Posted on By: Fred

1st Amendment Protects ‘Hurtful’ Speech, Court Says

The First Amendment protects free speech even if it is as hurtful as signs at a Marine funeral proclaiming “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that was one of the court’s most significant on freedom of expression in recent years.

The Westboro Baptist Church celebrated the death of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Iraq with signs such as “God Hates You,” along with antigay messages at his funeral in Maryland in 2006. The late Marine’s father sought damages for emotional distress, but the court ruled that he had no case.

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Posted on By: Fred

The American Dream Film

We must re-define the scope of government. The original idea of America was to have a strong but very limited in scope Federal Government. The Constitution laid out clearly what the scope was to be and it is a small fraction of what it has evolved into today.

There is no question that as time goes on there are new issues that arise because of new problems and technologies, but the inherent and legal philosophy can and should still be used to make the determination on whether it fits into the federal government’s proper role to manage these things. If it is something that falls outside of what the constitution allows, they either must not do it or we change the constitution to accommodate this new responsibility. The reason this is so important is not just because one is a stickler for the letter of the Constitution but because Governments, unless strictly held in check, only grow over time.

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Posted on By: Fred

Franz Kafka and the Nightmare of Bureaucracy

Kafka took some early stabs at writing a novel, but none of them really worked out. In 1903, he started The Child and the City. He abandoned it, and the manuscripts have since disappeared. He tried to collaborate with Max Brod on a work called Richard and Samuel, but that didn’t work out either. The fragment “Wedding Preparations in the Country” was supposed to be much longer than it was, but he gave up on it. Therefore, when talking about Kafka’s novels, we always have to start with Amerika. Although like his other attempts it remains unfinished, enough of it exists for us to recognize it as a novel, and so it is here we begin.

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Posted on By: Fred

The Aftermath of the Kelo Ruling

One year ago, on June 23, 2005, the United States Supreme Court opened the floodgates for the abuse of eminent domain by state and local authorities with its Kelo v. City of New London decision. That decision held that private property could be taken by government agencies and turned over to private developers under the guise of ‘economic development.’

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Posted on By: Fred

Eminent Hypocrisy

In a June 26 editorial entitled ‘Responsible Use of Eminent Domain,’ the New York Times displays what can only be described as the ultimate in hypocritical chutzpah as it attempts to justify its own nefarious land—grab made under the guise of the principle of eminent domain.

A Supreme Court decision last year on eminent domain caused many people to overreact, most of all Congress. The House of Representatives passed a troubling bill that would severely limit local governments’ ability to clean up blighted areas and promote responsible development. The Senate, which has yet to act, should take a more moderate approach.

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Posted on By: Fred

Eminent Domain: Being Abused?

Just about everyone knows that under a process called eminent domain, the government can (and does) seize private property for public use – to build a road, a school or a courthouse.

But did you know the government can also seize your land for private use if they can prove that doing it will serve what’s called “the public good”?

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