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December 20th, 2011

May It Please the Court, No Matter Whom It May Displease

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court announced that oral arguments on the constitutional challenges to the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will fill the Court’s calendar from March 26 through March 28.  ”The case is a once-in-a-generation blockbuster,” noted Adam Liptak in the New York Times.  Not only will the court’s decision have a direct effect on the 30 million currently uninsured Americans, which the statute ultimately aims to protect, but the outcome of the case might also substantially impact the 2012 presidential election.  Although “the court underscored its importance by scheduling five and a half hours of oral arguments, the most in any case since 1966,” no part of these lengthy proceedings will be televised for American public.

In recognition of the legal, cultural, economic, and electoral implications of the case, C-SPAN Chairman Brian P. Lamb wrote a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, requesting that the Supreme Court drop its ban on cameras in the courtroom:

We believe the public interest is best served by live television coverage of this particular oral argument. It is a case which will affect every American’s life [and] the economy, and will certainly be an issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. Additionally, a five-and-a-half-hour begs for camera coverage—interested citizens would be understandably challenged to adequately follow audio-only coverage of an event of this length with all the justices and various counsel participating.

With so much potentially at stake in this case, allowing television coverage of oral arguments would seem an obvious decision.  Yet, as Adam Liptak notes, Chief Justice Roberts will likely deny Lamb’s request in adherence with Supreme Court tradition–both the no camera tradition as well as the court’s tradition of shrouding itself in mystery as the least transparent branch of our federal government:

The arguments against cameras are mostly rooted in paternalism or self-interest. Some justices say the public cannot be trusted to understand what goes on at oral arguments and how the arguments figure in the work of the court. Others worry that additional public scrutiny would alter the behavior of lawyers and justices for the worse. Still others say they fear harm to their personal privacy or to the court’s prestige.

So it seems that while a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found 72% of Americans surveyed favor televising the health care oral arguments, those Americans hoping to view the proceedings live, Liptak predicts, will have to “wait in line in the cold for two nights or longer” for one of the 50 seats inside the courtroom which are available to the public.

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December 16th, 2011

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens

By Justin Krane

Christopher Hitchens–the contrarian essayist, formidable debater, self-described “anti-theist,” and steadfast provocateur–died early this morning, at the age of 62.  Hitchens was diagnosed, in the spring of 2010, with esophageal cancer.  Yet, despite a bleak prognosis and the intensive courses of chemotherapy which ensued, Hitchens maintained the same indefatigable and prolific journalistic output that had earned him both praise and scorn over the last four decades.

For more–both on and by–Christopher Hitchens:

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December 7th, 2011

Occupy Wall Street: Have They Overstayed Their Welcome?

By Dina Tornheim

Occupy wall street has been an ongoing mess plaguing Lower Manhattan as well as other prime financial locations around the country. Most recently Mayor Bloomberg, as well as civilians are growing tired of the inconvenience it has brought not only to business owners but residents of the areas as well. It seems even its supporters think its time for this to end; The NY Times has stated that “ several people who live nearby said they supported Occupy’s overall message but they nevertheless believed the group overstayed its welcome.”

While it is true that there is freedom of speech, and the law should allow everyone to express themselves it seems that there is other significant factors involved here. Business owners are suffering great loses, one business owner of a small food establishment has stated that his business is facing closing down if this continues. So whose interest is superior? Is there a limit to the extent a person can voice their opinion, if these protestors don’t feel better if they haven’t been relieved of the wrong they feel was done to them, is forcing them out morally just? Is it morally just to allow it to continue if it is victimizing other innocent people?

Ultimately, no one should be silenced, everyone should be able to express themselves. And there really is no correct answer, there is no way that moral justness will be served to everyone involved. But being that the goal of occupy wall street is to achieve some sort of progress and recognition in regards to the great wealth inequality. Their actions, are causing people just like them, who are trying to survive in a bad economic time, to lose business, and if it continues possibly end up unemployed. Thus, it seems counteractive to their goal. They’ve made their point, and so it is now time to leave, and not cause harm to small business owners.

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December 4th, 2011

Occupy the Internet: the Grassroots Movement Against SOPA

By Kara Wallis

The intent behind the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is evident by its name – it seeks  to stop ‘theft’ of material on the internet. Indeed, most of us believe that one should have ownership of the fruits of one’s labor and this is reflected in our legal system’s endorsement and enforcement of copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property rights. However well-intended, SOPA has caused a major uproar among various internet companies, users, and artists recently because of the dangerous and ambiguous language contained in the Act. Basically, critics believe that if passed, SOPA opens the door for internet policing by giving government officials and major media corporations the authority to arbitrarily shutdown and blacklist a variety of websites and services for illicitly linking to or hosting copyrighted material. Moreover, SOPA would force internet search engines to filter out material and block users from accessing a variety of resources on the internet. I won’t bore you with a full list of problems with SOPA here, but if you’re interested, this is an interesting video that lays out the problems in SOPA pretty clearly.

The SOPA debate brings up many themes about law and our culture, but what I have found to be most interesting is the seemingly grass roots online opposition that has spread anti-SOPA messages and continues to inform the broader public about the dangers of censoring the internet. This online reaction to a piece of legislation is unprecedented. Facebook and twitter have been flooded with status updates and hashtags protesting and spreading the word about the potential censorship of the internet. YouTube is filled with a plethora of user-made videos about the dangers of SOPA. Most impressive though was the campaign that the blog-site Tumblr launched against SOPA, which produced almost 88,000 phone calls from users to their representative to voice their opposition to the proposed legislation. Moreover, the people who oppose SOPA go across the political spectrum. How often do we find something that the ACLU, American Library Association, and the Tea Party Patriots are all firmly against?

With such a public protest against SOPA, it is unlikely that it will survive the political process. However, the question still remains, if we can all agree with SOPA’s intent in that private property rights exist and should be protected, how do we stop piracy on the internet? This has been a question that media companies have been struggling with since the appearance of bit-torrents, user-to-user sharing sites, and even the creation of the CD burner. To date, major media corporations have solved this problem through expensive lawsuits and litigation, but this doesn’t seem to be enough for the media industry – it is quite likely that bills similar to SOPA will continue to be presented and backed by these corporations. However, given the limited tools at the legislator’s disposal, it seems that the law will not be able to catch up to the ever-growing complexities of internet and any attempts to stop piracy will either be ineffective or put forth unwarranted consequences like those found in SOPA. Media corporations don’t care about the ramifications that legislation to protect their material will have on the internet and its users. So, it is my hope that when bills like SOPA come along, we will continue to see the strong resistant and outcry that we have seen recently in response to SOPA.

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December 2nd, 2011

Justin Beiber and Occupy Wall Street

By Marc Switzer

I happen to read the following article, it recounts how Justin Bebier was stopped in Los Angeles while driving a 2012 Cadillac Coupe that had been customized to resemble the Batmobile.  For anyone who doesn’t know, the Batmobile is the mythical car driven by the crime fighter Batman made famous in the comics and movies.   Although the article itself is surprisingly entertaining for the sheer absurdity of a seventeen year old boy driving around in a Batmoible that costs well over six figures, I believed the article also indirectly stood for something much more meaningful—how this society is organized.

The ongoing Occupy Wall Street movement should have come as no shock to anyone, how could it after all, when millions of Americans are out of work and struggling just to make ends meet, then turn on their TV’s or computers and read/watch a seventeen year old boy, with no discernible talent, driving around in customized Batmobile worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  It rightly causes people to lose their mind!  It also causes, perhaps dangerously, people to question fundamentally how this society is run (Occupy Wall Street).   Whether you agree with Occupy Wall Street or not it seems hard to argue that there is something just plain wrong about a seventeen year old boy’s ability to amass such wealth to himself that he can afford to drive a super car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars whilst simultaneously millions of Americans suffer such devastating economic hardship—many with university degrees and/or years of working experience.
Of course Justin Beiber did not cause himself the Occupy Wall Street movement, yet the article I think captures, in many ways, albeit indirectly what the movement is about, or should be anyways—the incredible disparity of wealth in this society, and the opportunities and/or the disadvantages that flow from it rightly or wrongly

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December 2nd, 2011

Something’s Fishy in the City of Syracuse

By Douglas Giombarrese

Weeks after the Penn State scandal involving coach Jerry Sandusky broke, another deeply troubling collegiate athletic child-abuse scandal was reported, involving (now former) Syracuse basketball assistant Bernie Fine. For those unfamiliar with the situation, two former ball boys alleged on ESPN that they were sexually abused by Fine during a period between the 1970s and 1990s. Later, a third person came forward claiming he was molested in 2002 while traveling with the Syracuse basketball team.

Both Fine and head coach Jim Boeheim immediately vehemently denied the allegations. Fine’s veracity in denial was understandable; it was Boeheim’s that caught the public eye, as he specifically claimed the accusers were lying in hopes of making money. The most damning evidence against Fine came when ESPN later revealed they had obtained in 2002 a recorded conversation between Fine’s wife Laurie and Bobby Davis, the first accuser, who set up the recording as a way of proving his case. During the conversation, it becomes apparent that Laurie Fine knew of the abuse, specifically acknowledging that her husband acted on sexual desires for Davis when he was a minor. Further, she made absolutely no effort to stop it.  Based off this information alone (and more is sure to come out), the initial moral crimes of both husband and wife are clear and undisputed.

Boeheim, for his part, made unnecessary and spiteful remarks about the accusers without any way of backing them up. However, unlike Joe Paterno and other Penn State administrators, no one has stated that Boeheim was made aware of the accusations. In this light, his defense of Fine can be seen as a reaction to incredibly serious accusations against a long time friend whom he knew to do no wrong.

Because of this, the media has limited the comparisons to the Penn State scandal. However, the key aspect of this whole story has been shockingly overlooked is ESPN’s role in all of this. After all, they obtained the tape of Laurie Fine and Davis in 2002 and failed to do anything. They may argue that Davis’s story was not corroborated by anyone. They may argue that Fine’s voice was only recently verified by a third party voice recognition expert. This still does not explain why they did not give the tape to either the police or Syracuse University, both of whom were capable of doing such things.

Instead, they held on to the tape for over eight years, allowing an alleged child molester to continue his work in the same capacity as before. Even worse, Syracuse had conducted their own investigation of Fine in 2005, but were unable to corroborate Davis’s story, perhaps because they were not aware of the tape. Journalistic integrity should not be placed above moral integrity, especially when involving allegations of this nature. In this way, perhaps comparisons to the Penn State scandal are more appropriate than is let on, with ESPN replacing Joe Paterno as the morally culpable ones.

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December 2nd, 2011

Viewer Discretion is Advised – Reality TV takes a look at Medical Marijuana and Moonshiners

By Maya Z.

Just when we thought reality TV had exhausted the range of odd workplace reality shows with the likes of the “Deadliest Catch,” “Ice Road Truckers,” “Miami Ink,” “Lady Hoggers,” “Ax Men,” and the most recent “Tanked,” the Discovery Channel adds two to the list and ratchets the entire category up a notch–following businesses who are engaged in illicit activity.

“Weed Wars,” which premiers December 1st, offers a look into the day-to-day lives of the people working at the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the nation. Also on the Discovery Channel, “Moonshiners,” debuting December 6th, documents the business of brewing bootleg spirits in the wilds of Appalachia. The subjects of each show are certainly “riding on the edge of the law,” something Nancy Daniels, Discovery’s EVP of Production and Development, says provides for “what any good show should have, which is drama and stakes.”

“Moonshiners” features individuals who distill alcohol illegally in the backwoods of Appalachia, using camouflaged equipment, and local authorities trying to thwart their operations. The premiere episode follows a Virginia man who creates a secret still, and a state-police officer hunting down distillers who supply illegal “nip joints.” An opening disclaimer warns viewers, “Moonshining is illegal. Do not attempt any of this at home.”

Moonshining is a tradition that has been passed down for hundreds of years and is still alive and well today, despite being forbidden by federal, state and local laws. The lead character, Tim (last name omitted), agreed to appear on camera in order to celebrate his family tradition. The show captures Tim educating his son on shining, showing him how to avert surveillance plans and how to find a clear stream to feed a still.

“Weed Wars” focuses on Oakland California’s Harborside Health Center, a medical marijuana dispensary run under the leadership of founder Steve DeAngelo.  DeAngelo agreed to take on the serious risk of doing the show in order to educate the public and show that “we are decent people who are providing medicine for patients in a responsible way.”  Indeed, the series illustrates the benefits of Harborside’s existence: helping individuals with serious medical conditions alleviate their symptoms with marijuana in a safe and dignified manner. Yet, the show also captures patients who have “have less clear medical issues” – something that might rub viewers, not to mention government officials, the wrong way.

Since the passing of California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996, medical marijuana dispensaries have been legal under state law. Yet, selling marijuana has always remained a criminal offense under federal law with no exceptions for medical use. Despite classifying the sale of marijuana as a serious crime, in 2009 the Justice Department said it would not pursue groups providing medical marijuana in accordance with state laws.

Recently, however, federal prosecutors have begun to take a harsher stance against medical marijuana use, asserting the precedence of federal law over state law. On October 7th, four United States Attorneys announced the launch of a tough campaign against marijuana dispensaries in California.  Numerous stores all over the state have received warning letters threatening criminal charges and confiscation if they did not shut down within 45 days.

As Harborside battles this serious federal crackdown, and moonshiners continue to be hunted by local authorities, one wonders whether opening their doors (and backyards) to cameras will lead to more acceptance  – or their own demise?

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November 29th, 2011

Protesters in Tehran and Collective Responsibility

By Meghan Iorianni

On November 29, 2011, a group of Iranian student protestors stormed the British embassy in Tehran. These actions were reported to be in response to the recent financial sanctions Great Britain imposed on Iran. While the protest has since been quelled and all embassy personnel have been accounted for, the responses from major world leaders including representatives of the United States, Great Britain, and Russia have condemned both the protests and the Iranian government for not adequately protecting the embassy from such an uprising. Other nations, including France and Germany, have expressed that the poor response by Iranian authorities showed the Iranian regime’s lack of consideration not only for Great Britain but also for the international community as a whole.

In light of today’s attack, a number of Iranians have expressed disappointment in their fellow citizens and regret that the actions of a few have cast a shadow over the entire Iranian population. Is this fair? To a great extent, I would argue yes. Unless strong efforts are made to bring those responsible to justice, to publically denounce the actions of “the few,” and to implement effective safety measures so to prevent the progression of any further uprisings, the community should be held responsible for the actions of its individuals. The concept of collective responsibility echoes strongly in today’s events. Although the remaining members of the Iranian community in Tehran did not actively participate in the ransacking of the embassy, the burning of the British flag, and the destruction of the building, the community members stood by and tolerated the actions of their fellow citizens. Many national legal systems do not hold bystanders, or individuals of a population who choose not to act, responsible for the actions of others. However, the responses from the international community to this incident have proven that nations that condone their citizens’ wrongful actions by not providing adequate consequences will be held accountable in the international community. I would hope to see the Iranian regime take action against those responsible for today’s unrest and hopefully reestablish itself among its peers in the global community.

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November 28th, 2011

The Secret Life of Words: A Review

By Meghan Iorianni

Roughly 35,000 Bosnian and Croatian women and children were raped, tortured, and enslaved during the four year span of the Bosnian War (1992 to 1995). Camps, currently termed “rape camps,” were established by the Serbians to create a new generation of Serbian children. The goal was ethnic cleansing. By impregnating these women, the Serbian forces would produce children who would inherit their father’s ethnicity.

It has been over fifteen years since the end of the War in Bosnia, and it will be at least another five years before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will complete all the trials of those individuals accused of war crimes during this four year period. Many of the victims will not live to see their assailants prosecuted as the international process is both slow and aimed primarily at those responsible for the organization and development of the rape camps. In fact, the majority of those responsible for the rapes will not experience any legal repercussion.

The rape of these women and children was genocide.

While the path of legal justice has failed to provide relief to the victims of this atrocity, there is hope in truth seeking efforts that have given the victims a chance to tell their stories. While I am generally adverse to movies that attempt to do justice in representing the horrors of great atrocities, I stumbled upon a movie that speaks not to the crimes committed but rather to the consequences of these wrongs on the human spirit and to the importance of preserving memory. Written and directed by Isabel Coixet, The Secret Life of Words follows the life of a rape and torture survivor of the Bosnian War. Two key elements to this film stood out to me. The first is that although the protagonist of the film reveals a small part of her past, the other characters continue to emphasize that the story revealed is nothing in comparison to the horrors that actually took place during this woman’s life. Many films that attempt to tell stories of atrocity inadvertently tend to diminish the event (and the stories of the victims) for viewers can never truly understand what the victims experienced unless they actually stood in the victims’ shoes. To reduce such horrors to film is to mitigate. I would applaud this film for attempting to bring attention to events that many have already forgotten while at the same time providing a disclaimer that nothing a filmmaker can depict could ever amount to the actual events.

The second element that struck me came towards the end of the film in the 102nd minute when a therapist who has worked with the survivors of the Bosnian War emphasizes the importance of memory and preserving the truth. While each victim may never get to see their assailant held to any form of legal justice, the victim will at least get to tell her story.

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November 28th, 2011

Twitter, Brownback, and “The True Meaning of Free Speech” (#heblowsalot)

By Joel LeVangia

By now you’ve probably seen that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has blamed his “staff” for “overreacting” to a tweet written by a Kansas high school student that read: “Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person (hash)heblowsalot.” Brownback proceeded to apologize for the “overreaction of his staff” saying, “Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.” And what do you know, Brownback? Freedom of speech IS one of our most treasured freedoms! What a wonderful opportunity for all of us to be informed of that! I am so glad your “staff” bullied some teenage girl so we could all be informed of something I’m pretty sure most Americans know already.

To be clear, the young lady in question, Emma Sullivan, was being lectured by Brownback when she sent the offending (to some) tweet. The governor’s “staff” which monitors social media for mentions of the present gubernatorial name “Brownback,” saw the tweet and contacted the Youth in Government program Ms. Sullivan was attending. This led to Ms. Sullivan allegedly spending an hour in a principal’s office being given various bullet points for an apology letter from her to the governor.

To her credit, Ms. Sullivan refused and was assisted by her elder sister Olivia, who exercised her freedom of speech and alerted the media. The media, in turn, exercised its freedom of speech and proceeded to beat Mssr. Brownback’s “staff” with the “freedom of speech” stick. This sequence of events culminated in the patronizing reminder from g. Brownback that “Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.” Although not before Ms. Sullivan’s school district issued a statement saying in part, “Whether and to whom any apologies are issued will be left to the individuals involved. The issue has resulted in many teachable moments concerning the use of social media. The district does not intend to take any further action on this matter.”

Regrettably, the district has not fully appreciated some of the “learnable” moments from the episode. They, like the governor, suffer from sort of a freedom of speech deficit disorder. If they were exercising their freedoms as they and all Americans should, their statements might have read:

Brownback: My staff, who I hired and am responsible for, took issue with a public statement by a citizen of the great state of Kansas and proceeded to contact her school to inform them of the comment. The likely intent of this communication was to harass, intimidate, and silence the citizen concerned. It is deeply wrong to manifestly and intentionally suppress dissent in a country founded on the same. I know this, my staff knows this, and our actions in response to the initial comment have been at least as immature and irresponsible as the comment itself. I apologize to all the citizens of Kansas and specifically to Miss Emma Sullivan for our lapse in judgment – which will not be repeated.

Shawnee Mission East School District: In response to a communication from Governor Sam Brownback’s office, the Shawnee Mission East School district and some of its employees made a bad situation worse. After being informed of a negative “tweet” from one of our high school seniors, we attempted to coerce a letter of apology out of the young lady to be sent to the governor’s office. This hypothetical letter could in no way affect the governor and was therefore merely to be a symbol of institutional control over an individual. The Shawnee Mission East School District and its employees must never forget that as a public American institution, it and they have a responsibility to inculcate the highest ideals of this country in its students. Those same students are bound to say dumb things on twitter, but the Shawnee Mission East School District must always respect their right to say them – particularly when they in no way reference the district itself. For this reason we apologize to Miss Emma Sullivan for intervening on the governor’s behalf against her freedom of speech. We promise to be more vigilant in the face of future temptations to pervert the paths of American public discourse.

To which Ms. Sullivan might reasonably reply: I am gratified by the statements issued by the governor and the school district. Although I was initially disappointed by the reaction to my tweet, which I consider merely a means of communicating to a large group of my “friends” or “twitter followers” at the same time, I am now satisfied that the appropriate attitudes have set in. I realize that things I publish on twitter have the potential to reflect more broadly than my own personal “circle of acquaintances” and in retrospect regret characterizing the governor as a person who “fellates often, frequently, or to a great degree,” as the hashtag I assigned to him indicates. However, we should all recognize that the restrictive nature of tweeting and the difficulty of fully expressing oneself in 140 characters can prevent the complete development of ideas. With this in mind, I would like to apologize to the governor for my crude expression and promise him that I will work to achieve at least as much publicity for the fully articulated reasons I disagree with his policies as this unfortunate episode has generated.

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