DRAWING on OBSERVATIONS

Ball point pen on todays newsprint

Lawmakers hoped Sarbanes-Oxley would fight corporate corruption the way the RICO Act did organized crime: Become a powerful tool for prosecutors to punish individuals that we all knew to be criminal but were historically insulated from prosecution. The Supreme Court however found Sarbanes-Oxley Act to be too vague. That volleys the ball back to the legislators to write a more specific law to protect us from the likes of former Enron exec Jeffrey Skilling.

Ball point pen on todays newsprint

Yesterday the Supreme Court overturned a federal law that made it a crime to create or sell dogfighting videos and other depictions of animal cruelty. Samuel Alito the lone voice defending said law argued that “videos depicting dogfights are essential to the success of the criminal dogfighting subculture.” But John Roberts writing for the majority in the by 8 to 1 majority said “The First Amendment means the governments has no power to restrict expression because … Continue Reading

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Yesterdays 5 to 4 Supreme Court ruling opens the flood gates of cooperate money to influence elections. Justice Stevens contributed 90 pages to the 180 page dissent, saying the majority had committed a grave error in treating corporate speech the same as that of human beings.

I can’t speak to the law, but it seems that cooperations already have extraordinary influence on our political system. Now they seek to have same on our thinking.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

I have an early photo shoot in the city today, so talk amongst yourselves…here’s a topic:

Yesterday the Supreme Court struck down a 32 year DC law that banned handguns and required that rifles and shotguns kept in private homes be unloaded and either disassembled or protected by a trigger lock. Will other states with tough gun control laws have their laws declared unconstitutional?

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

George Carlin was a rare comedian that made his audience think as well as laugh. His seven words you can never say routine, put him in the center of a legal battle that went all the way to the supreme court. Although the ruling went against Carlin, he never abandoned the material and would be arrested a number of times for performing the controversial routine. Funny how one person can be perceived as dangerous, hip, and finally, affable by succeeding generations. My kids will remember him as the genial narrator … Continue Reading