Opinion Forum

Guns and Waffles

May 16th, 2009

By Tom Carter As I made clear in Gun Control and Guns Are Not the Answer, I strongly favor strict federal gun control laws, including prohibition of private possession of handguns. It would be hard to find a better example of the insanity of having so many guns in the hands of so many people [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: gun control, Law
Categories: Humor, Politics | Comments (32) | Home

Diversity on the Supreme Court

May 8th, 2009

I noted earlier in A New Supreme Court Justice that diversity is the primary consideration among Democrats for a nominee to replace Associate Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court. President Obama is searching for the best legal mind in the country, of course, as long as the possessor of that mind is empathetic, sensitive to the needs of [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: diversity, Law, Supreme Court
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

A New Supreme Court Justice

May 1st, 2009

With the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice David H. Souter at the end of this Court term, President Obama has his first opportunity to nominate a new Associate Justice. As reported in The Washington Post, President Obama said …he would nominate a replacement who both respects the Constitution and brings “empathy” and “understanding” to [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law, Obama, Souter, Supreme Court
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (5) | Home

From Piracy To Welfare

April 21st, 2009

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, the Somali pirate who survived a failed attempt to seize a U.S. ship and the Navy’s rescue of his hostage, was arraigned in federal court in New York today. If convicted of piracy and other charges, he will be sentenced to life in prison. While in most photos he was smiling and seemed happy, during the [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law, piracy, pirate
Categories: Media, News, Politics | Comments (5) | Home

Contracts and Bonuses

March 19th, 2009

Contracts are the glue that holds our economy together and, in a broader sense, our society. If we ever get to the point where we can’t rely on the validity, predictability, and legality of contracts, everything else will deteriorate. Think about it–contracts aren’t just legal agreements among businesses, labor arrangements between businesses and unions, and compensation agreements between [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: AIG, Congress, economy, Law, Obama
Categories: Economics, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

Generals for Human Rights

January 26th, 2009

They didn’t look the part of tough-as-nails military commanders-just another group of smiley faces in business suits clustered behind a president and politely clapping as he signed some documents. Yet a big page in the history of human rights was turned last week, when 16 retired generals and admirals flanked President Obama while he signed [...]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: human rights, Law, torture
Categories: Military, News, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

Presidential Pardons Redux

January 26th, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, Kevin posted an article at Preemptive Karma on the pardon powers of U.S. presidents and state governors. He made the point that …a pardon effectively skirts the entirety of state/federal criminal law, including the provisions for righting a wrongful conviction. And the citizenry have absolutely no recourse…other than a constitutional amendment. [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (5) | Home

Jan Barry Interviewed by ABC News

January 15th, 2009

By Tom Carter Jan Barry, one of the authors who writes for Opinion Forum, was interviewed in an ABC Nightline report aired on January 14. The report, filmed last year, focuses on a toxic waste scandal in Ringwood, NJ that has been controversial for a quarter century. As an investigative reporter for The Record of New Jersey, Jan and a team of [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: environment, Law, toxic waste
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (0) | Home

Presidential Pardons

January 14th, 2009

Kevin posted an article on presidential pardons at Preemptive Karma. It made me think about President Bush’s recent revocation of a pardon the day after he granted it. In Article II, Section 2, the Constitution gives the president absolute “…Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” But if the [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law
Categories: History, News, Politics | Comments (7) | Home

No More Bratz Dolls!

January 1st, 2009

Do you know that the company that makes Barbies has sued the company that makes Bratz, and now they can’t sell Bratz dolls anymore? Only Barbie dolls! You can read the details here. Just a little of the article says: … a federal judge banned MGA from making and selling its popular Bratz dolls. “It’s [...]

Articles written by Amber
Tags: Barbie, Bratz, Law
Categories: Life, News | Comments (10) | Home

Gay Marriage

December 22nd, 2008

Against gay marriage, are you? Why? Is it because of your religious beliefs? Because you think marriage is supposed to be the union of a man and a woman for the primary purpose of having children? Because you think same-sex marriage will fundamentally alter our society for the worse? Because you personally object to legally recognizing a lifestyle that [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: conservative, Law, liberal
Categories: Life, Politics | Comments (8) | Home

Dexter the Serial Killer

December 14th, 2008

If you’ve never seen the Showtime series Dexter, try watching a couple of episodes. Dexter Morgan is a serial killer of a different kind. He operates under a strict personal code which permits him to kill only other killers who have escaped justice. His father, who adopted him after a horrific childhood experience, was a [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: death, Law
Categories: Arts, Life | Comments (0) | Home

Air Travel

December 12th, 2008

My air travel these days is done on the Internet. While hardly anyone has noticed, I’ve boycotted the airlines since 9/11. I can’t see paying good money to be harassed by people who can’t tell honest citizens from hard-core terrorists. I used to love to fly in airplanes. In Vietnam, I flew in all sorts of Army, Air Force [...]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: 9/11, airlines, Law, terrorism
Categories: Life | Comments (2) | Home

Around the Blogosphere

December 10th, 2008

Kevin at Preemptive Karma is running a series of excerpts from Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope. Kevin is a smart guy, and he’ll find all the good stuff. I recommend reading his series. A few days ago, Carla at BlueOregon wrote an interesting post titled, “Stuff that gets my grouch on.” Take a look at [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: islamist, Israel, Law, Obama, press, terrorism
Categories: Life, News | Comments (0) | Home

The Terrorist Among Us

December 6th, 2008

Bill Ayers wrote a column published on December 5 in The New York Times (where else?). I guess you could read parts of it as an apology of sorts for things he did in the distant past. He also played down his associations with Barack Obama. But what about the more recent past? This photo, from a [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Bill Ayers, Law, Obama, terrorist
Categories: Politics | Comments (1) | Home

Justice for O.J. Simpson

December 5th, 2008

Today a no-nonsense Nevada judge sentenced O.J. Simpson to as long as 33 years in prison, although he might serve only nine years. This followed his conviction for a long list of 12 crimes, including armed robbery and kidnapping. Finally, justice for O.J. Late and insufficient, but justice still. Just imagine if this judge and jury [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: death penalty, Law
Categories: Life, News | Comments (2) | Home

Guns Are Not the Answer

December 4th, 2008

St. Louis alderman Charles Quincy Troupe is encouraging residents to arm themselves. Troupe said, “The community has to be ready to defend itself, because it’s clear the economy is going to get worse, and criminals are getting more bold.” As far as relying on the police is concerned, he said a senior police official told [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: gun control, Law
Categories: Politics | Comments (10) | Home

Senator Byrd and the KKK

November 17th, 2008

As Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) approaches 90 years of age, he is praised in some quarters almost to the point of reverence. Lest we not forget, the Senator has a past that would have been used to force him out of public life if there was an “R” after his name instead of a “D”. [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law, Military
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (0) | Home

Hostage Lawyers

November 14th, 2008

One morning a group of armed men stormed a large law firm, taking all the lawyers hostage. Police and SWAT teams surrounded the building. A hostage negotiator contacted the leader of the hostage takers. Negotiator: What do you want? Leader: We want $10 million dollars, a helicopter to fly us to the airport, and a [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Humor, Law
Categories: Humor | Comments (0) | Home

Borders, Language, Culture

November 11th, 2008

It’s been said that borders, language, and culture are the essential elements of nationhood. Borders define the physical space a nation lives in the same way the property line around our homes or the walls of our apartments define the space that is ours. Within this space, we define and enforce the standards and conditions [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law, terrorism
Categories: Politics | Comments (1) | Home

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