We need moral, constitutionally-driven leaders. Fiction allows us to yearn for such leaders and helps us identify them and demand they serve a Republic that so desperately needs them.
(AP) BULLETIN…Washington , DC
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court in a split 5/4 decision threw out the controversial Fairness of the Airways Act of 2011 on grounds it violates the First Amendment’s right of free speech.
The decision brings to an end the bitter debate that broke down along party lines. The Thorpe Administration first moved to curtail conservative commentary in 2009 by implementing punitive FCC rules. Unsuccessful, the Administration proposed and the Congress passed the Fairness of the Airways Act of 2011 in February that year.
The Coalition for First Amendment Rights, a consortium of conservative talk show hosts and cable TV news organizations, immediately initiated an aggressive legal challenge. Also, the Coalition’s guerilla tactics proved very effective in slowing enforcement of the law during its short life.
For the majority, Justice William Glenn wrote, in part, “The First Amendment is clear in its purpose and free expression has been long guaranteed by this Court. The heavy-handed and subversive attempts of the Administration and Congress to abridge the right of free speech with legal obfuscation strike this Court as disturbing and dangerous. Additionally, the Court believes attempts to unlawfully link issues unrelated to the right of free speech are patently unconstitutional, and the Court trusts such efforts will not be attempted again.”
The Court’s language is considered unusually harsh.
With four Justices supporting the minority opinion, the ideological gap between the conservative and liberal justices widens.
The Tenth Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States
Powers Not Delegated, a novel, available this summer...and, who is Tyler Armistead?
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