Now that Roe is dead: The next target is public schools
I'm starting to think that this country is doomed.
Despite glib right-wing claims to the contrary, as many legal scholars and constitutional experts were quick to point out, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's leaked draft opinion ending abortion rights opens the door wide open for the reversal of decades of human rights litigation. At issue is Alito's rejection of the ninth amendment, which states that the "enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Or, in plain English: Plenty of rights are guaranteed by implication in the Constitution — such as a right to privacy — even if not explicitly delineated. Despite his alleged "originalism," however, Alito was quite clear that he feels the opposite is true: If it ain't singled out by name in the Constitution, it's not a right.
I guess Alito has never read the Ninth Amendment.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Already, excited Republicans are drafting bills that would throw women in prison for "homicide" for abortion and end same-sex marriage rights. (Meanwhile, they are also restoring the "right" of parents to marry an 11-year-old off to an adult man.) But while Republicans are dusting off their obsessive desire to police American bedrooms, they are starting to notice that Alito's argument has implications for all the human rights they wish to end.
On Wednesday, Texas's Republican Governor Greg Abbott announced that his administration wishes to "resurrect" a 1981 Supreme Court case that guarantees the right of all children to public education. The case in question is Plyler v. Doe, in which the court looked at a Texas law that withdrew funds from public schools that enrolled undocumented immigrants as students. After determining that undocumented immigrants are, indeed, "persons," the court struck down the Texas law.
...
As Kathryn Joyce has extensively reported for Salon, the long term goal of the radical right — of which Abbott has strenuously tried to demonstrate he is a member — has been the total destruction of public education. It makes sense, of course, that the same people who think that government should play no role in providing health care also object to the government providing education. Those cards have been traditionally held close to the chest, concealed by stalking horses such as "charter schools." But lately, more conservatives have been forthright about their ideological opposition to the concept of public education.
They've been laying the groundwork for this for decades. This country is going to Hell in a handbasket, and the Red States are going to lead the way.
Comments
And the Dems....
Are too busy in Kyiv pushing for eternal war to stop them.
US Supreme Court case regarding Maine
A SCOTUS case will be announced next month regarding using public tax dollars for tuition at religious schools in the state of Maine. Look for the decision to allow tax dollars to support religious schools. The right wing wants to destroy public education and teachers' unions. Two for the price of 1.
Dems like charter schools.
Same goal, based on different theories and principles.
It leads to 3rd world, either way.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
This is why democrats didn’t fight for the
SC and it’s what I’ve been saying. Democrats let Bush and Trump appoint far right justices because they would start rolling back lots of legislation that Democrats passed that they no longer like. It’s why Obama didn’t fight for Garland and Pelosi didn’t try to keep Barrett off the court. Every person who gets the nod to be a judge has to get the okay from the dem and repub from the state they come from. It’s called a blue slip and either person can put the kabosh on someone that they don’t like.
Abortion is just the 1st thing to fall and then the hand basket goes into free fall. We know that there is just one party anymore and both want the same things.
Hang on kids and remember to keep both hands inside the hand basket.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
I never got excited about the SCOTUS
because every justice the Dems have appointed have been pro-corporate justices as well.
The only difference between the Dem-appointed justices and the Repub ones have been on culture war issues.
We've lost a lot of ground since Marshall and Brennan.
And lost a lot of lives
with more being set up
I published a diary here --
suggesting that the next step after Alito's opinion is published in the record was the illegalization of abortion in all fifty states. The key move that will lead to judge-made law, as such, will be the classification of abortion as "murder." It's already happening.
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
But those are
actions by state legislatures in the red states, not judge-made law. We are likely to end up with a 27-23 split in the states, 27 permitting abortion and 23 outlawing or severely restricting it. Then it will be up to Congress to pass a law codifying Roe, or similar such language, if Ds can manage it. First though is cobbling together enough senators for a bare majority. Currently Manchin is a problem, and Susan Collins, that very "concerned" senator, opposes the codification bill proposed by Sen Blumenthal.
But even a bare majority won't be enough unless congress acts to further restrict the scope of the filibuster.
"Should the states be allowed to make abortion illegal"
might appear to be the issue before the Supreme Court today; but it isn't the ultimate issue. The ultimate issue is one of whether or not abortion is murder. If abortion is not murder, then when states make it illegal, that would be like if states made hysterectomies illegal. Such laws would be viewed as state interference in the proper duties of doctors. If abortion is murder, then women who have miscarriages are also murderers and states which permit abortion are accessories to murder.
Do not imagine this issue will go away!
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
I don't want to comment
too much on a decision which hasn't officially occurred. And Murder requires doing an act to achieve the prohibited fatal outcome. There is no such with a miscarriage.
Generally though, it's legislatures, usually states, which decide what activities or procedures would go into their criminal law books and how they are classified therein. Courts, judges, are not in the business of creating criminal classifications for certain activities -- that's the province of legislatures -- and usually avoid second-guessing or overruling legislatures on how they decide to classify such activities.
Mi dos centavos. YMMV. Void where prohibited. I am not a criminal, a lawyer, nor a criminal law lawyer.
miscarriage can at least be negligent homicide.
And, here, as with Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education, Citizens United, and so on, there is such a thing as judge-made law. Do not kid yourself!
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
If we ever get
to the point where such crazy laws re miscarriage get traction in the courts, then we are no longer living even in the semblance of a democracy and we might as well at that point start talking and organizing about certain blue states separating from the rest of the so-called United States. But who knows, maybe this upcoming ruling will be the catalyst that forces us to taking that step.
And no, I won't miss most of the southern states nor some border ones like MO or WV...
The Democratic "comprmise"
will turn out to be mandatory enrollment and attendance at publicly supported private schools. Taxes on the poor to pay for religious and capitalist indoctrination with ever decreasing "standards" defined by ever more irrelevant tests.
Or of course we can give money to the Democrats to fight against the evil Republicans to...give in and make the compromise and claim it is the best they can get since the voters didn't elect enough Democrats.
On to Biden since 1973
Isn't this a bit premature?
It's possible that the leak was made by some 99%er clerk, in which case we SHOULD take this opportunity to avert the end of Roe, and maybe CAN, and Team-Achenar was blindsided by it themselves and it may not be just another Weapon of Mass Distraction.
We should draw a line in the sand: Codify legal abortion into law as you should have done decades ago, or never ask for our votes or money again.
This could be an incredibly rare opportunity for voter-base solidarity.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Well, my comment was not posted, lost to the ether...
Or, I fucked up. Either way..rewriting with less detail...
Perhaps on the cusp or other current Texans can comment on the current situation, but, when I was in high school in the mid 70's, it was beginning to be realized that public school "districts" in Texas were not exactly equal. A Dallas public school district for the scions of wealthy real-estate/bankers etc. was basically gerrymandered so that the downtown business district was part of their tax district. The poor and black and brown districts had a much smaller tax basis. Books, teacher's salaries, athletic support etc was very different in different areas.
And, Abbott et al. want to not even go back to those bad times but get rid of the requirement of public education entirely? When politicians propose revolting ideas? Yeah, I think revolt is the only option. Separate and unequal indeed.
Tx has a history of
low funding to poor community schools, whether urban or rural, and until the 60s, it had that segregation problem. Black schools used text books 10 or more years older than white schools. Their teachers were from black universities that were not as highly accredited as a typical white university.
With the coming of George Bush, the goal of teaching to the test swept away teaching of arts, literature, anything that led to critical thinking skills. It is common today for a high school graduate that gains entrance into college can take a remedial reading or remedial math course.
Gov. Perry has some quote out there about "We teach our children what they need to graduate and get a job". It is disgusting.
Funding for schools comes from property taxes. People paying enormous ad valorem tax payments who do not have or have never had kids in the school systems, are plenty pissed. Charter schools hire teachers who are not holding a teacher's certificate, and often, no college degree. They are free to teach Bible classes, force ROTC on the kids, Pledge of Allegience, Lord's Prayer, and on and on. Their curriculum is not held to the same standards as public schools.
So, if any state would love to see public school disappear, it would be Texas. Likely the only thing keeping any public schools up and running in the future will be sports, particularly Friday Night Football.
I don't know if Abbott or his top rival, Beto, have any plan going forward. Beto was in the Obama mode, and Obama also liked charter schools.
If charter schools come up with sports teams, that will make it easy to close public schools.
Constitutional interpretation will barely get a mention.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Yup.
It's over. Ever since Reagan it's been war on us on every front you can think of. Every department and bureau, every renewal of regulations on state and federal level a republican target. Every won election the r's had an agenda applied to anything they could influence and they hit the ground running.
After promising over and over to fight and win, nobody fought back for us. The dems strolled on through promising hope and change and instead delivering despair and the status quo.
I would think
the next target for Rs is gay marriage. Also on their hit list would be the right to access contraceptives outside of marriage. Maybe inside of marriage too ...
Normally I would agree with you
but there's no money in banning same-sex marriage, while there's huge profits to be made from getting rid of public schools.
no doubt Rs
for years have been chipping away at public schools through various means. But such schools also affect a lot of R voters who also are not rich or who otherwise believe in the notion of publicly-funded schools. They would really be playing with fire, shooting themselves in the foot electorally, imo, if they took drastic steps to abolish them. I don't think currently that Rs have laid a sufficient foundation with the public for such draconian measures, not nearly.
Contrast with abortion, which they have been attacking for 49 yrs in very loud public ways. CRT and a few lefty books a few Rs would like to burn doesn't quite make for a larger anti-public school movement at this time.
But with a solid congressional majority and a nutty R president in the Oval, any crazy thing is possible.
I saw something on cable news saying
overturning gay marriage was already in the GOP platform. There is campaign $ to be had from all those Christian Churches who enjoy tax exemptions because God. Congregants donate a vote with a religious fervor.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The influence of religion and money is creepy
I remember when we first moved here watching with great concern the growing rise of the religious right in politics. It looks like their insatiable desire for punitive measures is overriding any progress made by the secular sane.
They are exempt from taxes,
yet, promote, promote. Elected officials will not do anything to challenge them. Ever. Politicians where I live are asked to give political speeches at the conclusion of the sermons. Always. Separation of church and state MY ASS.
We have crosses on our courthouse! I am one of the few businesses in town that doesn't display one on the roof gable. We even have a cross of light shining on our town's water tower. And tax payers pay for the light bill.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
SCOTUS has become...
The Committee for the Advancement of Christian Nationalism.
People in the secularist groups have been discussing this for decades. In fact it's been coming since the Second Great Awakening began in the early 1800's. Christians were mad because the Founders refused to put God and Jesus into the Constitution and Bill of Rights, so they have been worming their way into government (successfully and with the help of BOTH sides of the aisle) ever since.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
as we've all noted, it's great for fundraising
so the Dems are pretty excited about this
So depressing...
Foreseeable, and depressing. Had a big argument with my Mom last night. She's right in with the news media and sez that the Dems just can't organize, and it's because of people like me, who don't support them, and this is just because the Repukes out-organized them for so long. No, it's because the Dems are organized, just not for things for the little people! And it's frapping obvious! They won't stand up and fight, ever.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I am sorry your mom is angry at you.
More importantly, I am crushed that she, and most Americans, can't see the forest for the trees.
Propaganda does that. It is destroying the country, as planned by some rich fuckers that will not be sad if we all die off, stop bothering them, wanting basic rights, and all that.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Typical democrat
Lots of people love to blame the voters for who they did or didn’t vote for instead of seeing that it’s both parties that keep betraying their voters. Shitlibs are once again outraged that people didn’t hold their noses and vote for Hillary or for whatever sellout dem that was running instead of seeing that Pelosi and other blue dawg democrats are supporting Cueller of Texas even though he’s anti abortion and has a criminal case before him.
But whilst they are blaming Bernie supporters for not voting for HerHeinous after she stole the primary (more did vote for her then her supporters voted for Obama) they don’t admit that it’s actually Obama’s fault for so many people dropping out of the voting game altogether because they worked their asses off to elect him and he immediately turned around and betrayed everything he promised them.
Remember, "I will filibuster the FISA vote and hold Bush accountable for spying on you."? Instead he not only voted for it, but then went on to spy on us with a vengeance. Persecuted 8 whistleblowers and set the Assange persecution in motion. Single payer out the door. It’d take all day to list his great accomplishments that went in favor of the corpse class.
Democrats have had 50 years and 3 majorities to do something permanent about abortion. Obama promised it was his highest priority day 1. That they keep supporting the people who will block any legislation should piss the voters off, but they’d rather blame the people who have no power.
Tell your mom about that.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
I've tried to tell her...
I get a 'but, but, but...' and then hands thrown in the air and a glare. Heh.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Democrats are controlled opposition on abortion
On abortion rights, Democrats out themselves as controlled opposition
But sure it’s because people didn’t vote hard enough. If you have shitlib friends show them this.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.