Civil Liberties
What a delight to read Andrew’s posting about freedom of speech bursting forth in the town of Coventry! And what concern all of us should have as we read his posting about potential government regulations which seek to squash the fundamental American right to speak our minds. Here are some earlier postings on this important…
This leaves me with nothing to say, except to hope that it’s a fluke, not an indication of trends: STATE SEN. Marian Walsh (D.-Dedham) has filed legislation requiring churches in Massachusetts to submit annual reports to the state detailing their collections, expenditures, funds on hand, investments, real-estate holdings, etc. The proposed law would apply to…
We are at war. We are a land of liberty. We have a federal government whose appetite for meddling seems to be growing. Two recent news articles have raised questions about the extension of the Patriot Act: Patriot Act Push Angers Some on Right: A Senate panel vote riles conservatives concerned about the reach of…
Let’s be careful before we say yes too quickly to this request: The FBI on Tuesday asked the U.S. Congress for sweeping new powers to seize business or private records, ranging from medical information to book purchases, to investigate terrorism without first securing approval from a judge. Valerie Caproni, FBI general counsel, told the U.S.…
Joseph Manning’s pro-life activities in Cranston evoke mixed feelings in me: Joseph Manning agreed to take down the baby outfits he had hung in the trees. They were part of an antiabortion display he puts up three days a week outside the Women’s Medical Center on Broad Street. “That said the whole thing,” he said.…
When Mac Owens first signed on as a contributor to Anchor Rising, he sent me a speech that he had given on February 23, 2002, at the North Kingston Town Committee’s Annual Lincoln Dinner. The current collection of issues, both nationally and in Rhode Island, makes it particularly appropriate for posting now. (I’m told, by…
Miguel Guanipa’s voice of reason has been trapped on my To Post list for a while: Wherever there are children who dare recite the Pledge of Allegiance in a public school, judges who think the Ten Commandments should be displayed in the halls of justice, school principals who dare recite a prayer at a commencement…
Dan Yorke railed against this possibility on Wednesday: Under pressure from law-enforcement officials who want to use the roadblocks again, Governor Carcieri is deciding whether to ask the state Supreme Court to reconsider a 1989 decision that sobriety checkpoints violate the state Constitution. If Carcieri goes along with Attorney General Patrick Lynch, who wants him…
Although I have more to say about this issue (and will hopefully do so in the near future), the Providence Journal editorial page’s position on the removal of the Ten Commandments from Roger Williams Park is worth a separate cheer: It would be as easy to expunge our Judeo-Christian heritage as it would be to…
In a move that is surprisingly redolent of politics as usual, the Student Organization Advisory and Review Committee of the University of Rhode Island Student Senate threw a controversial proposal into the agenda of the senate’s final meeting that delayed the re-recognition of student groups until next semester, according to The Good 5¢ Cigar: A…
