawmakers to a special session -- at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars the commonwealth can ill afford -- as has been suggested by an attorney general candidate. At issue is the court's ruling last month in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. In a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled that defendants' right to confront their accusers at trial extends to forensic scientists who test evidence used against them, a right denied by Massachusetts. The ruling means that the prosecution must now make the witnesses available. Every state that does not already do this is affected.
Dick Durbin's got a good idea. The year 2010 is already a nightmare for progressives, and it's only January. In one week alone, the health-care bill derailed, the liberal radio network Air America went silent, and the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment allows corporations to pump as much money as they want into political campaigns. I've got no answers on the first two, but a few suggestions for avoiding despair on the third, the most serious threat to American democracy in a generation. In a devastating decision, the high court cleared the way for one of those corporate takeovers you read about, only much bigger. If Exxon wants to spend $1 million (a bar tab for Big Oil) defeating an environmentalist running for city council, it can now do so. If Goldman Sachs wants to pay the...
Recent responses to the Virginia ultrasound bill included this comment by Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond: "We cannot legislate medicine. We cannot legislate morality. We cannot legislate religion." Please consider each of these statements. When the state legislature requires all public school students to have vaccines for sexually transmitted HPV viruses, is this not legislating medicine?
LOS Angeles' newest council member has picked a difficult challenge for his first foray into lawmaking: making skateboarders heed authority. This week Joe Buscaino filed a motion asking the city attorney to draw up a law that would require skateboarders of all ages to wear helmets and conform to other rules of the road. Currently, there's no specific language in the city's municipal code to deal with skateboarding.
On Independence Day, I watched the musical "1776," and one scene reminded me of the position of Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. when he rendered his decision last week on the constitutionality of Obamacare. In the movie, John Hancock, as president of the Continental Congress, had to cast a tie-breaking vote on independence. This required a unanimous vote in the body. Hancock voted for the resolution, prompting John Adams to respond, "You sank us." Justice Roberts' decision has angered many conservatives, but I believe he attempted to get at least one of the liberal justices to agree that the law was unconstitutional. I think once he realized that would not happen - and that his vote alone would overturn a law that was not only passed by a majority of Congress, but signed...
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