Tag Archives: Dred Scott

First Responder Deaths Demand Response

Ground Zero in Ruins. Courtesy CBS News

Ground Zero in Ruins. Courtesy CBS News

Adan Gonzalez, 69, died of throat cancer in April, 2015. Mr. Gonzalez had been a photographer and a volunteer at the World Trade Center site, working for two years as a photographer documenting the event and serving other volunteers.

Mr. Gonzalez is one of 1,712 First Responders who died due to the Sept. 11 attacks, 412 who died the day of the attacks (wikipedia) and 1,300 who died from medical complications arising from their search and rescue work. Over 40% of the 4,053 people who died in or resulting from the attack, not counting soldiers killed in Afghanistan or Iraq, or who died after returning home were first responders engaged in search and rescue or cleanup operations, a humanitarian mission.

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Landmark Mistakes of the Supreme Court, Part 3

Al Gore

Al Gore

The decision in Bush v Gore is widely regarded as a landmark mistake, both because the Supreme Court acted politically and because of President Bush’s accomplishments and legacy.

While it is too recent for a historical consensus, and too political to be without controversy, virtually all liberals and progressives view the results of Bush v Gore, 2000, (Cornell Law School / Wikipedia) as disastrous based on the Bush Administration’s environmental, economic, and foreign policies, i.e., the Bush tax cuts, ignoring intelligence regarding Osama bin Laden on 6, August, 2011 (here), not killing bin Laden when we allegedly had him cornered in Tora Bora in 2001 (here), the War in Iraq, appointments of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, etc.

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Landmark Mistakes by the US Supreme Court

Dred Scott

Dred Scott

Worst Three Decisions by the US Supreme Court: Dred Scott, Citizen’s United, and Florence v Burlington.  Dred Scott reinforced slavery – and led to the Civil War. Citizen’s United puts really, really big money in politics – think Mr. Gingrich’s sugar daddy with his $10 million in PAC-Gingrich, and leads to what we have today. Florence allows the police to strip search anyone they arrest.

The good news and is that these decisions force us to recognize that the Justices of the Supreme Court are fallible men and women who sometimes make decisions emotionally and or based on their perceived financial interest, as the five members of the Taney court whos families owned slaves and who voted for slavery.  This is also the bad news. The really bad news is that two out of three of these landmark mistakes occurred since January, 2010.

Looking with a long term perspective, the Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 14th Amendment.  Roger B. Taney and the other six justices who voted for slavery and against freedom are history. Their names are generally not remembered.  Similarly, Citizen’s United and Florence can, should, and someday will be overturned. Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas will someday join Roger B. Taney in the history books.

I am not a lawyer. But the Constitution is written for the citizens, not the citizens who are also lawyers.

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