Quick Read

Romeo and Juliet

If children can choose their sex, why can’t they choose marriage?

By Justin Katz | June 22, 2021 |

As my opening question hints, the support for legislation making Rhode Island the fifth state in the country to ban child marriage earlier this month was so uniform that it couldn’t help but excite my contrarian nature.  Writing in Forbes, Ryan Sasse of UNICEF’s praise was particularly profuse: With the enactment of H5387/S398 on June 7,…

Old painting of fighting puppets

The march against the Nonviolence Institute is more evidence we’re being played against each other.

By Justin Katz | June 22, 2021 |

In fascinating juxtaposition to the excuse-making that progressive Democrat U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is enjoying, the folks from Direct Actions for Rights and Equality (DARE) marched in protest of money given to the Nonviolence Institute.  Courtney Carter reported on it for WPRI: This week, [organizer Cedric] Russell co-released a public letter addressed to the institute,…

Bailey's Beach from the sky

Let’s cut to the point on Sheldon Whitehouse’s elite beach club.

By Justin Katz | June 22, 2021 |

Conservatives and Republicans aren’t outraged at the nature of Bailey’s Beach Club or Sheldon Whitehouse’s membership in it.  They’re using the controversy to bring attention to the cartoonish hypocrisy of progressives and Democrats.  It’s really that simple, and everybody knows it. So, when Democrat activist Devin Driscoll lauds a Ted Nesi article on WPRI as…

RISSA logo

It’s well past time to defund the lobbyists of government agencies.

By Justin Katz | June 22, 2021 |

Continuing to dig into the shady (yet, completely ordinary) behind-the-scenes maneuvers of Rhode Island’s governing class when it comes to South Kingstown Schools’ fight with local mom Nicole Solas, William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection reports that the Rhode Island School Superintendents Association (RISSA) is working to reduce Rhode Islanders access to public information by changing the Access…

Pills

Lawrence, Massachusetts, isn’t just a cautionary tale for Rhode Island.

By Justin Katz | June 21, 2021 |

For years, I’ve presented the history and condition of Lawrence, Massachusetts, as an example that Rhode Island shouldn’t follow — namely, becoming a place that seeks to import clients for government services for which local, state, and federal taxpayers can be billed.  Given that recurring theme, I bookmarked this press release from the U.S. Attorney’s…

Immigrant crossing sign with Discover Beautiful RI sign

Ciccone’s bill to create driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants has double the incentive to come here.

By Justin Katz | June 21, 2021 |

There is a reasonable case to be made on safety grounds to have people who are in the country illegally take steps to follow some laws, like those around driving vehicles.  If the federal government isn’t doing its job, the argument would go, states have to find ways to address the many problems that arise…

CCSU's crane nooses

Step back and think about the noose mania on campuses.

By Justin Katz | June 21, 2021 |

It turns out, as College Fix editor Jennifer Kabbany reports, that the moral panic at Central Connecticut State University over an American flag hoisted on a crane above a noose was not a racist provocation: A construction company building a parking structure at Central Connecticut State University had hoisted an American flag at the end of…

A hand and barred window

Who would have thought putting men in women’s prisons might be problematic?

By Justin Katz | June 19, 2021 |

The mainstream media is too woke (or too scared) to report extensively on the consequences on the consequences for their fellow-travelers’ crazy policies, but that only makes it more important for the rest of us to pay attention.  Amanda Presigiacomo reports an entirely predictable example for The Daily Wire: Former and current female inmates from…

A hand reaches for chains

There should be no get-out-of-blame cards based on ideology.

By Justin Katz | June 19, 2021 |

Michael Esfeld provides a helpful frame for our current moment, writing for the American Institute for Economic Research, with reference to Karl Popper’s The Open Society and its Enemies: The open society is characterized by recognizing every human being as a person: the person has an inalienable dignity. When we think and act, we are free.…

A "cancel culture" document in a typewriter

The Gaspee Project is moving RI’s donor disclosure law toward the U.S. Supreme Court.

By Justin Katz | June 19, 2021 |

According to Jerrick Adams, writing for Ballotpedia, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard oral arguments in the case on June 9.  Adams gives a good quick summary of the two fundamental arguments: The law in question (H7859, enacted in 2012) requires issue advocacy groups to disclose to the…