Alternative title: Why We Resist and Oppose. WATCH: During her confirmation hearing this morning (yes, this morning – in 2018), judicial nominee Wendy Vitter refused to say whether she agreed with the result in Brown v. Board of Education. #UnfitToJudge pic.twitter.com/RWroh0XUIC — The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) April 11, 2018 Consider the remarks of Wendy Vitter,…
Law
Law, Open Government, Public Meetings
Sunshine Week 2018 (The Bad Example Nearby)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Just as one would prefer a beautiful neighborhood, so too would a sensible person prefer that nearby towns were well-ordered and successful. And yet, and yet, one cannot choose for those other towns: they will choose for themselves, sometimes well, sometimes poorly. When they do choose poorly, the best one can do is to guard…
Law, Trump
‘There’s no such thing as a perjury trap’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, School District, University
Daylight (Part 3 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
One finds oneself with a question, when there are gaps in a public record, when there are easily-avoidable deficiencies of open government: What will one do about it? A good method in this matter is deliberate, dispassionate, and diligent. A few thoughts: 1. Foundation. One looks at state and local provisions for public records and…
City, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, School District, University
Midnight (Part 2 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Open government is right both in itself and in consequence: a free society confers political power only for limited & enumerated purposes. Those who confer this power have a right of oversight and a sensible obligation to assure that power’s exercise remains limited & enumerated. The right derives both naturally and by positive law. In…
Alt-Right, America, Authoritarianism, Law, Liberty
Mycielski’s Complete Four-Page Guide to Surviving an Authoritarian Regime
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
European journalist Martin Mycielski has prepared a Complete Four-Page Guide to Surviving an Authoritarian Regime (“in graphic form, With love, your Eastern European friends.”) As he now sees the return of authoritarianism to his native Poland, we now see the beginning of it in America. Here is Mycielski’s guide:
Crime, Law
The (First) Indictments: United States of Amercia v. Paul J. Manafort and Richard W. Gates III
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Babbittry, Bigotry, City, Law, Liberty, Local Government, Trump
The Somber Trio
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Among the most serious harms are those to liberty and physical well-being. One can compensate adequately for many injuries, but damages at law are slight compensation for lost liberties and physical injuries. We’ve a new national environment, in which actions once impermissible are now encouraged, and redress once required is now no longer recognized. If…
America, Law, Liberty, Putin, Resistance, Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia
The Erosion of Political Norms (Concluding Part 4 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
More than one small town has struggled for years under the debilitating influence of political & economic conflicts of interest, misguided priorities, and dodgy or grandiose claims. These conditions where those that That Which Paved the Way for Trumpism. Those locally who carried on this way made Trumpism more likely, the way a moderate illness might weaken…
Law, Politics
Podcast: Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s a new podcast from Atty. Preet Bharara, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. I’ve embedded the first episode, below, and readers can subscribe to this and future episodes via iTunes or Stitcher. On March 11, 2017 President Donald Trump fired US Attorney Preet Bharara. Preet tells the story in…
City, Law, Liberty, New Whitewater, Trump
On Transgender Americans
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
One could write about the recent Twitter statement from Trump that “[a]fter consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” but there’s a broader question than military service. To be sure, I believe…
Crime, Law, Litigation, Misconduct
He Knew
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Raquel Rutledge reports that Eric Haertle knew the medical products he sold were infected: The former co-owner and chief operating officer of a Hartland pharmaceutical company — once among the nation’s largest manufacturers of alcohol wipes — has pleaded guilty to shipping a product he knew was contaminated with dangerous bacterium. Eric Haertle, who owned Triad…
America, Law, Liberty
Under the Gazette‘s Reasoning, Rosa Parks Should Have Stayed at the Back of the Bus
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Over at the Gazette, there’s an editorial about whether a local school superintendent should have sent a message about immigration to residents without consulting his school board. See, Our Views: Superintendent sends the wrong message. I’ll set aside the issue of immigration, and address the deeper issue of the Gazette‘s reasoning on obedience to the…