Interesting:
A state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a western Pennsylvania township violated constitutional protections in forcing a sexually oriented business to close on minor holidays such as Flag Day.
…
The video and book store, Adultland XXX, faced the prospect of being shut down for a year because it conducted sales on Flag Day 2006. It previously [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Constitutional Issues'
"Constitution Day" Apparently Not on the List
November 19th, 2008 · No Comments
Tags: Constitutional Issues · Freedom of Contract · Law Enforcement Abuses · Property Rights · Society, Religion, Culture Wars
On the Castro Confrontation Incident
November 17th, 2008 · 1 Comment
First, the video:
Two observations:
1. If these soulless cretins went into an insular Hasidic community in Brooklyn and tried to tell the residents — who had been minding their own business — that they were sinners, that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and that God abhors their "lifestyle choices," [...]
Tags: First Amendment - Speech · Gay Rights and Issues · Society, Religion, Culture Wars
Who Says Gay Marriage is "The New Civil Rights Movement"?
November 16th, 2008 · No Comments
These folks do:
Meanwhile, five civil rights groups asked California's highest court Friday to annul the ban on the grounds that Proposition 8 threatens the legal standing of all minority groups, not just gays.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and two other groups petitioned [...]
Tags: Constitutional Issues · Gay Rights and Issues · Law · Society, Religion, Culture Wars
Corky Scalia's Inadvertent Libertarianism
November 13th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Attributed to Scalia in yesterday's oral arguments for Pleasant Grove City v. Summum:
"You can't run a museum if you have to accept everything, right?"
Right — Which is exactly why the government should not be running museums in the first place.
As for the outcome of this bizarre case, I think Chief Corky Roberts summed it [...]
Tags: First Amendment - Religion · First Amendment - Speech · Libertarianism · Public Goods v. Private Goods · Updates
On Calls to Revoke LDS' Tax-Exempt Status
November 9th, 2008 · 8 Comments
Consider the following correction in Sunday's Washington Post:
Because of an editing error, the Nov. 7 op-ed column "Vows That Can't Be Voted Down" incorrectly suggested that the Mormon Church had contributed funds to efforts to pass Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in California. The op-ed should have said "members of the [...]
Tags: First Amendment - Religion · First Amendment - Speech · Gay Rights and Issues · Law · Society, Religion, Culture Wars · Taxation & Fiscal Policy
An Open Letter to L. Whitney Clayton
November 7th, 2008 · 6 Comments
Dear Shaman Clayton,
If someone were to walk up to me, hit me in the face for no legitimate reason and walk away, then I would probably not chase him down just to hit him back.
But when someone walks up to me, hits me in the face for no legitimate reason and then tells me it's [...]
Tags: First Amendment - Religion · Gay Rights and Issues · Law · Politics · Society, Religion, Culture Wars
On What "Closing Guantanamo" Does and Does Not Mean
November 3rd, 2008 · No Comments
I'm a bit confused by this New York Times article on the future of the detainee facility at Guantanamo after the election:
As the Bush administration enters its final months with no apparent plan to close the Guantánamo Bay camp, an extensive review of the government's military tribunal files suggests that dozens of the roughly 255 [...]
Tags: Terror v. Civil Liberties
D.C. to Commence NYC-Inspired Worthless Subway Searches
November 2nd, 2008 · No Comments
The District of Columbia's subway bureaucracy has announced that it will commence warrantless, suspicionless searches at subway entrances:
The program is modeled after one begun three years ago in New York that has withstood legal challenges. However, experts said it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of such searches, beyond assuring the public that police are [...]
Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · New York City & State · Privacy Issues · Terror v. Civil Liberties · Updates
On the Supposed Impropriety of "Discriminating Against Discriminators"
October 31st, 2008 · 1 Comment
The church and the slave prison stand next to each other; the groans and cries of the heartbroken slave are often drowned in the pious devotions of his religious master. The church-going bell and the auctioneer's bell chime in with each other; the pulpit and the auctioneer's block stand in the same neighbourhood; while the [...]
Tags: Constitutional Issues · Gay Rights and Issues · Law · Society, Religion, Culture Wars
The Election and the Courts: An Anecdote
October 29th, 2008 · No Comments
Four more years of filling the federal courts with judges who write opinions like this?
Both the Cobb County Commission [Georgia] and the Cobb County Planning Commission have a long tradition of opening their meetings with a prayer offered by volunteer clergy or other members of the community. The clergy have represented a variety of faiths, [...]
Tags: First Amendment - Religion · Law · Society, Religion, Culture Wars

















