Death Row: Trusting a Broken System
On March 9, 2011, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation effectively abolishing the death penalty in the state of Illinois, making it the 16th state without the death penalty.[i] The next day, on March 10, 2011, Johnnie Ray Baston was executed in Ohio for aggravated murder. He is the 9th person to be put to death […]
Feeding the People: What Has Lead to the Global Food Crisis?
Rising global food prices do not only threaten the lives of individuals but threaten the political stability of entire regions. High food prices have been cited as one factor behind the current instability in Africa and the Middle East, and a spike in food prices this year risks the potential of even more widespread problems.[i] […]
The Price of Being Gay: The Constitutionality of DOMA
In a letter to the Speaker of the House, President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder signaled that the White House would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. In doing so the president took a proactive step for the equal rights of gay men and women across this country. This […]
How Will America Remember Joe Lieberman: Connecticut’s Independent Senator
With his entire extended family behind him and a crowd of several hundred supporters in front of him, Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman took the podium at a hotel in Stamford, Connecticut on January 19 to announce he would not seek reelection in 2012.[i] Lieberman, 68, has had a tumultuous career in the Senate over the […]
American DREAM: Delayed or Denied?
Over the last decade, policy makers in the United States continually pledged to make reformations to the policies surrounding immigration. This period of time has shown quite clearly that comprehensive reform is almost politically impossible. While the push for full-scale improvements has continued, there has also been an attempt to approach the problem pragmatically. By […]
The Real Value of Vermont Yankee
Vermont Yankee (VY) is the only nuclear reactor in the state of Vermont and the second oldest in the country. While President Obama has committed his administration’s energy agenda to galvanizing a nuclear energy renaissance, on February 24, 2010 the Vermont Senate decided, twenty-six to four, in favor of concluding VY operations.[i] Unless the Senate […]
The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance: Opposing the Repeal of National Health Care
Franklin Pierce is surely applauding modern day Republicans’ and their effort to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and as unaware of the times Pierce would be today, I believe the same can be said for modern day Republicans. In 1854, Pierce vetoed the first proposal of a federally sponsored social program that […]
From the Barrel of a Gun
With the tragic shooting in Arizona splashed across the American media, there has been a flood of commentary attempting to make sense of the senseless act of violence. Amongst them are commentators who have pointed their antagonism towards the second amendment and the level of gun ownership within our country. Writers have pointed to the […]
Street Corner Counterterrorism: The Role of Police in Combating Terrorism
The United States counterterrorism community has evolved significantly in the nine years since the attacks on September 11, 2001 but questions persist about the intelligence community’s ability to prevent the next attack. Terrorism is just as much, if not a greater threat today than before the attacks. Leon Panetta, current director of the Central Intelligence […]