On November 21, 1913 the court fined suffragist Lucy Burns $1 for chalking the sidewalk in front of the White House (NYT article). The name Lucy Burns was not one that was a familiar name to me until I dug deeper into why the 1960s were what they were.
She was born on July 28, 1879 to an Irish Catholic family in Brooklyn, New York. While studying in Europe, Burns became involved in the British suffragist movement.
Lucy Burns Force Fed
London
Alice Paul
In London, on November 11, 1909, police arrested Alice Paul, a fellow American, for throwing stones through a window at the Guildhall while the Lord Mayor’s banquet was in progress. Inside the hall, Burns found Winston Churchill, waved a tiny banner in his face, and asked him, “How can you dine here while women are starving in prison?”
Four years later, in April 1913, back in the United States Alice Paul and Lucy Burns founded the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage . In 1916, Burns helped organize the National Woman’s Party. She advocated the cause of “votes for women,” she organized, lobbied, wrote, edited, traveled, marched, spoke, rallied and picketed.
1917 was a pivotal year in the suffragist movement. Women continued to demonstrate in front of the White House trying to get President Wilson to change his view on the right of women to vote.
On June 20, 1917, targeting the Russian envoys visiting President Wilson, Burns and Dora Lewis held a large banner in front of the White House that stated: “To the Russian envoys: We the women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million American women are denied the right to vote. President Wilson is the chief opponent of their national enfranchisement…Tell our government it must liberate its people before it can claim free Russia as an ally.”
Lucy Burns Force Fed
Continued protests/Repeated arrests
An angry crowd destroyed the banner, but despite the crowds’ attacks, Burns arrived two days later with Katharine Morey carrying a similar banner; police arrested them for obstructing traffic.
Occoqual Workhouse torture revealed
Burns wrote that going to prison for picketing would be “the last whack of a hammer…” (she served more time in jail than any other suffragists in America). Authorities arrested her in June 1917 and sentenced her to 3 days; arrested again in September, 1917, Sentenced to 60 days. Again in October 1917, she declared their status as political prisoners and Burns and 13 other suffragists, initiated a hunger strike at Occoquan Workhouse to protest the unjust treatment of Alice Paul. Her strike lasted almost three weeks.
Lucy Burns Force Fed
Force Fed
On November 21, 1917, officials began force-feeding the hunger strikers. Unable to pry open Burns’s mouth, officials insert glass tube up her nostril, causing significant bleeding and pain.
Responding to increasing public pressure and the likely overturning of prisoners’ convictions on appeal, on November 27 and 28, government authorities ordered unconditional release of Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and 20 other suffrage prisoners.
Lucy Burns Force Fed
Jail for Freedom pin
And on December 6 – 9, 1917, at theConference of National Women’s Party officers and National Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., the suffrage prisoners were each presented with a special commemorative “Jailed for Freedom” pin.
Lucy Burns Force Fed
Exhausted
From the Sewall Belmont site: In 1920, exhausted from constant campaigning, Lucy declared at a meeting that she would fight no more and said, “…we have done all this for women, and we have sacrificed everything we possessed for them.” She was not present when Paul unfurled the victory banner at headquarters.
Burns spent the rest of her life in Brooklyn, caring for her family and working with the Catholic Church. One of the bravest and most militant members of the National Woman’s Party, Lucy Burns’ articulate speeches, supreme leadership and brilliant strategizing greatly contributed to the achievement of woman suffrage.
Lucy Burns Institute
And the Lucy Burns Institute is located in Middleton, Wisconsin. It was founded in December 2006 and sponsors Ballotpedia: “the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Our goal is to inform people about politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at all levels of government. We are firmly committed to neutrality in our content.It continues her struggle.”
From the Institute’s site: The Institute is named in honor of Lucy Burns, a suffragette who helped to organize the National Woman’s Party in 1916. In her work to advocate the cause of “votes for women,” she organized, lobbied, wrote, edited, traveled, marched, spoke, rallied and picketed. When she was eventually arrested for her activities, she led a hunger strike in prison and was ultimately force-fed. She knew that being able to participate in a democracy by voting was an essential way to express our human dignity. For this goal, she was willing to fight and suffer.
Lucy Burns Museum
In 2018, the Workhouse Arts Center completed renovation of a 10,000 square foot barracks building on campus to house the Lucy Burns Museum. The museum is open and in an installation of professional history exhibits telling the story of the 91 years of prison history and the story of the suffragists who were imprisoned here in 1917 for picketing the White House for women’s right to vote.
The clip below is a piece of a speech that Emma Watson gave at the UN in 2014. The past is prologue.
In 1886 Louis Lewin, a German pharmacologist, published the first systematic study of the the cactus from which mescal buttons were obtained (his own name was subsequently given to the plant: Anhalonium lewinii).
The plant was new to science, but not to the Indians of Mexico and the American Southwest. It was (according to Aldous Huxley’s 1954 essay, The Doors of Perception), “a friend of immemorially long standing. Indeed, it was much more than a friend. In the words of one of the early Spanish visitors to the New World, “they eat a root which they call peyote, and which they venerate as though it were a deity.”
Albert Hoffman
November 16, 1938: Albert Hofmann, a chemist working for Sandoz Pharmaceutical in Basel, Switzerland, was the first to synthesize LSD-25. He discovered LSD, a semi-synthetic derivative of ergot alkaloids, while looking for a blood stimulant.
He set it aside for five years, until April 16, 1943, when he decided to take a second look at it. While re-synthesizing LSD, he accidentally absorbed a small amount of the drug through his fingertips and discovered its powerful effects.(see April 16, 1943)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
BLACK HISTORY
John Porter lynched
November 16, 1900: early in 1900 a black family, Preston Porter, Sr and his two sons, “John” and Arthur, moved to the Limon, Colorado area to work on the railroad.
On November 8, a white girl named Louise Frost was found dead in Limon. Newspapers reported that the Porters had left Limon for Denver a few days after the girl was found dead. White authorities focused suspicions on them.
On November 12th, authorities arrested all three and took them to the Denver jail. After four days, newspapers reported that sixteen-year-old Preston “John” Porter Jr had confessed to the crime “in order to save his father and brother from sharing the fate that he believes awaits him.”
Despite the Governor’s order that the risk of lynching was to great to return John to Limon, the Denver sheriff transported John there by train.
John was said to have been reading a Bible and was allowed to pray before his lynching. When the flames reached his body, reports documented his screams for help as he writhed in pain, crying, “Oh my God, let me go men!…Please let me go. Oh, my God, my God!” When the ropes binding John to the stake had burned through, such that his body had fallen partially out of the fire, members of the mob threw additional kerosene oil over him and added wood to the fire. It was reported that John’s last words were “Oh, God, have mercy on these men, on the little girl and her father!”
No investigation into the lynching was conducted and the coroner concluded John died “at the hands of parties unknown.” [EJI article] (next BH & next Lynching, see March 15, 1901; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing
November 16, 1977: reported in the New York Times: The state rested its case in the Birmingham church bombing trial today after presenting a witness who said that she saw packages of what appeared to be dynamite at the home of Robert E. Chambliss two weeks before the explosion in September 1963 that took the lives of four black children. (see Nov 18)
Colin Kaepernick
November 16, 2019: 30 minutes before its scheduled start, Colin Kaepernick changed the location of his planned NFL workout, moving the event to Drew High School in Riverdale, Georgia, roughly 60 miles away. In a statement after the workout, the free agent quarterback slammed the NFL for a lack of transparency.
Kaepernick’s agent Jeff Nalley told reporters that representatives from eight teams attended the event.
The NFL responded with a statement saying they are “disappointed that Colin did not appear for his workout.” According to the NFL’s statement, 25 teams had sent representatives to the original location. [CBS News article] (next BH & CK, see Nov 23 or see CK for expanded story0
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
Cold War
November 16, 1945: in a move that stirred up some controversy, the US shipped 88 German scientists to America to assist the nation in its production of rocket technology. Most of the men had served under the Nazi regime and critics questioned the morality of placing them in the service of America. Nevertheless, the U.S. government, desperate to acquire the scientific know-how that had produced the terrifying and destructive V-1 and V-2 rockets for Germany during WWII, and fearful that the Russians were also utilizing captured German scientists for the same end, welcomed the men with open arms. (see January 31, 1946)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
Religion and Public Education
November 16, 1947: in support of Vashti McCollum’s case, a Baptist group said that programs of religious instruction in public school buildings were “an invasion of the time-honored doctrine of the separation of church and state.” (see Nov 20)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
Kennedy to…
“President Kennedy has decided on the measures that the United States is prepared to take to strengthen South Vietnam against attack by Communists.”
November 16, 1961: President Kennedy decided to increase military aid to South Vietnam without committing U.S. combat troops. (NYT Article) (see Nov 18)
…Clinton
November 16, 2000: Bill Clinton became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Vietnam. [NYT article] (see March 2, 2003)
November 16, 1963: tickets for The Beatles’ Christmas Show sold out. CBS News bureau London – at the suggestion of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein – sent a news crew to the British seaside resort of Bournemouth where they film a Beatles concert, thousands of screaming fans, and a few Beatles’ comments on camera. This film clip is later sent to New York. (see Nov 21)
“Deep Purple”
November 16 – 22, 1963, “Deep Purple” by Nino Tempo and April Stevens #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. [In 1968 Richie Blackmore suggested the title as the name for his new band named after his grandmother’s favorite song.]
Jimi Hendrix
November 16 – 29, 1968: Electric Ladyland the Billboard #1 album. (see June 20, 1969)
Mind Games
November 16, 1973: US release of Lennon’s fourth album, Mind Games. (see Nov 24)
Bob Dylan
November 16, 2016: the Nobel Academy said on its website that it had received a letter from Dylan explaining that due to “pre-existing commitments” he was unable to travel to Stockholm in December. “We look forward to Bob Dylan’s Nobel Lecture, which he must give ― it is the only requirement ― within six months counting from December 10.” (see Dec 10)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
NFL Strike Ends
November 16, 1982, the National Football League Players Association ended a 57-day strike that shortened the season to nine games. The players wanted, but failed to win until many years later, a higher share of gross team revenues. [NYDN article] (see December 19, 1984)
“persuader rule”
November 16, 2016: U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings issued a permanent injunction blocking an Obama administration “persuader rule” requiring law firms to publicly disclose any work they do for employers surrounding union organization efforts. The rule drew fierce resistance from employers and lawyers, who said it violated their duty to protect client confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege. (USLH, see March 1, 2017; Persader rule, see July 18, 2018)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
Native Americans
Susquehannock artifacts on display at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in 2007
November 16, 1990: TheNative American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act required federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American “cultural items” to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. Cultural items include human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. A program of federal grants assists in the repatriation process and the Secretary of the Interior could assess civil penalties on museums that failed to comply.
In 1992, the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas prompted protests from many Native American tribes and supporters, prompting cities including Denver and San Francisco to stop their quincentenary celebrations. (see Feb 11 – July 15, 1994)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
Environmental Issues
Powering Past Coal Alliance
November 16, 2017: one of the biggest announcements at the United Nations climate talks came when Canada and Britainbegan a new global alliance aimed at phasing out the use of coal power by 2030. But to this point the countries, states and provinces that joined the “Powering Past Coal Alliance” accounted for less than 3 percent of coal use worldwide.
Keystone Pipeline spill
November 16, 2017: about 5,000 barrels of oil, or about 210,000 gallons, gushed out of the Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota, blackening a grassy field in the remote northeast part of the state and sending cleanup crews and emergency workers scrambling to the site.
“This is not a little spill from any perspective,” said Kim McIntosh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources. No livestock or drinking water sources appeared to be threatened, Ms. McIntosh said, and no farm buildings or houses are within a mile.
The spill, near Amherst, S.D., came just days before regulators in neighboring Nebraska were to decide whether to grant the final permit needed to begin construction on a different pipeline proposal, the Keystone XL, which would be operated by the same company. [Reuters article] (see Nov 20)
November 16 Peace Love Art Activism
FREE SPEECH
November 16, 2018: Judge Timothy J. Kelly of Federal District Court in Washington directed the White House to restore the press credentials of Jim Acosta of CNN, a win for media advocates and news organizations in a major legal test of press rights under President Trump.
Kelly ruled that the Trump administration had most likely violated Mr. Acosta’s due process rights when it revoked his press badge after a testy exchange with the president at a news conference last week.
The ruling was a significant but narrow victory for CNN. Judge Kelly, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, declined to weigh in on the First Amendment issues cited by the network, and the White House had the right to appeal. For now, Mr. Acosta can resume working on the White House grounds. [NYT report] (see February 15, 2019)
November 12, 1775: General Washington, owner of more than 300 slaves, issued an order which forbade recruiting officers to enlist blacks. [Mt Vernon site article] (see July 2, 1777)
Ernest Collins & Benny Mitchell lynched
November 12, 1935: two teenage black boys – fifteen-year-old Ernest Collins and sixteen-year-old Benny Mitchell – were killed in Colorado County, Texas, in a public spectacle lynching committed by a mob of at least 700 white men and women. Afterward, officials called the lynching “justice,” and no one in the mob was punished. [EJI article] (next BH, see February 14, 1936; next Lynching, see April 28, 1936; for expanded chronology of lynching, see also AL4)
Race Revolt
November 12, 1976: a race revolt erupted at Reidsville State Prison, now known as Georgia State Prison, in Reidsville, Georgia. Just a few years prior, a federal judge had ordered the prison to desegregate inmate living quarters. According to newspaper reports at the time, the riot began when 50-75 white prisoners armed with shanks attacked a group of black prisoners; in the end, 47 prisoners were injured and five were killed. Prison officials blamed the incident on an argument between homosexual inmates.
In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Georgia state law requiring racial separation of prisoners at Reidsville (where 60-65% of prisoners were black). However, after an initial attempt at integration, the prison had repeatedly reverted to segregation in supposed efforts to cool racial tensions. At the time, ACLU of Georgia Director Gene Guerrero remarked, “It’s the worst sort of cop-out – to lay the problems at Reidsville on integration.”
Following the November 1976 riot and several other incidents of deadly violence, U.S. District Judge Anthony Aliamo issued an order on July 3, 1978, to re-segregate dormitories at Reidsville for a period of 60 days. The common areas, such as the mess hall and recreation yard, were to remain integrated. When another deadly racial attack occurred in August 1978, the state successfully sought an extension of the re-segregation order, resulting in eight months of segregated dorms. At the time, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Offender Rehabilitation said that he thought the prison would have a “hard time going back” to integrated dormitories. (BH, see Nov 25; RR, see May 17, 1980)
BLACK & SHOT
November 12, 2016: the judge in the Samuel DuBose case (see July 19, 2015) declared a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. [2018 CT article] (B & S, see January 24, 2017; DuBose, see July 18, 2017)
Colin Kaepernick
November 12, 2019: according to a copy of a memo to the league’s 32 teams that wasreviewed by The New York Times, the NFL invited Colin Kaepernick to work out for teams on November 16 at the Atlanta Falcons’ facility so they could evaluate whether to sign him.
“Earlier this year, we discussed some possible steps with his representatives, and they recently emphasized his level of preparation and that he is ready to work out for clubs and be interviewed by them,” the memo said. “We have therefore arranged this opportunity for him to work out, and for all clubs to have the opportunity to evaluate his current readiness and level of interest in resuming his N.F.L. career.” (next BH & CK, see Nov 16)
Noah Harris/Harvard
November 12, 2020: Noah Harris became the first Black, elected student body president at Harvard University.
Harris, a 20-year-old from Hattiesburg , Mississippi was a junior majoring in government and co-chaired the Undergraduate Council’s Black caucus.
Two other Black students had previously headed Harvard’s Undergraduate Council, but Harris is the first Black man to be elected by the student body. [KB4 article] (next BH, see Nov 23)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Ellis Island
November 12, 1954: Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892. (NYT article) (see June 17, 1958)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
November 12 Music et al
News Music
November 12, 1966: deejay Jimmy O’Neill was the host of Shindig! He opened a nightclub called Pandora’s Box on the Sunset Strip. This led to massive throngs of teens and traffic on the strip, and Los Angeles city enacted a series of loitering and curfew laws targeting teenagers. Young people gathered at Pandora’s Box to defy the 10pm curfew. The riots kept growing, and the panicked L.A. City Council quickly moved to condemn and demolish Pandora’s Box, which they ultimately did in 1967. The incident inspired a number of songs in 1967 and see Sunset Riots:
“For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield
“Plastic People” by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
“Daily Nightly” by The Monkees
“Riot on Sunset Strip” by The Standells
(From the opening of American International Pictures film “Riot on Sunset Strip”.)
Poor Side of Town
November 12 – 18, 1966: “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Monkees
November 12, 1966 – February 10, 1967: The Monkees’ The Monkees the Billboard #1 album.
Bob Dylan
November 12, 1971: recorded on November 4, Columbia Records released Dylan’s single, “George Jackson.” He wrote it in tribute to the Black Panther leader, George Jackson, who had been shot and killed by guards at San Quentin Prison on August 21, 1971, during an attempted escape from prison.
The song peaked at #33 on the Billboard charts and remained on the charts for 7 weeks.
He recorded both an acoustic and an electric version. (next Dylan, see July 15, 1972)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Free Speech
Religion & Public Education
November 12, 1968: in Epperson v. Arkansas, the US Supreme Court struck down an Arkansas state law that prohibited the teaching of Darwinian evolution. The Court argued that the First Amendment required government neutrality on questions of religion and overturned the Arkansas State Supreme Court, which had ruled that the state’s law represented a legitimate exercise of its authority to determine school curriculum.
Justice Fortas wrote, “The State’s undoubted right to prescribe the curriculum for its public schools does not carry with it the right to prohibit, on pain of criminal penalty, the teaching of a scientific theory or doctrine where that prohibition is based upon reasons that violate the First Amendment.” The two other members of the Court concurred in the result, writing that it violated either the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment (because it was unconstitutionally vague) or the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment. (FS, see April 4, 1969; R & PE, seeJune 28, 1971)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam &My Lai Massacre
November 12, 1969: the Dispatch News Service moved a story by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh about the My Lai massacre. (Vietnam, see Nov 13; see My Lai for expanded story)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Feminism/US Labor History
November 12, 1973: in the case of Laffey v. Northwest, decided on this day, stewardesses employed by Northwest Airlines won a sweeping ruling regarding sex discrimination over issues related to unequal pay, the lack of promotions, unequal benefits compared to male employees, and weight monitoring for stewardesses. The job of stewardess was a separate all-female job category, and women were forced to retire in their early 30s, not allowed to be married, and subject to monitoring of their weight. (next Feminism, see January 21, 1974; Labor, see March 24, 1974)
Church of England
November 12, 1981: The Church of England General Synod voted to admit women to holy orders. [UPI article] (see June 30, 1982)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Iran hostage crisis
November 12, 1979: in response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter ordered a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran. [CNN timeline of crisis] (see Nov 14)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Crime and Punishment
November 12, 1984: in Charlotte, North Carolina Dethorne Graham, a black man and a diabetic, felt an insulin reaction developing and asked a friend named William Berry to drive him to a convenience store to purchase orange juice to counteract the reaction. When Graham entered the store he discovered a long line of people ahead of him. He realized it might take too long to purchase the juice so he hurried back outside where Berry was waiting in his car. Graham then asked Berry to drive him to another friend’s house where he hoped to get some juice.
M.S. Connor, a Charlotte city police officer was sitting in a patrol car in the vicinity of the convenience store. He became suspicious when he saw Graham quickly enter and leave the convenience store. He followed Berry’s car and made an “investigative stop” of the two Black men. Connor then returned to his patrol car to call for backup. While Connor was making the call, Graham got out of Berry’s car, “ran around it twice, and finally sat down on the curb.” Then he passed out.
According to testimony, when the backup police arrived at the scene, one of the officers rolled Graham over on the sidewalk and cuffed his hands tightly behind his back. Berry plead with the officers to get Graham some sugar, but was ignored. Another officer said: “I’ve seen a lot of people with sugar diabetes that never acted like this. Ain’t nothing wrong with the M. F. but drunk. Lock the S.O.B. up.”
Several police officers lifted the unconscious Graham up, carried him over to Berry’s car, and placed him face down on the hood. When he regained consciousness, Graham asked the officers to look at the diabetic decal he carried in his wallet. In response, according to witness testimony, one of the officers told Graham to “shut up” and shoved his face down against the car. Next, four police officers threw Graham head first into a police car. When one of Graham’s friends brought him some orange juice, the police officers would not give it to him.
When Officer Connor finally realized that nothing had happened in the convenience store, he released Dethorne Graham from custody. However, during his encounter with the police, Graham sustained multiple injuries including a broken foot, cuts on his wrists, a bruised forehead, and an injured shoulder. (C & P and Graham, see July 11, 1985)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Calvin Graham
November 12, 1988: President Reagan signed legislation that granted Calvin full disability benefits, increased his back pay to $4917, and allowed $18,000 for past medical bills, contingent on receipts for the medical services. By this time, some of the doctors who treated him had died and many medical bills were lost. Calvin received only $2,100 of the possible $18,000. (Calvin Graham for full story)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
César E. Chávez
November 12, 1990: Mexican President Salinas de Gortari awarded Chávez the Aguila Azteca, the highest Mexican civilian award. (see April 23, 1993)
Terrorism, World Trade Center
World Trade center bomber Ramzi Yousef
November 12, 1997: Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. (NYT article) (see January 8, 1998)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
AIDS, Ricky Ray
Ricky Ray’s parents were prevented from enrolling their son in school.
November 12, 1998: the U.S. Congress enacts the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act, honoring the Florida teenager who was infected with HIV through contaminated blood products. The Act authorized payments to individuals with hemophilia and other blood clotting disorders who were infected with HIV by unscreened blood-clotting agents between 1982 and 1987. (Federal site info) (see April 30, 2000)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
ADA
November 12, 1999: a U.S. District Court judge issued an emergency court order telling the Lawton, Oklahoma, Evening Optimist Soccer League to allow Ryan Taylor, a nine-year-old with cerebral palsy, to play in the league. His walker, referred to as a safety hazard by the defendants, was padded during games. (see Dec 17)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
LGBTQ
Same-sex Marriage
November 12, 2008, LGBT: same-sex marriages begin to be officially performed in Connecticut. (NYT article) (seeJanuary 1, 2009)
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
November 12, 2010: The US Supreme Court refused to intervene on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy while it was on appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (NYT article) (seeNov 30)
Banning Marriage Equality
November 12, 2014: U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel ruled against South Carolina’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. In Condon v. Haley, Lambda Legal and private attorneys sued the state on behalf of same-sex couples who argued that South Carolina’s ban on marriage equality violated the U.S. Constitution. In his ruling, Judge Gergel cited the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Bostic v. Shaeffer, in which the federal appeals court struck down Virginia’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples. The Fourth Circuit ruling in Bostic was binding precedent on South Carolina. (NYT article) (LGBTQ, see Nov 19; South Carolina, see Nov 20)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Medical marijuana
November 12, 2013: a University of Utah neurologist and two other Utah doctors announced their support for allowing a medical use of a marijuana extract for children who suffer from seizures. In a letter sent to the state Controlled Substances Advisory Committee on Tuesday, pediatric neurologist Dr. Francis Filloux said the liquid form of medical marijuana is a promising option for children with epilepsy. [SLC article] (see Dec 10)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Fair Housing & Consumer Protection
November 12, 2015: a proposed federal rule announced on this date would prohibit smoking in public housing homes nationwide under, a move that would affect nearly one million households and open the latest front in the long-running campaign to curb unwanted exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.
The ban, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, would also require that common areas and administrative offices on public housing property be smoke-free. [NYT article] (FH, see January 20, 2017; CP, see May 5, 2016)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Nuclear/Chemical News
November 12, 2018: commercial satellite images showed that North Korea was moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases that had been identified to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as President Trump claimed to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat.
The satellite images suggested that the North had been engaged in a great deception: It had offered to dismantle a major launching site — a step it began, then halted — while continuing to make improvements at more than a dozen others that would bolster launches of conventional and nuclear warheads.
The existence of the ballistic missile bases, which North Korea had never acknowledged, contradicted Trump’s assertion that his landmark diplomacy is leading to the elimination of a nuclear and missile program that the North had warned could devastate the United States. [NYT article] (see Dec 4)
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
Sexual Abuse of Children
November 12, 2018: the NY Times reportedthat Roman Catholic bishops of the United States came to a meeting in Baltimore prepared to show that they could hold themselves accountable, but in a last-minute surprise, the Vatican instructed the bishops to delay voting on a package of corrective measures until next year, when Pope Francis plans to hold a summit in Rome on the sexual abuse crisis for bishops from around the world.
Many of the more than 350 American bishops gathered in Baltimore appeared stunned when they learned of the change of plans in the first few minutes of the meeting.
“I am sorry for the late notice, but in fact, this was conveyed to me late yesterday afternoon,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Although I am disappointed, I remain hopeful that this additional consultation will ultimately improve our response to the crisis we face.” (see Dec 19)
Archbishop of Canterbury resigns
November 12, 2024: the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, resigned after a damning report concluded that he had failed to pursue a proper investigation into claims of widespread abuse of boys and young men decades ago at Christian summer camps.
Pressure had mounted rapidly on Welby, who serves as the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, since the report was published the previous week. Helen-Ann Hartley, a senior figure in the church and the bishop of Newcastle, called on him to step aside, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer pointedly declined to back him.
Welby’s resignation brings to an abrupt end an eventful and occasionally stormy tenure, during which he became Britain’s best-known cleric, presiding over momentous public ceremonies like the coronation of King Charles III and becoming an impassioned voice on issues like migration. [NYT article] (next SAC, see )
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
November 12, 2024: U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge temporarily blocked a new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. DeGravelles said the law is “unconstitutional on its face” and that the law had an “overtly religious” purpose, and rejected state officials’ claims that the government can mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments because they hold historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. His opinion noted that no other foundational documents — including the Constitution or the Bill of Rights — must be posted. [AP article] (next Separation, see )
November 12 Peace Love Art Activism
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
