The ongoing shame of Guantanamo

What is becoming increasingly clear is that the government does not know what to do with the prisoners who are being held in Guantanamo. They are being held without charges, some for over a decade with no hope of a proper trial or being released. The prisoners themselves realize this, and we have some of them committing suicide (though there are darker suspicions of homicide) and others going on hunger strikes and having to be force-fed. [Read more…]

When famous public figures die

Margaret Thatcher was a very polarizing figure during her time in public life. Some loved her policies, others hated them, with me falling in the latter category. Following her death, there has been the predictable reaction from some quarters that those who disliked her actions should not say anything bad about her out of respect for her family. Of course, when the dead person is an enemy (such as bin Laden or Saddam Hussein and his sons) their delicate sense of propriety seems to disappear and we had in the US gleeful gloating at the highest levels (see here and here). [Read more…]

Obama and the Grand Bargain

It is appalling to see president Obama once again offer cuts in Social Security and Medicare in order to get a budget deal. He seems to be really eager to give the Republicans not only something that is opposed by his supporters, but also something that will be used as a cudgel against the Democrats in future elections, when the Republicans can run on the platform that it was the Democrats who wanted to cut these prized programs. [Read more…]

Update on the constitutionality of ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance

In discussing the issue of how the US Supreme Court may dismiss one or both of the same-sex marriage cases that it heard last week because of the lack of standing of the parties to sue even though the lower courts had granted them that right, I was reminded of an earlier case that had similar issues and decided to look into what had happened subsequently, to see if the issue had been resolved. [Read more…]

A legal conundrum

Apart from the substance of the issues involved, the two same-sex marriage cases argued before the US Supreme Court last week provided an interesting legal twist.

In the adversarial system that exists in the US, the two parties involved must have a direct vested interest in the issue in order to have ‘standing’ to argue their side. For example, if the public school system in the district that I live in decides to teach religious ideas in science classes, I cannot take them to court simply because I, as a concerned citizen, think it violates the constitution. But if my child is in one of the classes that is doing this, then I can claim that I, as the legal custodian of the child and responsible for her welfare, am experiencing direct harm and can sue to stop the practice. [Read more…]

Establishment Clause? What Establishment Clause?

In another sign of desperation at the increasing secularization of society that is resulting in religion being relegated to its proper sphere of the private domain, the legislature of North Carolina is proposing a bill that would allow the state to declare an official religion as well as “nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies statewide”. The bill reads in part: [Read more…]