Law and Order
Only evil was served by the killing of abortionist George Tiller. Just as one can imagine the phrases by which Satan guided Tiller to see his barbarous work as righteous, one can imagine the whispers that brought the killer to Tiller’s church — leading him perhaps to see as poetry a setting that should have…
As Americans accede to the concerted push to break down our mores and cultural definitions, we shouldn’t be surprised if there’s an increase in this sort of double-take news items: Two men and a woman, ages 18, 19 and 20, have been indicted for allegedly raping a fellow University of Rhode Island student on campus…
Laws should be enforced (or stricken or modified if they will not be), but there’s something unseemly — extortionate — about this: The state in April increased the excise tax on cigarettes by $1, to $3.46 a pack, the highest in the country. The move has obvious health benefits, but it also aims to generate…
Last night, Matt Allen and I chatted about our new Community Crier feature and reviewed some of the particulars of Paul Kelly’s ordeal with the Rhode Island judiciary. Stream by clicking here, or download it.
The tale begins and ends with Pocahontas Cooley (photo here), whose very name lends a fictional tone to a true story of justice deferred. The travesty is the number of times the setting has been the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson, Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse’s pick to fill…
Further to Justin’s post, the homeless shelter on Prairie Avenue in Providence, one of two in the state required to accept predators, is next to (that would be next to) Edmund W. Flynn Elementary School. As the host city of the other homeless shelter required to accept predators, Cranston is understandably up in arms because…
Focusing mainly on the local controversy, journalist Randal Edgar didn’t ask why this should be true: Dennis B. Langley, president and CEO of the Urban League of Rhode Island, which runs Harrington Hall, played down the concerns, saying the shelter, which opened as a permanent center in 2003, has housed sex offenders for years. The…
Reflection has not changed my opinion, stated while liveblogging, that Mike Burk, the moderator of today’s financial town meeting in Tiverton made every effort to be fair and, on the whole, succeeded. That said, he did make a few substantial errors, one of which brings into stark relief a problem of governance pervasive in Rhode…
The other afternoon, Dan Yorke was discussing, on 630AM/99.7FM WPRO, the human trafficking side of Rhode Island’s legal prostitution business, and several callers put forward the argument maintaining the occupation’s legality in Rhode Island prevents a slide down the slippery slope of interference in our bedrooms. The obvious response that came to mind was that…
Among the problems of government central planning is that the segment of society that is apt to make decisions that skirt the rules is the same one that must enforce them. Take, for instance, information that’s coming out as a result of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis’s testimony to New York Attorney General Andrew…
