What do John Stagliano, Lizzy Borden, and Rob Zicari have in common? All three were prosecuted under Federal obscenity laws. Lizzy Borden and Rob Zicari were sentenced to 1-year prison terms while Stagliano’s indictment was dropped by the Court. ReasonTV recently did a story on the idea of obscenity: The idea of obscenity is, in [...]
Here is an interesting question to ponder: does Congress have the power to exempt from the United States Supreme Court or Federal courts cases dealing with certain topics? This question arises from a rather startling trend I’ve noticed within conservative circles, and that is the desire to see certain topics stripped from Federal jurisdiction, the [...]
Note: This discussion should be considered applicable to the United States only. Prayers are one of the dominating themes of religion. They range from simple verbal requests to a deity to offerings, sacrifices, and ceremonies trying to win the deity’s favor or praise, or to ask that they not be vanquished in some weather phenomenon [...]
In typical discussions of morality, two topics tend to come up more than most: sex and abortion. Obviously the two are related — without the former you would not have the latter, but also, and obviously, without the former, you and I would not exist. This discussion will also focus primarily on the former. The [...]
If you threaten to take the words "under God" out of the pledge of allegiance, you’re a secular, anti-American lunatic. Or so the Christian right in this country would have you believe. For me, I say don’t remove the words "under God", instead repeal the whole, freakin’ thing. Take the entire pledge out of the [...]
Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat.1 In the United States of America, any person accused of a crime is to be presumed innocent until properly obtained, admissible and relevant evidence is presented to a jury within a Court of Law and that jury determines otherwise. People are presumed innocent … innocent until a [...]
As an attorney, Elena Kagan, currently the Solicitor General of the United States, has a distinguished and accomplished career. However she does not have any experience as a jurist, which makes her nomination by President Obama to replace retiring United States Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens perplexing. Typically service as a judge in [...]
The Constitution typically is interpreted to be superior to every branch of government in the United States. It lays the framework for the Federal government and grants its powers while laying out explicitly several restrictions. Article VI of the Constitution includes what is called the "Supremacy Clause": This Constitution, and the Laws of the United [...]
Let me lay this idea out there, which I will expand on in a later article: A right is inherent and inalienable, something for which no action is required of anyone else for you to retain, but much action is required of you for you to protect. Feel free to discuss it.
Typically when discussing abortion, many in both the "pro-life" and "pro-choice" camps tend to focus on the infamous Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973). But Roe was not the first case to address abortion, and it certainly was not the last. Like many other decisions, the Supreme Court built the jurisprudence of Roe upon [...]
