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Tuesday, September 28
Elect to Read a Banned Book
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 28 Sep 2004 11:03 AM CDT
 Elect to Read a Banned Book
Milford Daily News
Have you
read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "Bridge to Terabithia," "The
Giver," or "A Wrinkle in Time?" If these items had been removed from
library shelves, you would have missed the opportunity to read these
great books and many other titles.
Sept. 25 to Oct. 2 is Banned Books Week. We are encouraging you to "Elect to read a Banned Book" this year.
Each
year since 1982, bookstores and libraries have celebrated Banned Books
Week during the last week of September.... It is endorsed by the
Library of Congress Center for the Book. This is an annual event to
remind Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom - the
right to read - for granted.
You may
think that the days of people trying to "ban" books from library and
store shelves are long gone. But each year the American Library
Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom receives hundreds of
reports on books and other materials that were "challenged" by people
who asked that they be removed from school or library shelves. In 2003,
the Office of Intellectual Freedom received reports of 458 challenges,
defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school
requesting that materials be removed because of content or
appropriateness.
In 2003,
Phyllis Reynold's Naylor's Alice series topped the list of most
challenged books, knocking the Harry Potter series from the top spot on
the most challenged books list for the first time in four years. The
Harry Potter books have been challenged by parents and others as
"promoting witchcraft to children." Other frequently challenged titles
include "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, "In the Night Kitchen"
by Maurice Sendak, "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl, "The
Chocolate War" by Robert Comier, and "The Color Purple" by Alice
Walker.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
"A Wrinkle in Time"
The 1963 Newbery Medal Award Winner
This
story caught my eye because it mentioned my all-time favorite childhood
book, "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. What really gets
me is that some seek to ban the Harry Potter series because they think
it "promotes witchcraft," and yet apparently, the fact that authority
figures physically torture children does not seem to bother them at
all.
It you want your pre-teen to learn about tyranny and government
oppression in a non-threatening, enlightening, and inspiring way, check
out "A Wrinkle in Time." S/he won't be able to put this fascinating book down. One caveat: If you've ever seen Married
Student Housing at UNI, you'll never be able to get the planet Camazotz
out of your head!
Linda
Friday, September 24
House Passes Court Stripping Measure
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 24 Sep 2004 03:42 PM CDT
 House Passes Court Stripping Measure
American Civil Liberties Union
ACLU Disappointed with House Passage of ‘Court Stripping’ Measure, Calls on Senate to Uphold System of Checks and Balances
WASHINGTON
- The American Civil Liberties Union [yesterday] expressed
disappointment as the House of Representatives approved a controversial
court stripping measure. The legislation would strip jurisdiction from
all federal courts - including the Supreme Court - over any
constitutional claim involving the Pledge of Allegiance or its
recitation, and is the latest of several similar court stripping
measures.
"With
this vote, the House has said that the federal judiciary should not be
a co-equal branch of the government," said Terri Ann Schroeder, an ACLU
Legislative Analyst. "The role of an independent federal judiciary is
crucial in our time-honored system of checks and balances.
"The Senate should reject this unwise measure," Schroeder added.
The
bill, H.R.2028, the "Pledge Protection Act of 2003," bars all federal
courts, including the Supreme Court, from reviewing cases involving the
Pledge of Allegiance. If enacted, the measure would effectively close
federal court house doors to religious minorities, parents,
schoolchildren and others who seek nothing more than to have their
religious and free speech claims heard before the courts most uniquely
suited to entertain such claims. It was adopted by the House on a vote
of 247 to 173.
While
the supporters of the bill pushed it as an appropriate response to
recent court decisions that they dislike concerning the words "under
God" in the Pledge, the ACLU warned that the impact of the bill would
be far-reaching. All federal courts would be barred from considering
ALL constitutional claims related to the pledge. Just last month, the
Third Circuit held that a Pennsylvania law mandating recitation of the
Pledge violated the Constitution because it violated the free speech
rights of the students - such cases could not be heard if H.R.2028 were
to become law.
The ACLU
also pointed to a growing trend by some members of Congress to push
similar court stripping measures. Similar measures under consideration
consider the ability of the courts to review cases considering the
legal definition of marriage, and the ability of courts to review the
public display of the Ten Commandments.
Passage
of any of these measures, the ACLU said, would establish a dangerous
precedent for Congress to respond to court decisions with which they
disagree. Furthermore, the denial of access to the federal courts would
force plaintiffs to raise federal claims and concerns in state courts,
which may lack expertise and independent safeguards provided to federal
judges under Article III of the Constitution
"Court
stripping measures strike at the very purpose the founding fathers
created the federal courts," Schroeder added. "They saw a need for
neutral arbiter that would be the final authority in determining the
constitutionality of the laws that Congress passed. Today the House has
said that the American people do not deserve an independent judiciary."
The ACLU’s letter urging opposition to H.R. 2028 is available here.
Tuesday, September 21
Wisconsin Progressives: Our Rights Are at Risk
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 21 Sep 2004 04:08 PM CDT
 Wisconsin Progressives: Our Rights Are at Risk
The Capital Times, Madison, WI
Wisconsin's
annual gathering of progressives, Fighting Bob Fest, named for Robert
M. La Follette (pictured above), took place this weekend. Are tyranny
and oppression here to stay in the good ol' US of A?
"We have
long rested comfortably in this country upon the assumption that
because our form of government was democratic, it was therefore
automatically producing democratic results," wrote Robert M. La
Follette in 1912. But, he cautioned, "Tyranny and oppression are just
as possible under democratic forms as under any other."
Nine decades later, La Follette's warning seems prophetic.
The
current administration in Washington and its minions in Congress and
state capitols across the country in recent years confirmed the
concerns expressed by the former Wisconsin governor and senator about
the vulnerability of the nation's democratic institutions. We see the
evidence of their nefarious intent in the vile Patriot Act, which
allows federal officials to enter the homes of Americans without
presenting search warrants, to bug our phones and computers, and to
review our library records.
(Click here to read the rest of the editorial.)
Crowd Roars as Speakers Bash Bush
The Capital Times, Madison, WI
BARABOO - For the progressive political junkie it was ecstasy - 10
hours of adrenaline during a crucial but insecure political season.
About 3,500 people gathered Saturday at the Sauk County Fairgrounds on
the outskirts of Baraboo for the third annual Fighting Bob Fest, a free
celebration honoring the memory of the revered Wisconsin populist
progressive Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette.
...U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, served up a keynote address that verbally annihilated President George W. Bush.
First, he needled Republicans.
"Six weeks until Election Day and there's still one question we haven't
heard from Republicans: Are you better off today than you were four
years ago?" Harkin said.
"Bush has driven this country into a ditch at home and a quagmire
abroad. He's driven the country deeper into debt and deficit. He's
driven over our Bill of Rights and the U.N. Charter like it was so much
trash in the streets," he continued.
"If Bush had been a truck driver he would have had his license pulled for being a habitual reckless driver a long time ago."
(Read the complete article here.)
Thanks to Don Jones in Madison for this article.
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