amendment

5Sep

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ENVIRONMENT

Can A ‘Green Amendment’ Deliver Environmental Justice?

The Supreme Court curbed the EPA’s ability to restrict emissions, so states are looking to enshrine rights to “healthful environments” in their constitutions. According to locals, two different types of odors emanate from the 366-acre High Acres Landfill, which sits just outside Rochester, New York. “There’s the gas odors, and then there’s the garbage odors coming from when they open the landfill and are actually dumping, or the trains unloading from New York City,” Gary McNeil told City, a local news site. “That gets a little worse in the summer, you’ll smell a much more pungent waste odor.” McNeil heads Fresh Air for the Eastside, a nonprofit that has been organizing against the landfill, which residents say emits foul, noxious odors. The organization has sued the town in which the la...

A First Amendment Scholar Explains – When Are Book Bans Unconstitutional?

14Apr

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EDUCATION

A First Amendment Scholar Explains – When Are Book Bans Unconstitutional?

The United States has become a nation divided over important issues in K-12 education, including which books students should be able to read in public school. Efforts to ban books from school curricula, remove books from libraries and keep lists of books that some find inappropriate for students are increasing as Americans become more polarized in their views. These types of actions are being called “book banning.” They are also often labeled “censorship.” But the concept of censorship, as well as legal protections against it, are often highly misunderstood. A 2021 campaign ad for Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin focuses on a book with what one mother claimed was “explicit material.” Book banning by the political right and left On the right side of the political spect...

A Significant Case Before The Supreme Court – The Second Amendment Could Topple Gun Restrictions

6Oct

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POLITICS

A Significant Case Before The Supreme Court – The Second Amendment Could Topple Gun Restrictions

Eric Ruben, Southern Methodist University The stakes in one of the most significant Second Amendment cases in U.S. history are high. The Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, expected by mid-2022, could declare a New York state restriction on carrying concealed handguns in public places unconstitutional. Such a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, which include a National Rifle Association affiliate, could loosen gun regulations in many parts of the country. In my view as a Second Amendment scholar, this case is also noteworthy in that how the court reaches its conclusion could affect the Second Amendment analysis of all weapons laws in the future. The court is set to hear oral arguments on Nov. 3. Long on the books In 1911, after an increase ...

I Think Big Tech Should Be Left Alone – And I’m A First Amendment Scholar

4Apr

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BUSINESS

I Think Big Tech Should Be Left Alone – And I’m A First Amendment Scholar

Twitter’s banning of Trump – an action also taken by other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat – has opened a fierce debate about freedom of expression and who, if anyone, should control it in the United States. I’ve written and taught about this fundamental issue for decades. I’m a staunch proponent of the First Amendment. Yet I’m perfectly OK with Trump’s ban, for reasons legal, philosophical and moral. The ‘spirit’ of the First Amendment To begin, it’s important to point out what kind of freedom of expression the First Amendment and its extension to local government via the Fourteenth Amendment protect. The Supreme Court, through various decisions, has ruled that the government cannot restrict speech, the press and other forms of communications ...

What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment’s ratification

6Jan

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment’s ratification

I’ll never forget a student’s response when I asked during a middle school social studies class what they knew about black history: “Martin Luther King freed the slaves.” Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929, more than six decades after the time of enslavement. To me, this comment underscored how closely Americans associate black history with slavery. Many African Americans made education a high priority after the Civil War. National Museum of African American History and Culture While shocked, I knew this mistaken belief reflected the lack of time, depth and breadth schools devote to black history. Most students get limited information and context about what African Americans have experienced since our ancestors arrived here four centuries ago. Without independent study, most adults a...

18Oct

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Is Trump a Threat to Your First Amendment Rights?

"If you don't agree with me, shut up!" "And if you don't shut your mouth, I'll shut it for you!" That seems to be the alarming attitude of a significant number of American college students, based on a new survey of 1,500 respondents from both private and public colleges, conducted by John Villasenor of UCLA. Among the disturbing findings, 19% advocate violence to silence a speaker engaged in "hate speech," and 51% think it is OK to shout down a speaker with whom they disagree. The students also showed serious ignorance about the First Amendment; only 39% knew that "hate speech" is indeed protected. While students' ignorance and these views are reprehensible, they are shared by some faculty members. Monday, at my alma mater at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, 30 acade...