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Friday, October 30, 2009

Amendment XII

The 2010 census will change the composition of the Electoral College

Comments by Nate Segal

After the 2010 census, some states may gain representatives in Congress; some may lose. Congressional districts will be redrawn according to population. Each district is supposed to contain roughly the same number of people who live there.

None of this is a surprise when we study the U. S. Constitution and its amendments.

"Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed" (Amendment XIV, Section 2).

Conducting an accurate census is a challenge. Here's an excerpt from an article in the Kansas City Star:

Area cities counting on counts in 2010 Census


By BRAD COOPER and LYNN HORSLEY The Kansas City Star Wednesday, October 14, 2009, page A4

... there is a growing concern nationwide that the next census — an event required every 10 years by the Constitution — will be tougher than any head counts done before.

A new study out this week by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that a number of major cities — Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles among them— are struggling to amass the resources they need to get as complete a count as possible.

Most of the cities in the study had less money and fewer staffers to devote to the census than they did 10 years ago. Only five of the 11 cities had committed public funds to the census. Some cities, such as Detroit, are relying on private donations to promote the census.

Census workers traditionally have struggled to count the homeless, minorities and immigrants in large cities, and many expect the 2010 effort to be especially challenging.

Factors increasing that challenge include the swine flu virus, which could isolate certain populations; heightened rhetoric about immigration policy; and general distrust of government.

Residents in Kansas City and Wyandotte County have had some of the worst census response rates in the area.

A little more than a third of the residents in both places didn’t respond to census questionnaires in 2000, forcing workers to make in-person visits to gather the data.

The response rates in some of the area’s more affluent suburbs, such as Overland Park and Lee’s Summit, approached 80 percent, according to Census Bureau statistics.

To reach Brad Cooper, call 816-234-7724 or send e-mail to bcooper@kcstar.com.

Amendment XII


"The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;

· they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

· --The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;

· --The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.

"But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote;
· a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.

"[And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President--] *

"The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

"But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States."

* Superseded by section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment

By Nate Segal

Article II of the Constitution provided for the election of president and vice-president. Each elector cast two votes. Today, by provision of the Twenty-Third Amendment, the District of Columbia has been assigned three electors. Add to these 435 electors, the number of representatives in the House, and one hundred electors, the number of Senators for our fifty states, and we arrive at a total of 538 electors.

Before this amendment, electors would have cast 1,076 votes (based on our apportionment), an equal number. Two candidates could garner exactly half the votes. What happened in 1800 was that Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the same number of votes — not necessarily exactly half the votes (need to check).

According to Article II, Congress would vote for president, and the other candidate who received the same number of electoral votes became vice-president.

The Twelfth Amendment was enacted in 1804 to prevent a reoccurrence of the bitter election of 1800.

English as the Official Language of the U. S. A.

Whose English?


Appalachian English - close to the way that the Colonists spoke

English as the Official Language of the U. S. A.

Whose English?


Map of American English dialects - Transcript Linguists draw their own maps of North America to mark different dialect areas. To use their terms, we've started in eastern New England ...

Civil Rights - log cabin

& and States' Rights - the Tenth Amendment


Perhaps you didn't live in the 1800s.

Replica log cabin at Valley Forge, USA (retrieved from Wikipedia, October 29, 2009).

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Civil Rights - mules pulling plows

& and States' Rights - the Tenth Amendment

Again, perhaps you didn't live in the 1800s.

A pair of mules working a plowing exhibition at The Farnsley-Moreman House in Louisville, Kentucky (retrieved from Wikipedia, October 29, 2009).

States' Rights

Amendment X

Texas Gov. Rick Perry talks about secession from the United States, and Gil Smart slams the "states' rights" fanatics on the right. Like the Southern Dixiecrats that defended Jim Crow laws ...

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Some 2,000 Cases

First Amendment

Comment by Nate Segal:

The Supreme Court of the United States just opened its new term (on Monday, October 5, 2009). According to the New York Times:

In ... some 2,000 ... cases that accumulated during the court's summer break, the court let stand rulings from lower courts without comment.
They refused to hear appeals concerning the Pledge of Allegiance, the Confederate flag and license plates bearing the words "Choose Life."

New York Times, Adam Liptak – Washington
"Justices Decline to Hear Some 2,000 Cases"
Tuesday, October 6, 2009, page A19

The Secretary of State of Illinois declined to offer some 60 specialty styles of plates including a style bearing the slogan "Choose Life." The state is not taking a stand on the abortion issue, so it can refuse to offer whatever styles it wishes to — including the other 60, or so.

In Florida, students must recite the Pledge of Allegiance unless they have written permission from their parents not to.

A Tennessee high school is forbidding the display of the Confederate flag "because of the disruptive potential of the flag in a school where racial tension is high and serious racially motivated incidents, such as physical altercations or threats of violence, have occurred" (case Barr v. Lafon, No. 08-1325).


Amendment IX

Liberties that we enjoy:

Some say these are unhealthy, but we're still at liberty to enjoy.

True, tobacco and alcohol are heavily taxed, but that's another issue.

I recommend moderation, especially smoking. (But who asked my opinion?)

Photo Credit: Istockphoto

Amendment IX

Liberties that we enjoy:

We imbibe as we wish, although it's illegal to drive under the influence. This liberty is limited only for the safety of others.

There's a lesson to learn from the fiasco of constitutionally prohibited liquor.

Photo Credit: Istockphoto

Amendment IX

Liberties that we enjoy:

We're free to travel across state lines and secure passports easily.

Photo Credit: Istockphoto

Amendment IX

Liberties that we enjoy:

No one tells us what to eat.

Photo Credit: Istockphoto

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Amendment X


"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Tenth Amendment has become known as the "reserved powers clause" of the Constitution.

Although the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, it establishes a government of limited rule and power. This Amendment balances the wording of Article VI:

"This Constitution ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land."

These words from Article VI are called the "supremacy clause."

The Framers intended that our country have a federal system. They disagreed over how strong the federal government should be. The Tenth Amendment prevents the federal government from grabbing too much power from the states.

Some Americans today argue that the federal government has become too strong. They may be right in principle. Nonetheless, many of us have benefitted from the federal programs of healthcare for the elderly and indigent — Medicare and Medicaid. Often, these "entitlements" place burdens on states that seem unfair. So I see merit in the argument that the federal government has been growing at the expense of the states.

(In the case of Medicare, for example, the federal government has entered what some would say is the arena of businesses. I'm not addressing this issue here with the Tenth Amendment.)

Many of us have benefitted from civil rights legislation which is arguably but deliberately intrusive into the purview of the states. Keep in mind, though, that the earliest civil rights legislation dates back to the administration of President Abraham Lincoln. So the issue of states' rights has been vexing our nation since the time of log cabins and mules pulling plows.


Amendment IX


"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Ninth Amendment lets us citizens know that we have additional civil liberties although the Constitution does not enumerate what they are.

One classmate mentioned that the decision to have children is not an enumerated right, but we all recognize that we possess this liberty.

(I am not addressing the issue of birth control. The Shakers, for example, created a social experiment and decided that they would not bear children. They refrained from sex altogether. They, and we also, are free to decide not to have sex although the Constitution is silent, not enumerating a civil liberty to decide and act accordingly.)


Amendment VIII


"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Eighth Amendment further limits the power of the Judiciary:

  • Bail must be reasonable,
  • Fines must be reasonable, and
  • Cruel and unusual punishments are proscribed.

The Amendment does not tell us what is reasonable or what is meant by cruel and unusual, though.

This amendment concerns due process of law like the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. According to Ginsburg, et al. (2009), "The purpose of due process is to equalize the playing field between the accused individual and the all-powerful state" ( p. 154).

It seems to me that this Amendment prevents the federal government from becoming all-powerful first of all. Also, I'm not comfortable with using an analogy of a playing field. The government is not one team pitted against another, here the accused individual. Due process of law is predictable and objective. The accused individual acquires a defense lawyer who can explain and predict the general processes that this individual will experience.

I would say that the playing team analogy is faulty for another reason. The Framers of the Constitution did not intend for the government to be an adversary of its citizens. That is tyranny, and that describes King George's relationship with the Colonies and their citizens.


Amendment VII


"In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Seventh Amendment establishes a citizen's rights in civil suits. Until now the Bill of Rights addressed criminal cases.

If a person is called into federal court with a civil case against them, judges must allow the case to be presented before a jury if the person wishes.  Americans had enjoyed this right during colonial days (O'Connor & Sabato, p. 81).

When Article III of the Constitution established the federal judiciary, jury trials were specified for criminal cases. "The Trial of all Crimes ... shall be by Jury." The Constitution is silent on civil cases, so the Seventh Amendment preserves and affirms trials by jury for civil cases.

Once a judge and jury have issued a judgment — "fact" — the ruling stands in all federal courts.

Common law allows for appeals of judgments, which is addressed in Article III of the constitution itself. An appeal is an attempt to change the verdict — "fact" — of the case.

Congress changed the threshold from $20 to $75,000. Perhaps this higher threshold keeps case loads in our federal courts manageable. Would we want to lower this current threshold? Would we want to hire more judges and staff and also build larger court facilities? These expenses would come from our pockets as higher taxes. No thanks. It's not broken, so don't fix it.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Henry Repeating Arms Company & the Boy Scouts of America


Can you imagine a case where Boy Scouts aren't allowed to learn to handle firearms safely?

Ron Shoupe Sr.
Eagle Scout Class of 1957
Silver Explorer Class of 1957
Eagle Scout Dad Class of 2007
Assistant Scoutmaster, NCAC BSA Troop 1250
Advisor, Emeritus, NCAC Explorer Post 1267

and

Ron Shoupe Jr.
Eagle Scout Class of 2007
Assistant Scoutmaster, NCAC BSA Troop 1250
Vice President, NCAC Venture Crew 1250

Henry Repeating Arms Company


Amendment II.

Part 2

I take it as a given that the Framers of our Constitution owned and used firearms. They hunted game and defended themselves using guns. It follows that the Second Amendment does not concern itself with actual gun ownership.

I believe that key words in the amendment are 'Militia' and 'State'. State refers to any one of the original thirteen states of the Union, to all newly admitted states, and now to all fifty states.

First, I'm listing clauses from Article I of the Constitution that contain the word 'State'. With one exception, 'State' refers to one of the states of the Union.

The exception in Section 9 reads: "foreign State". ("... no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them [the States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.")

Article. I.

Section. 2.

  • "... by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications ..."
  • "... Branch of the State Legislature."
  • "... be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen."
  • ["... Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union ..."]
  • ["... each State shall have at Least one Representative;"]

Section. 3.

  • "... two Senators from each State ..."
  • ["... during the Recess of the Legislature of any State ..."]
  • "... be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen."

Section. 4.

  • "... shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof;"
  • "... by Cession of particular States ..."
  • "... by the Consent of the Legislature of the State ..."

Section. 8.

  • "... reserving to the States respectively ..."
  • "... by Cession of particular States ..."
  • "... all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State ..."

Section. 9.

  • "... any of the States now existing ..."
  • "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."
  • "... to the Ports of one State over those of another ..."
  • "... Vessels bound to, or from, one State ..."

Section. 10.

  • "No State shall enter into any Treaty ..."
  • "No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts ..."
  • "... laid by any State on Imports ..."
  • "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage ... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power ..."

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Amendment VI


In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed;
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;
to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

Comments by Nate Segal

The Fifth Amendment has described how a citizen arrives in court. The Sixth Amendment now describes this citizen's rights in court.

It also lays out how the Federal government must conduct a trial.


Amendment V


"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger;
nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Fifth Amendment contains three clauses that restrain Federal powers:

  1. A citizen is entitled to public processes before entering court if they are accused of a crime.

    In tyrannies of all sorts, a citizen may be hauled away from their home in the midst of night and disappear. Only if the government wishes, it lets it be known that the citizen has been arrested for a serious crime and may face trial.

    Often, these governments remain silent about the whereabouts of the person and rebuff inquiries from the public.

    Some states have used this approach to suppress political dissent. Think of Iran today, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, the former Soviet Union, and the period of the military junta in Argentina.

    The English Crown was known to spirit away landowners because the Crown coveted land. No sooner was the landowner gone than the Crown took possession of his land.

    The colonists were probably aware of what an absolute monarch could and did do. If the landed gentry were not safe on their land, how much more so the ordinary citizen?

  2. A citizen need not defend his or her innocence. The burden of proof falls on the government.

    If the Federal government fails to prove its case in the first trial, this amendment forbids the government from trying the citizen again.

    A common strategy in totalitarian regimes is to "discover" new evidence which is actually manufactured. For example, the government threatens another citizen to bear false witness or suffer dire consequences.

  3. The Federal government may exercise eminent domain for a public purpose in a public way. Also, when the property owner is compensated, the government has no power to keep the amount of compensation a secret.

    Recent disturbing rulings concerning taking private property for so-called public use seem to have given local jurisdictions unprecedented powers. New Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled in a Connecticut case that a local jurisdiction could condemn private business and residential land to resell this land to a private developer for redevelopment at a profit.


Thursday, October 1, 2009

"That's Outrageous!"



Civil Discourse



This is Outrageous!


Blatant Violations of the Fourth Amendment
Jurisdictions Confiscate Property of Americans with Impunity


Amendment IV: "The right of the people to be secure ... against unreasonable ... seizures, shall not be violated...."

From Wikipedia (retrieved September 30, 2009):

In recent years, such has been the wealth generated from economic crime and, in particular, from drug-related crime, that a confiscation or forfeiture element has been added to the criminal process in many jurisdictions. The need for a broader response than a solely criminal one was recognized by the U. S. President’s Commission on Organized Crime as long ago as 1986.

There are two types of forfeiture cases, criminal and civil. Almost all forfeiture cases practiced today are civil. In civil forfeiture cases, the U.S. Government sues the item of property, not the person; the owner is effectively a third party claimant.

Once a government establishes probable cause that the property is subject to forfeiture, the owner must prove on a "preponderance of the evidence" that it is not. The owner need not be judged guilty of any crime. [!]

A [prevalent] form of asset forfeiture is roadside forfeiture during a vehicle stop. Usually enforcing State policies by Highway Police, local law enforcement have built up seized funds and spent them with oversight only from local judges who sometimes benefit from the expenditures of such confiscations.

The presumption is that travelers hiding large amounts of cash are transporting drug money. Often, the vehicle occupants are required to simply sign a waiver that they will leave the State and not return, thus also not attempt to retrieve their funds. Some complain that this is law enforcement action requires more oversight in order to minimize the impact on travelers who are not involved in drug money but who simply wish to avoid further involvement with law enforcement agents and sign the waiver anyway. Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee is investigating the Tenaha, Texas Police seizures scandal.

Comment by Nate Segal:

I first became aware of this outrageous behavior when I read one of the articles "That's Outrageous!" in Reader's Digest around the year 1986 when the new laws were enacted — this "broader response" added to the criminal process.

Have we ordinary citizens noticed these broad violations of our Constitutional rights?


That's Outrageous!


"Blow-hards and Buffoons: Their senseless rantings are poisoning political debate"


One of Reader’s Digest’s more popular features is “That’s Outrageous!” by Michael Crowley.

Robert P. Murphy writes,

When the feature spotlights government pork-barrel projects, absurd zoning restrictions on homeowners, or illogical regulations on small business, libertarians can applaud. (Retrieved September 30, 2009)

This following article contains a quote from Larry Sabato, co-author of our text book American Government: Roots and Reform.

Political Blood Sport

Thomas Jefferson must be apoplectic in the Great Beyond. He warned that only people who are "well-informed can be trusted with their own government." Well, look what's become of us.

I met up recently with two old friends in California, Jeff and Mary, who told me they are worried about terrorism. But it's not Osama bin Laden they fear — it's George W. Bush. These are otherwise sensible people: He's a doctor; she owns an antiques store. Which is why I was stunned to hear them predict that Bush will stage a terrorist attack this fall to ensure his reelection.

"Seriously?" I asked. Seriously, they said.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, not after seeing an "ad" on the website of the liberal advocacy group Moveon.org, that compared Bush to Adolf Hitler. That's the sort of vitriol that's "informing" the public today. And it's hardly confined to the Left.

During the Iraq war last spring, some conservatives said that liberals were secretly hoping Saddam Hussein would teach President Bush a lesson in humility. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly growled that "some Americans were rooting against their own country — that their ideology was so ingrained it was better for them if things went badly in Iraq, even though that would have caused more American casualties."

Welcome to the politics of America, 2004. Thoughtful debate has given way to angry, polarized arguments in which there is no compromise and no middle ground. Shades of gray, you ask? Stop being so wishy-washy! When it comes to abortion, you're either a baby-killer or a religious nut. Try to explain that women should have some abortion rights, but that a fetus is also more than just body tissue, and you're likely to get shouted down in midsentence. And good luck talking about affirmative action — whether you're pro or con — without being called a racist.

Politics have become a year-round blood sport — both for the partisan gladiators and for the media that cheers them on. For evidence, just scan the bestseller lists. There you'll find liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, whose book Dude, Where's My Country? hit No. 1 by taking aim at "screaming, foaming-at-the-mouth right-wingers."

Moore also calls George Bush "an appointed President [who] uses the dead of 9/11 as a convenient cover, a justification for permanently altering our American way of life."

From the other side comes conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who sold a half-million copies of her book Treason, arguing that liberals are "either traitors or idiots" who routinely "side with the enemy" and "aim to destroy America ... with their relentless attacks on morality and the truth."

Flip on the TV or radio and you'll find dozens of partisan talking heads in a nonstop shouting match of escalating nastiness. "The only thing that sells is the screamers," laments Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "Twenty years ago, there were a lot more shows with reasonable discussions. Today people just yell sound bites at one another. And if you don't, you're not used again."

Monopolizing the Truth

Communication might be easier if people at least believed one another. But in today's debate, everyone assumes their enemy fights with weapons of mass deception.

Comedian Al Franken's hit book purports to chronicle the Right's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, while another recent book explains The Lies of George W. Bush.

Conservatives, meanwhile, are convinced that a left-leaning media establishment deliberately misinforms the public. Former CBS News producer Bernard Goldberg topped the bestseller list last year with Bias, a book that charges liberal journalists with distorting the news. Ann Coulter was in the thick of the fight again with her book bluntly titled Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right. It's awfully hard to have a constructive debate when everyone thinks they have a monopoly on the truth.

And it's not just journalists and pundits who are stoking all this rage. It's the politicians themselves. Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy has flatly declared the case for war against Iraq "a fraud," while a fellow Democrat, Rep. Jim McDermott, suggested that the capture of Saddam Hussein was timed for maximum political benefit.

In response, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican, called these remarks "moronic" and said that Democrats have "nothing to offer the public debate but rage, resentment and quackery." Even the business of government is being paralyzed. One Congressional committee meeting broke up last summer when an angry Democrat called a Republican "a little fruitcake" and challenged him to a fight; the committee chairman eventually summoned the Capitol Police.

Expect things to only get worse as election day approaches. After all, the media and politicians know that people love to watch a good tussle. But all this debate, with so little intelligence, comes at a steep price. Consider this: Some experts are expecting a big surge in new, young voters that could account for 10 percent of the electorate — and perhaps decide the Presidential contest. Hardcore liberal and conservative groups are spending big money to help bring out the youth vote.

But if young Americans do unplug their iPods and tune into politics, what will they make of a poisonous discourse that insults more than it informs? Some may just pop their headphones back on in disgust. The rest will go to the polls on election day, where they'll join the long lines of uninformed citizens.

From Reader's Digest - March 2004

(Retrieved September 30, 2009)

Comment by Nate Segal:

I recently heard the verb 'bloviate' to describe the speech of "blow-hards who opinionate."