Berekeley, California radio station,KPFA, interviewed LegalSpeaks founder and legal blogger, Debbie Hines on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case and the Casey Anthony case on the issues of the intersection of gender and race and the differences in the media's handling of the two cases. It aired on Monday, July 25 2011 at 1:00 pm and can be heard by clicking here: Women's Magazine - July 25, 2011 at 1:00pmClick to listen (or download) … [Read more...] about KPFA Interviews LegalSpeaks on Race and Gender in the Law
Archives for July 2011
President Obama Takes Budget Talks to The Streets
President Obama, once again took his case to the streets and the American people to demand that a compromise be made in the budget talks and that a deal be reached. We are still at a stalemate in talks. In speaking to the nation last night, the President made clear that “while the America people may have voted for a divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government.” And right now dysfunctional is what we are seeing. Avoiding a default crisis by paying our past bills is a path we have walked many times before. What we are doing is raising the debt ceiling “to pay the bills that Congress has already racked up”. It is not to pay any new bills or buy new stuff. And this is nothing new nor rocket science. Since the 1950’s Congress has always passed it and every President has signed it. Now, all of a sudden, with President Obama in the White House, the Republican Congress wants to change the way history has always led us—paying our bills. Yes, the Republicans, … [Read more...] about President Obama Takes Budget Talks to The Streets
President Obama Gives A Shellacking to the GOP
In a fiery speech last night, President Obama gave Speaker Boehner and the Republican leaders a verbal shellacking, as he spoke about Boehner’s call to walk away from the debt ceiling talks, saying he’s ” been left at the altar now a couple of times”. In the past, President Obama has used childlike references to the GOP in saying it’s a eat your peas moment and do your homework on time. Yesterday, Obama spoke bluntly of the Republicans’ failure to lead the country. And if you play childish games, you need to be spoken to and lashed out like children. The American people are looking for leadership, not political games, ploys or tactics. They are not looking for 2 year old adults who can only say no to everything. President Obama even asked last night, can they say yes to anything. At present, it doesn’t appear so. They walked away from a deal proposal that even a lot of Republican voters are puzzled as to why it couldn’t be done. Far from approval of the Democratic leadership and … [Read more...] about President Obama Gives A Shellacking to the GOP
Why New Voter ID Laws Will Disenfranchise Women
Voter ID laws enacted now in over half the states, requiring voters to present some form of identification as a requirement to vote, are seemingly simple in nature. But they will place unreasonable burdens on many women who may well be unaware of the difficulty they could face when casting their vote in the 2012 election. Fourteen states require a government issued photo ID when voting in person. At the time of registering to vote, other states like Kansas and Alabama further demand proof of citizenship beyond the federal legal requirement that citizens swear they are citizens. During the 2011 legislative session, five states—Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina—joined Georgia and Indiana by enacting the strictest form of photo ID requirement for voters, and most of these newest changes will first come into effect for the 2012 elections. Proponents of the laws argue that photo ID’s are a reasonable way to protect our elections and make them fair. … [Read more...] about Why New Voter ID Laws Will Disenfranchise Women
A Tale of Two Cases: Casey Anthony and Strauss-Kahn
The murder trial of Casey Anthony and the sexual case of Dominic Strauss-Kahn, accused of sexually assaulting the hotel maid in New York, have all the same elements of sex, race and politics, yet each will have a different outcome. The Casey Anthony case from the start was a media frenzy combined with a missing 2 year old white child, a mother partying all over town and a prosecutor bent on trying the case . Then there’s the other case of the sexual assault on a hotel maid in New York oozing with sex, race and politics, yet with a different end about to occur. There has been little media frenzy and little outcry for justice in the case of an African maid sexually assaulted by one of the most powerful men in France. Sex, race and politics play two different roles in each of these cases. In the case of Casey Anthony, this trifecta worked to convict Casey Anthony in the media; yet it works to invoke an acquittal in the media world for Strauss-Kahn. So what is the … [Read more...] about A Tale of Two Cases: Casey Anthony and Strauss-Kahn
Is Michele Bachmann a Racist?
While Christine O’Donnell may not be a witch, Michele Bachmann may be a racist, judging by her most recent statements about African Americans. Her recent comments about African Americans begs the question of whether she is a racist. Last week, she mentioned that African American children and black families were better off during slavery presumably because according to her logic they had both parents living with them. She brings her comments up to date this week and discusses the black farmers’ settlement. She spoke out against the multi-billion dollar settlement to black farmers for decades of discrimination by the federal government against them. According to Bachmann, the monies to settle the discrimination suit by black farmers is just wasteful spending and should be diverted elsewhere to benefit people living along the Mississippi river and Missouri river. While the flood victims need redress too, I don’t think anyone should be advocating taking away money from black … [Read more...] about Is Michele Bachmann a Racist?