West Virginia Blue
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The American Tort Reform Foundation remains the worst "hellhole" of wingnut tort reform foundations, according to a new report by West Virginia Blue.
Every year since 2004, the American Tort Reform Foundation has ranked as having the nation's worst wingnuts involved in tort reform propaganda.
"Until American Tort Reform Foundation adopts systemic reforms or shows consistent evidence of fair rulings, it is unlikely to shed its reputation as a proganda campaign by large companies eager to avoid legal responsibility for their violations," the West Virginia Blue report states.
West Virginia Blue also agreed with everything that Timothy C. Bailey, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice, said about the American Tort Reform Foundation.
"ATRA was created expressly for the purpose of lobbying for immunity when corporations break the law. It is continuing its unrelenting attach on West Virginia and our civil justice system because our courts are the one place where these corporate wrongdoers can still be held accountable for their negligence and misconduct."
Judge Chuck Chambers has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not give the public enough of a say on two MTR permits.
Sierra Club spokesman Oliver Bernstein says the decision issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers affects most pending surface mine permits in West Virginia, the nation's No. 2 coal producer.
As announced by the last Democratic Senator on the floor tonight, Sen. Specter (D-PA), tomorrow the Senate will take up its Executive Calendar. That covers nominations. The one to be considered tomorrow is no. 470.
Irene Cornelia Berger, of West Virginia, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, vice David A. Faber, retired.
I count 44 total nominations pending since March 2009.
Still open is the District Judge of the Northern District. This had been vacant since Judge Broadwater died in December 2006. Sen. Byrd and Sen. Rockefeller have recommended Nick Casey, former Sate Democratic Chair. Deference is usually given to the home state senators. Since state delegates have veto power over nominations in the United States Senate, little boy Del. Jonathan Miller and Shepherd College embarrassment Del. Craig Blair voiced their opposition.
Sen. Reid announced the inclusion of a public option in the merged health care reform bill with the ability of states to opt out. Sen. Rockefeller had previously released his thirteen pages of concerns with the bill that emerged form the Senate Finance Committee. Due to the rules of the Senate, this is not over.
Should the W.Va. constitution discriminate against same-sex couples? That's the question before the West Virginia legislature Joint Judiciary Subcommittee A today.
Hearing on Marriage
Who: Joint Judiciary Subcommittee A
When: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 11am to 1 pm
Where: Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Room
What: A hearing to consider whether West Virginia's constitution should be amended to discriminate against same-sex couples
The hearing is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, although there will be no public testimony during the hearing.
Family Policy Council of West Virginia President Jeremiah Dys and a representative of the Alliance Defense Fund -- a conservative organization that says it seeks to "aggressively defend religious liberty" -- will speak in favor of the amendment, Dys said.
"We're thankful that the Legislature is setting aside time to carefully study this issue," he said. "To my knowledge, this is the first time the West Virginia Legislature has ever officially discussed the Marriage Protection Amendment."
Fairness West Virginia board President Stephen Skinner and a representative of the ACLU of West Virginia will speak against a constitutional amendment, Skinner said.
"I think it's important to get out there and have some of these conversations in a public way," Skinner said. "Lesbian and gay people are not threatening quote-unquote traditional marriage."
Skinner said public opinion -- particularly among Americans under age 30 -- is rapidly shifting toward acceptance of same-sex marriage. He added that West Virginia already has a Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the state from recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere.
"We shouldn't be wasting our money trying to ban something in West Virginia that's already banned under statute," Skinner said.
Update: Just noticed this commentary by Hoopy Kercheval on marriage equity. He doesn't quite support full "marriage" rights, but all but advocates for civil unions.
I give him credit for taking a long view on the subject:
The acceptance and rejection of homosexuality has ebbed and flowed over time and through cultures.
[snip]
Christianity's more recent view of homosexuality is bifurcated; Conservatives cite Biblical passages identifying it as an abomination, while more liberal strains preach tolerance and inclusion.
[snip]
But homosexuality is not just something some people "do," it's about who they are; it's about their core identity more than their sexual preference. To deny people their sexual nature is to deny them their true being.
The natural progression of that argument is that same sex couples should be allowed to marry, but I pull up short here. The term "marriage" is culturally rooted in the mores that define the traditional family.
Some form of legal recognition of same sex couples seems reasonable, though I realize even that invites vigorous arguments from straights and gays.
I don't think we need a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage, but I do think we could use a crash course in the importance long-term, committed relationships in maintaining healthy, productive families.
Amen.
Neither my marriage nor my faith is threatened in any way by the existence of same sex couples. To think it could be otherwise speaks volumes to the poverty some must feel about their own relationships.
I consider myself fairly politically informed, but I hadn't heard of Gary Abernathy's rag of an online "newspaper" until I saw a recent post here on West Virginia Blue. I am not sure why, but I decided to check it out today and was blown away by the story headlined "Whose interest is Harman lawyer really representing?"
Details of Abernathy's misunderstanding after the jump.
"The United States does not torture." is the clear "winner." Beyond that, I'm torn between "Nine U.S. attorneys were fired by nobody, but for good reason" and "The NSA's eavesdropping was limited in scope."
They are all incredibly egregious.
Part of the reason 2007 looks so bad is because the new Democratic Congress actually engaged in some oversight. Now, how about the next logical step. Will 2008 finally be the year of consequences?
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