by TChris

Students at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky. are scrambling to erase their MySpace profiles after university officials discovered that Jason Johnson's profile mentioned his boyfriend. Johnson was expelled for being gay, which is contrary to the private school's "high standards." According to President James Taylor:

"We tell prospective students about our high standards before they come. There are places students with predispositions can go, such as San Francisco and the left coast or to many of the state schools."

The Kentucky Legislature gave Cumberlands $11 million. Should Kentucky continue to assist a school that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation? Kentucky Sen. Ernesto Scorsone doesn't think so.

by TChris

High profile lawyers capture headlines, but less heralded lawyers, laboring in the trenches daily, go out of their way to make the legal system work for ordinary people. They rarely get the recognition they deserve. One of them, Ray Brescia, is profiled in the NY Times.

Mr. Brescia, 39, is director of the community development project at the Urban Justice Center in Manhattan, a nonprofit legal clinic founded in 1984. ...

Last month, lawyers from the Urban Justice Center's community development project sued Jing Fong, the largest restaurant in Chinatown, alleging that it had violated labor laws violations by, among other things, siphoning off tips from waiters and busboys.

"As a former busboy and waiter, I care about this stuff," he said.

I'm getting ready to head back to Denver (see post below)--will there be a Rove indictment today? Here's some space to talk about it - or anything else -- before I get back online.

I'll be sending out individual thank you emails this weekend to those who sent in contributions. They are much appreciated and as I noted below, you all sent enough to cover blog expenses for the next quarter -- including the cost of hosting and downloading court pleadings in the major cases.

My quick little trip to New York turned out to be huge fun because of the diverse cast of characters and the best weather I've experienced in New York in years. I'm just about to head to the airport to fly home.

I spent yesterday afternoon taping two tv shows which will air sometime in the next few weeks with Montel Williams, CNN's Lou Dobbs, MSNBC's Rita Cosby, Former EPA Secretary (and N.J.Governor) Christine Todd Whitman, Political guru Joe Trippi, actor Joey Pantoliano (who played the now deceased Ralphie on the Sopranos and as co-President of the Creative Coaliton has testified before Congress on First Amendment protections, actor and political activist Esai Morales (La Bamba, NYPD Blue, to name a few) and conservative Phoenix attorney Rachel Alexander, who also is co-editor of the blog Intellectual Conservative and private investigator and tv pundit Rod Wheeler.

by TChris

When schools censor the political expression of students, they teach kids that the Constitution is meaningless. That's the wrong lesson.

Camille Pontillo, the principal of Park Springs Elementary in Coral Springs, Florida, needs to learn a lesson of her own. Pontillo's school is having a talent show, but Pontillo won't allow 10-year-old Molly Shoul to sing Pink's new song, "Dear Mr. President." Pontillo doesn't think students should sing songs that are "too political."

Molly's mother nails it:

"If this was a student singing a pro-administration song, no one would quibble with it," Shoul said. "The principal is just running scared and doesn't want to upset any parents."

Kent State, May 4, 1970. . Don't forget. If you do, I'll remind you every year.

Neil Young, Ohio.

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Don't let the music die.

by TChris

You know it's an election year when politicians take time away from the pressing issues of the day to promote amendments to the Constitution that lessen our rights.

Approved 6-3 by a Judiciary Committee panel on the Constitution, the amendment reads: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

Other efforts to take away rights we're likely to hear about this summer:

The flag measure is one of several constitutional amendments Republican leaders are advancing to energize conservative voters even though none of them is likely to clear the Senate. Others include outlawing abortion and banning same-sex marriage.

The ACLU responds here to the extreme view that symbols of freedom are more important than actual freedom.

by TChris

Apart from Jeralyn's informative observations here at TalkLeft, some of the most interesting takes on the Duke lacrosse case have come from sports columnists. In a piece headlined "Justice is getting lost in Duke case," the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock argues that it's time for sensationalists to take a step back and look at the evidence:

The fact that one of the arrested suspects seems to have an airtight alibi -- a cabbie, cell phone records, an ATM receipt and record of entrance into his dorm room -- is completely ignored. So is the fact that the other stripper clearly has questionable motives and is interested in seeing if she can "spin" this tragedy to her advantage and possibly make a little cash.

Criminal accusations, Whitlock reminds us, should be judged on their merit, not on preconceptions about the likely behavior of privileged white men and black female college students of significantly lesser means. Deeper societal issues of racial injustice may or may not be showcased in a particular trial, but they can't be remedied in a criminal prosecution. Prosecutions depend on facts, not stereotypes. It is unjust to base opinions about the merits of an accusation on the race or social status of the accuser or accused.

Again, I don't know what happened inside that house. But I do know that Martin Luther King Jr. and many, many others of all races did not die so that the poor, black and oppressed could surrender the moral high ground and attempt to inflict injustice on the privileged. ... We're far better served being on the side of justice at all times and complaining when it doesn't arrive at our doorstep rather than rooting for injustice to befall the privileged.

by TChris

From a recent speech by Massachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, who grew up fighting apartheid:

"Anyone familiar with the history of oppression in any part of the world knows that silence is a facilitator of injustice"

by TChris

Clyde Kennard was railroaded. He was sentenced to seven years in a Mississippi prison for possessing $25 worth of stolen chicken feed. The only witness against him later recanted his testimony. His real crime was his attempt to enroll at the University of Southern Mississippi after four years in the service.

His temerity drew the ire of segregationist leaders who were determined to fight integration at USM.

Kennard died years ago, but those who want to set the record straight were hoping that Gov. Haley Barbour would award him a posthumous pardon. Not gonna happen.

"The governor hasn't pardoned anyone, whether they be alive or deceased," Barbour spokesman Pete Smith said Thursday.

After all, mere innocence -- not to mention race discrimination -- shouldn't stand in the way of preserving a criminal conviction. Law and order guys like Barbour don't want to set a precedent. Next thing you know, all the other wrongly convicted prisoners would think they deserve a pardon too.

by TChris

Donald Rumsfeld speechless? Hard to believe, isn't it?

Speaking in Atlanta today, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was sharply questioned about his pre-war claims about WMD in Iraq. An audience member confronted Rumsfeld with his 2003 claim about WMD, "We know where they are." Rumsfeld falsely claimed he never said it. The audience member then read Rumsfeld's quote back to him, leaving the defense secretary speechless.

Think Progress has the video.

by TChris

Laws punishing peaceful dissent are contrary to the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment. As we listen to pundits proclaim that dissent is unpatriotic, that criticism of a Republican government gives aid and comfort to the enemy, we should draw lessons from mistakes made in response to similar sentiments in the past.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed a pardon yesterday of 78 persons who were convicted of violating Montana's sedition law during and after World War I.

Montana's sedition laws served as a model for the federal sedition laws also passed in 1918. Other states had such laws, but none was more vigorous in pressing them than Montana.

Remarks that were labeled seditious -- in one case, the observation, "This is a rich man's war" in a saloon -- carried fines approaching $20,000 and sentences of up to 20 years in jail.