Supreme Court Releases Thousands of Imprisoned Felons

By |2011-05-27T14:45:21-04:00May 27th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 26, 2011 on The Washington Examiner website.

In a shocking and unprecedented move, the Supreme Court suddenly discovered that overcrowded prisons are unconstitutional. As a result, it has ordered up to 46,000 convicted felons released from California prisons.

Congress enacted the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), specifying ways for managing prison populations and leaving it to state officials on how to achieve acceptable results. PLRA states that prison overcrowding can possibly violate federal rights.

California has overcrowded prisons. Some prisoners allege that as a result prisoners experience delays in receiving […]

Common Sense Versus Nonsense

By |2011-05-25T16:17:00-04:00May 25th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published May 25, 2011 on Townhall.com.

William J. McGee, the consumer advocate on the Department of Transportation’s Future of Aviation Advisory Committee wrote “Forcing the F.A.A. to Fly Blind” in The New York Times (April 9, 2011), where he laments Congress’ cut in the FAA budget, saying, “A $4 billion cut will necessarily reduce the work force further. And it’s hard to imagine this will not diminish safety.” Mr. McGee suggests there will be shortcuts in aircraft maintenance.

Here are a few facts and then a question. Each Boeing […]

Jehovah or Marx?

By |2011-05-25T08:53:21-04:00May 25th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published May 25, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

Years ago a man with a history as a careful investigator told me on the basis of his research into his own family tree that I was probably Jewish. He reached that conclusion because his research found that Italians with place names were usually descended from refugees of the Jewish diaspora who had taken the name of the place where they finally settled.

Ferrara is the name of a town in northwest Italy, an old mining […]

ACRU Brief Argues for 'Coercion Test' in Utah Highway Cross Case

By |2020-04-23T21:54:03-04:00May 24th, 2011|

May 23, 2011 – Memorial crosses honoring fallen Utah Highway Patrol Officers are not an unconstitutional establishment of religion because there is no coercion involved, the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) argues in an amicus curiae brief filed today in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ACRU’s brief in support of the Petitioners in Davenport et al. v. American Atheists, Inc., urges the Court to grant certiorari to review the ruling of the Tenth Circuit finding the cross memorials to be an unconstitutional establishment of the Christian religion.

“This case presents an opportunity for an historic, landmark ruling that will return Establishment Clause law to the […]

ACRU Files Brief Defending Utah Cross Memorials

By |2020-04-23T21:54:03-04:00May 24th, 2011|

71-Davenport v American AtheistsThe American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court in support of the Petitioners in Davenport et al. v. American Atheists, Inc., urging the Court to grant certiorari to review the ruling of the Tenth Circuit finding memorial crosses honoring slain Utah Highway Patrol Officers to be an unconstitutional establishment of the Christian religion in the state. The ACRU brief urged the Court to adopt an entirely new standard for deciding Establishment Clause cases that is more true to the text and history of the First Amendment. That standard, known as the Coercion Test, would […]

Obamacare Bombshell: Final Ruling May Wait Until After 2012 Election

By |2011-05-24T08:01:16-04:00May 24th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 23, 2011 on The Washington Examiner website.

Federal appeals judges dropped an Obamacare bombshell today that could change the calendar of when the Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether the president’s signature law is unconstitutional.

Two major lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare were argued on May 10 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. One case was brought by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, arguing that the “individual mandate” that people must buy health insurance is unconstitutional. The other case was brought by Liberty University, where law school dean […]

How The Government Created A Financial Crisis

By |2011-05-20T09:16:29-04:00May 20th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published May 19, 2011 on Forbes.com.

Facing double digit inflation, double digit interest rates and soon to be double digit unemployment, President Reagan came into office with a four point economic program on which he had explicitly campaigned, fundamentally changing the course of American economic policy. As discussed in my recent op-ed, “Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics: Facts and Figures,” those four points were:

  1. Reduce tax rates sharply to improve incentives for savings, investment, job creation, business start-ups and expansion, […]

Why I Take Obama's 'Common' Offenses Against Officers Personally

By |2011-05-16T15:02:51-04:00May 16th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Jan LaRue was published May 16, 2011 on the American Thinker blog.

President Obama continues to use the White House as a platform to dishonor police officers.

On May 11, Obama and First Lady Michele welcomed a rap poet who celebrates cop killers to the White House. Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., known professionally as “Common,” performed a few days before thousands of police officers arrived in Washington for “National Police Week,” the annual memorial to honor fallen officers.

Common’s “A Song for Assata” is his ode to cop killer Joanne Deborah Chesimard, aka […]

Throw Out the Bums Before Election Day

By |2011-05-15T20:16:44-04:00May 15th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published May 13, 2011 on The Washington Times website.

In Wymore, Neb., voters got fed up with a councilman who kept leaving meetings. So, on Tuesday, they voted him out in a recall election. It’s part of a nationwide pattern as people discover that they don’t have to wait until the next election to throw the bums out. In Chattanooga, Tenn., a recall effort against Democratic Mayor Ron Littlefield has been tied up in court since September. Organizers who filed an appeal are not giving up, and they say they expect the case […]

The Incredible Shrinking Recovery

By |2011-05-11T08:08:17-04:00May 11th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published May 11, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

There was President Obama at a recent fundraiser telling his star-struck enablers, look at me, after just two and a half years, I got the economy growing again. He didn’t tell them that the pitiful 1.7% annualized real growth rate in the first quarter compares to 7.1% annualized real growth at the same point in President Reagan’s recovery.

Over the first 7 quarters of the Reagan recovery, the economy boomed at a real growth rate of […]

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