Warrant-less Searches-Letter to Congressman Jim Davis
I sent the following letter to my Congressman:
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Used when discussing judicial decisions at any level of the courts system, or articles related to judges or justices.
The Truth About Bush's Warrantless Searches
Let’s be sure we are totally clear about this warrant-less search issue. The President is not granted this authority as Commander-in-Chief, nor did the resolution permitting action in Afghanistan or Iraq. Further, they have not prevented any acts of terrorism, and they would not have prevented 9/11 as the V.P. is trying to claim. These actions are direct violations of the 4th amendment, and, the applicable are quite specific that no type of wiretaps are permissible other than those specif iced under the applicable laws. This is a dangerous precedent, and a revelation that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. However, since no apparent sex is involved, Congress will continue to sit on its hands.
Read morePatriot Act And Domestic Suveilance
This is what things like the PATRIOT Act have brought us to. Perhaps the Constitution should be moved from the Washington area to a safer location (maybe Canada can hold it for us until our own government is grown up enough to know how to use it safely). Apparently no one in Washington is over 21 years old. Obviously our previous lessons about the dangers of domestic surveillance by government agencies have been forgotten.
Read moreBush Calls Constitution a Goddamned Piece of Paper
Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act. Three people present for the meeting that day confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution ?a goddamned piece of paper.?
Read moreAlito A Little Extreme for My Tastes
If a police officer doesn?t know why a suspect is fleeing, it?s reasonable for the officer to shoot the suspect to death and ask questions later.
Read moreAlito Pushed Expansive View of Police Powers
New documents show that as a Reagan administration lawyer, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito “took an expansive view of government law-enforcement powers in numerous cases in which he was called upon to balance the prerogatives of police and prosecutors with the rights of individuals.”
Read moreHoping The Democrats Get A Spine
The Alito nomination comes at a critical moment for the Democratic Party. With President Bush’s poll numbers plummeting, Democrats are finding a new optimism about their chances in 2006 and 2008. But to capitalize on the Republicans’ weakness, the party needs to show that it has an alternative vision for the country.
Read moreAlito Faces Questions from the Senate
This guy fits right in with the current crop of Republicans. During his 1990 nomination as an appeals court judge, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito promised to recuse himself, to avoid potential conflicts of interest, in cases “involving Vanguard, in which he owned mutual fund shares; Smith Barney, his brokerage firm; First Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester, N.Y., which held his home mortgage; and his sister’s law firm.”
Read moreAlito's America A Scary Place
I might as well get a post about Bush’s Supreme Court Nominee out of the way. In bowing to the religious fanatics on the right, he’s pretty much sealed the fate of our Constitutional rights to be left alone by the government.
Read moreWhat Democrats Stand For
What do Democrats stand for? It seems a common refrain, or assumption, that Democrats do not have an overall theme or narrative, and I will certainly agree that the party as a whole does a rather bad job of articulating the message. But it lodged in my brain, and after a half hour of thought I realized that I, at least, know what I stand for. And it’s not complicated.
Read moreSupreme Court Litmus Test and Hipocracy
President Bush called attention to Harriet Miers’s religion in order to “patch a growing fissure” amongst conservatives over his Supreme Court nominee. “People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,” he said. “Part of Harriet Miers’s life is her religion.” President Bush shouldn’t exploit Harriet Miers’s faith to rally support for her nomination.
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