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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
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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
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Madison High, 2735 NE 82"rt
Franklin High, 5405 SE Woodward
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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.