A new era of leadership for the U.S. Supreme Court should mean that cameras finally come to that hallowed courtroom. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has called for cameras for a decade. But under Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the court resisted them on the grounds that they would alter the proceedings and tone and somehow violate justices’ privacy. Nonsense. But even if Roberts accepts cameras, it would be over the objections of justices including Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and David Souter. “The day you see a camera come into our courtroom, it’s going to roll over my dead body,” Souter said in 1996. But the opposition of a justice who doesn’t even own a computer shouldn’t rule the day in 2005.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Another tragic example of the breakdown in disaster relief efforts: The bodies of 45 people were found in a flooded New Orleans hospital. Some of these bodies were of people who died before the hurricane, but some of them died while waiting to be evacuated. Wouldn’t local disaster plans identify the hospitals — as well as the Superdome and convention center — as key targets for relief? More heads than just Michael Brown’s need to roll.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
President Bush at least acknowledged the race issue directly Monday as he toured New Orleans, saying “the storm didn’t discriminate and neither will the recovery effort. The rescue efforts were comprehensive. The recovery will be comprehensive.” But saying as much won’t be enough to make everybody believe it, which is why the nation needs to delve deeper into this divide.
After I took issue with Kanye West’s race-based criticism of the president on this blog, I heard from people suggesting West was only saying aloud what many African-Americans believe about the president generally and the reasons behind the pathetic federal response to Katrina specifically. As one reader said: “The truth was told. White people don’t want to hear the truth. Now you and the world can see it with your own eyes. What a shame.”
I still think the common denominator among those left waiting for help was not color but poverty; I cannot accept that in 2005, somebody in authority in Washington, D.C., would be slow to help those who are suffering because they are black. Then again, look at Darfur.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It’s good that a federal judge last week lifted a government-imposed gag order on librarians wanting to testify to Congress about FBI requests for information about library patrons and their reading habits. As the judge argued, the librarians have a First Amendment right to be part of a “current and lively debate in this country over the renewal of the Patriot Act.”
The librarians are on the front line of the most controversial provision of the act — let them give their perspective.
On another important civil rights issue, a federal court upheld the Bush administration’s power to hold an American citizen indefinitely without trial. Jose Padilla (see photo), the alleged “dirty bomb” plotter, has been jailed for three years without charges.
Yes, he is accused of having al-Qaida ties and thus of being an “enemy combatant,” but as an American, shouldn’t he either be charged or released? The potential for government abuse is troubling.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
When Roger Valadez wanted to know why he had been targeted by Wichita police during a BTK-related raid at his home last year, police told him that the search warrant affidavit couldn’t be released because it would compromise the ongoing BTK investigation.
Now, with Dennis Rader safely locked away, Valadez still wants to know why he was targeted, and Assistant District Attorney Kevin O’Connor last week told the court that the affidavit contains information “that, frankly, I don’t think Mr. Valadez wants to see.”
Maybe we should let Valadez be the judge of whether he can handle the truth. Sounds a lot like a CYA operation in progress. . .
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Conservative members of the State Board of Education are at it again. Today they will consider overriding the recommendations of another curriculum committee to change the standards for teaching sex education. Instead of allowing students to “opt out” of the sex ed classes, as nearly every school district now does without problems, the conservatives want every parent to have to fill out an “opt-in” form in order for their children to attend the classes.
The change is a bad solution based on rumors, not classroom realities. Board member John Bacon even claimed he heard that a bed had been used in one sex ed class. So now we’re basing education policy on an old Monty Python movie?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
