Tag Archives: March Peace Love Art Activism

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

10-hour day

March 31, 1840: President Martin Van Buren issued a broadly-applicable executive order granting the 10-hour day to all government employees engaged in manual labor. (see February 21, 1848)

César E. Chávez

March 31 1927: César Chávez born in Yuma, Arizona. 

Mexican Repatriation

From 1929 – 1939, due to the high unemployment of “American” workers during the Great Depression, US authorities forced as many as 500,000 people of Mexican descent to leave the US without due process. (AFLCIO bio) (see April 10, 1930)

Civilian Conservation Corps

March 31, 1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps to help alleviate suffering during the Depression. By the time the program ended after the start of World War II it had provided jobs for more than six million men and boys. The average enrollee gained 11 pounds in his first three months (see Apr 10)

César E. Chávez &  Dolores Huerta

March 31, 1962: Chavez and Huerta resigned from the Community Service Organization. Chavez moved with his wife and eight small children the farm town of Delano, CA and dedicated himself full-time to organizing farm workers. Dolores Huerta and others later join him. (see September 30, 1962)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

BACK HISTORand Feminism

Voting Rights

March 31, 1870: Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, became the first African American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment. Peterson served as a school principal and later became the city’s first black officeholder and the first black person to ever serve on a jury. In New Jersey, March 31 is recognized as Thomas Mundy Peterson Day, honoring his historic vote.(BH, see Dec 12; VR, see November 5, 1872)

Marie Scott lynched

March 31, 1914: a white lynch mob in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, seized a 17-year-old black teenaged girl named Marie Scott from the local jail, dragged her screaming from her cell, and hanged her from a nearby telephone pole. Days before, a young white man named Lemuel Pierce was stabbed to death while he and several other white men were in the city’s “colored section”; Marie was accused of being involved.

It is most likely that Scott (or her brother) was defending herself from a sexual assault by Pierce or others in the white group.  [EJI article] (next BH, see July 20; next Lynching, see April 17, 1915; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Gwendolyn Brooks

March 31, 1950: Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry Annie Allen. (Pulitzer site article) (BH, June 5; see Feminism  September 18, 1950)

The Greensboro Four

March 31, 1960: of the 2,000 citizen letters the Advisory Committee received, 73 percent favored integrated lunch counters. The hotly debated topic was constantly in the news. The Greensboro Record reported a letter signed by 68 white citizens urged that “service to all customers at the lunch counters in these stores be entirely on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, just as it is in other areas of these establishments.” Chairman Zane and the Advisory Committee held numerous meetings with representatives from F.W. Woolworth, Kress and other downtown businesses. All refused to integrate. On March 31, a disappointed Edward Zane met with student leaders to break the news.

By the end of March, the sit-in Movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states. (next BH, see Apr 24; see G4 for expanded chronology)

School Desegregation

March 31, 1992: in Freeman v. Pitts the US Supreme Court further delayed the end of school desegregation, ruling that school systems can fulfill their obligations in an incremental fashion. (BH, see April 29; SD, see June 12, 1995)

Amadou Diallo

March 31, 1999: four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (see Dec 16)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

Movie code

March 31, 1930: the board of directors of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association formally adopted the Code that would be published on February 19. (see Nov 25)

Scientific American seized

March 31, 1950: the U.S. government seized and then burned 3,000 copies of the highly respected magazine Scientific American. The magazine’s offense was an article on the atomic bomb, which the government claimed contained the “secret” to producing a bomb. The seizure and burning was symptomatic of the rising hysteria of the Cold War in 1950. (Today In Civil Liberties History article) (see January 15, 1951)

Illinois v Allen

March 31, 1970: Illinois v. Allen. Police had charged William Allen with armed robbery. Before his trial, he obtained permission to conduct his own defense, as long as he allowed court-appointed counsel to sit in. During voir dire, Allen started to argue with the judge, and continued to be insubordinate throughout the opening of the trial. After that, the judge ordered Allen removed from the courtroom and only allowed him in for identification and for portions of his defense. The US Supreme Court held that  when a defendant refuses to conduct himself in an orderly manner, he can lose his Sixth Amendment right to be present at his own trial. Justice Brennan concurred, only adding that when a defendant is excluded from trial it should be incumbent upon the court to insure that the defendant has full communication with his attorney. 

Grayned v Rockford

March 31, 1970: Grayned v. Rockford, the Supreme Court found that “The nature of a place, ‘the pattern of its normal activities, dictate the kinds of regulations of time, place, and manner that are reasonable.'” In determining what is reasonable, the Court stated that “[the] crucial question is whether the manner of expression is basically incompatible with the normal activity of a particular place at a particular time.” Thus, protesters have the right to march in support of a cause, but not on a public place during the middle of the day with bullhorns.

The Court held that the anti-picketing law was contrary to First Amendment rights as it created a per se ban on the free exercise of speech and was therefore unconstitutional. The anti-noise ordinance, however, had a compelling justification behind it and therefore it was constitutional. The demonstration was incompatible with the normal use of the facility; the noise was a disruptive to the functioning of the school as it was distracting for students and faculty members alike. Therefore, the state in this instance had a right to regulate it.

The Supreme Court held that the anti-picketing ordinance was unconstitutional on its face, but held that the anti-noise ordinance was constitutional. (see Apr 1)

Recording police

March 31, 2015, : the city of Portland, Maine and the American Civil Liberties Union announced that a U.S. District Court ordered the city to pay $72,000 in damages and court costs to a Jill Walker and Sabatino Scattoloni who sued after they were arrested in May, 2014 while video recording police making another arrest.

The settlement also required city police “to utiliz(e) this incident as a training tool to ensure the rights of citizens, including First Amendment rights, will be respected by its police officers in such interactions,” City Hall spokeswoman Jessica Grodin said in a press release.

Sgt. Benjamin Noyes arrested Walker and Scattoloni   early in the morning on May 24, 2014, on Spring Street after they saw a traffic stop and then began recording the incident with a cell phone, according to the lawsuit filed against Noyes in September 2014 in Hancock County Superior Court.

They watched silently, they did not approach or address the officers, and they did not in any way interfere with the officers’ work: they simply stood bearing witness,” the complaint said.

The suit alleged Noyes, a 17-year veteran of the Police Department, approached the couple, who were vacationing in Portland, and said “You have two seconds to get off this sidewalk or you will be under arrest.”

After being warned to leave twice, Walker and Scattoloni were charged with Class D obstruction of government administration and taken to Cumberland County Jail. They were freed after several hours on $60 bail; the charges were eventually dismissed.

The arrest report referred to in the suit quotes Noyes saying Walker and Scattoloni were arrested because of “their proximity to the combative female (involved in the traffic stop) and their refusal to follow my commands.”

The alleged violations of the couple’s First and Fourth Amendment rights included failure to advise them of their rights, and illegal searches at the scene and jail. (4th, see Apr 21; FS, see Apr 6)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

see March 31 Music et al for even more

Technological Milestone

Roots of Rock

March 31, 1949: RCA introduced the modern ’45 RPM as the “New System,”  It was designed to be a replacement for the bulky 78-RPM record and was touted to be 1/10th the weight of its 12 inch counterpart and having a playtime of up to 5.3 minutes per side. It featured a lightweight record design and small 7-inch diameter with improved fidelity in terms of noise levels and frequency response. (Roots, see Dec 10; TM, see January 12, 1950)

Johnny B. Goode

March 31, 1958: Chuck Berry released the “Johnny B. Goode”. Written by Berry in 1955, the song is about a poor country boy who plays a guitar “just like ringing a bell,” and who might one day have his “name in lights.” Berry has acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical, and originally had “colored boy” in the lyrics, but he changed it to “country boy” to ensure radio play. The title is suggestive that the guitar player is good, and hints at autobiographic elements because Berry was born at 2520 Goode Avenue in St. Louis. Chuck has said that he wrote it as a Rock and Roll version of the American dream. (see May 9)

Connie Francis

March 31 – April 6, 1962: “Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You” by Connie Francis #1 Billboard Hot 100.

Pvt Hendrix

March 31, 1962: Hendrix failed to report for bed check and as a result was reduced to general private status. His excuse:”delay due to payday activities and weekend.” (see PH for expanded chronology)

Jimi Hendrix

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

March 31, 1967: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played at the London Astoria. While waiting to perform, Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler were discussing ways in which they could increase the band’s media exposure. When Chandler asked journalist Keith Altham for advice, Altham suggested that they needed to do something more dramatic than the stage show of The Who, which involved the smashing of instruments. Hendrix joked: “Maybe I can smash up an elephant”, to which Altham replied: “Well, it’s a pity you can’t set fire to your guitar”.

Chandler then asked road manager Gerry Stickells to find some lighter fluid. During the show, Hendrix gave an especially dynamic performance before setting his Fender Stratocaster on fire at the end of a 45-minute set. In the wake of the stunt, members of London’s press labeled Hendrix the “Black Elvis” and the “Wild Man of Borneo”

Tony Garland, Hendrix’s press agent scooped up the remains of the Strat, took them home and placed them in the garage of his parents southern U.K. home. About 30 years later, Garland’s nephew found the remains of the guitar, did a little research, and the burnt guitar was auctioned off in 2007 for $575,000. (see May 12)

The Beatles
George Harrison and Patty Boyd

March 31, 1969:  George Harrison and Patty Boyd’s drug trial took place. They pleaded guilty to possessing the cannabis, which was likely to have been planted in the house by police officers and were each fined £250 plus 10 guineas each in court costs, and were put on probation for a year. (Apr 14)

McCartney v Let It Be

March 31, 1970: Paul McCartney solo album and the Beatles Let It Be were scheduled for release within two weeks of each other. John and George composed a letter saying that they’d decided that it’d make much better business sense to delay Paul’s album so as not to compete with the Beatles. Ringo delivered the letters.

Paul blew up at Ringo.

As an attempt at reconciliation, John and George allowed the McCartney album to be issued in the UK on 17 April 1970, while Let It Be was eventually released on 8 May, but further damage to the already fragmenting relationships between the four had occurred. (see Apr 1)

Beatles Official Fan Club

March 31, 1972: The Beatles Official Fan Club closed. The Beatles Monthly magazine had ceased three years previously. (see Apr 29)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

Trop v. Dulles

March 31, 1958: in the case of Trop v. Dulles, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the government to revoke the citizenship of a U.S. citizen as a form of punishment. While serving in the Army in 1944, Albert Trop escaped from the stockade where he was being held for misbehavior. The next day, he and a companion were walking along the road near Casablanca, Morroco, and were stopped by an Army truck. Trop willingly got into the truck and was returned to the Army base. (Thus, his “desertion” lasted for only some hours.) He was then court martialed and given a dishonorable discharge. In 1952 he applied for a passport and was then informed that, under a 1940 law, he had lost his citizenship because of his dishonorable discharge. (Oyez article) (see May 22, 1964)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

Luna 10

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

March 31, 1966: Luna 10 launched from the Soviet Union. The unmanned probe will achieve lunar orbit — the first object to do so — and send information about the moon back to earth. (NASA article) (see June 2)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

DRAFT CARD BURNING

March 31, 1966: high school boys punched and kicked seven anti-Vietnam demonstrators on the steps of the South Boston District Court House after four of the protesters had burned their Selective Service cards. With shouts of “Kill them, shoot them,” about 50 to 75 high school boys charged the steps and knocked the demonstrators to the ground as a crowd of 200 watched. David O’Brien, 19, was one of the card burners. (Draft Card Burning, see July 1, 1966; Vietnam, see April 12; O’Brien, see May 27, 1968)

President Johnson

March 31, 1968: President Johnson announced his decision not to run again and offered partial Vietnam bombing halt. (see Apr 8)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

March 31, 1980: Depository Institutions’ Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 changed rules governing thrift institutions, expands alternative mortgages. It gave the Federal Reserve greater control over non-member banks.

  • It forced all banks to abide by Federal rules.
  • It removed the power of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors under the Glass–Steagall Act to use Regulation Q to set maximum interest rates for any deposit accounts other than demand deposit accounts.
  • It raised the deposit insurance of US banks and credit unions from $40,000 to $100,000.
  • It allowed credit unions and savings and loans to offer checkable deposits.
  • It allowed institutions to charge any loan interest rates they choose. (see July 22, 1987)
March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Joseph Hazelwood

March 31, 1989: the National Transportation Safety Board reported that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Exxon Valdez, was legally drunk when he was tested some 10 hours after his tanker hit a reef, causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

After the NTSB’s announcement, Exxon officials confirmed that they had fired the 42-year old captain,  although investigators could not determine whether he had been drinking on the job.

Coast Guard Commandant Paul Yost called it “almost unbelievable” that the Exxon Valdez had strayed from a 10-mile-wide shipping channel to crash into Bligh Reef. “This was not a treacherous area,” he said. ” . . . your children could drive a tanker through it.” (see February 27, 1990)

Record Number of Tornadoes

March 31, 2022: according to the Storm Prediction Center, there were more tornadoes in the US than any March on record.

It was the second year in a row the country had a record number of tornadoes in March, solidifying a trend toward more severe weather earlier in the year and raising questions among scientists, who’ve historically seen such weather peak from April to early June.

Meanwhile, more severe storms happening farther east in the country could mean more disastrous and deadly tornado outbreaks were possible.

Scientists suspected the climate crisis — which is changing the typical atmospheric patterns of moisture and instability — is playing a major role in the timing and location of severe weather. [CNN article] (next EI, see Apr 22)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

March 31, 2005: the Silberman-Robb commission, the presidential commission on Iraqi WMD, concluded: [T]he intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments. [USA Today, 3/31/05] (see Apr 27)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana

March 31, 2015: facing a national uproar over a religious freedom law, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana said that he wanted the measure changed by week’s end, even as he stepped up a vigorous defense of the law, rejecting claims that it would allow business to deny services to gays and lesbians.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to move legislation this week that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses the right to discriminate against anyone,” Mr. Pence, a Republican, said at a news conference in Indianapolis.

He acknowledged that the law, called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, had become a threat to the state’s reputation and economy, with companies and organizations signaling that they would avoid Indiana in response to it. Mr. Pence said he had been on the phone with business leaders from around the country, adding, “We want to make it clear that Indiana’s open for business.” (see Apr 20)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

New York State

March 31, 2021: after years of stalled attempts, New York State legalized the use of recreational marijuana, enacting a robust program to reinvest millions of dollars in minority communities ravaged by the decades-long war on drugs.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the cannabis legislation a day after the State Legislature passed the bill following hours of debate among lawmakers in Albany.

With his signature, New York became the 15th state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, positioning itself to quickly become one of the largest markets of legal cannabis in the nation. [NYT article] (next Cannabis, see Apr 7 or see CAC for expanded chronology)

Kentucky

March 31, 2023 just one day after the Kentucky House approved the legislation from Sen. Stephen West (R), Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana, making the state the 38th in the U.S. to enact the reform.

Beshear fulfilled his pledge to sign in into law on Friday. The governor had rallied citizens to pressure their state representatives to pass the bill.

Far too many of our people face the obstacle of having chronic or terminal diseases like cancer, or those like our veterans suffering from PTSD or Kentuckians living with epilepsy, seizures, Parkinson’s or more,” Beshear said. “These folks want and deserve safe and effective methods of treatment.” [MM article] (next Cannabis, see  Apr 3 or see CAC for expanded chronology)

March 31 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological & Cultural Milestones

Ether

March 30, 1842: physician Dr. Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, Georgia, first used ether as an anesthetic during a minor operation. He placed an ether-soaked towel over the face of James Venable and removed a tumor from his neck.

This event predated Morton’s public demonstration of ether by four years, but was not disclosed until 1849 in the Southern Medical Journal, which was after Morton’s widely publicized feat. However, Dr. Long’s accomplishment in 1842 is now widely considered to represent the discovery of surgical anesthesia. He was the subject on a U.S. stamp issued 8 Apr 1940. This is Doctor’s Day in his honor. (Explorable dot com article) (see May 24, 1844)

Lead pencil and eraser

March 30, 1858: the first U.S. patent for a combination lead pencil and eraser was issued to Hyman L. Lipman, of Philadelphia, Pa. (No. 19,783). The pencil was made in the usual manner, with one-fourth of its length reserved inside one end to carry a piece of prepared India-rubber, glued in at one edge. Thus cutting one end prepared the lead for writing, while cutting the other end would expose a small piece of India rubber.

This eraser was then conveniently available whenever needed, and not subject to being mislaid. Further, the eraser could be sharpened to a finer point to make a more precise erasure of fine lines in a drawing, or cut further down if the end became soiled. (Pencils dot com article) (see October 24, 1861)

“Jeopardy!”

March 30, 1964: premiering in a daytime slot on NBC, “Jeopardy!” was one of the first quiz shows to reintroduce factual knowledge, including knowledge of sports and entertainment trivia as well as the arts, literature, and science, as the main source of questions. Seemingly reversing the logic of the big money quiz shows of the 1950s (e.g., “The 64,000 Question,” “Twenty-One”), producer Merv Griffin introduced a format in which the answers for questions are revealed and the contestants must phrase their response in the form of a question. Art Flemming hosted. (see “in July”)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Green Cottenham

March 30 Peace Love Activism,

March 30, 1908:  Green Cottenham, a black man, was arrested and charged with “vagrancy” in Shelby County, Alabama. An offense created at the end of the Reconstruction Period and disproportionately enforced against black citizens, vagrancy was defined as an inability to prove employment when demanded by a white person.

Twenty-two-year-old Cottenham was quickly found guilty in a brief appearance before the county judge without a lawyer, and received a sentence of thirty days of hard labor. He was also assessed a variety of fees payable to nearly everyone involved in the process, from the sheriff to the deputy to the court clerk to the witnesses. Due to his inability to pay these fees, Cottenham’s sentence would actually last nearly a year.

The day after his court appearance, Cottenham was turned over to the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company. The company leased him from Shelby County for $12 per month, which was to go toward paying off the owed fees and fines. Cottenham was sent to work in the Pratt Mines outside Birmingham, in Slope No. 12 mine where conditions were brutal. By the time Cottenham was released nearly a year later, more than sixty of his fellow prisoners had died of disease, accidents, or homicide. Most of their corpses were burned in the mine’s incinerators or buried in shallow graves surrounding the mine. [NPR story] (see June 22)

Scottsboro Nine

March 30, 1931: a grand jury indicted the nine youths for rape. Although rape was potentially a capital offense, the defendants were not allowed to consult an attorney because they were being kept  “for their safety” in death row cells and that area of the prison did not permit lawyers to speak unattended. (see S9 Travesty for expanded story) 

FREE SPEECH

March 30, 1964: Hamilton v. Alabama. In a 6–3 per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court granted certiorari (agreed to consider the case) and, without hearing any oral arguments, found in Hamilton’s favor, reversing the judgment of the Alabama Supreme Court. In support of its summary decision, the Court cited its 1963 ruling in Johnson v. Virginia, in which it had unanimously held that “a State may not require racial segregation in a courtroom” (FS, see Apr 6)

School Desegregation

March 30, 1955: in reaction to and in spite of the 1954 Brown decision, North Carolina passed the Pupil Assignment Act which sought to delay the racial desegregation of the public schools. (next BH, see In April; next SD, see May 31)

Voting Rights

March 30, 1964: what is arguably the most famous filibuster in the history of the U.S. Senate began on this day as southern segregationists attempted to block the civil rights bill pending in the Senate. Nineteen Senators (18 Southern Democrats and one Republican), led by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, conducted the filibuster, which lasted for 57 working days. Senator Richard Russell, Jr, of Georgia vowed, “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states.” [Historical note: unlike current times, in those days senators had to actually speak continuously in order to maintain a filibuster.] (BH, see Apr 1; VR, see June 10)

Viola Liuzzo

March 30, 1965: funeral services were held for Viola Liuzzo. Her funeral was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic church in Detroit, with many prominent members of both the civil rights movement and government there to pay their respects. Included in this group were Martin Luther King, Jr.; NAACP executive director Roy Wilkins; Congress on Racial Equality national leader James Farmer; Michigan lieutenant governor William G. Milliken; Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa; and United Auto Workers president Walter Reuther. At San Francisco’s Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Martin Luther King said of Liuzzo, “If physical death is the price some must pay to save us and our white brothers from eternal death of the spirit, then no sacrifice could be more redemptive.

Less than two weeks after her death, a charred cross was found in front of four Detroit homes, including the Liuzzo residence.(BH, see April 2; see Viola for expanded story; Selma, see May 3; MLK, see Aug 12)

Congressional Black Caucus

March 30, 1971: founded by 13 members, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), representing African-American members of the House of Representatives, was organized on this day. It originated with the Democratic Select Committee in 1969, led by Rep. Charles C. Diggs (D–Michigan). By 2013, there were 43 members of the CBC. (CBC site) (see Apr 20)

Hate Crimes Prevention Act

March 30, 2007: The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act  reintroduced for the fourth time. The 2007 version of the bill added gender identity to the list of suspect classes for prosecution of hate crimes. The bill was again referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. (Justice dot gov article) (BH, see Apr 13; JB, LGBTQ,  & MSM, see May 3)

Stop and Frisk Policy

March 30, 2012: Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended Stop-and-Frisk. He said the fact that NYPD officers were recovering fewer guns was an indication that the program was working. (see May 9)

137 SHOTS

March 30, 2015: Judge John P. O’Donnell with the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court denied several requests by the attorneys of Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo to have his case dismissed.

Brelo’s attorneys asked to have the case dismissed based on Garrity rights, which prevent a public official from making incriminating statements against themselves during investigations carried by their employers.

O’Donnal also denied a motion to have the case dismissed based on qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a defense available to state and federal officials — including police officers — that asks whether the defendant knew whether they were breaking an established law at the time of the incident.  (see 137 shots for expanded story)

Stephon Clark

March 30, 2018:  according to an analysis by Dr. Bennet Omalu, a private medical examiner Stephon Clark’s family’s lawyer hired to conduct an independent autopsy, of the more than 20 times that police shot, eight times were from behind or the side.

The autopsy concluded that Clark’s death was not instantaneous, taking an estimated three to 10 minutes, raising questions about why police did not call for  more immediate medical care after the shooting. (SC, see Oct 25)

Alton B. Sterling

March 30, 2018: Chief Murphy Paul of the Baton Rouge Police Department announced that Blane Salamoni, who fatally shot Alton B. Sterling in front of a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La., on July 6, 2016 was fired. Paul also announced a three-day suspension of Officer Howie Lake II, also involved in the episode. The disciplinary actions were the first serious consequences for the officers after both state and federal officials declined to bring criminal charges against them.

Salamoni fired six shots Sterling. Salamoni and Lake arrived at a convenience store parking responding to a call that a black man had brandished a gun and threatened someone. (B & S, see Apr 20; ABS, see

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

March 30, 1930: 35,000 unemployed march in New York’s Union Square. Police beat many demonstrators, injuring 100. (see Apr 13)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

  The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961

March 30 Peace Love Art ActivismMarch 30, 1961:  The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 signed. It is an international treaty to prohibit production and supply of specific (nominally narcotic) drugs and of drugs with similar effects except under licence for specific purposes, such as medical treatment and research. The document included updating the Paris Convention of 13 July 1931 to include the vast number of synthetic opioids invented in the intervening thirty years and a mechanism for more easily including new ones. Earlier treaties had only controlled opium, coca, and derivatives such as morphine, heroin and cocaine. The Single Convention consolidated those treaties and broadened their scope to include cannabis and drugs whose effects are similar to those of the drugs specified. (see April 8, 1968 or see CC for expanded Cannabis chronology)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30 Music et al

He’s So Fine

March 30 – April 26, 1963: The Chiffons “He’s So Fine” #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

LSD

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30, 1965: Owsley Stanely first shipment of lysergic acid monohydrate, the basis for LSD, arrived through his Berkeley Lab in Los Angeles. He produced 300,000 capsules (270 micrograms each) of LSD by May 1965 and then returned to the Bay Area.  [see Sunshine for more] (see Apr 2)

The Beatles

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30, 1967: photographed with a combination of photographic collage and wax figures from Madame Tussaud’s famous museum for the cover artwork of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album at Chelsea Manor Studios in London. There are 61 others surrounding the Beatles, among whom is German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. (next Beatles, see Apr 8)

Karlheinz Stockhausen

In 1955 & 1956, German musician, Karlheinz Stockhausen, had composed Gesang der Jünglinge (“Song of the Youths”) an electronic music work done at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk studio in Cologne. The vocal parts were supplied by 12-year-old Josef Protschka. The work is described as “the first masterpiece of electronic music.”

The text of Gesang der Jünglinge is from the Biblical story in The Book of Daniel where Nebuchadnezzar throws Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a fiery furnace. 

The Road to Bethel

March 30, 1969: after the Saugerties refusal, Roberts and Rosenman speak to Howard Mills about a piece of land in Wallkill, NY that Mills was going to develop. Mills agreed to rent the site for the festival. (see Woodstock for expanded chronology)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

U.S. Embassy

March 30, 1965: a bomb exploded in a car parked in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, virtually destroying the building and killing 19 Vietnamese, 2 Americans, and 1 Filipino; 183 others were injured. Congress quickly appropriated $1 million to reconstruct the embassy. Although some U.S. military leaders advocated special retaliatory raids on North Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson refused. (see “in April”)

Easter Offensive

March 30, 1972: a major coordinated communist offensive opened with the heaviest military action since the sieges of Allied bases at Con Thien and Khe Sanh in 1968. Committing almost their entire army to the offensive, the North Vietnamese launched a massive three-pronged attack into South Vietnam. Four North Vietnamese divisions attacked directly across the Demilitarized Zone in Quang Tri province. Thirty-five South Vietnamese soldiers died in the initial attack and hundreds of civilians and soldiers were wounded. (ARgunners magazine article) (see Apr 10)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Ronald Reagan

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30, 1981, Ronald Reagan shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 30, 1999: a jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades. (see March 21,  2000)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

March 30, 2003:  US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld: We know where [the weapons of mass destruction] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat. [ABC This Week, 3/30/03] (see Apr 3)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

BSA

March 30, 2005: Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr., 61, the longtime program director of the Boy Scouts of America and chairman of its Youth Protection Task Force pleaded guilty in court to a charge of possession and distribution of child pornography. (Sexual abuse, see in June 2005; BSA, see June 17, 2012)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Affordable Care Act

Justices initial vote

March 30, 2012: US Supreme Court Justices initial vote on health care law. Their final opinion would be released in June. In the weeks after this meeting, individual votes could change. Even when justices read one another’s draft opinions and dissents. (see June 28)

Coons v. Lew

March 30, 2015: the Supreme Court declined to take up the latest lawsuit against Obamacare, this time a challenge to a board that critics label a “death panel.”

The case, Coons v. Lew, contested the constitutionality of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, among other complaints against Obamacare. The IPAB was designed to limit spending growth in Medicare, but the challengers say that it will result in limiting care for seniors. (see Apr 27)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

Student Rights

March 30, 2015:  the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up a ruling that had found Live Oak High School had the legal right to order students wearing American flag-adorned shirts to turn them inside out during a 2010 Cinco de Mayo celebration.

In 2014, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of Live Oak High School administrators, who argued that a history of problems on the Mexican holiday justified the decision to act against the American flag-wearing students. Officials ordered the students to either cover up the shirts or go home, citing past threats and campus strife between Latino and white students that raised fears of violence. (FS, see Mar 31; SR, see June 18)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Fourth Amendment

GPS ankle bracelets

March 30, 2015: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina courts were wrong to decide that GPS ankle bracelets don’t count as searches.

Torrey Dale Grady was a repeat sex offender, and North Carolina forced him to wear a GPS tracking device at all times. Grady argued that violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches. Several state courts, including the state Supreme Court, dismissed Grady’s argument, saying the ankle monitor did not count as a search.

The U.S. Supreme court ruled it does. The justices said: “The state’s program is plainly designed to obtain information. And since it does so by physically intruding on a subject’s body, it effects a Fourth Amendment search.”

The Supreme Court did not, however, decide whether the search was unreasonable. The justices sent the case back to state courts to rule on that question, and determine whether North Carolina’s tracking program was constitutional. (see Mar 31)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Native American Children

March 30 Peace Love Activism

March 30, 2015: “Indian children, parents and tribes deserve better,” wrote Chief Judge Jeffrey Viken of the Federal Court for South Dakota in a 45-page decision. Viken ruled that the procedures used by the four state officials in removing Indian children from their homes violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution as well as the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which establishes minimum federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families. Congress passed the law in 1978 “to curb the alarmingly high rate of removal of Indian children from Indian parents.”

According to Viken, state officials violated the plaintiffs’ rights to basic judicial fairness during state child-custody hearings. Parents didn’t receive adequate notice of the allegations against them, nor was counsel appointed to represent them. They also were prohibited from cross-examining state workers who accused them of mistreating their children and from presenting evidence in their own defense. When their children were taken, the state court also failed to provide them with a written decision based on evidence presented during the hearing. (next NA, see Aug 30)

Remains repatriated

March 30, 2021: the Clarion Ledger reported that the state of Mississippi had turned over the remains of 403 Native Americans along with 83 lots of funerary items to the Chickasaw Nation, marking the largest such return in Mississippi history and the first for Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

“This repatriation is a huge milestone for our institution and our tribal partners,” said MDAH Director Katie Blount. “We are committed to the repatriation of human remains and cultural objects in the department’s archaeological collections.” (next NA, see Apr 5)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

March 30, 2016: the Food and Drug Administration relaxed the requirements for taking a medication that induces abortion, a move that was expected to expand access to the procedure.

The move was a victory for abortion rights advocates who had been fighting laws in states like Texas, North Dakota and Ohio that required providers to follow the requirements on the original F.D.A. labels for the drug when conducting abortions by medication. Many doctors said the original labels, based on clinical evidence from the 1990s, were outdated and that the state laws went against accepted medical practice and made it harder for women to get abortions. (next Women’s Health, see May 20)

Immigration History

Women’s health unblocked

March 30, 2018: Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of United States District Court in Washington issued a sweeping order that temporarily prevented the government from blocking access to abortion services for undocumented, pregnant minors who have been detained in federal immigration custody.

In issuing the preliminary injunction, Chutkan barred the government from interfering with hundreds of teenagers’ access to medical appointments, counseling, abortion procedures or other care, writing that the government’s practice of doing so infringed on the teenagers’ constitutional rights. (next IH, see Apr 3; next Women’s Health, see May 4)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

March 30, 2017: North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill that repealed the state’s controversial bathroom law in a move meant to end a year of tumult that saw businesses leave and major sporting events and concerts canceled.

Gov. Roy Cooper signed the measure into law, saying, “For over a year now, House Bill 2 has been a dark cloud hanging over our great state. It has stained our reputation. It has discriminated against our people and it has caused great economic harm in many of our communities.”

Cooper said the new law was “not a perfect deal and it is not my preferred solution.”

The governor said he wanted a law that added protections for LGBTQ North Carolinians, but said that wasn’t possible with Republicans holding a supermajority in the Legislature. (LGBTQ & NC, see Apr 4)

March 30 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Voting Rights

March 29, 1874:  in Minor v. Happersett, Supreme Court ruled that the right to vote “was not necessarily one of the privileges or immunities of citizenship” and therefore “neither the Constitution nor the Fourteenth Amendment made all citizens voters.” The decision ended feminists’ attempts to secure voting rights under existing constitutional amendments. (Cornell Law article) (see Feminism,  May 8; Voting Rights, see January 10, 1878)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural Milestone

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29, 1886: Dr. John Pemberton  brewed the first batch of Coca Cola over a fire in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia. Pemberton had created the concoction as a cure for “hangover,” stomach ache and headache. He advertised it as a “brain tonic and intellectual beverage.” Coke contained cocaine as an ingredient until 1904, when the drug was banned by Congress. (Coca Cola site article on its history) (next CM, see May 8)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish

March 29, 1937: the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, upheld the constitutionality of minimum wage legislation enacted by the State of Washington, overturning a decision in 1923 that held that federal minimum wage legislation for women was an unconstitutional infringement of liberty of contract. The case was brought by Elsie Parrish, a hotel housekeeper who lost her job and did not receive back wages in line with the state’s minimum wage for women law. (Oyez article) (see May 26)

“Battle of Wall Street”

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29, 1948: “Battle of Wall Street,” policed charge members of the United Financial Employees’ Union, striking against the New York Stock Exchange and New York Curb Exchange (now known as the American Stock Exchange). Police arrest forty-three workers in what was to be the first and only strike in the history of either exchange. (2010 Huff Post article) (see June 21)

Foxconn

March 29, 2012: responding to a critical report about its factories, Foxconn  pledged to sharply curtail the number of working hours in its Chinese factories and significantly increase wages, a move that could improve working conditions across China. (see Sept 24)

Right to Work

March 29, 2016: the Supreme Court handed organized labor a major victory, deadlocking 4 to 4 in a case that had threatened to cripple the ability of public-sector unions to collect fees from workers who chose not to join and did not want to pay for the unions’ collective bargaining activities.

It was the starkest illustration yet of how the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia blocked the power of the court’s four remaining conservatives to move the law to the right. (see Aug 23)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Japanese Internment Camps

Voluntary evacuation

March 29, 1942:  ”Voluntary evacuation” of people of Japanese ancestry from Pacific Coast area ended. Before this date 10,231 moved out of restricted area on their own initiative after Army and newspapers requested this. (see Internment for expanded story)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

Nuclear/Chemical News

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29, 1951:  Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. (see Apr 5)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

State Sovereignty Commission

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29, 1956: The Mississippi legislature established the State Sovereignty Commission as an official agency to fight the Civil Rights Movement — and the racial integration of public schools in particular. The Commission’s official purpose was to “do and perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi and her sister states . . . from perceived encroachment thereon by the federal government . . . .” It was later revealed that the Sovereignty Commission employed private investigators to collect information on civil rights activists, which was used to harass them and civil rights activities. (U of Mississippi Press article)  (see Apr 10)

FREE SPEECH

March 29, 1960: the New York Times carried a full-page advertisement titled “Heed Their Rising Voices” which solicited funds to defend Martin Luther King, Jr. against an Alabama perjury indictment. The advertisement described actions against civil rights protesters, some of them inaccurately, some of which involved the police force of Montgomery, Alabama. Referring to the Alabama State Police, the advertisement stated: “They have arrested [King] seven times…” However, at that point he had been arrested four times. Although the Montgomery Public Safety commissioner, L. B. Sullivan, was not named in the advertisement, the inaccurate criticism of actions by the police was considered defamatory to Sullivan as well, due to his duty to supervise the police department. (Archives dot gov text of advertisement) (BH, see Mar 31; FS, see Apr 19)

Police dogs

March 29, 1961: a policeman ordered his dog to attack an demonstrator who was too slow in obeying his order to move away from in front of police court, shortly before nine African-American college students went on trial for sitting-in at a white city library in Jackson, Mississippi. (see Apr 6)

Twenty-third Amendment

March 29, 1961: The Twenty-third Amendment to the US Constitution ratified, allowing Washington, DC residents to vote in presidential elections. (see August 22, 1978)

The amendment had been rejected by Arkansas. The following nine states did not vote to ratify the amendment. (January 24, 1961)

  • Florida
  • Kentucky
  • Mississippi
  • Georgia
  • Louisiana
  • South Carolina
  • North Carolina
  • Texas
  • Virginia
SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

March 29, 1961: Nelson Mandela and his co-defendants were acquitted of treason. Fearing he will be arrested again, Mandela went underground. (see Dec 16)

Attempted Worshipers Arrested

March 29, 1964: several white churches in Jackson, Mississippi barred three Black men—including one minister—from attending Easter Sunday services, forcibly removing them from church or blocking their entrance. Two of the Black men and seven white clergymen who had accompanied them were arrested and jailed after the churches turned them away; their bonds were set at $1,000 each.

The day after their arrests, a judge convicted all nine men of “disturbing public worship” and sentenced them each to six months in jail and a $500 fine.  [EJI article]

Malcolm X

March 29, 1964: Malcolm X spoke at an Organization of Afro-American Unity rally at the Audubon Ballroom, Washington Heights, NYC. He spoke specifically regarding Black Nationalism. [text of speech] (next BH, see Mar 30; next Malcolm X, see Apr 12)

Viola Liuzzo

March 29 Peace Love Activism

March 29, 1965: the NAACP sponsored a memorial service for Viola Liuzzo at the People’s Community Church in Detroit. Fifteen hundred people attended, among them, Rosa Parks. (see Liuzzo for expanded story)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29 Music et al

see Road to Bethel and the Woodstock Festival for much more

March 29, 1969: Michael Lang had found a suitable site in Saugerties, NY right off the NY Thruway. On this date, John Roberts and Joel Rosenman met with a Mr Holmes, the lawyer for the site’s owner, Mr Shaler. The lawyer emphatically told Roberts and Rosenman that the site was not for rent for such a purpose. 

Blood, Sweat and Tears

March 29 – April 4, 1969:  the Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ Blood, Sweat, & Tears Billboard #1 album. It received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1970. (see July 26)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

My Lai Massacre

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29, 1971: Lt. Calley was found guilty of premeditated murder of 22 civilians and sentenced to life in prison. This sentence was extremely controversial and generates a widespread public outcry, as an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that Calley was simply following orders, and condemned the fact that one soldier was serving as the army’s scapegoat. Draft board members resign, veterans turn in their medals, and the “Free Calley” movement was born. Georgian governor Jimmy Carter asked his constituency to drive for a week with their lights on in protest, and flags are flown at half-mast in the state of Indiana. (see My Lai for expanded story; next Vietnam, see Apr 1)

U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam

March 29, 1973: two months after the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam as Hanoi freed the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam ending  America’s direct eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War. In Saigon, some 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees remained behind to aid South Vietnam.

Of the more than 3 million Americans who had served in the war, almost 58,000 died, and over 1,000 were missing in action. Some 150,000 Americans were seriously wounded. (see August 15, 1973)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Charles Manson

March 29, 1971, a jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three followers [Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten] for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders (the sentences were later commuted). (see Apr 19)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Wounded Knee II

March 29, 1973: a cease-fire between Indians holding Wounded Knee and the Government forces surrounding the historic Indian site entered its third day as Government negotiators tried to set up a meeting  the next day to resolve the month-long impasse. (next NA & Russell Means, see Apr 18)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

AIDS

Ryan White

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

March 29, 1990: several months before his high school class graduated and before his senior prom, White entered Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis with a respiratory infection. (see White for expanded story)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

James Charles Kopp

March 29, 2001: French authorities arrested James Charles Kopp, the assassin of Dr  Barnett Slepian, in the town of Dinan, Brittany. (see May 9, 2003)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

March 29, 2012: a witness in a priest abuse trial told a jury she felt “helpless and trapped” as a 13-year-old because a priest was fondling her when she worked weekends at the rectory. Her testimony came on the fourth day of the child endangerment trial of Monsignor William Lynn, the longtime secretary for clergy in Philadelphia. Lynn was charged with child endangerment after being accused of leaving predators in jobs around children. (see June 22)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Pegasus Pipeline

March 29, 2013: the Pegasus Pipeline spill happened and resulted in Canadian heavy crude being released into the community of Mayflower, Arkansas, flowing through yards and streets. Oil entered a creek, wetlands and a cover at Lake Conway. (EI, see January 10, 2014; Mayflower, see April 22, 2015)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

March 29, 2017: Westinghouse Electric Company, which helped drive the development of nuclear energy and the electric grid itself, filed for bankruptcy protection, casting a shadow over the global nuclear industry.

The filing came as the company’s corporate parent, Toshiba of Japan, scrambled to stanch huge losses stemming from Westinghouse’s troubled nuclear construction projects in the American South. Now, the future of those projects, which once seemed to be on the leading edge of a renaissance for nuclear energy, was in doubt.

“This is a fairly big and consequential deal,” said Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. “You’ve had some power companies and big utilities run into financial trouble, but this kind of thing hasn’t happened.” (see Apr 4)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Travel ban blocked

March 29, 2017: Judge Derrick Watson of Federal District Court in Hawaii decided to extend his order blocking President Trump’s travel ban. Watson issued the longer-lasting hold on the ban just hours after hearing arguments.

Hawaii said the policy discriminated against Muslims and hurts the state’s tourist-dependent economy. The implied message in the revised ban is like a “neon sign flashing ‘Muslim ban, Muslim ban,’” that the government didn’t bother to turn off, the state’s attorney general, Douglas Chin, told the judge.

Extending the temporary order until the state’s lawsuit was resolved would ensure the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens across the U.S. are vindicated after “repeated stops and starts of the last two months,” the state said. (see Apr 17)

DACA

March 29, 2018: Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn ruled that a lawsuit seeking to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,  a program that protects hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation’ could continue.

Garaufis’s order was the strongest sign so far of judicial support for DACA which has for months been the subject of a heated debate in Congress.

Judge Garaufis pointed directly at Trump, noting that his numerous “racial slurs” and “epithets” — both as a candidate and from the White House — had created a “plausible inference” that the decision to end DACA violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

“One might reasonably infer,” Judge Garaufis wrote, “that a candidate who makes overtly bigoted statements on the campaign trail might be more likely to engage in similarly bigoted action in office.” (next IH, see Mar 30; next DACA, see Apr 24)

Children in detention centers

March 29, 2020:  the NY Times reported that Judge Dolly M. Gee of the US District Court in Los Angeles ordered the government to “make continuous efforts” to release migrant children in federal detention facilities from custody due to a concern that the children could be in danger of contracting the coronavirus. .

Gee’s order came after plaintiffs in a long-running case over the detention of migrant children cited reports that four children being held at a federally licensed shelter in New York had tested positive for the virus.

The threat of irreparable injury to their health and safety is palpable,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers said in their petition, which called for migrant children across the country to be released to outside sponsors within seven days, unless they represent a flight risk.

At that point, there were about 3,600 children in shelters around the United States operated under license by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, and about 3,300 more at three detention facilities for migrant children held in custody with their parents, operated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. (next IH, see Apr 20)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

March 29, 2018: Michigan regulators said that they ordered the closure of 210 medical marijuana businesses over a two-week period, largely because their owners had failed to apply for a state license by a mid-February deadline or did not receive authorization from their municipalities.

Most of the shops — 158 — were in Detroit. Authorities also hand-delivered orders to eight businesses in Lansing, seven in Flint, five in Gaylord, three each in Ann Arbor and Battle Creek, and smaller numbers elsewhere.

Shops that did not close immediately could be denied a license down the line if they apply, be referred to local, state or federal law enforcement, or face other penalties or sanctions. (see Cannabis Contrails 2 for expanded chronology)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Right to Die

March 29, 2018: Hawaii lawmakers approved legislation that would make it the sixth state plus Washington, DC, to legalize medically assisted suicide.

The all-Democratic state Senate voted 23-2 to pass the measure that had already cleared the House. It allowed doctors to fulfill requests from terminally ill patients for prescription medication that would allow them to die.

Governor David Ige said he would sign the bill.

The legislation included safeguards intended to prevent abuse, but opponents said it puts the poor, elderly, sick and disabled at risk.  (next R to D, see April 12, 2019)

March 29 Peace Love Art Activism