Constitution

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Obama's Law Professor Says DOMA Unconstitutional

Emma Ruby-Sachs | Posted 07.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: Unconstitutional, Marriage, Harvard University, Laurence Tribe, Equal Rights, Harvard Law School, Gay and Lesbian Rights, Department of Justice, Glad, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Constitution, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Barack Obama, Defense of Marriage Act, Same-Sex Marriage, Politics News

A campaign is underway to encourage the Department of Justice to refuse to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

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Who is Wise?

David M. Abromowitz | Posted 06.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Constitution, Princeton, Sonia Sotomayor, Politics News

When Sonia Sotomayor entered Princeton in 1972, the percentage of women undergraduates was roughly equivalent to the percentage of women there will be on the Supreme Court when she takes her seat.

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Friday Talking Points [79] -- Judicial Activism And Bias

Chris Weigant | Posted 06.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Mark Nickolas, Supreme Court, White House, Autoworkers, Burris, Constitutional Crisis, Power Struggle, Founding Fathers, Detainee Deaths, Gingrich, President, War Crimes, Rnc, Courts, Princeton, Midotw, Nancy Pelosi, Sotomayor, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Pussy Galore, Un, Ralph Nader, Judicial Activism, Republican National Committee, Court, Twitter, Terry McAuliffe, Congress, Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Constitution, Mddotw, Rod Blagojevich, Sonia Sotomayor, Truth Commission, Youtube, Banks, Hillary Clinton, Uaw, Bonuses, Up or Down Vote, Michael Guest, Same Sex, Nader, President Obama, Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize, United Nations, Blaggy, Filibuster, Bankers, Obama, Scotus, Prejudice, Auschwitz, Blago, Republican, Government, Blagojevich, Lionel Sosa, Pelosi, Clinton, Activism, Federal Government, Bias, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Defense of Marriage Act, Legislating From the Bench, Benefits, Gm, Pyne Prize, Roland Burris, Philip Alston, Gay, State Department, Checks and Balances, Mcauliffe, Chris Kelly, Secretary of State, Wall Street, Chris Weigant, Spousal Benefits, Nominee, Doma, Torture, Alston, Politics News

"Judicial activism" (or, alternatively, "legislating from the bench") is defined -- no matter what your political beliefs -- as "judges not ruling the...

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Bush v. Gore Rears Its Head (Part IV): A New Check on the Court to Defend the Rule of Law

Shahid Buttar | Posted 06.28.2009 | Politics

The false national consensus that national security should trump constitutional protections for liberty and privacy exemplifies such collusion today.

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Cheney and Torture

Jesse Larner | Posted 06.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Abuse, Charles Krauthammer, John Yoo, George W. Bush, Rule of Law, Guantanamo, David Addington, Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, Abu Ghraib, American Enterprise Institute, Jay Bybee, Constitution, Dan Froomkin, Benjamin Franklin, Torture, Gop, Politics News

Cheney and his ilk don't understand liberty, and they don't understand freedom, what it costs and what it's worth. They are small men and cowards, selling out the rule of law at the first whiff of danger.

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President Obama Reverses Bush Administration's Preemption Policy

Doug Kendall | Posted 06.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Preemption, Constitution, States, Barack Obama, President Obama, Politics News

Yesterday, the Obama administration recognized that states serve as "laboratories of democracy" and often are the most aggressive defenders of public health, safety, and the environment.

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Obama, Don't Defend DOMA

Emma Ruby-Sachs | Posted 06.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, Equality, Paul Sousa, Social Security, LGBT Issues, Doma, Defense of Marriage Act, Marriage Equality, Lgbt, Marriage, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Gay Rights, LGBT Rights, Glad, Constitution, LGBT Families, Gay Marriage, Politics News

Obama has the opportunity today, to stand up for equal rights by refusing to argue Defense of Marriage Act's constitutionality in court.

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Echoes of the Bible: Obama's Notre Dame Address

Aaron Zelinsky | Posted 06.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama Abortion, Abortion, Obama Notre Dame Protests, Jeremiah, Bible, The Bible, Obama Notre Dame Graduation Speech, Notre Dame, President Obama, Biblical, Obama, Obama Abortion, Obama Notre Dame, King James Bible, Exodus, Barack Obama, Obama Notre Dame Commencement, Luke, Fighting-Irish, Book of Joel, Letters to the Hebrews, Constitution, Preamble, Abortion Debate, Obama Bible, Original Sin, Seven Deadly Sins, Obama Biblical References Notre Dame, Psalms, Galatians, Obama Biblical References, Politics News

It's important to remember your audience, and Obama clearly did at Notre Dame. Here are eight key lines from Obama's address and the biblical passages they reference.

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What in the World is Jeff Sessions Talking About?

Doug Kendall | Posted 06.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts, Constitution, Jeff Sessions, Politics News

The issue is whether American judges may look for guidance in how judges in other countries with similar legal systems have resolved similar disputes.

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Bankers Dance the Federalism Tango

David O. Stewart | Posted 05.30.2009 | Business

Read More: George Bush, Banks, Andrew Cuomo, Subprime Mortgages, Constitution, Justice-William-Brennan, Federalism, Business News

Banks have been playing this jurisdictional shell game for generations, seeking federal charters when that suited them and state licensing laws when those were more advantageous, and playing the two against each other.

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An Officer's Obligation -- Say No to Torture

Matthew Alexander | Posted 05.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Enhanced Interrogations, War on Terror, Constitution, Torture Memos, Rule of Law, Torture, Politics News

As a former active duty military officer, it is troubling to me that other military officers followed unlawful orders to torture or abuse prisoners.

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Letting Texas Secede

Robbie Gennet | Posted 05.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: New Orleans, Wind Power, Supreme Court, Phil Gramm, Willie Nelson, Obama, Tibet, Arizona, Canada, Sxsw, Civil Rights, Military, New Mexico, Racism, Hurricane Katrina, Oklahoma, Constitution, Wikipedia, Energy, T. Boone Pickens, Karl Rove, Bible, California, Crime, War, Mexico, United States, Texas, Anti-Americanism, Darwin, Oil, Florida, Texas Secession, Alberto Gonzales, Unions, Politics News

Governor Rick Perry of Texas brought up the specter of Secession recently and upon polling, a fair amount of Texans and other Americans seem to think Texas seceding from the US would be a good idea.

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Torture and the Problem of Constitutional Evil: The Way Forward

Howard Schweber | Posted 05.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Lawyers, War on Terror, Graber, Impeachment, Yoo, Rule of Law, Truth Commission, Executive Authority, Noonan, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Evil, Addington, Prosecutions, Bybee, Constitution, Torture, Politics News

I have no hesitation in asserting that Judge Bybee should be subjected to impeachment proceedings, and that Bybee, Yoo, Addington et al. should face disbarment proceedings.

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Is the United States a Judeo-Christian Nation?

Judith Ellis | Posted 05.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Religion, Separation of Church and State, Islam, Turkey, Constitution, Judeo-Christian Nation, President Obama, Thomas Jefferson, Christianity, Judaism, Politics News

While I and many Americans are Christians, we are most certainly not a Judeo-Christian nation.

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Cautionary Observations for My Fellow Idealists

Dr. Peter Breggin | Posted 09.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Founders, Progressive, Progressive Movement, Constitution, Obama Idealism, Politics, American Values, Politics News

It is necessary to take a deep breath and ask ourselves if we are endangering America while we reform her by exercising too much government power, however idealistically.

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A Blessing on Gay Marriage from Iowa

Paul Raushenbush | Posted 05.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Crunchy Con, Supreme Court, Homosexuality, Public Christianity, Christianity, Hetrosexual, Constitution, Iowa Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage, Politics News

The Iowa Supreme Court did the just thing last week when it found laws prohibiting marriage between people of the same gender unconstitutional.

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Falling Short of Full Constitutional Protection for Gays in Iowa

Emma Ruby-Sachs | Posted 05.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Equal Rights Amendment, Supreme Court, Iowa, Equality, Gay Rights, Equal Rights, Equal Protection, Discrimination, Gay, Constitution, Gays, National, Gay Marriage, Gay Issues, Marriage Equality, Iowa Supreme Court, Politics News

In upholding gay marriage, the Iowan Court made a number of choices. Some of these were as progressive as the California Supreme Court's In re Marriage Casesruling and some were not.

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Confirm Harold Koh as State Department Legal Adviser

Brandt Goldstein | Posted 05.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: War on Terror, Rule of Law, President Obama, Harold Koh, Guantanamo, Oxford, State Department, Yale, Harvard, Senate, Human Rights, Treaties, Ted Olson, South Korea, Supreme Court, Cuba, Legal Adviser, Constitution, Obama Transition, Politics News

Harold Koh is a brilliant and hard-working lawyer with a strong dedication to protecting America's interests and upholding our Constitution.

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Will the California Supreme Court Strike Down Prop 8, or "Willy-Nilly Disregard" Its Duty?

Evan Wolfson | Posted 04.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: California Gay Marriage, Proposition 8, Prop 8, Chief Justice Ronald George, No on Prop 8, California Supreme Court, Freedom to Marry, Constitution, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, Evan Wolfson, Judges, Courts, Politics News

Unlike right-wing opponents of equality, who denounce and seek to punish courts for doing their job, I criticize only when they flinch or fail to do it.

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A Follow-up to Last Week's Piece

Byron Williams | Posted 04.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Christianity, Gay Rights, Constitution, Gay Marriage, Politics News

In this case, my personal support for same-gender marriage is secondary to my unequivocal support for equal protection under the law. Moreover, I am proud to have a position that puts me in the company of civil rights icons

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The Schools Are Destroying Freedom of Speech

John W. Whitehead | Posted 04.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Public Schools, Civic-Literacy, First Amendment, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, First Ammendment, Speech Ammendment, Constitution, 1st Ammendment, Freedom-of-Speech, Politics News

"The Constitution makes clear there can be no religious test for holding office, and it is just as clear there can be no religious test for individual...

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Let The People Choose Their Senators

David O. Stewart | Posted 04.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Senator Russ Feingold, Constitution, Senators, Constitutional Amendments, Democracy, Vice President Biden, Blagojevich, Ted Kaufman, Michael Bennett, Kristen Gillibrand, Elections, Beau Biden, Seventeenth Amendment, Special Elections, Politics News

Special elections are a lot of trouble and expense: Democracy is a lot of trouble and expense. Despotism is simple. In the eighteenth century, it was difficult to manage elections. Not today.

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Scalia the Homophobe and Barney Frank the Hero

Emma Ruby-Sachs | Posted 04.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, US Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barney Frank, Antonin Scalia, Homophobia, Scalia, Samuel Alito, Gay, Constitution, Scalia-Homophobe, Politics News

Barney Frank has called one of the most senior justices of the Supreme Court a homophobe.

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Stop the Financial Services "Super Czar" (Updated)

Don McNay | Posted 04.20.2009 | Business

Read More: Fiddler on the Roof, Wall Street Bailout, Populism, Hank Paulson, Shelia Bair, Main Street, Regulation, Bailout, Insurance, Obama Average Americans, Washington, Kentucky, Constitution, Wall Street Bonuses, Lexington KY, National-Association-of-Insurance-Commissioners, Personal Finance, State-Insurance-Regulators, Fdic, Financial Services, Systemic-Risk, Aig, Don McNay, Representative-Government, Insurance Companies, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, Barack Obama, Wall Street Regulators, Tim Geithner, Deregulation, Car Czar, Banking Crisis, Ben Bernanke, Systemic Risk Regulator, House Financial Services Committee, Bailout Outrage, Business News

There has been talk about appointing a new "Systemic Risk Regulator." This "Super Czar" would oversee all of the financial services industry. We had a "Super Czar" last year. His name was Henry Paulson.

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