Recently in Constitutional Law Category

Jay,

I think it's great that so many Americans want to volunteer for good causes, and I have no problem that many want to work with faith-based groups. Americans can volunteer for and/or donate to the charity of their choice; the government, however, cannot.

The First Amendment makes it clear that public funds should never go toward religious activities. Yet, certain people want to keep pushing programs that will do just that. One of those programs is happening right here in our backyard, and I would like to know how anyone can even justify it.  

The program I'm talking about is the "D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program," which thanks to a few select senators, may be reauthorized, despite the fact that it is unconstitutional and completely unsuccessful.

Jay, any sensible health care reform plan is going to have to cover women's reproductive health care more completely and equitably than the current system.

We need to listen to those in the medical field as to what is the best health care package for every American, women obviously included, and follow that advice.

As of today, it seems medical experts believe abortion procedures should be included in a basic health care package. Nearly 90 percent of insurers currently cover abortion, according to a 2002 survey by the Guttmacher Institute. What you're proposing, Jay, seems to suggest that women give up a benefit they are already receiving under their private insurance policies. Again, this new health care policy is supposed to make health care more accessible, not less.

Barry, you and I often disagree on a variety of issues that focus on the interpretation of our constitutional rights.  But, I am sure you'll agree that as we once again celebrate our nation's independence, this is the perfect time to reflect on the underpinnings of our freedom - the Declaration of Independence and the other foundational documents that make up the framework of our republic.  

It seems more and more people are taking a moment during their July 4th holiday to pause and focus on the Declaration of Independence - even an increase, according to the Associated Press, in the number of people who are reciting the historic document at holiday celebrations. 

Jay, give me a break.  Four of the nine Justices of the Supreme Court yesterday reached the same conclusion that Judge Sonia Sotomayor did as a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  The other five reached an alternative conclusion.  So, are you suggesting that Judge Sotomayor is out of the judicial mainstream?  Or are you suggesting that four sitting justices (technically, three because Justice Souter has retired) are out of the same mainstream?  Last week, Clarence Thomas was a lone dissenter in a case involving a strip search of a 14 year old woman at a high school.  Maybe he is out of the mainstream, too.  How many mainstreams are there? (The Alliance for Justice has done a new report on just how careful Judge Sotomayor is in civil rights cases.)

Yesterday's decision will play no significant role in the ultimate decision about Judge Sotomayor's elevation to the high court. She will be on the Supreme Court by the time oral arguments begin in October, and will likely be there for the special September rehearing in the case of the film/ad about Hillary Clinton which the Court also ordered yesterday.  No matter how much money the "Right" spends on ads and no matter how much nonsense Republican Senators spout about "original intent", "strict constructionism" and other code-words for "we don't like anybody Obama wants on the court", she will be approved by a clear Senate majority.
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A breathless nation awaited yesterday's decision by the PBS board about whether to actually require its member stations to adhere to a basic rule.  OK, maybe it wasn't exactly the whole country holding its breath, but a handful of people were interested.

The PBS board met to decide whether member stations must actually follow bylaws passed in the mid-l980s. These bylaws stated that those stations receiving PBS programming should not air partisan, commercial or sectarian programming. For 25 years, the board has turned a blind eye to enforcing its restriction on sectarian programming, but after yesterday's vote, no longer. 

Stations will not be allowed to carry sectarian programming from here on out or they will lose their membership status, the board said. (This means that those stations would not have access to popular shows like "Sesame Street" and "The News Hour.") That's a good decision. There's no reason for PBS stations to show proselytizing or evangelistic programming, particularly with the explosion of television channels available in recent years.  With PBS paid for partly with taxpayer dollars, it's perfectly defensible constitutionally to forbid religious programming. And with plenty of other broadcast opportunities for religious programming, PBS is by no means required to provide them a forum.

Sonia Sotomayor's judicial record is pretty sparse on many of the issue you and I debate on this blog, Jay.  This did not stop you from announcing on Fox News last Friday that she had an  "very very strict" position on the...

Well, Jay, let's move from the national scene to a local one. Americans United has now filed a precedent-setting lawsuit challenging the use of a church for a public high school graduation ceremony in Wisconsin. We had asked a number...

Maybe  James Dobson was just having a particularly bad day.  As the top Religious Right leader gave a "farewell speech" to the staff at Focus On the Family he noted that "we are awash in evil" and that "humanly speaking,...

Jay, I'm happy to talk about your fears about creeping internationalism and the end of United States sovereignty.  But wait!  You provide no evidence that this administration wants to give up America's constitutional form of government or even its currency (that fear...

In this space, we talk about a variety of issues - mostly along 'church/state' lines.  Barry, I am concerned about something I see developing in our 'state' - in our nation - and I want to see what you think....