Thursday, June 13, 2002

"The Rock" Still Raises Free Speech Questions The famous Cape Elizabeth "Rock," which has been the method of all sorts of expression for Cape High Schoolers, is still under fire from a nearby Cape resident, who finds the Rock unattractive and asserts that it disturbs his "peace and quiet, the reason he moved to Cape Elizabeth." 2:59:59 PM

Jails Demand Full Testimony, and Then May Prosecute The Supreme Court upheld Kansas Corrections procedures that required convicted sex offenders to completely disclose all past misdeeds as part of its "rehabilitation" program. Prisoners' honesty is verified with lie-detector testing; prisoners who do not comply to corrections' satisfaction can be placed in maximum security restrictions; and the confessions can be turned around and used against the prisoner in future court cases. To address the obvious problem of the prisoners' fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination, Justice Kennedy wrote that the threat of being placed in maximum security does not amount to coercion. [See also: from AP.] 2:42:45 PM

North Dakota Takes a Step to Bank Privacy North Dakotans voted on Tuesday to enforce ownership of their own financial records from banks, who could previously trade the financial information without a customer's permission. See also this article about the issues involved. 2:18:48 PM

The Many Problems With Maine Prison Health Care A run-down in the Portland Press-Herald of the willfully negligent care being provided by the state via Prison Health Services, Inc. 2:06:41 PM

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech ... Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty;...

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