The ACRU Blog

Today is the last day before Congress goes on its annual August recess (iow, it goes a month without causing more harm). On top of that good news is this: the pressure put on the Senate Judiciary committee by the American Civil Rights Union and others has resulted in the committee finally approving the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick, passing him on to the full Senate for a vote sometime after the recess.

***A special note of recognition in favor of committee member, Dianne Feinstein, who has once again proven herself to be one of the last reasonable liberals on the Hill. Feinstein joined nine Republicans in voting for Southwick (nine Democrats voted against him). "I truly believe the concerns outlined about Judge Southwick are outweighed by his service to the country, by the many cases he sat on," Feinstein said to the committee yesterday. "If I believed he was racist, I wouldn't vote for him. But I don't." She has our grateful applause:

Judiciary Committee sends Southwick to full Senate (CitizenLink.org)
Bush Judicial nominee passes big Senate hurdle (FOXnews.com)
Left smears war hero judicial nominee (Matt Barber)
GOP fights for vote on Southwick (CitizenLink.org)

Other good news from Congress is their recognition that when the government rightly asks citizens to keep an eye out for suspicious activities and behavior in order to help prevent further terrorist attacks, those citizens should be protected from lawsuits:

John Doe versus Flying Imams (Debra J. Saunders)

But while the "Flying Imams" might not get their way, some other Muslims are getting all sorts of special treatment in the nation's government schools. Where is the ACLU when we need them?! Oh, that's right: they are defending the new concept of mosque as beneficiary of the state:

Some say schools giving Muslims special treatment (USA Today)
ACLU hypocrisy? (The Daily News Record)

A mother in Maryland has killed at least four of her children upon their births. Guess who is pushing for the right to infanticide? (hint: see previous headlines):

Legality of infanticide debated in Maryland (CitizenLink.org)
OC murder charge raises legal debate (The Delmarva Daily Times)

Here's what we need: a national handgun registry for pets. Certain animals are just too mentally unstable to handle firearms. I'm just waiting to the Brady Center (formerly Handgun Control, Inc.) to try to make some anti-Second Amendment lemonade out of this bizarre story:

Pet dog shoots owner in the back (WMC-TV Memphis)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

A tragic decision was handed down yesterday, striking down the right of local communities to defend themselves against the blight of illegal immigration. The ACRU is in the lead in defending the prerogatives of Hazelton, PA, and other communities in this regard, so I encourage our readers to consider our opinion on the case, found in John Armor's excellent article, "The Hazelton Rebellion." The good news is that this case is likely to go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Here's the news from yesterday:

Judge strikes down Hazleton's illegal immigrant law (AP/The News Journal)
Judge overturns Pa. city's illegal immigrant ordinance (CNSnews.com)

Though there is no constitutional prescription for the number of justices on the Supreme Court, FDR's court packing scheme was a blatant grab at power and an attempt to further undermine the U.S. Constitution. Some people want to try FDR's ploy again:

Proposal to expand size of Supreme Court draws fire (CNSnews.com)

Congress rightfully has oversight and "advice and consent" powers over the President's nominees and officers of the Executive Branch. But blatant political ploys and racial gerrymandering of the district courts don't fit this definition:

Beneath contempt: The U.S. attorneys controversy is about politics, not the law (Kimberly Strassel/WSJ's OpinionJournal)
Leahy's black judge quota (Amanda Carpenter)

Finally, sanity from the speech regulators:

Fairness Doctrine not needed, FCC chairman says (CNSnews.com)

Anyone who thinks that Professor Ward Churchill's ouster (at last!) from the University of Colorado simply doesn't know the facts. Students deserve good teachers, not plagiarizing, anti-American polemicizers of tall tales:

Ward Churchill goes down (Campus Report Online)
Academic fraud (Linda Chavez)
Fired Colo. professor sues university (AP/Breitbart.com)

But here are a few real free speech cases on campus:

First Amendment lottery (Campus Report Online)

Finally today, the ACLU loses another assault on religion:

ACLU loses Louisiana prayer challenge (CitizenLink.org)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

"Everyone" supports free speech. So does the left, until you support something that they find is "inflammatory." We wouldn't want to offend them. And speaking favorably about traditional families can get you in some really hot water, apparently:

Speech police, riding high in Oakland (George S. Will)

Some politicians will go to extraordinary lengths to restrict speech they find "hateful." Fortunately, the latest attempts on the Hill have been delayed:

Senate delays important hate-crimes vote (CitizenLink.org)

In the "you have got to be kidding me" department, should want of speech supersede justice?:

Md. judge dismisses sex-abuse charges for want of translator (Washington Post)

This one should be so obvious that it is amazing it was even a question. But such is to be expected in the anti-Christian times we are living:

Third-grader has right to read Bible at school (CitizenLink.org)

One of the worst decisions handed down by the Supreme Court in recent years was the Kelo v. New London decision, which helped undermine property rights for the poor and disfavored by distorting the language of the Fifth Amendment. Now, it is clear that the warnings of then-Justice O'Conner and Justice Thomas are coming to fruition:

Two years after Kelo decision, justices' warnings coming true (Worcester Telegram & Gazette)
The blight of eminent domain (Steven Greenhut/The Freeman)

A bit tongue in cheek, but this one does speak for itself, doesn't it?:

Tiny brain no problem for tax official (Spiegel Online)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

Regulating "Fairness" is inherently subjective, and as such is inherently leftist, given that government is the regulator. Freedom is the only truly fair doctrine:

The Fairness Doctrine lives! (Campus Report Online)
The 'Fairness Doctrine' power grab (Family Security Matters)
Senate Democrats foil attempt to bar 'Fairness Doctrine' (Washington Times)

What is happening in the Senate over the President's judicial nominees is despicable. (For more info, be sure to check out The Committee for Justice website):

Senate scrap looms over judicial nominee (CNSnews.com)
Senator Specter defends judicial nominee Southwick (CitizenLink.org)

No state church and freedom of religious expression should be simple; then why does the High Court further muddle our religious liberties with each passing year?:

The Supreme Court giveth, the Supreme Court taketh away (Ken Blackwell)

Well said:

Why hate shouldn't be a crime (Gregory Koukl)

The ACLU is like a broken clock - but at least broken clocks don't attack our fundamental values:

The ACLU: Enemy of America and Christianity (Rabbi Aryeh Spero/Human Events Online)
A perception issue? Revolving door between the ACLU and National Public Radio (Tim Graham)

The reach of Leviathan knows no bounds:

Elderly couple may lose house because of $1.63 tax bill (USA Today)
8-year-old boy barred from plane for appearing on terrorist no-fly list (FOXNews.com)
This state can take your dreams, too (Debra J. Saunders)

The ACRU is working to restore the right to self-defense in the nation's capital and elsewhere. Gun-grabbers are naturally up in arms (bad pun intended) about it:

DC to appeal handgun case to Supreme Court (AP/WUSA9.com)
Gun ownership becoming a Capital idea (Project 21/National Center for Public Policy Research)
Banning handguns would save lives? It just ain't so! (PDF) (Clayton E. Cramer/The Freeman)
D.C.'s assault on the Second Amendment (Terence Jeffrey)
Gun-control bill passes PA legislature (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

The big news this week has been the implosion of the McCain campaign. The ironic thing is that his efforts to suppress political speech may have helped fund his undoing:

The McCain-Feingold effect: Where has all the money gone? (WSJ's OpinionJournal)

Speaking of speech (!), another excuse for suppression is being actively contemplated in the Upper Chamber:

U.S. Senate prepares to vote on dangerous hate-crimes bill (CitizenLink.org)

Fortunately, lots of senators are lining up against the assault on talk radio:

Fairness Doctrine target of new measure by GOP senators (CNSnews.org)

You may not like her message or the way she is drawing attention to her message, but protests are protected by the First Amendment. The only question is (should be) whether this lady was in violation of her private community's code:

Upside-down flag protest raises outcry (Denver Post)

Specter leads revolt on stalled judicial nomination (The Politico)

Liberals have a problem with Clarence Thomas; he has strayed from their ideological, unconstitutional, race-obsessed plantation:

Justice Thomas v. race-based school plans (The New York Times)
The Democrats' own brand of racism (Star Parker)
The ethics of affirmative action (Steven Yates/The Freeman)

The Ivory Tower loves Marx, but hates Christianity:

University of Florida sued for refusing to recognize Christian group (CitizenLink.org)

Good article on the origins and dangerous effects of the PC movement, in terms of its war on language:

Better dead than rude (John Derbyshire/The American Conservative)

Finally, this type of thing has become so common that it almost doesn't warrant news coverage - except for that fact that it is un-American: Since when has our right to the pursuit of happiness morphed into a guarantee to wear school pom-poms?:

Parents sue after daughter fails to make cheerleading squad (Victoria Advocate)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

The so-called Fairness Doctrine is so wrong and so dangerous that we'll keep hammering away at it until it goes away for good. Be sure to tell your congressman that it is unfair, and that you support the free speech doctrine instead:

The unfairness doctrine (Paul Greenberg)
Fear, fairness, freedom, and fakery (Harry R. Jackson, Jr.)

Here's Ed Feulner with an encouraging take on some good news we've had recently regarding speech rights:

A victory for free speech (Ed Feulner)

If the homosexual lobby was ever simply a "live and let live" movement, it has long since ceased being so. Now it is a "live, and publicly endorse our lifestyle choice - or else" movement that poses a threat to religious liberty, property rights, freedom of association, and free speech for those who disagree with them:

Lesbian couple wants access to religious property for civil union (CNSnews.com)

For another example, here's an article which references the ACRU's efforts to protect the rights of a doctor from being forced to administer a treatment against her religious convictions. Cited in the article is ACRU Policy Board member Ed Meese:

Calif. Supreme Court to hear contentious gay rights case (Law.com/The Recorder)
(For more information on this case, see our "Another Type of Conscientious Objector")

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

With the comprehensive immigration reform bill dead and buried (look for it to return again and again like a horror-flick monster, though), the hot issue is the so-called Fairness Doctrine. So let's be clear: there is nothing fair about it, and it is repugnant to the First Amendment. Rather, the ACRU favors the Free Speech Doctrine. We can't repeat it enough, and we won't stop saying it: Free speech, not government control of the airwaves:

Plan to restore fairness doctrine still on track, analyst says (CNSnews.com)
'Fairness' follies (Wall Street Journal/ACU)
Back to the Fairness Doctrine? (William Rusher)
What's fair about the Fairness Doctrine? (Burt Prelutsky)
Libs long for 'Fairness' daze (Culture and Media Institute)

And our own Horace Cooper (Senior Fellow at the ACRU) chimes in on the subject:

Fake right, thrust left (Horace Cooper)

But all is not bad on the First Amendment front, given the High Court's de-fanging of McCain-Feingold:

A victory for free speech (David S. Broder)

Walter Williams, who among other things serves on the ACRU Policy Board, always sets our thinking straight:

Straight thinking 101 (Walter E. Williams)

It is always good to think deeper about one of the most overlooked rights protected in the First Amendment, too:

On freedom of association (Charles W. Baird/The Freeman)

That persnickety Second Amendment: it drives politicians mad and puts the privacy of those who practice their constitutional right at risk:

Gun issue won't stall budget (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Ohio newspaper under fire for outing gun owners (CNSnews.com)

It is gratifying to see schools and even some states stand up to the ACLU and for the right to religious expression:

Religious rights of students affirmed in N.J. and Texas (CitizenLink.org)

Memo from Congress: Who needs the Judiciary, anyway?

Judicial vacancies leave GOP with empty feeling (Al Kamen/Washington Post)

Finally, the Fourth of July may be past, but we will never stop celebrating our freedom. Therefore, here are a few more good thoughts on American Independence:

Independence Day messages from John Adams (Michael Medved)
Immigrants become citizens on nation's birthday (CNSnews.com)
Taking America for granted (Thomas Sowell)
Patriotism (Cal Thomas)
America needs a July Fourth Seder (Dennis Prager)
Escape from New York: even Gen. Washington didn't win every battle (Brendan Miniter/WSJ's Opinion Journal)
Indivisible: no celebration of liberty can ignore America's Godly heritage (Alan Sears)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

Some of the biggest supporters of the ACRU used to be big supporters of the ACLU, until they opened their eyes. Here's the latest example of an enlightened former lawyer for the ACLU:

Former ACLU lawyer calls group "the Taliban of American Secularism" (The Valley News)

The United States Supreme Court handed down a number of favorable decisions last week. But "conservative" justices don't come to their conclusions in the same way as each other and liberal justices don't think identically either:

Quandaries 4 Justices (George Will)

One right-leaning perspective on the recent decisions:

A cautious right turn: the Supremes were most united on business cases (WSJ's OpinionJournal)

Where Parents ... v. Seattle School District leaves us in terms of race policies:

Black pride, white paternalism (La Shawn Barber)

What's "fair" about the "Fairness Doctrine"? Moreover, how would regulated talk be considered free speech?:

Michael Reagan on the Fairness Doctrine: "AM Radio will die" (Human Events Online)
House votes to ban FCC on 'fairness' (The Hill)
Representatives fight assault on First Amendment rights (CitizenLink.org)

A reminder of the most important things are always timely:

What's so great about America (Dinesh D'Souza)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

First , the big news: racial preferences - you know, the idea that some are more entitled to civil rights than others - get a major setback by the Supreme Court - a Court that has had a series of encouraging decisions to close out this term:

Race as factor in school enrollment rejected (Washington Times)
Roberts, Alito & Kennedy: swinging supremely right (Culture and Media Institute)
Time to stop viewing students as 'components of racial class,' parents say (CNSnews.com)

However, if reassurance is needed:

Brown v. Board of Education has not been overturned (WSJ's OpinionJournal)

George Will trumpets the near mortal blow to the Campaign Finance Law:

Setback for the censors: goodbye McCain-Feingold? (George Will)

But not all is well in our land concerning our fundamental rights:

(Free) speech disorder (Jonah Goldberg)
Unfairness doctrine (Rich Galen)
A new (unconstitutional) religious test for a presidential appointee? (Paul Weyrich)
Bill would undercut Democrats' push to regulate talk radio (CNSnews.com)

And someone, somewhere, is always out there trying to grab away our guns:

Gun control or else, Pennsylvania Democrats warn (Philadelphia Inquirer)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

An important reminder for Americans.

Reflections on patriotism (The Patriot Post)

Rare good news form the High Court - including a partial restoration of our speech rights during political campaigns.

U.S. Supreme Court hands down three favorable decisions (CitizenLink.org)
5-4 Supreme Court weakens curbs on pre-election speech (Washington Post)
Dismantling campaign finance reform: restoring your free speech (Sandy Froman)

Why McCain-Feingold was wrong-headed to begin with.

Campaign finance: the symptom, not the problem (John T. Wenders/The Freeman)

We prefer the free speech doctrine over the "fairness doctrine."

Censorship through the Fairness Doctrine (Paul M. Weyrich)
'Fairness doctrine' is a code name for "censorship" (Alan Sears)

But liberals don't.

Liberals vs. free speech (RealClearPolitics)

And one from our own distinguished Senior Fellow.

Whither personal responsibility (Horace Cooper)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"

"With no ID requirement, I didn't even need my dog tags!"

Dog registered to vote: it's so easy! (NewsMax.com/AP)

Leftists employing a religious test? You don't say?

Victory for teacher told to pay dues or change religions (CNSnews.com)

Promise and opportunity on the High Court - will we squander it?

Black Monday for liberals? (Human Events Online)

Analysts mull possibility of Supreme Court vacancy (CNSnews.com)

When at first you can't succeed, pass a law to handcuff the competition.

Unfairness Doctrine (National Review Online)

Unfairness Doctrine (Flynn Files)

* * * * *
Are you aware of any news that the ACRU should know about? Has the ACLU been up to no good in your state? Is the Bill of Rights being undermined in some way that America needs to know about? Are the Boy Scouts, a war memorial, or another American institution under attack in your community? Then tell us about it. Post a link in the comments section below, or send us an email. Good tips will be recognized in future postings of the "Headlines"