Before the American Revolution, British soldiers entered the homes of colonists at will, searching any person or place they wanted and often motivated by nothing more than political animosity. Resentment of this practice was a significant cause of…
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Category Archives: Constitution
The Season for Slogans and Scapegoats
While I am not one of those who believe in a monolithic liberal media, I do wonder whether Joseph Leiberman’s constitutional insensitivities would be so easily dismissed if he were running as a Republican.
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Majorities & Rights
Congressman Mike Pence is at it again. In comments made during debate over the recent court-stripping bill he sponsored, Pence asserted that "the notion of an independent judiciary is a flawed notion."
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Just One Vote
I am always mystified when polls show that most Americans don’t even consider judicial appointments when they vote. They don’t realize that the judiciary can change America profoundly. And they also don?t realize that, despite campaign rhetoric and talk radio sound-bites, the choice is not between "liberal" judges and "conservative" judges. In the world of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore, the terms liberal and conservative have become insults; they have lost whatever analytical meaning they ever had, and they definitely don’t help us understand the judicial choices confronting us.
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Witness
My religious tradition does not have a counterpart to the Christian concept of ?witness,? but as I understand it, witnessing implies an obligation to stand up for righteousness and truth. To bear witness is to speak out against injustice, to call attention to wrongs, be they civic or moral. It is an effort to bring us back to ?first principles.?
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