Tagged: legislative branch

“As untold millions of dollars pour into the shadowy campaign troughs of the presidential candidates, voters need to be reminded of the rosy assumptions of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that legitimized the new spending frenzy. In allowing unlimited spending on candidates by corporations and unions, the court’s decision, in 2010, blithely pronounced, ‘A campaign finance system that pairs corporate independent expenditures with effective disclosure has not existed before today.’ Effective disclosure exists? The court majority in the 5-4 decision should have been watching this month when the Republican-controlled Congress, which has firmly bottled up all campaign disclosure legislation, voted to further cripple disclosure at two of its most vital points. In the new budget bill, Republicans inserted a provision blocking the [IRS] from creating rules to curb the growing abuse of the tax law by thinly veiled political machines posing as ‘social welfare’ organizations. These groups are financed by rich special-interest donors who do not have to reveal their identities under the tax law. So much for effective disclosures at the I.R.S.”

Source: The Editorial Board. “Political Dark Money Just Got Darker.” New York Times. December 25, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/opinion/political-dark-money-just-got-darker.html.

it’s RACIST and PITIFUL individuals like “Hon.” Robert P. Patterson, “Hon.” P. Kevin Castel & “Chief Judge” Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York, the majority white members of Congress, etc. that are holding America back from reaching its FULL POTENTIAL.

“The 114th Congress that convenes Tuesday will count more minorities and women than ever, although lawmakers remain overwhelmingly white and male in the Republican-controlled House and Senate. A record 104 women will serve in Congress, and for the first time, African-American members of both genders and representing both parties will be among the ranks on Capitol Hill.”

Source: Mathew Daley. “There Are More Women and Minorities In the New Congress Than Ever.” Associated Press. January 5, 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/congress-women-minorities_n_6416296.html.

“‘Although surveys reflect disapproval of the way Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court are conducting their affairs, the Annenberg survey demonstrates that many know surprisingly little about these branches of government,’ said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC). ‘This survey offers dramatic evidence of the need for more and better civics education.'”

Source: Annenberg Public Policy Center. “Americans Know Surprisingly Little About Their Government, Study Finds.” September 17, 2014. http://cdn.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/Civics-survey-press-release-09-17-2014-for-PR-Newswire.pdf.

why haven’t African Americans been able to receive redress for the effects of “slavery, legal segregation and continuing discrimination” through adjudication or the legislative process??

In litigating redress claims, plaintiffs have often relied on a combination of domestic tort and contract law in addition to international human rights law. However, this method of achieving redress has led to mixed results. For example, Jewish Holocaust victims have been relatively successful in achieving redress through the settlement of legal claims. Holocaust era settlements from U.S. based litigation have totaled over $8 billion. Similarly, Japanese internment victims have also achieved redress in the form of $1.2 billion in reparations. Although the legal claims of Japanese internment victims were dismissed on procedural grounds, legislative action resulted in monetary reparations, a presidential apology, and a public education campaign. African-Americans, meanwhile, have pled both domestic and international law claims and have yet to receive redress for slavery either through adjudication or the legislative process.

Because there is no formal law of reparations, many plaintiffs have looked to the Jewish Holocaust and Japanese-American internment redress movements for guidance. However, the drastically different outcomes of these redress movements has led some scholars to speculate that redress cases may have more to do with political motivations than legal interpretations.

Source: Shelley Buchanan, Questioning the Political Question Doctrine: Inconsistent Applications in Reparations and Alien Tort Claims Act Litigation, 17 Cardozo J. Int’l & Comp. L. 345, 363, 2009.