Politics
What is Sex Discrimination? That Was the Question Before the Supreme Court on October 8
Jo Freeman writes: Several hundred people protested in front of the Supreme Court on October 8 as it heard oral argument inside on the issue of exactly what is sex discrimination in employment. At the end of the rally 132 people were arrested for blocking the street in planned civil disobedience. "Sex" is one of the protected categories in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment. At that time, same-sex relations were a crime in every state except Illinois. Transgender wasn’t even a word. Much has happened in 55 years. more »
Jo Freeman: Kavanaugh Redux: "Unfit to Sit"
Jo Freeman writes: Reclaiming the court is not a task for one demonstration, or even a lot of them. There is a process by which federal judges are chosen, based more on convention than law. The right-wing learned long ago how to game the system. It looks for those with conservative views it can groom for appointment to the federal bench and raises them through the system. The Federalist Society in particular identifies and lobbies for conservative judges and justices. Kavanaugh is just one of five current Justices who rose with its support. Until the Left understands the long game, it will do more ranting than winning. more »
Jo Freeman Reviews - The Book of Gutsy Women by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton
In the 1980s and 1990s, when I read women’s history on my own, I realized that there were important and prominent women in every decade, but they disappeared when the history books were written. Women were like sand castles; men were like rocks. The waters of time washed over both and wiped out the women. The Clintons — mother and daughter — are helping to remedy that. By telling the stories of 103 Gutsy women, they want to raise the sand from the beaches and fuse the particles into solid quartz. more »
Stateline: How One School Is Tackling the Youth Vaping Epidemic
South Portland’s two assistant principals regularly patrol student bathrooms to check for vaping. Bennett has a bag full of confiscated Juuls as well as other brands of e-cigarettes and the pods or “juice” to refill them. An Alabama high school reportedly took the doors off student bathroom stalls to prevent kids from hiding while vaping. And a New Jersey school has installed electronic vaping detectors in student bathrooms that set off an alarm in administrative offices when vaping is detected, according to news reports. Meanwhile, a bill that would ban sweet-tasting nicotine products is gaining momentum in Massachusetts, and lawmakers in Arkansas, New Jersey and Utah are discussing similar restrictions. more »