Controversies
Advocates Protest Elimination of DC’s Voucher System
Education advocates, policy makers and parents alike are criticizing the failure of Congress and the Obama Administration to ensure the continuation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, a federally funded school voucher system in the Distric... read more
Obama Transparency Report Card: Good, But Not Great
To help hold President Barack Obama to his pledge of creating a “new era of openness” in government, the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law has released a report card that grades how transparent the administration ... read more
Can Solar Power Hurt the Environment?
An unusual clash has developed in the environmental movement between forces that are usually allied: advocates of renewable energy and supporters of wildlife habitats. In response to the Bureau of Land Management’s recently approved, large-scale s... read more
Texans Sue Homeland Security over Biodefense Facility Selection
When it comes to hosting the latest in bioterror defense, don’t mess with Texas. A coalition of nonprofit and business groups calling itself the Texas Biological and Agro-Defense Consortium has filed a lawsuit to stop the Department of Homeland Se... read more
Government Regulatory Prosecutions at 9-Year Low
The current decade has not been a good one when it comes to the government cracking down on a wide range of illegal activities. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, prosecutions by the Justice Department are down since Janu... read more
Decriminalizing All Drugs: The Case of Portugal
When Portugal decided in 2001 to become the first nation in Europe to eliminate criminal penalties for possession of all drugs, from marijuana to heroin, critics warned that the decision would result in “drug tourists” flocking to the conservative... read more
Bipartisan Bill to Help Undocumented Students Attend College
In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that undocumented students can legally attend K-12 public schools. However, the decision did not address public education beyond high school. And in today’s labor market, those with a college degree usually earn a ... read more
Census Debate: Where Do Prisoners Live?
For some politicians, the inclusion of inmates in local populations as part of the U.S. Census means everything. State Senator Elizabeth O’C. Little’s (R-NY) district in upstate New York is known as “Little Siberia” because of its vast physical si... read more
Supreme Court Enters 20th Century; 21st Will Have to Wait
The longstanding debate over allowing cameras inside the U.S. Supreme Court was renewed recently at a House appropriations subcommittee hearing, where Justices Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas appeared before lawmakers to discuss the court’s nex... read more
China’s Nuclear Test Survivors Break Silence
The secrets of China’s nuclear weapons testing are being revealed now that many army veterans are speaking out about the dangerous work they were ordered to perform during the Cold War. Operating in the remote Gobi desert, a special military detac... read more
Medical Marijuana Test Case Pits U.S. Attorney Against Holder’s Stated Policy
Attorney General Eric Holder’s new policy to not go after medical marijuana operations operating within state law is already being tested by the case of Charles C. Lynch. Operator of a small medical marijuana dispensary in the California coastal t... read more
Jackie Chan Says Democracy is Chaotic
Action film star Jackie Chan has angered many of his fans with his comments about Chinese democracy at a business forum for state officials, scholars and businessmen: “If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Ta... read more
Sioux Tribe Okays Use of Nickname by University of North Dakota
Officials at the University of North Dakota (UND) are proud of their school’s nickname: the Fighting Sioux. But many local members of the Sioux Nation are not thrilled with it, and the university has only one more year, according to a legal settle... read more
NHTSA Stops Volvo from Introducing Advanced Child Car Seats
On April 16 Volvo announced its launch of three new child seats that offer a wider range of protection for children up to the age of ten, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has banned the sale of these child seats in th... read more
Dozens of CIA Prisoners Still Missing
Once the Washington Post blew the cover off the Bush administration’s secret rendition program in November 2005, the CIA began closing up that operation by turning detainees over to other governments or shipping them to Guantánamo Bay. At the time... read more
Bayer Tried to Hide Details of Explosion that Killed Two
Residents of Institute, West Virginia, were fortunate they did not become the next Bhopal when an explosion occurred last August at a Bayer chemical plant containing large quantities of the same chemical that killed thousands in India in 1984. A ... read more