A handful of the provisions of the USA Patriot Act are set to expireor sunset on Dec. 31, and Congress is therefore considering which of them to re-authorize. President Bush wants the entire act to be made permanent, contending that it has made the United States safer in the wake of the terrorist at
At the end of its current term, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court issued two judgments and 10 opinions concerning the constitutionality of governmental displays of the Ten Commandments. One judgment upheld the permissibility of the 44-year-old display in the Texas Capitol Park of a six-foot gra
The annual celebrations of Independence Day commemorate not only the sacrifices made during the American Revolution, but also a more nebulous concept: the American dream, which for many is bound up with the promise of economic success for any hardworking American. Yet the American dream is beginning
Immigration reform can go either wayhelping immigrants and asylum seekers or placing further restrictions on their lives by ever more punitive laws. For several years, Congress has been focused on the latter type of legislation. The most current example is the Real ID Act of 2005. Its three parts co
In its decision in the case of Zorach v. Clauson in 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New York City program that provided released time for the religious instruction of public school pupils during school hours but apart from public school buildings. The opinion for the 6-to-3 majority was writte