March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

William Leddra

March 24, 1661: the Charter government of Massachusetts executed William Leddra for being a Quaker. He was the fourth and last Quaker hung with the approval of Governor John Endicott. Though the court did not find him “evil,” he had sympathized with the Quakers who were executed before him; he had refused to remove his hat, and he used the words “thee” and “thou,” which, to Quakers, implied the equality of all people. (dla.library article)  (see May 11, 1682)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Treaty of Cusseta

March 24, 1832: the Creek Indians signed the Treaty of Cusseta with the United States, giving up all 5.2 million acres of their tribal lands in Alabama. Following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, this treaty was yet another step in the federal government’s plan to remove Indian tribes to west of the Mississippi River and acquire tribal lands for white settlement. Creek leaders had negotiated the treaty with the federal government in hopes of gaining security and protection from growing pressures and threats, as Alabama extended its laws over Creek territory and authorized white encroachment into Creek land.

Under the terms of the treaty, the federal government would survey the land, complete a census of the Creeks remaining in the region, and redistribute 2.1 million acres to Creek chiefs and male heads of household, leaving the remaining land available for white settlers. The treaty gave Creek landholders five years to decide whether to maintain ownership of their land or sell to white settlers and emigrate to the Western territory at the United States’ expense. Although the treaty stipulated that the provision regarding Creek emigration “shall not be construed so as to compel any Creek Indian to emigrate, but they shall be free to go or stay, as they please,” the federal government made clear it was “desirous that the Creeks should remove to the country west of the Mississippi, and join their countrymen there.”

The treaty purported to guarantee protection against intruders during the five-year decision period. However, intruders persisted and the United States succumbed to pressures to cease blocking and removing them. In addition to unlawful intruders overtaking Creek land, speculators defrauded, threatened, and undersold Creek landholders to deprive them of the land guaranteed under the Treaty. Growing resentment and hostility led to violent outbreaks and eventually erupted into the Second Creek War, leading the United States to forcibly remove the remaining Creeks on March 3, 1837. (Encyclopedia of Alabama article) (see February 24, 1835)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Wendell Phillips

March 24, 1862: abolitionist orator Wendell Phillips was booed while attempting to give a lecture in Cincinnati, Ohio. The angry crowd was opposed to fighting for the freedom of slaves, as Phillips advocated. He was pelted with rocks and eggs before friends whisked him awaywhen a small riot broke out. The incident demonstrated the fierce resistance that existed in the Northern states to the proposition of fighting a war to free the slaves. (NYT article) (see Mar 27)

Scottsboro Nine

March 24, 1932: Alabama Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1, affirmed the convictions of seven of the boys.  The conviction of Eugene Williams was reversed on the grounds that he was a juvenile under state law in 1931. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

George Stinney, Jr

March 24, 1944: on the afternoon of March 23, 1944, two white girls, Betty June Binnicker, age 11, and Mary Emma Thames, age 7, failed to return home in the rural town of Alcolu, South Carolina. The next morning, their bodies were discovered lying in a ditch. Both girls’ skulls had been crushed and one of the girls’ bicycle was lying on top of their bodies, its front wheel detached. George Stinney, Jr., a 14-year-old black boy, was taken into custody a few hours later, and confessed to murdering the girls within hours of his apprehension. (see George Stinney Jr for expanded story)

George Whitmore, Jr

March 24, 1966: Justice Aaron Goldstein held evidence of the Wylie-Hoffert confession inadmissible. Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben waived further examination of witnesses, declaring that George Whitmore, Jr. cannot receive a fair trial absent the Wylie-Hoffert evidence. Both sides rested. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

Halle Berry

 

March 24, 2002: Halle Berry became the first African American to win an Academy Award for best actress in a leading role. (see May 22)

Sean Bell incident

March 24, 2012: the NYC police detective who fired the first shots in the 50-bullet barrage that killed Sean Bell in 2006 were fired, and three others involved in the shooting were being forced to resign, law enforcement officials said. (see July 17, 2014)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

Rose Bowl

March 24, 1942: more than 600 Japanese aliens and Japanese-Americans from the Pacific Coast assembled at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl under military orders to evacuate to an internment camp in Manzanar, Calif.

The New York Times referred to the arrivals as “pioneers,” and said that “all” the evacuees “had been vastly impressed” with the “courteous treatment” they had received so far. (see Internment for expanded story)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

First oil drill rig

March 24, 1955: the first seagoing oil drill rig (for drilling in over 100 feet of water) was placed in service by the U.S. company C.G. Glasscock Drilling Co in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig, built by Bethlehem Steel at their Beaumont Yard, was able to drive piles with a force of 827 tons, and pull a pile with the force of 942 tons. (see January 29, 1958)

Exxon Valdez

March 24, 1989: the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and began leaking 11 million gallons of crude oil. (see Mar 31)

Keystone XL

March 24, 2017: TransCanada Corp said that President Trump’s administration had signed off on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, clearing a key hurdle for a polarizing endeavor that had rankled environmentalists and inspired hope for jobs among supporters.

TransCanada Corp. said it had received a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of State to build the project. The company said it would consequently withdraw the bankruptcy claim it filed through the North American Free Trade Agreement and end its legal fight over the constitutional nature of former President Obama administration’s rejection of the project.

Pipeline spill

March 24, 2017: a December oil pipeline spill in western North Dakota might have been three times larger than first estimated and among the biggest in state history, a state environmental expert said.

About 530,000 gallons of oil was now believed to have spilled from the Belle Fourche Pipeline that was likely ruptured by a slumping hillside about 16 miles northwest of Belfield in Billings County, Health Department environmental scientist Bill Seuss said. The earlier estimate was about 176,000 gallons. Wyoming-based True Cos operates the pipeline 

California Air Resources Board

March 24, 2017: the California Air Resources Board voted to push ahead with stricter emissions standards for cars and trucks, setting up a potential legal battle with the Trump administration over the state’s plan to reduce planet-warming gases.

The agency’s vote was the boldest indication yet of California’s plan to stand up to President Trump’s agenda. Leading politicians in the state, from the governor down to many mayors, promised to lead the resistance to Mr. Trump’s policies. (see Mar 28)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 24 Music et al

Roots of Rock

March 24, 1958: When Elvis Presley turned 18 on January 8, 1953, he registered with the Selective Service. The Korean War was still underway at the time, but as a student in good standing at L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, Elvis received a student deferment that kept him from facing conscription during that conflict’s final months. Elvis would receive another deferment four years later when his draft number came up, but for different reason: to complete the filming of his third Hollywood movie, King Creole.

With that obligation fulfilled, Uncle Sam would wait no longer. On this date, Elvis Presley was inducted as US Army as a private #53310761 and completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, before being posted to Friedberg, Germany with the 3rd Armored Division.. (RoR, see Mar 28; Elvis, see January 14, 1960)

The Beatles

March 24, 1961: Beatles return to Hamburg, Germany. (see June 22 & 23)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

March 24, 1965/Dean Rusk

Secretary of State Dean Rusk insisted at a news conference that the United States was “not embarking upon gas warfare,” but was merely employing “a gas which has been commonly adopted by the police forces of the world as riot-control agents.” 

March 24, 1965/Students for a Democratic Society

Students for a Democratic Society organized first Vietnam War teach-in at University of Michigan. Two hundred faculty members participated by holding special anti-war seminars. Regular classes were canceled, and rallies and speeches dominated for 12 hours. (see Mar 25)

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

March 24, 1975: the North Vietnamese “Ho Chi Minh Campaign” begins. President Richard Nixon had repeatedly promised South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu that the United States would come to the aid of South Vietnam if the North Vietnamese committed a major violation of the Peace Accords. However, by the time the communists had taken Phuoc Long, Nixon had resigned from office and Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon’s promises to Saigon. (see Mar 25)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections

March 24, 1966: with Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court found that Virginia’s poll tax was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Twenty-fourth Amendment (ratified by the states on January 23, 1964) had prohibited poll taxes in federal elections; five states continued to require poll taxes for voters in state elections. By this ruling, the Supreme Court banned the use of poll taxes in state elections. (Oyez article) (see June 22, 1970)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Feminism

March 24, 1974: The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) was founded, electing as their first president Olga Madar (a vice president of the United Auto Workers).

The convention adopted four goals: organize the unorganized; promote affirmative action; increase women’s participation in their unions; and increase women’s participation in political and legislative activities. (LH, see Apr 8; Feminism, see Oct 28)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

Cuba

March 24, 1977: for the first time since severing diplomatic relations in 1961, Cuba and the United States entered into direct negotiations when the two nations discuss fishing rights. (see December 15, 1978)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS

ACT UP

March 24, 1987: Larry Kramer helped establish the Gay Men’s Health Crisis on January 4, 1982, but was ousted from the group because he insisted on more militant actions regarding the AIDS crisis in America. He then helped to found ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) on March 10, 1987, and it held its first demonstration on the AIDS crisis on this day. The crisis was accentuated by the failure of President Ronald Reagan and his administration to recognize the AIDS epidemic and mobilize federal efforts to deal with it after it was first identified by the Centers for Disease Control June 5, 1981. (see Aug 28)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran–Contra Affair

March 24, 1988:  former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter and businessmen Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim plead innocent to Iran-Contra charges. (see May 4, 1989)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

School Shooting

Jonesboro, Arkansas

March 24, 1998: Mitchell Johnson, 13,and Andrew Golden, 11, shot their classmates and teachers in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Golden, the younger of the two boys, asked to be excused from his class, pulled a fire alarm and then ran to join Johnson in a wooded area 100 yards away from the school’s gym. As the students streamed out of the building, Johnson and Golden opened fire and killed four students and a teacher. Ten other children were wounded. (see April 20, 1999)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of Yugoslavia

NATO

March 24, 1998: NATO launched air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which refused to sign a peace treaty. This marked the first time NATO attacked a sovereign country. (see Yugoslavia for expanded chronology)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Terri Schiavo

March 24, 2005: the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal from the parents of Terri Schiavo to have a feeding tube re-inserted into the severely brain-damaged woman. (see Mar 31)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Westboro Baptist Church

March 24, 2016: U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp upheld Nebraska’s funeral picketing law, ruling that it had not violated the free-speech rights of the Westboro Baptist Church. An appeal of the ruling was promised.

The law prohibited protests within 500 feet of a funeral service, starting one hour before the rites began and ending two hours after.

Passed in 2006 and amended in 2011, the law was a response to picketing by church members at the funerals of U.S. soldiers.

Camp ruled that Nebraska’s law did not restrict free speech “more than necessary” and that protesters had “ample alternative channels” to communicate their message, including via social media and news coverage of their demonstrations.

“The First Amendment does not guarantee the right to communicate one’s views at all times and places or in any manner that may be desired,” the judge said, quoting from a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court opinion. (Free speech, see Aug 14)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

March 24, 2020: the NY Times reported that with the coronavirus pandemic spreading rapidly across the country, millions of Americans were being told by state and county officials to take refuge at home, and only venture out to get things they really need. Groceries, naturally. Prescription drugs, of course. Gas for the car. Urgent medical care.

And in many places, marijuana made the list.

Over the past week, more than a dozen states had agreed that while “nonessential” stores had to close, pot shops and medical marijuana dispensaries could remain open —  official recognition that for some Americans, cannabis is as necessary as milk and bread. (next Cannabis, see  or see CCC for expanded Cannabis story)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

March 24, 2021:  the Senate voted  to confirm Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services. The vote was a history-making one: Levine was the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate The vote was 52-48 in favor of her confirmation.

Levine was previously Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, where she led the commonwealth’s COVID-19 response. [NPR article] (next LGBTQ, see May 10)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

March 24, 2021: more than 400 years after the first execution in Virginia — of Captain George Kendall, accused in 1608 of spying for Spain — the State became the 23rd to abolish the death penalty after Gov. Ralph Northam signed historic legislation into law that ended capital punishment in the commonwealth.

“We can’t give out the ultimate punishment without being 100% sure that we’re right. And we can’t sentence people to that ultimate punishment knowing that the system doesn’t work the same for everyone,” Northam, a Democrat, said ahead of signing the legislation at the Greensville Correctional Center, which houses Virginia’s death chamber.

With Northam’s signature, Virginia became the first Southern state to repeal the death penalty since the US Supreme Court reinstated the punishment in 1976. The new law, set to go into effect in July, came as a major shift for Virginia, which had put to death more people in its history than any other state. [CNN article] (next DP, see June 16)

Spiritual Advisors Permitted

March 24, 2022: the Supreme Court ruled that John Henry Ramirez, a Texas death row inmate, could have his spiritual adviser pray aloud and “lay hands” on him during his execution, establishing new guidelines that will govern similar requests in other prisons across the country.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 8-1 decision. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissent. [CNN article] (next DP, see Apr 25)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

March 24, 2022: the Biden administration announced that it would release a federal regulation that overhauled the US asylum system to settle claims at a faster pace and help alleviate the immigration court backlog.

The new rule gave asylum officers more authority by allowing them to hear and decide asylum claims — cases that were usually assigned to immigration judges — when migrants present at the US southern border. The regulation applied to migrants who were subject to expedited removal. Unaccompanied children were exempt. [CNN article] (next IH, see June 30, 2023)

March 24 Peace Love Art Activism

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural and Technological Milestones

OK

March 23, 1839: during the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice in younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them, and use them as slang when talking to one another. There were many  slang terms they abbreviated: “KY” for “No use” (“know yuse”), “KG” for “No go” (“Know go”), and “OW” for all right (“oll wright”).

On this day in 1839, the initials “O.K.” were first published in The Boston Morning Post as an abbreviation for “oll correct,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans. (see April 20, 1841)

Long-distance telephone service

March 23, 1883: long-distance telephone service was inaugurated between Chicago and New York City. (see January 8, 1889)

Artificial heart

March 23, 1983:  Barney B. Clark, the first recipient of an artificial heart, died. (January 24, 1984)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Civil Rights Act of 1875

March 23, 1875: twenty-two days after the passage of the Civil Rights Act (Mar 1), the Tennessee legislature defiantly approved House Bill 527, which permitted hotels, inns, public transportation, and amusement parks to refuse admission and service to any person for any reason. The state had authorized the very discrimination the federal law prohibited.

On October 13 1883, the United States Supreme Court will declare the Civil Rights Act an unconstitutional exercise of Thirteenth Amendment powers, empowering Tennessee and other discriminatory states and clearing the way for several more generations of Jim Crow rule. (see June 7)

Marcus Garvey

March 23, 1916: Garvey arrived in America penniless, moved in with a Jamaican family in Harlem, New York City, and found work as a printer. He gained a following for his movement by speaking nightly as a soapbox orator on a Harlem street corner. (see Garvey for expanded story)

Johnnie Mae Chappell

March 23, 1964: having made dinner for her 10 children, Johnnie Mae Chappell of Jacksonville, Florida, walked to a nearby store to buy some ice cream for dessert. On the way home, the paper sack she carried became soggy and broke. At home, Chappell realized she’d dropped her wallet. She went back out to search the side of the road and a couple of neighbors joined to help.

As she retraced her steps along a road, four white men spotted her, and one of them killed her. They had been looking for an African American to shoot following a day of racist unrest. (BH, see Mar 26; Chappell, see Aug 11)

George Whitmore, Jr

March 23, 1966: after Detective Richard Aidala testified that Whitmore’s confession to the Elba Borrero crime was voluntary, Whitmore’s attorney, Stanley Reiben asked, “Did anyone coerce or force him into making the Wylie-Hoffert confession?” Justice Aaron Goldstein immediately dismissed the jury and then upbraided Reiben for his “intemperate question.”

Out of the jury’s presence, Reiben labeled Aidala “the world’s biggest liar,” and asked Goldstein, “How can I achieve justice unless I can establish this?” Goldstein said he would reserve ruling on the admissibility of the evidence resulting to Whitmore’s confession in the Wylie-Hoffert case. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

137 SHOTS

March 23, 2015: attorneys for the Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo charged in the November 2012 deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams filed a motion asking to waive a jury trial. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John P. O’Donnell would consider the motion at a hearing Jury selection was scheduled to begin April 2. (see 137 Shots for expanded story)

Laquan McDonald

March 23, 2017: besides six counts of first-degree murder and one count of misconduct, officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with 16 counts of aggravated battery — one for each shot fired at Laquan McDonald — in a new indictment. (B & S, see Mar 26; McDonald, see June 27)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Wobblies trial

March 23, 1918: 101 leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World union (“The Wobblies“) were put on trial in Chicago for conspiracy to obstruct America’s participation in World War I. (LH, see June 3; Wobblie trial, see Aug 17)

FREE SPEECH/Norman Thomas

March 23, 1920: Passaic, New Jersey, police disrupted a textile union meeting while leaders of the ACLU attempted to read the New Jersey State Constitution. ACLU leader Norman Thomas read the Constitution for about 15 minutes before the police arrived and was then ordered him to stop. When he did not, the police ordered the owner of the hall to turn out the lights. They then forced the crowd outside, where the Constitution reading continued by candlelight.  Textile worker union organizer Frank Laitovick read the state Constitution in Polish while an interpreter for the police department watched closely to ensure that he did not insert any “Red doctrines” into his reading. (Ohio History site bio)  (Labor, see May 22; FS, see August 3, 1922)

FREE SPEECH/Johnny Wilson

March 23, 1972:  a Georgia state court had convicted a Johnny Wilson of violating a state statute. The statute provided that “[a]ny person who shall, without provocation, use to or of another, and in his presence . . . opprobrious words or abusive language, tending to cause a breach of the peace . . . shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.” On appeal, Mr. Wilson argued that the statute violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Georgia Supreme Court rejected the argument. Mr. Wilson successfully sought habeas corpus relief from a Georgia federal district court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed.

In a 5 – 2 decision , the Supreme Court held that the Georgia statute was unconstitutional. With Justice William J. Brennan writing for the majority, the Court reasoned that the statute was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Quoting Speiser v. Randall, the Court noted that “the separation of legitimate from illegitimate speech calls for more sensitive tools than (Georgia) has supplied.” (see Apr 28)

Postal worker strike

March 23, 1970: five days into the Post Office’s first mass work stoppage in 195 years, President Nixon declared a national emergency and ordered 30,000 troops to New York City to break the strike. The troops didn’t have a clue how to sort and deliver mail: a settlement came a few days later, (USPS site article) (see Apr 28)

BP’s Texas City refinery explosion

March 23, 2005: fifteen workers died, another 170 were injured when a series of explosions rip through BP’s Texas City refinery. Investigators blamed a poor safety culture at the plant and found BP management gave priority to cost savings over worker safety (US Chemical Safety Board article) (see Sept 22)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

see March 23 Music et al for more

Our Day Will Come

March 23 – 29, 1963: “Our Day Will Come” by Ruby & the Romantics #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In His Own Write

March 23, 1964, The Beatles: release of John’s first book, In His Own Write. (see Apr 4)

Elvis sings Michelle

March 23, 1967: at a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles were awarded three Ivor Novello awards for 1966: Best-selling British single ‘Yellow Submarine’, most-performed song ‘Michelle’, and next-most-performed song ‘Yesterday’. None of the Beatles attended and the winning songs were played by Joe Loss and his Orchestra. The lead vocal for ‘Michelle’ was sung by Ross MacManus, whose son would go on to become the professional musician Elvis Costello. (see Mar 30)

Fear of Rock

After the Jim Morrison incident in Miami on March 1,1969 where he supposedly exposed himself’ while onstage (very likely did not) a group of kids from a local church decided to hold a ‘Decency Rally’ to show the world that the youth of Florida was not corrupted by the evils of Rock and Roll.

March 23, 1969, the “Rally For Decency” (or ‘Decency Rally) was held at the Orange Bowl in Miami. The rally featured top name entertainers including Jackie Gleason, The Lettermen, Kate Smith, and Anita Bryant and promising that the crowd of 30,000 will contain no “longhairs and weird dressers.”  (see September 15, 1970)

Concert For Bangladesh

March 23, 1972: the film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premiered in New York. The event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history. The concert raised $243,418.51 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. (see Mar 31)

John Lennon v Immigration

March 23, 1973: purportedly because of a disputed conviction for possession of hashish in England in 1968 and as part of a three-and-a-half-year-long campaign by the U.S. government to deport former Beatle John Lennon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) ordered him to leave the country within 60 days.

In reality, the government sought to deport Lennon because of his anti-Vietnam War activities and other criticisms of the U.S. government. The deportation campaign finally ended on October 7, 1975, when a federal appeals court reversed his deportation, ruling that the government could not selectively deport someone because of his or her political views. (see April 3 ; see JL for more on John’s immigration issues)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

Gemini 3

March 23, 1965: Gus Grissom and John Young pilot the first two-man Gemini spacecraft, Gemini 3, named the Molly Brown in recognition of Grissom’s Mercury splashdown (The Unsinkable Molly Brown was a 1960 musical production.) (NASA article) (see June 3 – 7)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

26th Amendment

March 23, 1971:  with the Vietnam War and its drafting of 18 year olds in mind,  the Congress passed the text of the 26th Amendment, specifically setting a national voting age, in both state and national elections, to 18. In just 100 days, on July 1, 1971, the amendment was ratified. (V, see Mar 29, VR, see July 5, 1971)

Voter identification

March 23, 2015: the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Wisconsin’s voter identification law, restoring the measure it had blocked ahead of last November’s election but not in time for the April 7 ballot. The decision by the justices means that the state will eventually require voters to show identification in all elections, but the action — made without comment — likely did not give Wisconsin the kind of advance notice needed to reinstate the law for the nonpartisan spring election. (see Mar 25)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

James W. McCord Jr

March 23, 1973: in a letter to Judge John Sirica, Watergate burglar James W. McCord Jr. admitted that he and other defendants had been pressured to remain silent about the case. He named former Attorney General John Mitchell as ‘overall boss’ of the operation. (see Watergate for expanded story)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

H. L. v. Matheson

March 23, 1981: in H. L. v. Matheson,  the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions. (see Dec 28)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

March 23, 2003: a U.S. Army maintenance convoy was ambushed in Iraq; 11 soldiers were killed and seven were captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch. (see Mar 30)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Affordable Care Act

Obama signs into law

March 23, 2010: President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law aiming to insure 95% of Americans. 14 states (Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota) announced plans to sue the federal government over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (see March 26, 2012)

Republicans attempt to repeal

March 23, 2017: House Republican leaders postponed a planned vote in the full House on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act as President Trump and his allies struggled to round up votes amid a tide of defections from the proposed replacement bill.

Later the  President threatened to keep the so-called Obama-Care should the Republicans not vote for his repeal/replace plan. (see Mar 24)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Kandahar massacre

March 23, 2012: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was charged with 17 counts of murder and various other charges, including attempted murder, in connection with the March 11 attack on Afghan civilians. Sergeant Bales, who is 38 and had been serving his fourth combat tour overseas, was being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. A senior Afghan police official said that the 17^th count was for the death of the victim’s unborn baby. (see Mar 25)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Utah firing squads

March 23, 2015: Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) signed a law that established firing squads as a secondary execution method in the event the Department of Corrections could not obtain drugs for lethal injection. Lethal injection remained the primary execution method for Utah and the 31 other U.S. states that allowed the death penalty as a punishment for certain murders. (see Apr 3)

Colorado

March 23, 2020: Colorado abolished its seldom-used death penalty..

Gov. Jared S. Polis, a Democrat, signed the repeal into law after it had reached his desk from the state legislature. It had passed the Senate in January and the House in February after several failed attempts to end capital punishment in the state.

Colorado had executed just one person since reinstating the death penalty in the mid-1970s: Gary Davis, who had been convicted of the rape and murder of Virginia May, was given a lethal injection in 1997.

Polis also commuted the sentences of three men on death row — Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens and Nathan Dunlap — to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said in a statement that he wanted the law to be applied consistently. [NYT article] (next DP, see June 29)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

House Bill 2

March 23, 2016: North Carolina’s governor Pat McCrory signed a controversial bill blocking cities from allowing transgender individuals to use public bathrooms for the sex they identify as — as well as restricting cities from passing nondiscrimination laws more broadly.

House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, put in place a statewide policy that bans individuals from using public bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex. The bill also reserved the right to pass nondiscrimination legislation to the state government, saying state laws preempt any local ordinances. (see Apr 5; North Carolina, see July 21)

Transgender troops

March 23, 2018: President Trump announced that transgender troops who were currently in the military could remain, but the Pentagon could require them to serve according to their gender at birth.

The policy recommendation stated that “transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from military service.” But it also gave the Pentagon the ability to make exceptions where it sees fit.

The policy adopts recommendations that Mr. Trump received last month from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. It comes after court rulings froze the president’s initial ban on transgender troops — issued in July — as potentially unconstitutional. (LGTBQ & transgender/military, see Apr 13)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

March 23, 2020: the U.S. Sentencing Commission published a report regarding drug possession. The report indicated that federal prosecutions for marijuana trafficking declined again in 2019, and drug possession cases overall saw an even more dramatic decline.

While drug cases still represented the second most common category of crimes in the federal criminal justice system, the data indicated that the bulk of those instances were related to methamphetamine trafficking, which had steadily increased over the past decade.

But for marijuana, a different kind of trend emerged. As more states had moved to legalize cannabis, federal prosecutions had consistently declined since 2012. To illustrate the shift, marijuana trafficking cases represented the most common drug type that was pursued in 2012, with about 7,000 cases. As of fiscal year 2019, those cases were the second least common, with fewer than 2,000 cases. [Marijuana Moment article] (next Cannabis, see Mar 24 or see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

March 23 Peace Love Art Activism