Colorado Pledge Walk-out

A group of students in Boulder, Colorado walked out of school during the pledge of allegiance this past Thursday. In an email to Rocky Mountain News, the president of the Student Worker club at Boulder High School wrote that the protesting students were concerned that the pledge takes away from school time and that the phrase “one nation, under God” violates the separation of church and state. “Boulder High has a highly diverse population, not all of whom believe in God, or One God,” she wrote.

Once outside, an alternate pledge written by a Boulder High senior was read to the group:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag and my constitutional rights with which it comes. And to the diversity, in which our nation stands, one nation, part of one planet, with liberty, freedom, choice and justice for all.”

Various news sources offer conflicting accounts of the number of students participating in the walk-out, with the majority reporting fifty students physically leaving the building and as many as a hundred watching from the inside.

The Strong Case for Allowing Same-Sex Parenting, Part One: Exploring the opposing viewpoint

When talking about adoption and parenting, whats best for the child is usually the primary concern for each party. This holds true for cases of adoption and/or parenting by same-sex couples. With the best interests of children in mind, five states currently bar homosexuals from adopting children despite a need for adoptive parents and a growing body of evidence suggesting that same-sex households are adequate environments for the developing child.In part one of the series The Strong Case for Allowing Same-Sex Adoption, we will explore the viewpoint that adoption should be limited to heterosexual couples de jure by investigating the four primary talking points that opponents of same-sex parenting use when supporting public policy that limits the ability of same-sex couples to adopt children.

District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007

There is nothing in our Constitution’s history or its fundamental principles suggesting that the Framers intended to deny the precious right to vote to those who live in the capital of the great democracy they founded.
                            – Kenneth Starr and Patricia Wald, 9/15/2006

The District of Columbia has no representation in the United States Congress save for a solitary non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, despite being home to 581,530 tax-paying American citizens, the majority of which are African American. A recent bill which passed the house would have granted the District of Columbia its first ever vote in the House of Representatives. This bill did not make it to the Senate Floor, despite some bi-partisan support, due to disagreements between government officials regarding the constitutional issues surrounding the District of Columbia and its relationship to Congress.