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(Eli Page A4 1 ^Jnrtlanb (¡Dbseruer lanuaiy 2. 2008 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer O pinion United States Supreme Court is Up for Grabs Years of progress in jeopardy BY Jl D i m E.St HAEEEER A little m ore than seven years ago. the U. S. Suprem e Court issued its 5 -4 decision in Bush v . Gore. By stopping the contested vote count in Florida on Dec. 12, 2000, the conservative wing o f the Suprem e C ourt effectively gave the presi dency to G eorge W. Bush and took the decision aw ay from the voters. Less than one year from now , the voters will decide the future o f the Suprem e Court. T he next appoint m ents to the C ourt will almost cer tainly be m ade by the President elected in Novem ber 2008, and con firm ed by a Senate with new m em bers elected in the same cycle. It's crucial that voters understand that their votes will help determ ine the shape o f the C ourt for many years to com e. Bush v. G ore dem onstrated all too clearly that the Suprem e Court has a profound and lasting effect ¡Ebe on the daily lives o f all A m ericans, w ho look to the Suprem e Court as a fair arbiter o f the law and our nation's highest values. Since that decision. P resident B u sh 's life tim e ap p o in tm en ts o f C h ief Ju stice R oberts and Justice Alito have pushed the Court even farther to the right. T he tw ojustices are likely to serve for many decades, ensur ing that President Bush s influence will extend long past the end ot his term. Their nom inations and confir m ations underscore how signifi cantly elections results can shape the Court. On issues ranging from school integration to fair pay for equal work to reproductive freedom, the Roberts Court has started to re verse years o f progress that most A m ericans accept as m oderate, fair ‘P ortland (ÏÏI vzvyvyy Established 1970 USPS 959-680 ___________________ ______________ 4747 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd.. Portland. OR 97211 EmroK-iN-CHo.r. P t in .ismn: Charles H. Washington E d it o k M ich a el L eig h to n D istribution M anaci - r : M ark W ashington C reative D irector : P aul N e u fe id t A dvertisinp : K athy L in d e r O m e t. M anactr : Sh a ro n Sperry giruHii.n: R a ym o n d R en d lem a n The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be relumed if accompanied by a self addressed envelope A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition ot such ad. © 1996 THE P O R TLA N D O BSERVER A L L RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRO DUCTIO N IN W H O LE OR IN PAR I W IT H O U T PER M ISSIO N IS P R O H IB IT E D The Portland Observer- Oregon's Oldest M ulticu ltural Publication is a member o f the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885. and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York, N Y . and The West (o a st Black Publishers Association P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3 1 3 7. Portland. 0 R 9 7 2 0 8 CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 news@Donlandohserver.com ads@Dortlandobser\er,ivm siihseri[itiiin<Sixirtland(ihsen'er.eim their own stated positions, such as G uiliani’s professed "pro-choice" stand. Replacing another moderate ju s tice w ith a hard-right co n servative w ould be a devas tating blow to the principles o f fairness and equality that the vast m ajority o f A m eri ca n s e m b ra c e . A n o th e r right-wing justice added to the ultra-conservative vot ing hloc o f Roberts, Alito, Scalia and T hom as could help reverse decades o f pre cedents, threatening legal rights that A m erican s take for prerne Court has been a m ajor elec the rule o f law and the Constitution. granted. The current Republican candi toral issue for the far-right for the This isn’t a case o f left-versus- last several election cycles. In or dates for President have been only right, as som e conservative pun der to roll back constitutional pro too happy to oblige. dits have claim ed. John M cC ain, M itt Rom ney, tectio n s on priv acy rig h ts and T he fight for the Suprem e Court church-state separation, the lead Rudy G iuliani and M ike Huckabee is betw een the values of the vast have all pledged to appoint justices ers of the m ovem ent have been m ajority o f A m ericans and a small, in the m old o f ultraconservative whipping their follow ers into a fury energetic faction attem pting to turn J u s tic e s A n to n in S c a lia an d for years, dem anding that candi back the clock by decades. C larence Thom as - even when such dates pledge to appoint and co n It'stim e for m ainstream A m eri an appointment would conflict with firm ultraconservative justices. and wise. In the com ing years, we can expect more and more rulings outside the mainstream. It's no coincidence that the Su- Replc acing another moderate justice with a hard-right conservative would he a devastating blow to the principles o f fairness and equality that the vast majority o f Americans embrace. When it comes to helping children, families by J udge G reg M athis Liberals say they believe in a government that ben efits al I. Conservatives push family values. Each side wil I tell you it knows what is best for American children and families. A recently re leased study show s that neither party has the answer. The data does make clear that, in rich states, red or blue, poor kids suffer. If partisan politics are to continue to be the law o f the land, the least policymakers can do is live up to the pri nciples they advocate f or and fight for policies and programs in those states where poor children struggle the most. ■ Come share your opinions about the future of Portlands school buildings. Your input w ill help shape the district's long-range facility plan. D ate January January January January Location 15 16 22 23 According to a study re leased by the A nnie E. C asey Foundation, poor children who lack access to quality healthcare and an effective education system 1 ive in some o f the country ’ s richest states, many of them located in the Northeast, including New Y ork and New Jersey. T hese same children also tend to not have a solid family structure or routine in place. And it makes sense: though these states are wealthy, they also have large urban areas, where single women raise their chil dren alone. Poverty, which has a direct ef fect on a ch ild 's well-being and their access to healthcare and edu cation. is much greater in female- run households than in those led by tw o parents. States like New York and New Jersey tend to skew Democrat in national elections and are often thought tobe fairly liberal in term sof political views. Liberal is as liberal does. It is not enough to support progressive viewpoints at the polls. The elected officials from these states have the opportunity to create mod els of change. By creating and funding programs that aid families run by a single par ent, programs that safeguard the health and well-being of poor chil dren, these states can set the stage for a better America. The southern states o f Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, rank in the bottom 15 on the list. G reater percentages o f poor chil dren struggle in these states than they do anyw here else. W hat’s in teresting is that these places d o n 't have large num bers o f poor chil dren. Southern states tend to be 're d ' s ta te s -o r conservative states. This area o f the country is also know n as the Bible belt. Here reli gion is used to m otivate individu als politically and socially; politi cians use term s like ‘fam ily values’ and express their desire for a more ‘w holesom e’ America. T hose o f us w ho are truly faith ful and live by the W ord under stand that God w ants us to help the poor, not turn our backs against them. The hypocrisy o f som e o f the leaders - and voters - from the southern states is detrim ental to young lives. Leaders in the Bible belt need to start living up to the im ages they project. If these policy makers believe in family values, they must demonstrate it, by supporting initiatives that pro vide for all families. In a co u n try as w ealth y as America, it is a crime that any child should suffer, especially in a state full o f resources. According to the study, in the states where low-income kids do the best, many o f which are not wealthy states, there is a sense o f com m u nity, and people look out for one another. Perhaps this is the lesson we should all learn: It truly does take a village to raise a child. Partisan politics are not part o f the equation. Better distribution of resources and collaborative approaches are really the only way to ensure A m erica's children reach their full potential. Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president o f Rainbow PUSH and a national board member o f the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Congress Must Follow Up by M arc O W hat do we want for schools in our neighborhoods? North West Northeast Southeast Judilli E. Schaeffer is legal di rectorfor People fo r the American Way. convictions could be eligible for sentence reductions. G raham Boyd, director o f the Had he possessed only pow der ACLU's drug reform project, d e cocaine he w ould have faced halt scribed the recent court decision as the sen ten ce, co n clu d ed Judge the first since the m id-1980s "that Raym ond Jackson, w ho presided actually talks about justice, that over the trial, in giving K im brough seem s to have some blood in it." a lesser-th an -m an d ated 15-year T he recent developm ents pro sentence. An appeals court o ver vide a welcom ed relief for the fam i ruled Jackson's decision only to be lies left behind as well as the incar reversed by the nation's highest cerated. court. U n fo rtu n ately , the U .S. Ju s Justice Ruth Bader G insburg, w ho authored the decision with tice D ep artm en t has so u n d ed u n John Paul Stevens, concluded that w arran ted alarm s o v er the sen- Eliminating drug-crime disparities Replace? Cluster cans to m ake the same stand at the ballot box, and dem and a Suprem e C ourt that reflects m ainstream American values: Equality, regard less o f race or religion; fair pay for w omen and m inorities in the w ork place; the rights o f families to make private medical decisions without government interference; and much, much more. M ainstream A m ericans m ust dem and appointm ents o f justices to the court who reflect their val ues, justices who will apply the law fairly, not ideologically. T hat will require a fair-m inded president and a Senate majority large enough to confirm progressive nom inees. The anniversary o f Bush v. Gore is a rem inder that courts matter, som ething that voters should bear in mind throughout the coming elec tion season. The future o f the Su preme C ourt depends on it. Principles Get Left Behind In Rich States Renovate? Repair? The result has been a decades- long push by the far right to fill the federal courts with jurists who place a narrow ideological agenda above Jefferson High, 5210 N Kerby Wilson High, 1151 SW Vermont Madison High, 2735 NE 82"rt Franklin High, 5405 SE Woodward All meetings w ill be held from 7-9:30 p.m in the school cafeteria At each meeting options will be presented for each school in that area Interpretation will be available in Spanish. Chinese. Vietnamese, and Russian We hope that you can attend a neighborhood meeting For more information, visit reshape pps.k 12.or.us Portland Public Schools is an equal opportunity employer and educator 1 H. M oriai . Back i n the 1980s at the height o f th e c ra c k e p id e m ic in u rb an America, our nation's leaders la bored underthe m isconception that the less expensive form o f cocaine was much more addictive than its pow der form, based on the testi mony o f an "expert" governm ent witness. Distorted visions o f crack b ab ies o v e rta k in g in n e r citie s danced in their heads, much to the detrim ent o f fair and reasonable public policy. As a result, the U.S. C on g re ss m a n d ate d h a rsh e r sen ten ces for possession and distribution o f crack. U nderthe Anti-Drug Abuse Act o f 1986, those convicted o f possessing 50 gram s of the crack form o f cocaine faced the same tim e behind bars as those co n v icted o f p o ssessing and/or selling 100 times as much of the pow er form. The result'.’Prisons sw elled with petty crim inals, a disproportionate num ber - as much as 85 percent — A frican-A m erican, not the drug kingpins o f the world. In an early D ecem ber 7-2 deci sion. the U.S. Suprem e Court d e cided to give federal judges leeway in sentencing forerack convictions. The case in question involved a Desert Storm veteran named D er rick Kimbrough who was found to possess crack, pow der cocaine and a gun, offenses that should have sent him to prison for tw o decades or more. What happens on the federal level could change the course o f history at the state level. if pow der and crack cocaine, the product o f pow der cocaine and baking soda crystallized, possess "the same physiological and psy chotropic effects" then their users should be treated the same. The ruling deem ed the 1986 law that created the disparate sentencing guidelines as "disproportionate and unjust." Then, in a rare show o f m ercy a few hours after the decision. Presi dent G eorge W. Bush cut the sen tence o f M ichael D. Short, who had been convicted of aiding a crack- cocaine ring, one year short. It was one o f only five com m utations granted during his presidency . And a day later, the U.S. Sentencing C om m ission announced that up to 20.1XX) federal inm ates with crack ten cin g co m m issio n ’s d ecisio n , co n ten d in g that it w ould resu lt in u n leash in g th o u san d s o f "d a n g ero u s p riso n ers, m any o f them v iolent gang m em bers" back into c o m m u n itie s ill- e q u ip p e d to handle them . T h e d e p a r tm e n t p ro b a b ly w ouldn't be as w orried over the prospect o f a "m ass” inmate re lease if Uncle Sam made prisoner re entry program s a priority in the first place. Nevertheless, the recent course o f events is important. W hat hap pens on the federal level could change the course o f history at the state level. Marc H. Moriai is president and chief executive officer o f the Na tional Urban League.