Brilliant article and analogy of eating vs. Dobbs. This article is on-point. I am so glad there are people that write these articles to relate to the world the mess we are in. Now if only someone would listen… Great find, Sis!
You may have heard that a crowd of peaceful protesters gathered outside a restaurant where Justice Kavanaugh was dining one evening recently. Now, I don’t approve of threats of violence under any circumstances, but from what I can gather, there were none … this was a peaceful protest. Actions have consequences, and when you make a decision that is life-altering (not in any good way) for more than half the population, I think you have to expect that people will make their displeasure known in whatever way they can. In fact, one section of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads …
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
In one of my earlier posts, I told you all about Moore v. Harper coming up on the SCOTUS docket, and earlier I learned of another case to watch, which is Merrill v. Milligan.
This post will outline the cases and tell who granted stays and who dissented on both cases. One attacks our ability to fight in disputes over federal elections and state redistricting (Moore), and the other attacks the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Merrill).
I want to make a very important note on case law. It is about the cases and the final rulings that you are supposed to be weary of, but it is also about which amendments to the Constitution that rest within the language of the decisions and opinions of the court.
In the Moore v. Harper case, they submitted their writ of certiorari in March. The topics that are being argued in this case are partisan gerrymandering, congressional redistricting, and the Elections Clause. There is also language of the Equal Protection Clause, Freedom of Speech, and Assembly Clauses coming in this case from the North Carolina Supreme Court case in which the petitioner appealed. (Remember above that I said it’s important to look at the Amendments encompassed inside of these documents.)
Certiorari from SCOTUS was granted in this case on June 30, 2022 with Justices Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito. This will be a scary case of voter subversion through state gerrymandering, so it is important that we watch this case closely and watch the wording that comes through on opinions of the justices.
Now, onto Merrill v. Milligan, we see another case that has many precursors of suppression of liberty. John Merrill is the Secretary of State in Alabama, and there are actually two other parties, Evan Milligan and Marcus Caster. This case is coming from a district court in Alabama, which I found odd. It seems this case has bumped up the ladder rather quickly, and it is taking hits at Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the opinion of the lower court dilutes the black vote on a 1994 verbiage from Justice Thomas that redistricting, which he argued “…that interpreting the law to require some level of racial discrimination in how congressional lines are drawn did not comport with the statute and subverted the principle of a color-blind Constitution” (Alabama Center for Law & Liberty, 2022).
Thomas is no stranger to going after this section of the legislation, and this is why I say this branch of government has way too much power. The legislative branch was designed by the Framers to be the strongest, but this Supreme Court is pretty damn powerful.
The Justices supporting the stay and granting certiorari are Justices Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Barrett. Justices Roberts, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer dissented with Roberts and Breyer filing the dissents.
So, this was just a quick look at the cases coming up that have been put on the SCOTUS docket. These 5-4 decisions are going to be coming more and more. I am going to be curious to see how Justice Jackson will begin voting, which I assume it will be better than Breyer’s voting. There are many cases entwined in these two cases too. All of them about voting rights and gerrymandering. Stay tuned…
My nice little compression bandage and my ugly foot LOL
Today was going to be a “catch-up on cleaning” day, but I was super unmotivated mostly. I did have to go out at 1 PM and put air in my tires on my car since some had lost some air while sitting. After messing with Delilah’s feet (tires), I had to go have mine looked at.
My trip to Vegas reminded me that walking equaled pain, but I had made an appointment before we left. I have been having problems with my heels for quite some time, but I had never been to a foot doctor. So…I sucked it up and made the appointment.
Today, my appointment was at 3 PM, and I got home a little before 4. I was pretty spot-on with my self-diagnosis. It felt like I had bone spurs on my heels and plantar fasciitis in at least one of my feet. (Not the kind of spurs you put on your heels and then kick the horse, by the way 😁)The X-rays confirmed both of those, except I have both on both feet. He gave me a shot in my right heel (which hurt worse than labor…I nearly kicked him by reflex), and he put me in a compression bandage that I have to wear for at least 5 days to help me with the stretches I must do 5x a day.
I must add that my body is much older than my age and my mind, which I take after my Mom’s side of the family. Dad never complained when he was not feeling good or when he had pain. I wish I was more like that, but my body is full of issues that I cannot even hide from.
With that said, I am going to take me and my bum feet to bed to snuggle with my puppies.
We had SCOTUS nominees commit perjury in their job interviews. If you or I did this in a job interview, and the employer found out, guess what would happen? We sure the hell wouldn’t keep our seat warm with that company, and a bad job reference to the next employer would follow.
Lying under oath in a court of law is perjury, and if we do that, we get held in contempt of court. We go to jail. No one is supposed to be above the law, and I want to see some Articles of Impeachment on the congressional table along with a list of President Biden’s potential nominees to replace them. This country belongs to the people, and he works for us. Let’s get it done!
The Uvalde police chief needs to surrender more than his council position. This is self-explanatory…he’s incompetent and got those babies killed.
Jayland Walker was executed and maimed by nearly 90 bullets fired by the Blue. If you haven’t heard of this story, it’s atrocious and overkill. Click HERE to read the story.
House visits to justices have brought me happy tears. My favorite sign was “Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries” at Amy Coney Barrett’s house protest. It’s all over twitter if you want to hear the marches by her house.
Most important! The 10th Amendment! The 10th Amendment has a very meaningful definition if you pay attention to it. (I will follow this up with a picture from my ConLaw book.)
The definition from my book for the 10th Amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people” (Hall, 2021). If you are new to ConLaw, your eyes are probably crossing, but I will spell it out a bit further.
If a regulation infringes on Constitutional rights, the power of what happens to that regulation is in the hands of the people under this amendment. It’s not just supremacy and necessary and proper in the aspect of what people can do. Read that again. The people are the main aspect of the Constitution that SCOTUS and Congress forgets about. Let me show you:
This is a great guide from my textbook of the powers in the 10th Amendment. Citation below.
That first question and answer…is us! It’s our power if something encroaches on our liberties and rights. Why? I am so glad you asked! It’s because every person sitting in Congress and POTUS are voted into office by the PEOPLE. So, each and every one of them work for us.
This means that it is also up to us to put on the pressure to get results. That is how Roe got overturned. The radical asshats were louder and more pushy than we were causing them to be heard over us. They pushed harder than the pro-choice people.
Do you want to know how to fix it all?
…drum roll…
Vote!
…drum roll…
Use Amendment X to our advantage by putting pressure on Congress to do our bidding.
To reiterate what the picture above asks and points out:
Does the regulation encroach upon civil liberties or rights of the people? If the answer is “Yes”, neither level of government can regulate the regulation (state or federal).
Let’s imagine a scenario for a moment where everyone who feels their civil liberties and/or rights have been trampled on by a piece of legislation or decision takes their case to court, writes to their congressmen and women, visits their state capitals, etc. The courts and the governmental officials are going to get really sick of hearing from us and from us making their dockets fill up with 10th Amendment afflictions.
Here is my olive branch. If you want to join me in finding folks that have been impacted by an encroachment of civil liberties and civil rights, contact me. Let’s see what we can get done together.
In community,
Amy
References:
Hall, D. E., Feldmeier, J. (20210104). Constitutional Law: Govermental Powers and Individual Freedoms, 4th Edition. [[VitalSource Bookshelf version]]. Retrieved from vbk://9780135772621.
I am back! First I am going to share some photos, and then I am going to repent for my actions. I did not leave Vegas richer financially, but I did leave with a wealth of happy times to reflect on later. We stayed at the Paris, and it was nice.
I want to first talk about how guilty I feel for enjoying myself when all of the beautiful women in this unrecognizable country are suffering. I know…I shouldn’t feel that way, but I do. I want to share the happy moments because I think we are about to have a lot of bad moments.
The first night, Friday, we went to see the Jabbawockeez. That was one of the most fun and best shows I think we had on our trip, except for the near naked Aussie Men 🤣. They were interactive and really put on a great show for their fans. The second day, we ate at Hells Kitchen and then went to the Thunder Down Under show (…many firsts on this trip, and this is one of them lol.) I came, saw, and conquered on that one. I would share but not sure you all want to see all that LOL.
Me in front of the Hell’s Kitchen sign
Then, last night we went to Criss Angel’s Mindfreak after eating some Mexican food at YOLOs, and I was a bit disappointed. I had the highest hopes for this show, but it was highly sexualized and had more of a movie aspect of it for promotions to his other undertakings. He’s a great guy, and I still love him. I just think he gave up on the show that made him Criss Angel. I did get to pose with the beautiful Tatiana and Criss’s straightjacket.
Me & Tatiana at Mindfreak
Today, we headed home around noon after eating at the Cracker Barrell in Nevada. We made it home around 5:40-ish this evening.
As we were on our way to Las Vegas, the Dobbs decision came through on our phones. My sister and I felt heavy and our hearts ached. I needed the break away but felt horrible that I was not sitting here at my computer when the news broke about Roe and Casey.
I will have plenty of things to say and action steps to take. I did make my stand by wearing my RBG voices shirt. It says “Speak Your Mind Even If Your Voice Quivers”. I wasn’t looking for praise or thumbs up, but I got plenty. It was nice to know that folks read the shirt and could relate to it. I wish I would have gotten a better photo of it. (We consumed a few adult beverages lol.)
Me and Sis before Jabbawockeez (Amazing show!) This is the best picture that I have of the shirt.
Now…without a hitch…I will be fighting for legislation in California to protect enhanced women’s healthcare in our state, and I will be very loud about calling for the impeachment of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. They lied under oath, which last time I checked was called perjury and is a crime, and they have committed crimes against the women of this country. I also call for the impeachment for Clarence Thomas for being married to an insurrectionist and supporting her radical views from the bench. All four of these judges are setting their own agendas on American lives, and someone better start impeaching the asshats.
I am thankful that I got this little vacation because now I am refreshed and ready to stomp on some old balls that have nothing better to do than bounce on our rights…pun intended.
Hi everyone! Here I am! Sorry I have been MIA! My schoolwork is literally running me from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed most days. My POLS 005 class is doing five chapters at a time, which consists of a study guide for each chapter, a discussion comment for each chapter, and a discussion response (including references in both initial and response) for every freakin’ chapter.
Now, on June 13th, my ConLaw class opened, so I am starting the coursework on it today (along with doing my 2nd exam study guide, so I can complete the exam in my fed gov class by Thursday and Friday). Which brings me back to “Holy shit, Batman!”
My ConLaw class is set up as three chapters at a time, so between now and the time we leave for Vegas on the 24th that I have 6 chapters worth of work to complete in order to enjoy my vacation.
Here let me demonstrate what that looks like when things are not crossed out like in the picture above. 🤣😂😲🤯 The green is ConLaw and the purple is Fed Gov:
So, again I say, “Holy shit, Batman! 26 assignments and a reflection paper that is not listed there…
I was going to write up my own summation of the Prime Time special about the January 6th insurrection, but my friend and sister, Jill Dennison, has written it the best I have seen yet.
I want to add that Bennie and Liz did a great job in their opening statements, and it shows that bipartisanship is possible. I think we will read those speeches in our history books, as they were honest addresses to the nation.
I am very curious what all is going to happen with these special event hearings and which Republicans were “asking for Presidential pardons” because I feel the convolution of psychotic ideas is going to go very deep into our democracy.
I also think that those telling the truth to the committee are very brave for standing up against a bully and terrorist to make sure someone is held accountable.
Please read Jill’s post and really take in her words. This is a conversation that needs to be had and made between constituents of our government’s political process. Voices always need to be heard. Hear Jill’s voice in her words.
In Community,
Amy
I mostly want to talk a bit about last night’s televised hearings, but also have another snippet … or maybe two … who knows? 🤷 January 6th Committee hearings I watched the televised hearings of the January 6th committee tonight, and I have to tell you, by the time they took a 10-minute recess after […]
Professor Taboo over at The Professor’s Convatorium had a post called “Human Relations“, and inside of this post, Prof. asks nine questions. As I am reading the answers to the questions, I sat there thinking that I needed to answer them too, so…here I am. I am going to answer them with opinion and how they reflect my views on the subject matter, as is my right, but let it be known that I love a good debate and hate trolls. (I know…hate is a strong word…but trolls infuriate me.)
What is the number one need in every human’s life, or the mental-emotional-physical needs? This is four questions in one really because we need one thing in each of those areas. Our main need in life is air to breath. Our mental need is stability. Our emotional need is love. Our physical need is sex.
Is our need for three-component love clearly, proactively, and accurately expressed to others? Do others correctly interpret that/those expression(s)? Why or why not? I have not ever researched “three-component love”, but this is possibly because love is not what I expected to be. I think I have given up on romantic love, since the world has changed too much to find true love. I have love for my family and friend, and how that comes out in a given day is depending on who it is and what mood I’m in. It’s not my place to say if someone correctly or incorrectly interpret my love. I’m a take it or leave it kind of girl these days.
How many forms of love truly exist? Sadly, I have no idea. I have one kind. If I love you, it’s forever.
What type of relations with other humans do we have in our lives? What types have we had in our past? Which ones worked best and which ones collapsed? Why and why not? As much as I would like to answer this question, I have no idea who or what would go where. I can just say that in my life that I am still waiting for #5. Most of my relationships have been abusive or controlling, so I wouldn’t know what a balanced relationship looked or felt like.
Were some of your past relationships or current ones similar/identical or a sub-form of a Black Hole in outer space? Umm. They were all black holes that sucked the life out of me. Every single one of them. Identical, life-sucking, black holes that went nowhere.
Were the expectations for the best or failed relationships reasonable or unreasonable expectations? Why and why not? I always have unreasonable expectations in the people I have been in a relationship with. I am submissive by nature, and I put all my trust in too quickly. I always expect that if I am honest and loyal that they will be too. I have always been wrong. I have been cheated on in every relationship I have ever been in since my first kiss.
Where do our blueprints-of-relations originate? Do they flex and/or adapt over time to everchanging conditions, both environmentally and amongst our human daily/weekly engagements? Why or why not? If by blueprints-of-relations you mean a sketch leading you around a healthy relationship, mine were drawn on the sidewalk in chalk on a rainy day. The only healthy relationship was the one that my grandmother and grandfather shared. My mother was a mess in relationships, and Dad was Dad (don’t want to elaborate). I have never had good models, and the love stories on television and in books give false hope that love exists.
Are certain man-made social-systems, ideologies, belief/faith systems flexible, adaptable, and sustainable from subatomic micro-levels to organic-human levels up to macro-levels of our Universe and the Cosmos? Why or why not? My brain cannot process this multi-faceted question, but I am sure that I have no idea. Scientific things and love are just not my niche. The only thing I will say on the grounds of ideologies and faith/belief systems is that we gather the most human interaction in these kind of situations along with our parents and caregivers. When it comes to the Cosmos, only God knows.
Given the above (honest!) answers, am I at a healthy juncture? Am I thriving, becoming a more whole human-being? Or am I in need of (serious?) change, redirection, and/or bigger better refinements? I think you are in a better healthy juncture than I am when it comes to human relations, Professor Taboo. There were many of these questions I had to put my stink on because that’s what relationships have been for me. You are doing great, and we can always refine things we want to do better.
The above picture is my current world. Don’t mind my chicken scratch. The cup has coffee…at 11p.m. My arms and brain are screaming at me LOL. I am trying to get as much as I can done before Sunday. I don’t want to be doing coursework on my birthday. I will be a little slower on comments, but I wanted to check in!
I am reblogging this from my friend, Jill at Filosofa’s Word. Please take a moment and read Jill’s analysis of the current mass shooting epidemic that is happening and being swept under the rug along the lines of access to assault rifles. Let’s get another conversation started and figure out what actions we can take to get our voices heard.
May 14th – 10 killed, 3 injured in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York May 15th – 1 killed, 5 injured at a church in Laguna Woods, California May 24th – 19 children, 2 teachers killed, 17 injured in a school in Uvalde, Texas June 1st – 4 killed at a hospital in Tulsa, […]
One terrorist (Buffalo) was a racist looking to take out as many Black people as possible based on census data, and one just wanted to shoot a school up because his grandmother pissed him off (Uvalde). Then, if that is not enough terrorism for you, the Oklahoma shooting was patient dissatisfaction after a surgery, so he shot the surgeon and others in his path. The Laguna, CA shooting is new to me, but people cannot even go to church safely without worry of being shot up for religious preference.
The 2nd Amendment was never intended to protect assault rifles over public good. READ that AGAIN… and AGAIN…until it “clicks” and gun laws are changed!
I will end with the definition of domestic terrorism, and then I am going back to the books. The source of this image is from the FBI.gov page concerning domestic terrorism.
Image Credit: FBI
After reading those definitions, what category would you put these mass shooters in?
Tonight was a reflective night while reading my textbook for my college course, and even more after listening to the lecture from my professor. In the lecture, the entrance of the phrase “tyranny of the majority” comes front and center when speaking about the French theorist named Montesquieu and again with James Madison’s essay called Federalist #10.
I am going to make an effort to read all of those essays that were written, as they are in my library, but this tyrannical phrase feels very relevant and important to discuss further in a reflection of current times. The separation of powers that both Montesquieu and Madison theorize about are the same in some ways and very different in others.
(Bear with me…I will elaborate further in a moment.)
Power is what runs the world. Power is also what we fought against when gaining independence away from the Crown’s monarchy in the 18th century when the American Revolution took us to the Declaration of Independence.
Which takes me back to Montesquieu…
As the creator of the separation of powers ideology, Montesquieu had a great theory, but it fell a little short. He argued that the government knew how best to care for its people, and that the size of government was the key to success of delegating power.
Madison’s idea of power different, but still had the same kind of theory. The difference was that size didn’t matter but the interests on the table were key to allocating power between the central government and the states.
Federalism was the result of the compromise between the Federalists and Antifederalists to keep from “tyranny of the majority”. Madison and Montesquieu knew that there would be come to be greed and selfishness in the competition of power, so regardless of who was right, the key was to stop a coup, which we failed to do with the election of one very orange man.
Each of the men had conflicting views on how the tyranny would come into play in our history and futures, but the similarity is that power was paramount to democracy and had to be separated.
These theories from two men became a reality on January 6, 2021 in the attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Our three branches of government were designed to work together and for each branch to practice checks and balances. When one maniac gets too much power, it’s detriment for the nation. These reasons are why the Articles of Confederation were scrapped and why the Constitution took its place…to fix a weak, unilateral government that was under the mercy of the state’s contributions of tax monies to survive.
I would love to hear any feedback on my interpretation and have a good discussion about this topic.
I know that we are all in different places, but I wanted to share this as an education the process to vote. This one is for ACLU NorCal, but please check your local ACLU for voting rights information in your area.
Click here to read the information from my local ACLU. I thought this could serve as a model to look for in your state.
If you need help finding your voting rights in your county and state, please do not hesitate to reach out for help. It’s your right to vote, and it’s all of our responsibilities to get out and cast our votes, especially in the primary.
This page will be under construction, since I want to add more voting resources.
First, I want to thank all of you who follow me on here and follow my progress. I appreciate all of you who take the time to read my words, and I love the interaction.
Next, I want to apologize if I am hit and miss this month, and I am doing it in advance due to not knowing how things will go once this summer session starts. I have two classes in the Summer 2022 semester, and they are both compressed courses. The first one, Federal State Local Government starts on May 31st and ends June 24th, and my Constitutional Law course starts on June 13th and ends July 21.
This first course will be very time consuming, as I have over 600 pages to read in less than a month. The assignment load is pretty heavy as well, so I have tried to start early.
The second course’s layout and workload is unknown until the instructor grants access to the materials. I will keep you all posted on that.
As I complete work in the classes, I will be posting what I am learning and share with all of you. These two classes are hugely in my wheelhouse, and I look forward to a good semester. I do worry about my time management skills though. We’ll see how it goes 🙂
The Voice of the Voiceless 