SCOTUS

Substance matters

A Good Reed Review Commentary & Pubs , , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

I’m concerned. No, that’s not right. I’m terrified.

We recently celebrated another U.S. Independence Day marking the anniversary of when the United States of America was founded. Now the biggest election of my lifetime (and perhaps in our nation’s history) looms over us in just under four months, and we have a media machine that seems determined to foment division by continuing its years long assault on the Democratic incumbent while at the same time ignoring his record of accomplishments and ignoring or normalizing the outright malfeasance of his likely GOP opponent. The media has presented the presidential race as a horse race rather than focusing on the real issues at hand which does the country a huge disservice. Why they are doing this is the subject of a lot of speculation. On the one hand, the media long ago moved away from their role as impartial observers and sources of information about current events into a much more lavish, dynamic, and profitable role as entertainers. They are businesses intent on turning a profit, so they do all they can to build audience and keep people coming back for more. Division and controversy sells far better than dry data, so their move toward the former in this quest became their imperative. Profits after all are more important than informing the public to many of these entities. A GOP presidency, particularly with their likely candidate, would garner them higher profits given the crises and favorable tax modifications that would result. Unfortunately, far too many people accept what they are told by the media without looking beyond the hype, and that could spell disaster for the country and the world. Continue reading →

Hypocrites R Us

A Good Reed Review Commentary & Pubs , , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

This month has shown us the full range of hypocrisy in our nation’s highest court. The court’s majority claims to be “originalists” beholden to the Constitution, yet their rulings belie this claim instead showing them to be radically reactionary basing decisions on ideological or religious goals.

  • Carson v. Makin (6-3): The SCOTUS majority completely disregarded the separation of church and state in their decision allocating public funding to religious schools in Maine. This goes counter to the First Amendment and allows the government to directly fund religious teaching with taxpayer dollars.
  • New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc v. Bruen (6-3): The SCOTUS majority took away state’s rights to enact restrictions based on common sense gun control measures such as limiting who can carry a concealed weapon. Restrictions on gun ownership are well within the framework of the Constitution’s Second Amendment which is mute on private gun ownership or where one can carry a gun. As a result, this court majority imposed a federal mandate which will undoubtedly increase gun violence not based on any Constitutional rights.
  • Vega v. Tekoh (6-3): The SCOTUS majority determined that people arrested by police have no recourse if they are not read their Miranda Rights upon arrest. This pushes us further toward turning the U.S. into a police state.
  • Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (6-3): The SCOTUS majority took away federal protections on a woman’s right to choose when or if to carry a pregnancy to term throwing that legal authority to the states. That means that a woman’s most personal decisions related to their own reproductive freedom will depend upon their state of residence.

These recent decisions show these wildly unpopular majority opinions are not based on precedent or the Constitution but instead are based on an ideological agenda that goes counter to our legal foundation. These decisions will target women, racial minorities, and people of limited financial means most dramatically, unfairly putting their lives at unnecessary and often preventable risk. Continue reading →

Choice is important

A Good Reed Review Commentary & Pubs , ,

By Ande Jacobson

The choices we make are important. We each make choices about all kinds of things every day. Some are small things such as what to eat for breakfast. Some have longer range effects such as deciding on a career path or whether to accept a particular job offer. Others are even more life changing such as choosing if or when to have a child, or more immediately, whether to carry a given pregnancy to term based on one’s own circumstances. All are personal choices, yet that last one is currently under its greatest threat since the passage of Roe v. Wade. Continue reading →