The Supreme Court vacancy presents more peril for Republicans than Democrats. Democrats want you to believe that somehow the president’s eventual nominee represents a frightening goose step to the right. They want you to think that freedoms and progress around gay marriage, all abortions, the environment and other liberal go-to causes would be eviscerated by […]
Perspective
Posted inPerspective, sj-web
Will Trump’s Supreme Court justices show independence from him?
The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather for an official group portrait to include new Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, top row, far right, Thursday. June 1, 2017, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. Seated, front row, from left are, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Chief Justice of the […]
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Justice Kennedy’s LGBTQ legacy may be short-lived
Retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (AP file photo) Kennedy’s departure from the Supreme Court has, understandably, prompted widespread concern about Roe v. Wade and abortion rights. Less salient but equally at risk is the court’s progress on LGBTQ rights. While he was on the court, Kennedy was the decisive vote for the court’s 5-4 […]
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Maine labor and the Equal Rights Movement: From resistance to conversion
Against the background of the worldwide Women’s March last year calling for sweeping social reforms —including women’s rights — and the equally global activism of the #MeToo movement, the embers of the long struggle for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution appears to be billowing again. The movement now needs the […]
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A primer on RCV
As we approach Maine’s historic ranked choice voting primary, voters across the state are preparing for their first opportunity to cast ballots which rank multiple candidates instead of picking just one. What does this change mean for voters? First and foremost, it is an opportunity for Maine to continue and deepen its record of civic […]
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Trump's problem isn't that he has bad lawyers. It's that he's a bad client.
Time and time again, President Donald Trump and his associates have talked themselves into legal trouble. Trump’s splenetic tweets about foreigners were quoted in court opinions blocking his immigration initiatives. When Trump proclaimed he had no idea that his attorney Michael Cohen had paid adult-film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence, her lawyers cheered — […]
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Parenting of the future: Many embryos, each with DNA profile
NEW YORK — So you want to have a baby. Would you like a dark-haired girl with a high risk of someday getting colon cancer, but a good chance of above-average music ability? Or would you prefer a girl with a good prospect for high SAT scores and a good shot at being athletic, but […]
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Analysis: Board rules influenced handling of Kippax case
AUGUSTA — A little more than 13 months ago, the Maine Board of Dental Practice suspended the license of Lewiston oral surgeon Jan Kippax after looking into the complaints of 18 patients who collectively filed nearly 200 allegations of misconduct against him. After looking over the charges, the panel initially said Kippax “put the health […]
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AP: Pentagon often fails young sex assault victims on bases
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A decade after the Pentagon began confronting rape in the ranks, the U.S. military frequently fails to protect or provide justice to the children of service members when they are sexually assaulted by other children on base, an Associated Press investigation has found. Reports of assaults and rapes among kids on military […]
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Women are sticking with US submarines at same rate as men
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When the U.S. Navy sought the first female sailors to serve on submarines, Suraya Mattocks raised her hand because she thought it would be a cool job, not because she wanted to blaze a trail. She did anyway. It has been eight years since the Navy lifted its ban on women in […]