Showing posts with label South Dakota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Dakota. Show all posts
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Nearly 7 Ot Of 10 In U.S. Support Marijuana Legalization
The support for the legalization of marijuana in the United States continues to climb. Now nearly 7 out of 10 Americans support legalization (68%). That's the highest percentage ever recorded.
And it showed in this election, as voters in four more states approved legalization for recreational use -- Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. That makes 15 states that have now approved the legal recreational use of marijuana.
The charts above are from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between September 30th and October 15th of a national sample of 1,035 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
Wednesday, June 08, 2016
Clinton Wins N. Jersey, N. Mexico, And S. Dakota
Five states held a primary Tuesday night, and one held a caucus. These were the last states to vote in this primary/caucus season. Only the District of Columbia is still to vote, and they will do that next week. Here are the results of the first five states to vote -- New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana. California polls closed very late, and I will address those results in another post.
NEW JERSEY PRIMARY
Clinton...............63%
Sanders...............37%
NEW MEXICO PRIMARY
Clinton...............52%
Sanders...............49%
SOUTH DAKOTA PRIMARY
Clinton...............51%
Sanders...............49%
NORTH DAKOTA CAUCUS
Clinton...............26%
Sanders...............64%
MONTANA PRIMARY
Clinton...............46%
Sanders...............49%
This was a very good night for Clinton. She won New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota, while Sanders won the only caucus. As I write this, Montana is too close to call with Sanders having a small lead. This outcome gives Clinton more than a hundred delegates over the 2383 needed for the nomination -- and that's before the California results come in (where she is assured of another 200 delegates, at least).
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned In South Dakota
There are only 14 states left where same-sex couples cannot legally get married -- the states shown in white on the map above. But only four of those 14 have not had a federal judge strike down their bans on same-sex marriage (North Dakota, Nebraska, Georgia, and Alabama). The rest have had those decisions overturning the bans stayed until they can be heard by an appeals court.
It was five states with no decision, but yesterday U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier struck down the ban in South Dakota. The judge issued a stay to give the state time to appeal her decision to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (where appeals striking down the bans are pending from Missouri and Arkansas). In her decision, Judge Schreier wrote:
“In Loving, the Supreme Court addressed a traditionally accepted definition of marriage that prohibited Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving from marrying. Because Virginia’s laws deprived that couple of their fundamental right to marriage, the Court struck down those laws. Little distinguishes this case from Loving. Plaintiffs have a fundamental right to marry. South Dakota law deprives them of that right solely because they are same-sex couples and without sufficient justification.”
So far, only one appeals court (the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals) has upheld the state bans on same-sex marriage -- a ruling that affects only Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. All other Appeals courts have upheld overturning the bans, or are still deciding what to do. The decision of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that court is currently deciding whether they will hear that appeal or not.
The Supreme Court should accept that appeal for a hearing, because it is unconscionable to have a ban unconstitutional in most states while being constitutional in a few. Same-sex marriage bans must either be constitutional or unconstitutional in all states, since all state laws must conform to the U.S. Constitution. Personally, I believe the 14th Amendment makes it clear that all citizens must be treated equally under the law (and that includes state laws), and any ban prohibiting any one group from enjoying rights given to other groups (in this case, the right to marry) has to be unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court has dodged this issue long enough. It is time for them to make a decision.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Thursday, October 09, 2014
Monday, October 06, 2014
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
A Sad Bit Of News For Liberals
Mr. McGovern is probably best remembered as the Democrat who lost to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential race. But he was much more than that. He had a long and successful political career, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1957 to 1961, and in the U. S. Senate from 1963 through 1981. Mr. McGovern was a proud liberal, who fought for economic justice and fairness -- and supported peace in Vietnam before that became popular (which was probably what cost him the presidential election). During the last years of his remarkable life, he had dedicated himself to the fight against world hunger.
I supported Mr. McGovern in the 1972 election, and I have always been proud of that. He was a good man, and I still think he would have made a great president. Now, as he lives out his last days, I just want to say, "Goodbye George. Many of us will miss you dearly, and always treasure your fight to make this a better country."
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