SCOTUS and kitten-stomping... seriously

I return! To discuss awfulness:

On the second day of the term, the Supreme Court will hear U.S. vs. Stevens, which deals with whether videos of killing kittens in horrible ways for people with strange fetishes is protected by the First Amendment.

Newsweek's headline sums up the issue perfectly:

Kitty stomping is sick
But are depictions of animal cruelty the legal equivalent of child pornography? The Supreme Court will decide.

Obviously not all expression is protected under the First Amendment (think "fire" in a crowded theater, hate speech, etc.). The test is whether there is a compelling state interest (think kiddie porn, privacy issues in a time of war, etc.) in banning it.

The Newsweek story notes that all 50 states have animal-cruelty laws, which make the action illegal on those grounds.

But the guy in the case, Robert Stevens, was selling animal-cruelty videos -- a First Amendment issue rather than an animal cruelty issue.

Stevens was selling videos of pit bulls attacking other animals. But the legislation at issue here stems from another form of animal cruelty. From ScotusWiki:

18 U.S.C. § 48 prohibits the knowing creation, sale, or possession of depictions of animal cruelty with the intent to place them in interstate or foreign commerce for commercial gain. The legislative history for the statute indicates that Congress was concerned about so-called “crush videos,” in which women “inflict[] . . . torture [on animals] with their bare feet or while wearing high heels,” and which appeal to people with a specific sexual fetish; however, the actual text of the statute on its face covers any depiction of animal cruelty as long as the underlying conduct is illegal in the state where the creation, sale, or possession takes place.

The law isn't specific to these "crush videos," which means ruling against Stevens here could also make it illegal to distribute videos of bullfighting, right?

So essentially, the Court has this option:
Impose stronger limits on free expression... or condone kitten-stomping.

The difference between Chris Christie and me

In 2005, Chris Christie was cited in Lambertville, N.J., for speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving without insurance, according to NJ 101.5.

He was allowed to drive home, had his speeding fine reduced, and had his unregistered vehicle charge dismissed, according to politickernj.

A year later and a few towns away, I was pulled over for having a recently expired registration. My car was impounded for three weeks, I was ticketed for the expired registration, and I ultimately spent about $3,000 before I got it back.

Maybe I should have told the cop I was U.S. Attorney?

"Public money is never without consequence"

Writing about school vouchers, Kevin Carey posted an interesting take on the Establishment Clause in The Quick and the Ed on Saturday.

The gist of his argument:
When religious schools accept public money, they are subject to federal regulation. Are they ready for that?

I’m always struck by how church / state separation issues are framed in terms of the need to protect the state from the church, when in fact the main benefit seems more to be protecting the church from the state. I’m not a religiously observant person. ... So I don’t understand why Catholic school supporters are so quick to look for an infusion of taxpayer dollars through vouchers to keep their schools afloat. Public money is never without consequence. Sometimes it’s directly regulatory, but even without visible strings there will always be subtle but powerfully accumulating pressure to conduct oneself in a way that doesn’t offend the secular authorities who pay the bills. More | C-SPAN debate

Join me on the bandwagon

I've done it. I'm on Twitter at http://twitter.com/harbatkat. Maybe I'll post there more often than I've been posting here -- 140 characters seems so much less daunting.

Oh, and for the record? Jon Corzine? Already following me.

It's better than yours

Source: jamphat.com

No, *you're* an activist

In an op-ed in USA Today, Jeff Sessions wrote that he would not vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor because he does not believe she has "the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism."

He cited three cases:
1) Ricci v. DeStefano (the New Haven firefighters case)
2) Maloney v. Cuomo (the nunchaku case)
3) Didden v. Port Chester, an eminent domain case in Which Port Chester, N.Y. established a redevelopment area and essentially gave the developer free rein to condemn property within that area. According to Linda Greenhouse's story at the time, "the redevelopment plan, adopted by Port Chester in 1999, envisioned a retail area that would include a drugstore. In 2002, the developer, G & S Port Chester LLC, announced that a Walgreens store would be part of the project. But Bart Didden, the owner of the parcel where the store was to sit, had by that time separately entered into a lease with a competing drugstore chain, CVS."

The negotiations between Didden and the developer failed, and Port Chester sided with the developer and took the land by eminent domain.

Sotomayor was part of a three-judge panel that ruled in favor of Port Chester.

I am not taking a stance on the case. I *am* saying that this is not, by any definition, judicial activism. Neither is the New Haven firefighter case. Judicial activism is deciding a case contrary to the plain meaning of the Constitution in order to promote the judge's political/policy preferences, according to a book by Kermit Roosevelt.

The Didden decision was based on the property owner’s failure to file his lawsuit within the three-year statute of limitations, according to the NYT story. The decision also cited Kelo, which defined "public use" very broadly. (so does the Fifth Amendment)

The Supreme Court, for that matter, declined to take the case in 2007. If the decision were really a striking example of irresponsible judicial activism, Sessions doesn't think they'd be able to at least get Roberts, Scalia, Alito and Thomas on board?

And the Ricci decision adheres to precedent set by a 1993 decision by *gasp* Scalia. In St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks, Scalia wrote for the majority that once the plaintiff proves there was no good reason for his firing or lack of promotion, the employer needs only to claim there was a good reason for the personnel decision, according to a story in Slate. In other words, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, not the defendant. (And New Haven threw out the test in order to determine whether it was discriminatory against the black and Hispanic firefighters -- a valid defense under the 1993 precedent)

By overturning the Appeals Court decision, it was the five-justice majority on the Supreme Court that engaged in judicial activism -- not the lower courts.

My very long-winded point that I'm sure only Lisa read to the end of: Can someone please explain to Jeff Sessions et al that the definition of judicial activism is NOT "anything Jeff Sessions and his friends do not agree with"??

Why I don't trust grates:

To all the people who make fun of me for walking around grates. Apparently if you walk on them someone will drop a giant anvil on your back and you will fall through. (Photo courtesy of Adam)

On Specter, Sebelius and Brownback...

John Dickerson on Arlen Specter:
"There may be better 100th-day presents to President Obama, but they probably require witchcraft. "

Oh, and I know I'm a little late on this, but can I document my confusion at other people's confusion over Brownback backing Sebelius? Um, he wants to be governor. *Giz* figured that one out.

My first journalism mentor

My first journalism mentor, Earl Gustkey, died Friday. He was a sportswriter for the L.A. Times. Over the course of a 30-plus year career, he covered the outdoors beat, USC football, and boxing. I met him while he was covering the women's basketball beat, which I remember he said he was dragged into "kicking and screaming." But he quickly fell in love with the sport and after taking a buyout and retiring to Montana in 2001, he became of fan of the Montana State women's basketball team and went to games constantly.

I had a few people who motivated me to become a journalist -- my dad, Gary Smith, Rick Reilly -- but Earl was the person who got my foot in the door when I was 15 and didn't even realize it was a door I wanted to open.

The subject line on his e-mails was always "crocodiles." Some people posting remembrances on a sports journalism Web site were talking about that, which sets the context for my post, which you can find here.

I guess I just wanted to circulate these memorials as much as possible... he deserves them.

I must have missed this one

This is a photo posted to the top of an ad for a movie discounts.
Now. I've seen my share of good movies. But seriously? What movie are they watching?

Ahh, local TV news

The local news in New Jersey is all based in New York, and generally has nothing to do with New Jersey unless something super-TV-newsworthy happens, like a bank robbery or car chase.

So yesterday's bank robbery *leading* to a car chase was a grand slam.

I was watching my typical three Thursday night hours of ABC last night and before I switched to Jon Stewart's grilling of Jim Cramer, the local ABC news came on.

Tonight, Madoff pleads guilty to all charges but first, A BANK ROBBERY IN NEW JERSEY LEADS TO A CRAAAAAZY CHASE THROUGH *TWO* NEW JERSEY COUNTIES!!!!!

I was intrigued. I had slinked out of the newsroom just as the call was coming in about the bank robbery, but it hadn't sounded quite as exciting as ABC was implying. So I kept watching.

The two counties they were talking about? Middlesex and Somerset. They border each other. The town where the bank is located and the town where the suspects were caught? Franklin and New Brunswick. They border each other.

Theoretically, the bank robbers could have hopped six inches from Somerset County into Middlesex County.

In fact, it was a little further from Point A to Point B, about three miles down a heavily-trafficked stretch:

But seriously? A "craaaaaazy" chase through TWO New Jersey counties? This is what's wrong with TV news. Seriously.

Vote for Cumin!

Nicole had a whole photo shoot for Cumin to be the Bissell spokescat, and has enlisted my help to get people to vote for her. So hark! Click! Vote!

An NCLB by any other name...

I still don't have time to properly update this thing (or, as you may be able to tell, to come up with witty headlines), but I thought I'd pass along a link to eduwonk's NCLB-renaming contest. As you people probably know, Arne Duncan has proposed renaming No Child Left Behind (on account of everyone hating it). So eduwonk started a naming contest, which has yielded some ideas that you might enjoy.

Here are some of my favorites:
• The All American Chidren Are Above Average Act (AACAAAA)
• Every Child Deserves A Good Education But Not Every Child Wants To Go To College, Special Ed Children Get Taught Trades Act
• BOOBIES: Bolster Outcomes and Occupational Benefits In Education Success
• Act to Help Children Read Gooder (and do other things gooder, too)
• How about a law that allows paddling and calling it: No Child’s Behind Left?
• Another Administration, Another Education Act Act
• Study Abroad in China Act
• Teach Each Child to Weed N’ Wite as Good as “W” Act
• Don’t Worry, You Won’t Be Able To Afford College Anyway Act
• TESTES: The Educational Standardized Test Enforcement System
• In honor of Sarah Palin, The Test Baby Test! Act
• The Misunderestimated Child Act

And my favorite:
Double Back Around To Pick Up The Children We Left Behind Act

And there's really no reason for it...

Below is a photo of three reporters interviewing the mayor of Woodbridge. The one on the left writes for the Ledger and the one in the middle writes for some local weekly. Note that they are listening attentively and writing things down.

Then look at me.

Yes, I am taking 9-year-olds into federal custody

So I'm in a fourth-grade social-studies class today, interviewing kids as they type letters to send to Obama. They're writing benign things like how they hope Obama will encourage people to recycle, fix the economy, support our troops.

One girl talks about how she hopes Obama won't pull the troops from Iraq until the mission has been accomplished.

Me: Who did you vote for in your class' mock election? Did you vote for McCain?
Girl: *shifts in her seat*stammers* Are you Barack Obama's security person?

The Maintenance of Bastards Act

Passed by Congress on June 18. 1912:
The Maintenance of Bastards Act ("An act to provide for the support and maintenance of bastards in the District of Columbia")

So I know what this actually refers to, but it still makes me laugh. (Credit Volokh for dredging it up)

They know when you are sleeping, they know when you're awake...

The title of this blog post, incidentally, is why I hate the holidays. The endless Christmas music playing everywhere melts my brain into something that can't think of anything more creative than a play on a bad Christmas song. And a *bad* play on a bad Christmas song, at that.

That said...

I have determined that Gmail's sponsored ad program is, by far, the smartest one out there. Most sites give me an assorted mix of cell phone ads, celebrity gossip sites, and store ads. Here is the list of Gmail ads alongside my latest e-mail (which seriously only mentioned cats once, among a bunch of other things):

Kittentanz Cattery

Tonkinese Kittens
Happy, healthy kittens-Guaranteed!
www.kittentanz.com

Spot Drops Are Dangerous

Stop Killing Pets With Chemicals Scientific Data and Testimonials
www.cedarcidestore.com

Ragdoll Cats & Kittens

Beautiful & Loving Ragdoll Kittens Available. Fuzzy Cuddly Snugglers!
www.ElegantRags.com

Angels' Eyes-Tear Stains

Eliminate Tear Stains in Cats. Works From the Inside Out
www.AngelsEyesOnline.com

Cat World Domination?

Chairman Meow, Monorail Cat, and funny lolcats t-shirts.
www.obeythekitty.com

Kittens

Looking for Kittens?
Find exactly what you want today.
Yahoo.com

More about...

Cute Kitten »

Cat Kitten Pictures »

Kitty »

New Kittens »

Me.

From xkcd.com:

"Well, shit"-- er, golly waddle

I usually provide my own commentary on these things, but when it comes to FCC v. Fox Television Stations (whether the FCC can punish a station for using a single dirty word), I don't think anyone can do better than Dahlia Lithwick.

Here's a sampling, but I'd recommend you read the whole thing:

Mostly, though, it's a bitterly disappointing day for those of us who'd looked forward to hearing some filthy words at the high court. But, having run the whole case through the FCC's highly subjective, context-based smut filter, I did come up with the following list of dirty words from today's arguments: Briefs. Golden globes. First blow. Dung. Pipeline. Jolly-woggle. Perhaps it's true that the Supreme Court can take away our F-bomb. But they cannot touch our dirty, dirty minds.

For what it's worth, here's the oral argument transcript, but even I didn't read the whole thing.

Holtzy Honda

I don't think I posted anything when I named my new car, Holtzy Honda, but I thought You People should know that Holtzy's namesake, Rush Holt, is being honored by the ACLU this year.

First of all, you should know the reasoning behind Holtzy Honda's name:
1) Alliteration is required in my car names, so his name needed to start with either an H for Honda or an A for Accord.
2) Names need to end in 'y' or anything that generates the requisite "ee" sound.
2a) For background, past family cars have been Tommy Toyota, Danny Datsun, Sammy Sentra, Cati Camry, and of course, Hessy Honda.
3) Holtzy is from North Brunswick.
4) North Brunswick is part of New Jersey's 12th congressional district.
5) Since 1999, New Jersey's 12th congressional district has been represented by Democratic Rep. Rush Holt, a bona fide rocket scientist and a five-time Jeopardy winner.

Now, the ACLU's reasoning for honoring Holt, according to a press release sent Friday (some are better than others):

1. He's a straight-A student. He scored 100 percent on the ACLU's scorecard for the 110th Congress - A+!
2. He has distinguished himself as a fighter for Americans' voting rights, introducing several bills throughout the years to stop voter intimidation and guarantee secure voting.
3. He always votes with the First Amendment when it's needed most, including when he voted against a proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration, which nearly passed in 2006.
4. He authored a bill that would have voided the blank check Congress gave the NSA to spy on Americans during the debate to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
5. He is Congress' sole five-time winner of Jeopardy.
6. As the chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, he has led the charge to investigate destruction of CIA interrogation tapes.
7. He introduced legislation to stop detainee abuse.
8. He stands strong for the rights of women, minorities, people with disabilities and the communities of both New Jersey and America.
9. He has firsthand expertise in some of Congress' most challenging issues. Before becoming a congressman, he was a teacher, an arms control expert, and assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the largest center for research in alternative energy in the state.
10. Congressman Holt really is a rocket scientist.