Michigan Affirmative Action Ban Struck Down By Court

 

ED WHITE - 11/15/12

DETROIT — Michigan's ban on affirmative action in college admissions was declared unconstitutional Thursday by a deeply divided federal appeals court, six years after state voters said race could not be an issue in choosing students.
In an 8-7 decision, the court said the 2006 amendment to the Michigan Constitution is illegal because it presents an extraordinary burden to opponents who would have to mount their own long, expensive campaign through the ballot box to protect affirmative action.
That burden "undermines the Equal Protection Clause's guarantee that all citizens ought to have equal access to the tools of political change," said Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., writing for the majority at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
The court said having supporters and opponents debate affirmative action through the governing boards of each public university would be much fairer than cementing a ban in the constitution, which it referred to as home of "the highest level" of public policy.
The court did not comment on a portion of the amendment that deals with government hiring.
The decision is limited to states in the 6th Circuit, which includes Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. But it also raises the odds that the U.S. Supreme Court may get involved. A very similar law in California was upheld by a San Francisco-based appeals court, and the Supreme Court could choose to resolve the conflicting decisions of the 9th Circuit and the 6th Circuit on voter-approved bans.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a supporter of the ban, said he will ask the nation's highest court to take the case.
"Entrance to our great universities must be based upon merit," he said.
George Washington, a Detroit attorney for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, said the ruling is a "tremendous victory." He predicted the case will move to the Supreme Court.
"What this really means is thousands of blacks and Latinos who would not have had a chance to go to our most selective universities will have the chance to become lawyers, doctors and leaders of all fields," Washington said.
As the college admissions process for 2013 heats up, it wasn't immediately clear what campuses would do in light of the ruling. Officials at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University said they were reading the decision.
At the University of Michigan, 8 percent of undergraduates this fall are black or Hispanic, compared to almost 11 percent in 2008. The number of black female undergraduates is down 27 percent compared to 2008, according to university data.
This is the second time that the appeals court has examined Michigan's affirmative action issue. A three-judge panel last year also found the ban unconstitutional for similar reasons. But after a plea from Schuette, the entire court decided to take a fresh look at the matter, with new filings and arguments leading to the new ruling Thursday.
In a 32-page opinion, the court's majority explained the difficulties that it sees for students under the constitutional amendment. For example, there's nothing barring someone from citing family alumni connections when applying to a college. But the court said a student seeking to use race to influence the admissions process now is shut out unless the constitution is changed again.
"Michigan cannot force those advocating for consideration of racial factors to traverse a more arduous road without violating the Fourteenth Amendment," the court said. "We thus conclude that Proposal 2 reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests."
In dissent, Judge Danny Boggs said the majority relied on an "extreme extension" of two Supreme Court cases to justify its decision, one in 1969 involving the repeal of a fair housing law in Akron, Ohio, and the other in 1982 involving an effort to stop racial integration in Seattle schools.
"We have the citizens of the entire state establishing a principle that would in general have seemed laudable," Boggs said of Michigan.
Another dissenter, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, said the will of 58 percent of voters in 2006 has been shredded.
"Michigan has chosen to structure its university system such that politics plays no part in university admissions at all levels. ... The Michigan voters have therefore not restructured the political process in their state by amending their state constitution; they have merely employed it," Gibbons said.
Besides Michigan, six states have banned racial preferences in admissions: Washington, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, California and Florida. In Texas and Georgia, leading public universities use a race-neutral system, though the University of Texas has maintained some use of affirmative action.
Since a 2003 Supreme Court decision, universities have been allowed to use racial preferences if they choose, though they are not compelled to do so. The court last month heard arguments in a case that could change that precedent. Abigail Fisher, a rejected white applicant, is suing the University of Texas.

 

Comment:

 

There may, possibly, have been some justification to implementing the policy of “Affirmative Action” some thirty years ago when it became law. However, in the intervening years, a program that was originally intended to provide “a level playing field” to all applicants has proven to be colossal failure and has long since exceeded its “shelf life”. Instead, it has afforded college entrance as well as job opportunities and advancement in these areas to incompetent applicants based solely on skin color, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc. to the detriment of far more qualified applicants. Hopefully, the U.S. Supreme Court will not cave in to political correctness and will rule to “pull the plug” on a program that has, arguably, hurt more people than it has helped.

This is my personal opinion on this issue and it does not necessarily agree with that of the various organizations with which I am associated.

 

Jack Meehan
Quincy MA.

Knights of Columbus Responds to Hurricane Sandy

11/1/2012

In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, in conjunction with local and state councils across the Northeast, is joining relief efforts.

The Supreme Council announced this morning that it is making an immediate $100,000 donation, giving $50,000 each to the state councils of New York and New Jersey to assist in local relief efforts in those hardest-hit jurisdictions.

In addition, the Supreme Council has launched an online donation drive, soliciting contributions from its members and the general public. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go directly to relief efforts in local communities.

“Knights have a long tradition of providing disaster relief,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, “and this is no exception. Our communities need our time, our help, and our financial assistance, and we are going to do all that we can - working closely with our local and state councils - to help those most in need as a result of this storm.”

Thank You!!
Comment:

To all Brother Hibernians who are also Brother Knights you are a shining example to all other Catholic charitable organizations. Our Lord said: “Whatever you do for the least of My brethren, you also do for Me”. A very sincere “Thank you” from a proud Brother Knight.


Jack Meehan, Past National President

Ancient Order of Hibernians in America

Knights of Columbus – 4th Degree

Is there a new face of atheism in Ireland?

JOE HUMPHREYS – Irish Times – 24 October 2012

The winds of change are blowing through the world of atheism, as it seeks a softening of its ‘Dawkinsian’ attitude to religion and a more inclusive approach
ATHEISTS ARE on the march. Census results published last week showed there was a four-fold increase in the number of people who said they had no religion, or were either atheist or agnostic, between 1991 and 2011, with 277,237 people falling into this category last year. The figures, however, only tell part of the story.
Ireland is seeing the emergence of a newer kind of atheist, who is anxious to dispel the myth that they are all one-dimensional, rabidly anti-religious Dawkinsians.

The winds of change could be seen at last weekend’s AGM of Atheist Ireland, where delegates agreed a new focus on promoting “an ethical society”, engaging in charity work and social justice campaigns, and even collaborating with religious groups on issues of common concern.

Leonie Hilliard, a Dublin-based science graduate who joined the group a year ago, admits, “Some of my friends are quite surprised by the charity aspect.” Atheist Ireland has already raised some money for microfinance projects in Africa under its “Good Without Gods” initiative.

Plans are afoot for a registered charity (one delegate joked that it should be called “a non-prophet organisation”) while members are also being encouraged to take on informal outreach work, such as visiting people in institutions “without preaching”.

Atheism might not have a clearly defined “ethical backbone”, says Hilliard, noting, “atheism is a belief system in the same way that not playing football is a sport.” However, she stresses, it does lend itself to a number of strong moral positions, including a “worldview of not judging people”. She adds: “Most people involved in the atheist movement are compassionate and want to do something good for the community and challenge the idea that it’s all about secularising Ireland.”

Astrid Malachewitz, who is originally from Germany but now lives in Arklow, Co Wicklow, is similarly irked by some Irish misperceptions about atheism. “I don’t think atheism is a negative movement to start with. Belief in God is replaced with belief in science, justice and equality, and that’s a positive thing.”

She admits some Irish atheists are extremely hostile towards the Catholic Church but such bitterness is not universal.
“I am not one of those people who say if you are a religious person you must automatically be evil,” she says. Nor must every interaction with a person of faith be an opportunity for point-scoring. If attending a mass, for example, a funeral, “I don’t kneel, but I went to my nephew’s communion and it was a wonderful day, and it was very important for me to be there.”

While she has never been asked to be a godparent, “as a cultural thing I’d have no problem with it”, and she finds it amusing rather than annoying that Irish people often finish conversations with “God bless”. She puts it down to cultural Catholicism, something she can fully understand: “I feel culturally Lutheran.”
In tone at least, Malachewitz and Hilliard seem to represent a departure from the New Atheists, the sharp-tongued, all-male troupe of writer-activists led by Richard Dawkins. What might be called the newer atheists are not only more diverse but perhaps slower to judge and quicker to turn the spotlight inwards.

Such introspection has triggered no small amount of debate in the atheist movement internationally, a lot of it focused on the issue of gender. Last August, a new online forum, Atheism Plus, or A+, was launched by Jen McCreight, a Seattle-based blogger and secularist. Backed by a number of prominent women atheists, it seeks “a new wave of atheism” aimed at “promoting social justice” and “working against bigotry, hatred and discrimination”.

Her biggest concern is what she sees as deep-rooted misogyny in the atheist community. Whenever she speaks in a light-hearted way about sexual issues, she says she receives obscene propositions, while posts about feminism are usually met with abuse.

Likening atheism to a “boys’ club”, she wrote to fellow secularists: “I don’t feel safe as a woman in this community – and I feel less safe than I do as a woman in science, or a woman in gaming, or hell, as a woman walking down the f***ing sidewalk.”

McCreight was not the first woman to make this complaint. In a notorious incident, dubbed “Elevatorgate”, blogger Rebecca Watson alleged she received an inappropriate late-night proposition in a lift during the World Atheist Convention in Dublin last year. She wrote about the episode online, drawing a critical response from none other than Dawkins, who sarcastically contrasted her situation with the plight of women in Islam.

McCreight spoke on the issue on a visit to Dublin last June, describing Dawkins’s response as “totally inappropriate”. Because atheists “are so hyperrational and hypersceptical”, if a woman among them says she felt harassed, “if you don’t have photographic evidence that it happened, it never happened,” she told an event hosted by Atheist Ireland.

Malachewitz agrees “there is a misogynistic streak” in the broader movement, but stresses, “on the whole I do feel welcome as a woman”. She adds that organisations such as Atheist Ireland have done a lot to combat prejudice, adopting a new policy on diversity and inclusion last year, and speaking out strongly on the issue. Its chairman Michael Nugent says he believes the misogyny identified “is not a specific atheist thing. It’s a societal issue and it’s an online issue. People are willing to say things about each other online that they would not say face-to-face.”

He is also keen to defend Dawkins, saying, “Richard is the opposite of the uncaring dogmatist his critics unfairly caricature him as.” He is, rather, “a sensitive, caring man.”

But what of the new emphasis being placed on ethics as an atheist concern? “I would not see it as a departure,” says Nugent. While there is a “mini-dogma” that says “atheism only means non-belief in gods, in practice we have already moved beyond that.”

Nugent has published a manifesto on “ethical atheism” (it “predates Atheism Plus”, he notes) which “tries to combine the best of our existing ideas into a set of principles”. The manifesto seeks to promote not only “reason, critical thinking and science”, but also “natural compassion and ethics . . . inclusive, caring atheist groups” and “fair and just societies”.

Practising what it preaches, Atheist Ireland has built alliances with human rights, LGBT and women’s groups to campaign on issues such as constitutional reform. It is now hoping to work in partnership with religious campaigners on shared concerns such as blasphemy laws.

“Ideally I would like to see ourselves and various religious groups taking a common stance on people being jailed or persecuted on the basis of belief. Our problems with the blasphemy law in Ireland pale into insignificance compared to problems faced by religious people in Islamic countries.”
In time, such initiatives may help to change the public perception of what it means to be an atheist.

“People feel the word atheist has a stronger assertion that it actually has,” says Nugent. “I think people believe, firstly, atheism means you are claiming with certainty that there are no gods and, secondly, that you are implying your position is unbreakable, whereas every atheist I know will say this is a position based on currently available evidence and we may be mistaken.”

Does this represent a softening of the New Atheist stance? Or are Irish atheists simply becoming better understood? One thing’s for sure, they are no longer the novelty they once were. Malachewitz moved here 12 years ago from a country “where atheism was never a big deal”.

“I realised Ireland had changed when my mother-in-law started quoting Christopher Hitchens.”

ATHEISTS IN IRELAND by the numbers

320 – number of atheists in 1991 census

277,237 – number of people categorised as non-religious in 2011 census (3,905 atheists, 3,521 agnostic and the remainder no religion)

10.5% – percentage of non-religious people in Galway

2.4% – percentage of non-religious people in Monaghan

14:10 – proportion of men to women in non-religious population

56% – proportion of non-religious people with a third-level qualification (compared to national average for such a qualification of 36 per cent)

14,769 – number of non-religious primary-school children

47% – proportion of Irish people who consider themselves religious, as surveyed last year by pollsters affiliated to Win-Gallup International (a drop from 69 per cent in 2005).
Source: Census 2011.

Note: “non-religious” category covers respondents who declared themselves as either atheist or agnostic, or having no religion

Comment:
Here is more irrefutable evidence that our beloved ancestral homeland is, in fact, making a steady transformation from what was once the most Catholic country in Europe to a predominantly secular one. There are many factors involved in this drastic change, not the least of which is the ever growing rate of emigration from Ireland by native born Irish, the vast majority of whom were born and raised in the Catholic faith. Another factor which cannot be ignored is the wide spread problem of sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy which has caused many Irish Catholics to question their support of the Church and in some cases to abandon it altogether. The steady growth of atheism together with the huge influx of Muslim immigrants to Ireland in recent years, unfortunately, does not bode well for a return to the “faith of our fathers” by lapsed Catholics in the foreseeable future, if ever.

Jack Meehan, Past National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America
Knights Of Columbus - 4^th Degree

NI abortion clinic 'will be regulated'

Stormont’s Health Minister Edwin Poots is taking legal advice on how to regulate Ireland’s first private abortion clinic.
Mr Poots vowed that the Marie Stopes Clinic would be monitored in some way when it opens in Belfast on October 18th.
But he revealed he is seeking clarification on whether the role can be taken on by the Regulation Quality and Improvement Authority (RQIA), which already regulates a number of health bodies across the region.
“I think it has to be regulated, but it will be regulated one way or the other, either through the police or ourselves, it will be regulated,” Mr Poots told BBC Northern Ireland’s Sunday Politics.
“But the Department of Health would rather be the organisation, through the RQIA, that’s doing the regulation.
“We will confirm very soon whether that is going to be the case immediately or whether it’s going to take a little longer to put procedures in place.”
The new medical facility at Great Victoria Street in Belfast city centre will be headed by former Progressive Unionist Party MLA Dawn Purvis. It will offer abortions, each costing £450, when it opens next Thursday.
Unlike other parts of the UK the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply in Northern Ireland.
NHS terminations can only be carried out to preserve the life of the mother or if continuing with the pregnancy would seriously adversely impact on her physical or mental health.
There is strict assessment regarding any impact on mental well-being and the woman must consult with two clinicians.
Anti-abortionists including Stormont politicians and church leaders have reacted with fury and claim there is no demand for a private clinic.
However pro-choice campaigners have called for the Irish Government to change the law on abortion after the Marie Stopes charity announced it was opening a private clinic in Belfast.
Rally For Choice, Choice Ireland and UCD Pro Choice Society say the new centre will make it easier for women across Ireland to access safe, legal abortions and hope it will reopen debate on the controversial issue.

Comment:
There is only one acceptable way to regulate a “clinic” that is in existence for the sole purpose of murdering the yet to be born and most vulnerable members of the human race. That one way is not to allow such a “death chamber” to exist at all.

Jack Meehan, Past National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America
Knights of Columbus – 4^th Degree

Irish Muslim protesters chant ‘USA, you must pay!’ at Dublin demonstration

200 - 300 Muslims march in protest by American and French embassies in Dublin

KERRY O’SHEA, - IrishCentral Staff Writer

A largely peaceful protest took place in Dublin following a string of highly violent protests in the Middle East in response to a YouTube video depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a fraud.

The Irish Times reports on the demonstration that saw between 200 and 300 Muslims march from St. Stephen’s Green to the American and French embassies in Dublin on Wednesday.

One of the organizers of the march, Khurram Khan, told The Irish Times that the demonstration was not political and insisted that the marchers did not represent any Islamic groups.

Khan added that Muslims in Ireland had been waiting for “someone to take the initiative” to organize a demonstration, and that Irish Imams were reluctant to organize an event with the fear that it may have been poorly received.

Despite organizers intending for the demonstration to be a silent one, chants of “USA! You must pay!” and “There is no God but Allah!” began almost immediately after the beginning of the protest.

“We tried our best to keep it silent but the people have emotions as well,” Khan said afterwards.

Abdul Haseeb, former editor of Irish Muslim magazine, was in attendance, though he did not support the way in which the group was trying to get its message across; he believes that lobbying would have been a more effective route.

“Pressure would have changed things,” Hasseeb said, feeling that protests like the one in Dublin alienate the wider society.

The protest went over without much incident. Upon passing the US embassy, some protesters did shout, “USA! Shame! Shame!” but they were briskly waved on by organizers to keep moving.

Both the American and French embassies issued statements after the march saying that they respect freedom of expression, as well as the “spirit of responsibility” from the protesters.

Comment:

Is this a once off protest in support of their Muslim brothers in the Middle East by some of the “new Irish” or a sign of things to come? You be the judge, but, I have no hesitation in stating that it is very disturbing to me as a home owner and very proud citizen of Ireland.

Jack Meehan, Past National President

Ancient Order of Hibernians in America

US politicians urge Kenny to halt bid to legalize abortion

 Dan Buckley, September 24, 2012

A group of American politicians has written to the Taoiseach urging him to halt any attempt to legalize abortion here and to ensure that Ireland remains "staunchly pro-life".

In the letter, signed by 16 Republican and one Democrat member of the US Congress, the politicians said they were concerned that the expert group, appointed by Health Minister James Reilly to present a report on abortion, included some who are pro-choice.

The minister established the group last January in the wake of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that Ireland must give legislative effect to the 1992 Supreme Court judgment in the X Case which ruled that a woman was entitled to an abortion if her life was in danger as a result of her pregnancy.

The expert group, due to present its report shortly, is expected to recommend either regulation or legislation. Dr Reilly will then bring that recommendation to Cabinet.

"A concern has been expressed to us that the composition of the expert group seems predisposed to issue recommendations that infringe on the right to life, rather than a simple clarification," says the letter.

"The absence of experts of known pro-life views and the presence of some of known pro-abortion views were especially noted," say the members of Congress.

Among those who signed the letter is Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado Springs who was forced to apologize last year to Mr Obama after saying that working with him was like touching a "tar baby". Lamborn used the racially charged term during an interview on a Denver radio station.

The letter is also signed by Trent Franks, a Republican Congressman from Arizona, who earlier this year sought to push through legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the District of Columbia.

When the White House voiced opposition, Franks called Obama "the abortion president".

The 17 Congress members say Ireland "has been an example to the world" in not legislating for abortion.

"It is our hope Ireland remains staunchly pro-life and continues to give this vital example in Europe and throughout the world."

Addressing the Taoiseach directly, they say: "We offer our strong support to you in this effort."

The only Democrat signatory is Dan Lipinski, from Chicago, who co-sponsored a bill to prevent women from obtaining abortions on health insurance unless they had been raped.

Comment:
The fact that members of the U.S. Congress feel this strongly  about right to life issues in another country is merely an affirmation of a trend has been known to Irish Catholics for the past several years. Ireland is, to its eternal shame, been moving steadily away from a country that was once a beacon of light for the rest of the world in their staunch support of the principles of Catholicism. It is truly unfortunate that the land of our heritage can no longer make that claim.
 With the advent of multi-culturalism resulting from the now defunct “Celtic Tiger economy”, came a steady transition from Catholicism to secularism. Today, that transition is very close to complete and it is a very sad fact of life that Ireland has abandoned those principles that it once held so dear.
Jack Meehan, Past National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America
Knights of Columbus – 4^th Degree

I am Old Glory

I am old glory: For more than ten score years I have been the banner of hope and freedom for generation after generation of Americans. Born amid the first flames of America's fight for freedom, I am the symbol of a country that has grown from a little group of thirteen colonies to a united nation of fifty sovereign states. Planted firmly on the high pinnacle of American Faith my gently fluttering folds have proved an inspiration to untold millions. Men have followed me into battle with unwavering courage. They have looked upon me as a symbol of national unity. They have prayed that they and their fellow citizens might continue to enjoy the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, which have been granted to every American as the heritage of free men. So long as men love liberty more than life itself; so long as they treasure the priceless privileges bought with the blood of our forefathers; so long as the principles of truth, justice and charity for all remain deeply rooted in human hearts, I shall continue to be the enduring banner of the United States of America.

One nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all.