Weekly Poll: Your Opinion on Same Sex Marriage

Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to review two cases dealing with same sex marriage. Some observers believe this move might result in a decision that will affect gay rights nation-wide. What do you think?

Weekly Quiz: Test Yourself on this Week’s Events

The weekly quiz is now live in Mypoliscilab. Good luck!

Weekly Poll: Your Opinion on the Affordable Care Act Decision

Some legal experts were surprised by Chief Justice John Roberts’ position on the Affordable Care Act decision. What do you think?

The Colbert Report: Obamacare & the Broccoli Argument

Get Ready for Several Weeks of Useless Analysis

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to render its ruling on the constitutionality of Obama Care. However, the media coverage of the ruling and the resulting political fallout will be the same. Regardless of the ruling, both republicans and democrats will try to spin the Supreme Court’s ruling in a way that benefits their side. Meanwhile, the news media will overflow with coverage concerning the political impact of the ruling, but will ultimately fail to explain the ruling divorced from the typical horse-race coverage.  Horse race refers to the news media’s focus on which candidate is up or down in the latest public opinion polls. My prediction is that the news media, regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Obama Care, will bombard its audience with poll numbers for the next several days along with a bloviated analysis of said poll numbers with a pretentious and misguided sense of accomplishment for delivering what they consider to be the news. Get ready for several weeks of useless analysis and blatant political spin.

–TERRANCE MULLINS

Due Process and the American Creed

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of independence (1776) were all of British descent. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution include references to due process any time a person is in jeopardy of life and property.  While the Amendments themselves do not specifically define what due process is, the Constitution itself provides elements of due process as have subsequent court decisions through the years.  For example, the right to know what one is charged with in all criminal matters is in the Bill of Rights, as are the rights to a public trial and the right to cross-examine witnesses who testify against you.  Any legal proceeding in the United States that fails to uphold these protections is not living up to the protections we claim to value so highly.

A former U.S. Senator is currently fighting for his freedom, as is a former Hall of Fame caliber baseball player.  All over America, people high and low are depending on due process to level the playing field, to diminish the power of Goliath, and to stand a chance when forces that want to destroy them are at play.  In some cases the guilty will go free; in others the innocent will be punished unjustly.  Regardless of the particulars, every American should take a solemn oath to protect and defend the tents of due process, just like the oath sworn by the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor

What do you think?  Is due process something most Americans understand?  Can you identify how various elements of due process have been important in your life?  How important is due process to the American creed? As for me, I pledge my life, my Fortunes and my sacred Honor.

–DENNIS FALCON

Related articles

• Can the President Kill You? by Andrew P. Napolitano (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
• Substantive Due Process News (volokh.com)

Weekly Quiz: Test Yourself on this Week’s Events

The weekly quiz is now live in Mypoliscilab. Good luck!

Weekly Poll: Your Opinion on Individual Mandate

A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that a majority of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the “individual mandate” in the Affordable Care Act. What do you think?

Weekly Poll: Your Opinion on the Affordable Care Act

According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News Poll, a majority of Americans do not support the Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama two years ago. What do you think?

The Unconstitutionality of Prop 8?

Last week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Prop 8 was a California ballot proposition passed during the November 2008 election and mandated that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The measure was previously overturned in United States District Court on August 4, 2010 (Perry v. Schwarzenegger) on the basis that Prop 8 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution:

“no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

However, the reasoning behind the recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision is interestingly different. The previous rationale concerning the unconstitutionality of Prop 8 rested on the concept that the right to marriage was an inherent right under the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause. If heterosexuals have the right to marriage than homosexuals have the same right under the Equal Protection Clause as the U.S. Constitution forbids special laws for specific groups. Yet, the decision by the Ninth Circuit is based on the concept that the majority does not have the constitutional authority to remove rights from the minority via the voting process. The court stated, by “using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing so, the people of California violated the Equal Protection Clause.” In other words, in the United States of America, the people do not have the right to vote on the rights and liberties of others.

What do you think? Should people have the ability to decide which groups have which rights via the ballot box?

– TERRANCE MULLINS

Related articles

• Prop 8 Backers Say They Will Likely Take Their Case To Supreme Court (losangeles.cbslocal.com)