Saturday, May 22, 2010

First Black Catholic Priest in the US

There seems to be some debate about who should get the honor. Sainthood maybe on the line for one of them. The Rev Augustus Tolton appears to be the front-runner but Bishop James Augustine Healy came before him. The issue with Healy is that he passed for white and "distanced himself from his African-American identity". He served his ministry in Portland, Maine prior to the Civil War with a native American community. Tolton was born in 1854 and had to "overcome racial discrimination to pursue (his) calling". His family escaped from slavery into Illinois. "Because no American seminary would admit a black man" Tolton had to travel to Rome to be ordained. He wished a post in Africa but was sent back to Quincy, Illionois. He moved to Chicago where he founded the city's first black parish. Those who support Toltan for the honor say his life and career more closely matches that of the African American community in the US.
(Source: "Who was first black Catholic priest in US?" by Manya A. Brachear of the Chicago Tribune. In The Virginian Pilot on 5/22/10)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Supreme Court cases 2010

The US Supreme Court issued a ruling this week regarding punishment for minors. In Graham v. Florida the court ruled 6 to 3 that juveniles who commit crimes in which no death occurs cannot be sentenced to life without parole. A sentence of this nature would be a violation of the 8th Amendments ban on "cruel and unusual punishment". At present 37 states have at least 129 inmates on sentence of life w/o parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles. I believe these sentences would be up for re-consideration due to this ruling. Justice Thomas wrote the dissent in which Alito and Scalia concurred. Thomas wrote that the court should consider the punishment given out when the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 when "...people as young as 7...could be executed".
In the case of United States v. Constock et al the court, by a vote of 7 to 2, ruled that Congress can "continue civil commitment of sex offenders after they have completed their criminal sentences". The source noted the connection of this case to the present day Tea Party movement and their opposition to national health care. It raises the question of, "what limits does the Constitution impose on Congress's power to legislate on matters not specifically delegated to it in Article I". Thomas and Scalia dissented.
(Source: "Court rejects life without parole for juvenile criminals who don't kill" from wire reports. The Virginian Pilot on 5/18/10. Info also from New York Times on line on the same date).

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Miranda Warning

It seems there has developed an exception to the Miranda rule that is now being used in regard to those detained under suspicion of being tied to terrorists. The New York v. Quarles Supreme Court case from 1984 establishes the exception of "public safety". In the above case the police chase a man suspected of rape and believe him to be armed. When he is captured the defendant was wearing a sholder holster but it was empty. The police asked him where the gun was and the defendant indicated its location; the gun was found. The police then mirandized him. At trial the defendant argues that the gun can not be used as evidence due to the lack of proper administration of miranda. The trial court, the Appellete Court of the NY Supreme Court and the NY Court of Appeals all agree that the gun should be excluded. The case is appealled to the US Supreme Court and the lower courts are reversed. The high court holds that a "concern for public safety (being) paramount" the police action is finding the gun should be allowed. This ruling was 6 to 3..
(Source: online at "Justia.com US Supreme Court Center" on 5/10/10).

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Agent Orange

Agent Orange was a defoliant used in Vietnam during the war there. About 2 million American vets have been exposed to the chemical. It has been determined that there are "12 ailments and disorders" that have effected servicemen due to the exposure to the chemical. Now the Department of Veterans Affairs has added another three diseases. The three new ones are Parkinson's, ischemic heart disease and B-cell leukemies. Other diseases are Hodgkin's disease, type 2 diabetes, non-Hodgkins' lymphoma, prostate cancer and respiratory cancers. A full list of the other diseases are posted on "publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp". "The VA is granting disability compensation to any veteran who suffers from any of these ailments-or to the widows of veterans who may have died of them-even if the veteran spent only one day in Vietnam". Some veterans who served in Korea from April 1968 through July 1969 may also qualify for disability compensation.
(Source: "Attention, Vietnam Vets" author unknown. AARP Magazine May/June 2010).

Arlington National Cemetery

We all know that the site of the Arlington National Cemetery was on land once owned by Robert E. Lee and was taken by the federal government when he took command of CSA forces. What might not be known was that on the site, about a half mile from the Lee home, was a "thriving black town" called "Freedman's Village". The village was established some time during the war and consisted on about 50 one and half story duplex style homes that housed 1100 former slaves. The village had "churches, stores, a hospital, mess hall, a school, an 'old peoples home' and a laundry". Sojourner Truth spent a year there as a teacher. Unfortunately, white landowners would raid the village and "kidnap children for slave labor". Once the land became more valueable the federal government paid the residents $ 75,000 for the entire town and tore down it down in 1900.
(Source: "The land of the freed" by Jesse J. Holland of the AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 4/20/10).

Taxes

With all the "tea party" hype about cutting taxes it might be good to note that federal taxes under Obama have been cut. "The fact is, in the past year we have had more tax cuts than almost any time in our nation's history" says representative Steve Cohen (D-Tenn). Recent tax cuts include the following. First, $ 300 billion over 10 years as part of the economic recovery package; $ 232 billion to individuals almost all within the first two years. Second, Obama's Making Work Pay credit which gives $ 200 to $ 400 credits during 2009 and 2010. Third, the $ 1000 child tax credit "was expanded for more families". Fourth, "the working poor can qualify for as much as $ 5667 from the Earned Income Tax Credit". Fifth, there are credits for energy improvements, paying for college tuition, buying new cars and for buying new homes. This source states that "Americans are paying lower taxes this year, even with increases passed by many states to balance their budgets". Shortly after Obama took office, Congress cut individual federal taxes for this year by $ 173 billion while states have increased their taxes by $ 28 billion. The big issue might be the fact that the Bush II tax cuts expire in January and Obama and Congress want to renew only some of those cuts. The ones unlikely (at this time) to be renewed are the cuts for those making $ 200,000 a year to couples making $ 250,000. (Is it possible this is what all this tea party fuss over cutting taxes is all about?)
(Source: "Taxes are lower" by Stephen Ohlemacher of The AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 4/15/10).

Monday, May 10, 2010

Okies

I always wondered what happened to all those tenant farmers who left Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl in search of employment in California. An article in The Nation magazine gave a brief comment on this question. "In the boom days of the 1930's it was a textbook company town (Boron, California), where employees of what was then called Pacific Borax-many of them...Dust Bowl Oklahomans-lived in company houses and used company script to shop at the company store". (Doesn't sound much different from the movie version of "Grapes of Wrath).
(Source: "Labor war in the Mojave" by Mike Davis. The Nation 3/29/10)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Tea Party/Know-Nothings

An article in The Nation magazine contends that the Tea Party movement of today may have something in common with the Know-Nothing movement of the 19th century. In their 1841 platform they called for "extending the term of naturalization to 21 years, restricting public office of the native-born (there's your birther movement), keeping the Bible in schools and resisting the 'encroachment of a foreign civil and spiritual power upon the institutions of our country'. Back then this meant the Vatican; today it's Davos, Bilderberg, the UN, the IPCC".
(Source: "Move over, Axis of Evil" by Alexander Cockburn. The Nation 3/22/10).