by TChris

Remember Justice Sunday? Religious extremists who believe they have a God-given right to select the next Supreme Court Justice plan a sequel: Justice Sunday II.

[The event] will focus on "the court's hostility toward religion and Christianity in particular," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and the principal organizer of the event. Its subtitle is a prayer said each time the court meets: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court."

The claim that the Supreme Court is hostile to religion is a bizarre misperception of reality. In truth, the extreme religious right is hostile to the Constitution, which protects us all from governmental interference with, or advocacy for, particular religious beliefs.

If you are a doctor, a lawyer or a therapist, don't even think about responding to client or patient e-mail while on an airlane:

Federal law enforcement officials, fearful that terrorists will exploit emerging in-flight broadband services to remotely activate bombs or coordinate hijackings, are asking regulators for the power to begin eavesdropping on any passenger's internet use within 10 minutes of obtaining court authorization.

In joint comments filed with the FCC last Tuesday, the Justice Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned that a terrorist could use on-board internet access to communicate with confederates on other planes, on the ground or in different sections of the same plane -- all from the comfort of an aisle seat.

How can they do that? Via CALEA:

by TChris

As TalkLeft reported yesterday, there is reason to question whether a unit of the California National Guard was created to spy on U.S. citizens who disagree with their government's policies.

Under scrutiny is a California National Guard unit with a tongue-twisting name: the Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management and Intelligence Fusion program. It was established last year, and came to public attention after a recent story in the San Jose Mercury News. The Guard has described the unit as consisting of two members who monitor the military's classified e-mail system and seven others who help gauge terrorist threats to bridges, buildings and other structures.

There's nothing nefarious about monitoring military email or assessing threats, but there's more.

Investigators also are looking into the Guard's monitoring of a Mother's Day anti-war demonstration at the state Capitol that was organized by several peace groups. The activities were documented in e-mails originating in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's press office and made public by the newspaper. That monitoring was by a second unit, the Guard's Domestic Watch Center.

Engaging in peaceful protest is protected by the Constitution. The government should not chill the exercise of that right by spying on protestors.

Crooks and Liars reports National Guard officials in California are being investigated for spying on state residents and destroying documents that could prove it. Not only that,

National Guard officials said that they are only monitoring public Web site and news stories...."We have also received information from sources that this conduct may not be limited to just California; that, in fact, other units across the country may have engaged in similar domestic activity," [state Sen. Joseph]Dunne said.

The AP reports:

U.S. military authorities on Wednesday began investigating whether a California National Guard unit was established to spy on U.S. citizens, as about 30 demonstrators outside guard headquarters confronted officials backed by armed soldiers.

The unit has raised concern among peace activists that the Guard is resorting to the same type of civilian monitoring that characterized Vietnam War-era protests.

Update: The UK IndyMedia has good coverage.

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After a peaceful demonstration Sunday in Edinburgh, Scotland, attended by 225,000 people supporting the "Make Poverty History" movement which is allied with the Live 8 concerts, the anti-capitalist anarchists showed up and the mood drastically changed. Today ended with 30 injured and 90 arrested. Don't miss this photo, it's the funniest.

Here's an account of how things turned once the anarchists arrived to protest:

What will they think of next?

Some Wisconsin judges are making people accused of alcohol-related offenses wear special ankle bracelets to track whether they are drinking. The bracelet's maker, Alcohol Monitoring System of Colorado, believes the device can replace random breath tests.

A couple of beers can trigger the bracelet, which measures alcohol consumption through skin perspiration, according to the device's maker. The bracelet takes a reading and sends the information via wireless modem to a monitoring center. Milwaukee and Racine county court systems have joined an increasing number of systems nationwide using the bracelets.

Some experts doubt the accuracy of the device:

Ward Churchill is back in the spotlight, this time with controversial comments about the "fragging" of military officers.

First, his comments:

"Conscientious objection removes a given piece of the cannon fodder from the fray," he said. "Fragging an officer has a much more impactful effect."

Churchill denies advocating fragging and defends his remarks:

Reached at his home in Boulder County on Wednesday night, Churchill said the comments were made merely to spark discussion and not to take a position on fragging, which is the killing or injuring of an officer in combat by a subordinate.

He said that his remarks were being taken out of context and sensationalized in an effort to drive him from his job as a CU professor. "I neither advocated nor suggested to anyone, anything," Churchill said. "I asked them to think about where they stood on things."

Update: Ian at the Political Teen has some audio of Churchill's speech.

by TChris

Right wing efforts to amend the Constitution to prohibit flag burning (TalkLeft background here) aren't playing well in the press. Condemnations of the House vote to suppress symbolic criticism of the government include:

• The Daily Telegram in Adrian, Michigan. ("To be sure, flag burning is an ignorant and vile exercise in free speech. But we allow a lot of ignorant and vile things to be said and done - that's one of the twisted beauties of our nation.")

• The Oregonian ("That burning you smell isn't an American flag, it's the Bill of Rights going up in political smoke.")

• The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida ("Proposing to eviscerate the First Amendment to criminalize a rare symbolic act of flag disrespect is more than just a trivialization of public policy. It is the ultimate desecration of the very constitutional foundation that really has kept this nation free for more than two centuries.")

Love in Action, which runs the Refuge program the gay teen's parents are forcing him to attend, is now under investigation by the state of Tennessee on allegations of child abuse. Here are some updates with links to news stories on the investigation.

Sometimes we focus so much on the country's abuses abroad, we forget about those committed at home. Please read the story of Moises Carranza-Reyes....it will make you sick....and angry. Here's just a snippet:

He has never been charged with a crime, in this country or in his native Mexico. Yes, he did enter the United States without an invitation in 2003....."I was trying to find a better life," he explains, speaking through a translator. "I've worked all my life. I don't care what kind of work I do. I feel humiliated if I can't work. I will do any honest work."

He never got the chance. So far the only entity to make a buck off Carranza-Reyes is the Park County (Colorado)Jail, which houses alien detainees under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Carranza-Reyes spent eight days at the jail shortly after entering Colorado two years ago. The experience cost him his left leg below the knee and almost cost him his life. And it's left him -- and Denver taxpayers -- with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills that he has no way to pay.

He didn't get in a fight or an accident. It was the filthy jail conditions and lack of medical treatment.

by TChris

One of the most important rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution is the freedom to criticize the United States government. As the Supreme Court has recognized, that freedom can be exercised symbolically by disrespectful treatment of the country's symbols, including its flag.

Members of Congress who elevate symbols of freedom above actual freedom are again trying to amend the Constitution to restrict the ability to criticize the government by burning or otherwise desecrating the flag.

The House approved the proposal by 286-130, more than the two- thirds necessary to pass constitutional amendments.

The proposal will now pass to the Senate, where the outcome is difficult to predict.

The Senate last voted on a flag desecration amendment in 2000, falling four votes short of the 67 required to pass. Since that vote, 26 new senators have been elected.

Senators would do well to remember the words of Justice Brennan, who wrote for the Court in its reversal of Gregory Johnson's conviction for burning the flag in protest of the Republican National Convention in 1984.

Trial began in New York Tuesday for protester June Brashares, accused of kicking a security guard while being ejected from Bush's speech at the Republican National Convention last September in New York.

June Brashares, 40, of San Francisco, is on trial in Manhattan's Criminal Court charged with misdemeanor assault, attempted assault, disorderly conduct and harassment in connection with the incident on Sept. 2, 2004.

Meanwhile, charges still have not been brought against the Republican kicker -- a young Republican supporter caught on video kicking a female protester inside Madison Square Garden as she was lying on the ground being held by three secret service agents. The protesters were arrested. The young Republican was not...