US Supreme Court

The court will decide-this year I suspect-whether the government/police can attach a GPS tracking devise on a suspects car without a warrant. This is the U.S. v. Jones 2011 case. The court ruled in 1983 that the police did not need a warrant to "attach a 'bird dog' to a suspects vehicle" (I don't know what a "bird dog" is. More research will be needed). That case was U.S. v. Knotts. In 2001 the court ruled on the issue of the police use of "thermal imaging technology" in Kyllo v. U.S. I will need to do more research, but I believe the court ruled that search to be an unreasonable search, thus unconstitutional.

(Source: Internet search on FindLaw.com on this date)

Update. The SC will hear the GPS case this November; the Virginian Pilot newspaper from Virginia Beach, VA states their belief that the search in this case was illegal. In the Jones case the police believed Jones was a drug dealer, they sought and were issued a search warrant that allowed them to place the GPS on his private vehicle, but they failed to act on the warrant within the 10 days the warrant specified making the warrant "invalid". It appears from this source that the issue is the warrantless nature of the search and not the GPS device itself. The police may have been correct in their actions if they had gotten a valid warrant-at least according to this newspaper.

(Source: "GPS and the Constitution" editorial in The Virginian Pilot on 9/28/11).

Student Speech Rights

Two cases out of Pennsylvania create first amendment rights for students when using cyberspace. In J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District an 8th grade student "created a fake profile" of her principal and posted it on MySpace. She used her parents computer. She accused the principal of having sex in his office, hitting on students and parents of being a "sex addict". She used obscene language and put down GLBT persons. She also ridiculed his wife and son. When confronted the student wrote an apology to the principal and his family but was suspended for 10 days afterwards. At that point she and her parents sued saying her right to free speech was violated. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the students favor by a vote of 8 to 6. In the second case-Layshock v. Hermitage School District-a senior posted a "parody profile" of his principal on MySpace that accused the principal of being a drunk, smoking pot, using illegal drugs and shoplifting. He used "vulgar language" and made anti gay comments. He used his grandmother's computer. When confronted he apologized and his parents "grounded him and took away his computer access". The school suspended him and transferred him to an "alternative" high school. He sued and also won by a vote of 14 to 0. The court-Third Circuit Court of Appeals-argued that the actions of the students in these cases did not "cause a substantial disruption of the school" and they were punished for off-school grounds actions. If the cyberspace messages urged a student walk out of threatened "harm to employees or fellow students" then the students actions could have been punished. The issue might go to the Supreme Court.

(Source: "Mauled on MySpace" by Michael D. Simpson of the NEA Office of General Counsel. NEA Today from Summer 2011).

US Race Relations

Ralph Bunche was the US representative to the United Nations, a Noble Prize recipient and a black man. While at the UN in the late 1940's he had to meet "...foreign diplomats in the non-air conditioned basement cafeteria of the South Interior building, because other restaurants would not admit him". (Another example of the reality of a racially segregated society that existed during my life time).

(Source: "Memories form the front lines of the segregation battle in the District" by John Kelly of The Washington Post from 10/11/11).

Julius Rosenwald was the CEO of Sears Roebuck & Co in the early decades of the 20th century. He funded the construction of "more than 5300 schools in 15 states between 1913 and 1932" that were meant for African-American students. He worked with Booker T. Washington. Today in North Carolina 22 of these "Rosenwald Schools" are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and another 41 are up for consideration. Rosenwald's fund was combined with "county money and contributions from local black families" and in North Carolina 787 schools were built; the most of any state. I visited one of those schools in Coinjock, NC that is hoping for money to restore it. That school was in operation until 1950. (As we know, this was the time of "separate but equal" facilities-schools-for black and white citizens. The school in Coinjock does not compare with the elementary schools I attended in Cresskill, which is still in operation).

(Source: "Historic N.C. school gets second chance at life, new use" by Jeff Hampton of The Virginian Pilot on 10/11/11).

Immigration

We know immigrants faced all kinds of problems trying to get to the US including the difficulty of the trans-Atlantic voyage. What I did not know was that some of those emmigrating were not transported to the US but were dropped off at a point well short of their hoped for destination. In this source the emmigrants were Russians leaving around 1914 who were left off in the United Kingdom around Cardiff and were told that someone would come for them. The ship captain took money for the trip to the US and did not give them any of their money back. If this really happened I have no way of knowing.

(Source: Fall of Giants by Ken Follette. A novel written in 2010. Page 178)

Trial of Mary Surratt

The movie Conspirator by Robert Redford with Robin Wright playing Mary Surratt presents a picture that is not often seen in most American History textbooks. As we know, Mary Surratt was tried and executed for her part in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln. This source suggests that her guilt was in doubt but what was not in doubt was the fairness-or lack thereof-of her trial. She was tried by a military commission made up of military officers who found her guilty but a majority of them voted for life in prison and not execution. It seems that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton overturned that decision. Her lawyer, Frederick Aiken-a wounded Union captain, took her case to a civilian judge in DC and was granted a writ of habeau corpus that said she should be delivered to a civilian court for re-trial. President Andrew Johnson overturned that writ and the execution followed. He acted under the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863. (We have always heard about Lincoln's denial of habeas corpus rights to northern civilians during the war, but never anything about A. Johnson's use of the practice). The movie notes that Mary Surratt's son-John Jr-was captured and tried two years later by a civilian court and he was found not guilty. The US Supreme Court ruled military trials in areas where civilian courts are still functioning to be unconstitutional; the ex Parte Mulligan case of 1866. Mary Surratt's chief defender quit the law and became an editor of the Washington Post.

The others executed with her were David Herold, Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne) and George Atzerodt)

(Source: Movie, Conspirator by Robert Redford 2011)

Flight 93 and 911

It was reported on Sept 10th that the US Air Force and National Guard were prepared to shoot down United Airlines Flight 93 as it was heading toward Washington DC-most likely the White House. What they were not prepared to do was to down the airliner the conventional way; with "live ammunition". The DC Air National Guard was prepared to fly two F-16 jets into the airliner in a "kamikaze" mission. Incredible (my term) as it may seem the Air National Guard had no planes ready with weapons (that would be needed to protect the capitol if under attack). One of the two pilots ordered to fly the suicide mission was the only female pilot in the Guard unit. Her name was Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney; now a Major but not flying combat jets anymore. (I would hope she also lost the "Lucky"). Then again lucky for her, and the other pilot, that the passengers on Flight 93 caused the plane to crash on their own. It seems part of the explanation was that "...attacks were unfolding, in that innocent age, faster than they could arm war planes". This source says, "she was a rookie in the autumn of 2001, the first female F-16 pilot ever at the 121st Fighter Squadron of the DC Air National Guard". The second pilot was Col. Marc Sasserville who says he was prepared to hit the cockpit of the airliner while Penney was to crash into the tail. They were hoping they would have time to eject just prior to the hit.

(Source: "She was ready to die to bring down Flight 93" by Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post. In The Virginian Pilot. Sept 10, 2011).

Election of 1860

Most of us have probably taught that the civil war resulted from the election of Abraham Lincoln as the Republican Party candidate in 1860. That party was "committed to abolition" and the South felt they "had no choice but to secede" if the GOP won. I recently came across an American Heritage article that paints a different picture. The election of Lincoln was made possible by the decision of the Democratic Party-meeting in Charleston, SC.-to decline to nominate anyone for president in 1860. The most logical choice for the democrats was Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. He had support in the South and as the election results have shown, had support in the North. His candidacy would have also picked up support from border states. The author of this source does not say directly, but the implication is that if a democrat won the election of 1860 there would not have been a reason for the South to leave the Union (or there would not have an excuse for doing so). As we know the democrats left their convention without a clear candidate and Douglas ran as the northern Democratic candidate, John Breckinridge ran as the southern Democratic candidate and to add to the confusion, John Bell ran as the Constitutional Union party candidate. This scenario was created by William Yancy of Alabama who was known as the "the Prince of the FireEaters" who were set on creating a climate for secession. They got what they wanted (and I would think they regretted it after 1865). (Could the Civil War been averted, or would it have occurred a few years later?)

(Source: "How we got Lincoln" by Peter Andrews. American Heritage magazine November 1988)