Civil Liberties

Re: NYC Bureaucratic Heroes: Spare the Trans-fats, Save the World

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 7, 2006 |

In what may come as encouraging news to New York City resident Kathy Ramirez, the London Evening Standard reports that even if a McDonald’s opens nearby, it is possible

NYC Bureaucratic Heroes: Spare the Trans-fats, Save the World

By Marc Comtois | December 6, 2006 |

OK, I’ll admit that I’m glad that there is a smoking ban in restaurants (though bars…I’m not so sure), but NY City is taking this too far. Banning trans-fats? …New York has planted a flag on what could be the next front in community health wars. It is becoming the first city in the country…

Justice Stephen Breyer, No Friend of the First Amendment

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 4, 2006 |

Here is Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, not really making a whole lot of sense as he discusses how he interprets the Constitution, on Fox News Sunday…If the text is clear, you follow the text. If the text isn’t clear, you have to work out what it means. And that requires context. The freedom of…

Brown University Let’s the Evangelicals Back In

By Marc Comtois | November 28, 2006 |

After telling the Reformed University Fellowship that they wouldn’t be allowed on campus just, well, “because,” Brown University has had a change of heart. But they still haven’t been forthcoming as to why the RUF was banned in the first place. Yesterday, Ethan Wingfield, president of the Reformed University Fellowship, said he was pleased at…

Brown University: Not a Bastion of Free Speech

By Marc Comtois | November 21, 2006 |

Yesterday, I read in the ProJo about how Brown University had rather suspiciously banned an on-campus student evangelical group. Leaders of the group say they were given different reasons for the action. At first, they were told it was because their local sponsor, Trinity Presbyterian Church, had withdrawn its support, which it hadn’t. Then they…

Distorting the Military Commissions Act II

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 20, 2006 |

Alas, another Rhode Island blogger has lost herself in the progressive fever-swamps because of the Military Commissions Act. Now Sheila Lennon of the Projo?s Subterranean Homepage News is claiming that the Military Commissions Act can be used to prevent American citizens from petitioning for a writ of Habeas Corpus…Yes, anyone can not (sic, I think…

Distorting the Military Commissions Act

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 18, 2006 |

(UPDATE: The first paragraph of this post has been modified to reflect RI Future’s timely correction of their original post.) Over at RI Future, they are attempting to propagate the progressive fever-swamp fantasy they repeated the erroneous assertion (since corrected) that the Military Commissions Act affects the right of American citizens to petition for a…

The Military Commissions Act & American Citizens

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 10, 2006 |

1. How does the Military Commissions Act of 2006, recently passed by Congress, impact the right of American citizens to petition for a writ of Habeas Corpus? In a word (two actually), it doesn’t. Here is the first line of the act after the definitions are finished…(a) Purpose- This chapter establishes procedures governing the use…

The Military Commissions Act and the Writ of Habeas Corpus

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 6, 2006 |

An attorney by the name of Adam J. White had an article in yesterday’s Weekly Standard where he explained how the Military Commissions Act passed by Congress last week affected the right to petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. Here’s the outline of his explanation…The Constitution establishes the right of American citizens to petition…

Appeals Court Temporarily Reinstates Warrantless Wiretapping

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 4, 2006 | Comments Off on Appeals Court Temporarily Reinstates Warrantless Wiretapping

The Associated Press is reporting that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted a lower court stay on the National Security Agency’s “warrantless wiretapping program”, formally called the Terrorist Surveillance Program. This circuit court ruling allows the program to operate while the appeal of the original stay is being considered… The Bush administration can…