Unchecked
Reforms needed to protect against coerced confessions

This past week Glenn Greenwald wrote that Justice Elena Kagan joined the conservative majority in a case with rather disturbing precedential implications for Miranda rights.  However, what commentators have generally failed to note are the ramifications of the case related to false confessions.   (more…)

Marriage Equality Comes Up Short in NJ
Governor Chris Christie's anti-gay veto

Last Friday, New Jersey governor Chris Christie vetoed same-sex marriage legislation that had been passed by both houses of the state legislature. To be clear, had he done nothing, the bill would have become law. Instead, Governor Christie actively chose to oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage. In his official statement, he announced that he will create an Ombudsman for Civil Unions in order to enforce the standard that gay and lesbian couples receive the same benefits as married couples and called on “the Legislature to trust the people of New Jersey and seek their input by allowing our citizens to vote on a question that represents a profoundly significant societal change.”

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Women and Hysteria
A response to Caitlin Flanagan

In a recent op-ed for The New York Times, Caitlin Flanagan predictably traces the psychosomatic phenomenon of “hysteria” to the adolescent female condition.

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Prop 8 Decision Falls Short
Perry v. Brown avoids real issues of equality

On Tuesday, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Proposition 8, a 2008 California ballot measure that stripped same-sex unions of the designation of “marriage,” was prohibited discrimination under the “equal protection” guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.

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Komen Debacle Based on Misrepresentations
Political spin blurs facts about what Planned Parenthood does

In the last two weeks, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has generated more controversy than would be expected of a group with the remarkably unobjectionable goal of fighting breast cancer. Of course, the group has found itself in the news and on Op-Ed pages not because of its mission but because of its announcement last week that it would be cutting ties with Planned Parenthood. After a wave of criticism, the group decided on Friday to reverse that change in policy, and Tuesday’s resignation of Komen’s Vice President for Public Policy Karen Handel extended the politically charged storyline.

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