today is the 97th anniversary of the sixteenth amendment - the income tax :(

on february 3, 1916, delaware became the 36th and final state necessary, to ratify the 16th amendment to the constitution of the united states. the brief, 30 word, amendment reads as follows:

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

in a nutshell, those 30 words gave the federal government authority to impose an income tax. the supreme court had, in 1895, ruled an earlier version of the income tax unconstitutional. congress, in 1909, passed the resolution that proposed the amendment and sent it on to the states for ratification. four years later it became the law of the land :(

i can't grip too much about taxes because aside from having to pay them like everyone else, i'm teaching federal income tax this semester ;p

bill of rights day - december 15

the bill of rights was ratified 218 years ago today, on december 15, 1791. on the 150th anniversary, december 15, 1941, president roosevelt proclaimed the date the first "bill of rights" day. as a document that was originally intended to reign in the prospective abuses of individual liberties by the federal government, over the course of our constitutional history, the various amendments contained in the bill of rights have been made applicable to the states via the incorporation doctrine (sorry for the con law tangent).

my personal favorite - the first - contains the well worn proscription: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...." ironically, in a twist of drafting fate, had the bill of rights been adopted, as drafted, we'd refer to this as our 3rd amendment rights! the first two amendments (that dealt with the number of representatives and their compensation) were not passed.

so take a moment today and dwell on the greatness of these straightforward protections (even if they've occasionally been abused and trampled upon over the course of history)!

know your rights!

50 years ago today, supreme court held new york law barring film of "lady chatterley's lover" unconstitutional

on june 29, 1959, the supreme court held in kingsley international pictures corp. v. regents, that a new york state law that granted the board of education the power to issue licenses to, among other things, exhibit films - was unconstitutional. in this little cited decision, the supreme court extended core first amendment protections to films.

the court reversed the new york state board of regents decision that concluded the 1955 french film ("l'amant de lady chatterley"), while not obscene, "alluringly presents adultery as acceptable behavior." this was the same year that the u.s. postmaster general seized copies of the grove press edition of the book as obscene. that seizure was overturned by a new york district court judge.

in kingsley, justice stewart wrote for the court that "sexual morality" was an entirely different concept (and protected speech) than concepts of obscenity or pornography (neither of which is protected speech). justice stewart noted that the new york state law sought to regulate advocacy of opinion and expression - core first amendment guarantees.

in a coincidence, tonight hbo airs "shouting fire: stories from the edge of free speech" - check it out!

and if lady chatterley and her travails are more your cup of tea, check out charles rembar's classic, "the end of obscenity: the trials of lady chatterley, tropic of cancer, and fanny hill" - a book i'm constantly tempted to get down from my bookshelf and reread.