Tag Archive for ‘supreme court’
A Case of “Loving” Revisited
Last week’s historic passage of a “gay marriage” law in New York state meant that six states and the District of Columbia now permit same sex marriage; a number of other states allow a form of civil union. The addition of New York doubled the number of Americans living in states with same sex marriage. [...]
Don’t Know Much About® “Brown v. Board of Education”
Every day, eight-year-old Linda Brown wondered why she had to ride five miles to school when her bus passed the perfectly lovely Sumner Elementary School, just four blocks from her home. When her father tried to enroll her in Sumner for fourth grade, the Topeka, Kansas, school authorities just said no. In 1951, Linda Brown [...]
Bill of Rights Day (December 15)
On December 15, 1791, Virginia ratified the first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution: The Bill of Rights took effect. In 1941, on the 150th anniversary of the ratification, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that December 15th would be Bill of Rights Day. Now it may not be circled red on your calendar, but few [...]
Today In History: Don’t Ride the Bus
Fifty-five years ago, on December 1, 1955, an African-American seamstress would not budge. And all America shook. At the top of my short list of alternative national holidays, I would propose December 1st as Rosa Parks Day. History is taught as the record of presidents, kings and generals. But sometimes it is the extraordinary story [...]
Debs Day? Socialist, Convict, Presidential Candidate
We like to celebrate heroes of conscience, like Thoreau, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Unless they might be a “Socialist troublemaker” –like Eugene V. Debs, born this date in 1855. The epithet “Socialist” seems to be one of the worst things a politician can be called these days. In the early 20th century, Eugene [...]
Cruel and Unusual- (Civics Primer Part 5)
No, learning about Civics and American History is not the Cruel and Unusual part. Actually, when done properly, this stuff can be fun and interesting. Following up on my earlier lessons about the Bill of Rights, today’s focus is on two more of the fundamental rights of the accused found in the Seventh and Eighth [...]
Pleading the Fifth (Civics Primer Part 4)
My Civics Primer has been focusing on the Bill of Rights and continues with two more Amendments that deal with the rights of the accused –including perhaps the most famous of all, the Fifth Amendment.
Bare Arms? Arm Bears? A Second Amendment Guide (Civics Primer #2)
There is little doubt that the Founders and Framers, in a time when there was no standing army, expected men to have a gun at the ready to defend the country. But does that 18th century logic still hold in a country with a standing army, state militias and local police forces? And does the high level of American gun violence (more than 31,000 firearms fatalities in 2006, according to the CDC) mean it is time to reassess an idea that made sense more than 200 years ago?
TODAY IN HISTORY: A Very Significant Amendment
I know. The mere mention of Constitutional Amendments automatically sends most of us for the snooze button. But this one is different. On July 28, 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was declared in effect. On July 9, 1868, the state of South Carolina ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing the [...]
Don’t Know Much About Roe v. Wade
On January 22, 1973 –37 years ago– the Supreme Court handed down its historic 7-2 decision in the Roe v Wade case, But the arguments have never stopped.
