Photo by Pete.
by Michael Hulshof-Schmidt
On July 9, 1868 the 14th Amendment was passed to the United States Constitution. Not only did the 14th Amendment overturn one of the worst U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the Dred Scott case which precluded African Americans from voting by denying them the status of U.S. citizenship, it also helped to pave the way for the 19th Amendment and Brown v. Board of Education. Let us not forget that Brown v. Board of Education overturned another of the bottom five worst U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Plessy v. Ferguson–the nefarious notion of separate but equal. Thank you 14th Amendment for Due Process and Equal Protection–sadly we still have yet to see you fully implemented. On another dreary note, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Citizens United ranks down there at the bottom five as well and fully demonstrates how sullied the current court is.
As TSM celebrates the 14th Amendment, one can’t help but to revisit the tragedy that is Rand Paul, who was elected as a Kentucky Senator during the Tea Bag Flood of 2010 while decrying the 14th Amendment. Thank goodness Republican Gov. Rick (the Bigot) Scott did not get his way as he was working with the Secretary of State in Florida to prevent people from voting. Sadly we still need to worry about bigots like Republican Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai who specifically stated that:
Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation – abortion facility regulations – in 22 years, done.Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.
Click here if you can stomach the video of Turzai.
Moving on to the issue of marriage equality–this seems like a no brainer here! If all citizens are to enjoy Equal Protection under the 14th Amendment, why is the LGBTQ community being denied the right to marriage? Let’s hope that when the pending cases reach the Supreme Court we get Brown rather than Plessy!
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