Now That’s An Oral Argument I’d Like to Observe
Alabama journalist Gita Smith imagines the Supreme Court oral argument that will take place if the Court accepts a challenge to Alabama’s law banning the sale of vibrating sex toys. The 11th Circuit held in favor of the state, writing that there is no right to sexual privacy in the state. Gun sales? Go for [...]
...read moreOn Ethical Food
To my surprise, my food posts (I am, after all, supposed to be feminist & foodie) have sparked serious controversy ’round these parts. So let’s see what happens today, when we throw religion into the mix. Interestingly, though, here it is religion that is the issue around which people are converging, or at least a [...]
...read moreMaking Blogs Necessary
Nothing like a little self-congratulation to get a blogger going in the morning. Amanda’s got a post up at Pandagon and Offsprung bemoaning the horrendous job the MSM does addressing or qualifying the false claims made by the wingnuts in interviews, op-eds and other appearances. Case in point: An 8/20 article in the Denver Post [...]
...read moreFeminism & Prison Reform (or Feminism vs. Prison Reform?)
In Daniel Lazare‘s smart and biting review of books about America’s incarceration culture, appearing in last week’s Nation, he highlights an incendiary argument from Marie Gottschalk’s book, The Prison and the Gallows (which I have not yet read but which is on my Amazon wishlist. Hint hint). Here’s Lazare’s take on Gottschalk: Gottschalk’s assault on [...]
...read moreBush A*&holery continues re: SCHIP
[image removed. damn those protected images! Picture the President making an idiotic face.] Under the headline “White House Acts to Limit Health Plan for Children,” I just read this gem: The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, has adopted new standards that would make it [...]
...read moreLiptak Love: Gonzo & Capital Punishment
Hi everyone. I’m bean, formerly of A Bird and a Bottle and now of Lawyers, Guns & Money, where I blog alongside the fabulous Scott Lemieux et al. I’m visiting here this week from NYC while Jill travels beautiful Italy, where I am a third year law student and a reproductive and criminal justice activist [...]
...read moreBerkeley’s Solution to Increased Homelessness? Arrest ‘em all.
Sorry for the extended absence, kids. Between the beginning of work and my partner’s return from his year in Germany, it’s been a busy few days… …but the bizarre news just keeps on comin’. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday (via TalkLeft) that Berkeley, that bastion of progressiveness, is struggling under the weight of its [...]
...read moreThe Nutmeg State Does Right by Women
It’s ridiculous that this law was (and is) considered “controversial.” Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell today signed a bill that will require all licensed health care facilities to provide emergency contraception (EC) to victims of rape and other sexual assaults. The law, which will go into effect on October 1st of this year, mandates that healthcare [...]
...read moreCongress to Call off the Ab-Only Hounds
Abstinence only “education” programs are chock full of misogyny , are hetero-centric, and are totally ineffective. This we know. Yet the Bush administration has allotted more and more money to them at every turn. That’s the bad news. The good news? With the help of the new Democrat-controlled Congress, that might be about to change. [...]
...read moreNo End in Sight for the War on Drugs
Yesterday the U.S. Sentencing Commission released its 2007 cocaine report 2007 (PDF). The report – the fourth of its kind in recent years – aims to address the disparity between sentences for crimes involving powder cocaine and those involving crack. The 100-to-1 difference has resulted in harsh sentences for low-level crack users — and has [...]
...read moreWhat Does a Giant Q-Tip have to do With Your Privacy?
Actually, quite a lot. N.Y. Governor Spitzer announced recently his proposal to greatly expand the use of DNA testing in the New York criminal justice system. Under the current system, DNA is collected (via a mouth swab with a giant Q-tip) from people convicted of only the most serious crimes — rape, murder, burglary. Spitzer’s [...]
...read moreDefining Hate Crimes Shouldn’t Be Tricky Business
Allow myself to introduce…myself. I’m bean, one of the guest bloggers Jill has recruited for the week. Like Jill, I’m a New Yorker and a long suffering law student. My internet home is over at A Bird and a Bottle, where I focus on feminism and criminal justice and particularly the intersections between the two, [...]
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