Topic: U.S. Supreme Court

GOP Week in Review

March 6, 2009 |

Senate State and Local Government Committee approves election integrity bill and legislation honoring Republican Majority on State Election Commission

NASHVILLE, TN:  Legislation protecting the integrity of elections in Tennessee overcame its first hurdle towards passage this week with approval by the Senate State and Local Government Committee.   The bill requires voters to provide photo identification to guard against fraud and assure only U.S. citizens vote.

“Unfortunately, we know that voter fraud exists and that there are people who try to be dishonest in an election,” said Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), Chairman of the Committee and sponsor of the bill.  “This bill aims to curtail such abuse by making sure those persons voting are who they say they are.” «Read the rest of this article»

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Obama overturns Bush decision to cut international funding for family planning

By Christine Anne Piesyk | January 23, 2009 |

Without a doubt, President Barack Obama hit the ground running this week, putting pen to paper and reversing a Bush administration ruling that kept U.S. dollars from funding worldwide family planning clinics that promote abortion and counseling services related to abortion and family planning. Until today, the law prohibited any organization receiving family-planning funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development from offering abortions or counseling for abortions.

President Obama said he did not want family planning to be used a “political wedge” and refused to continue that “stale and fruitless debate.” «Read the rest of this article»

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Texas developer files lawsuits to bulldoze Freedom of the Press

December 12, 2008 |

Targets include book author, publisher, law professor Richard Epstein and newspapers that published book review. The eminent domain and redevelopment issues in this case, all of which have roots in the precedent setting Supreme Court Kelo vs City of New London (CT)  mirror issues that have arisen in Clarksville in the past 15 months, including a libel lawsuit against the grassroots Clarksville Property Rights Coalition.

Dallas, Texas: In perhaps the most striking example of a disturbing national trend, Dallas developer H. Walker Royall has launched a lawsuit spree to silence any media or public affairs commentator who dares expose his attempted abuse of eminent domain.  Similar suits have been filed in Tennessee, Missouri and elsewhere by developers and governments looking to silence critics of eminent domain for private gain.

Royall worked with the city of Freeport, Texas, to try to condemn a generations-old shrimp business owned by the Gore family to make way for a luxury marina.  The project became the subject of the book, Bulldozed: ‘Kelo,’ Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land, authored by veteran legal journalist Carla Main.  «Read the rest of this article»

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Texas School Board should uphold sound science, reject creationism

November 21, 2008 |

Religious Right Push For Creationist Concepts In Texas Science Standards Could Damage Textbooks Nationwide, Says AU’s Lynn

AU Executive Director Barry Lynn

Americans United for Separation of Church and State on Wednesday urged the Texas State Board of Education to stick to sound science and reject creationist concepts when revising its science standards. The state school board is currently examining the science curriculum, which is reviewed and updated every 10 years. The Seattle-based Discovery Institute and other Religious Right forces are seeking to include loopholes that undermine instruction about evolution and open the door to creationist ideas.

Scientists, teachers, mainstream religious leaders and civil liberties activists want to improve the Texas standards to ensure that the public school classroom does not become a vehicle for religious indoctrination.

“Public schools should educate, not indoctrinate. The Religious Right is exploiting Texas public schools to push a narrow viewpoint and in the process is doing a great disservice to its students, not to mention undermining the mandates of our Constitution.” ~~   Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. «Read the rest of this article»

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Comedian George Carlin dead at 71

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 23, 2008 |

It seems that so many people in the celebrity spotlight of my youth are passing away. Designers, singers, actors, activists, even politicians — they’ve crossed that line that marks the last decades of their lives, and then they are gone.

The often irreverent and always funny George Carlin is the latest name on the list. Carlin died Sunday of heart failure at age 71. From the vantage point of youth, 71 was “old,” distant, beyond comprehension. From the vantage point closer to 60, his 71 years now seems pretty young. I remember Carlin first as “the hippy dippy weatherman” — a tamer version of Carlin in those early days.

In the very early 60s, Carlin’s comedy was tame. Then he fell under the spell of controversial Lenny Bruce, whose ribald and often vulgar comedy inspired and led Carlin in a new groundbreaking direction. Combined with the social unrest of the Vietnam era, Carlin quickly broke new ground using comedy to make his message clear. part of that message was simply to make us think. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments

Changes to Social Security Disability: Detrimental to people with disabilities?

December 16, 2007 |

For decades, Congress, the United States Supreme Court, and the Social Security Administration have recognized that the informality of SSA’s process is a critical aspect of the program. Creating unreasonable procedural barriers to eligibility is inconsistent with Congress’ intent to keep the process informal and non-adversarial, and with the intent of the program itself, which is to correctly determine eligibility for claimants, awarding benefits if a person meets the statutory requirements.

On October 29, 2007, the Social Security Administration (SSA) published proposed regulations that make significant changes to the SSA appeals process, including hearings before administrative law judges (ALJs). Comments must be submitted on or before December 28, 2007 to the Commissioner of Social Security, P.O. Box 17703, Baltimore MD 21203.
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