VA Violates The Constitution Again

Less than a year after Virginia violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution by banning recognition of gay marriages, it has done so again, this time with traffic fines.

 

Virginia residents convicted of misdemeanor or felonies while driving (reckless, DUI, etc.) will now face "civil remidial" fines of $1,050.

 

Reckless driving in VA can be as simple as driving 80 MPH on any road, or going 20 MPH over the speed limit.  It can also include failure to signal and a bunch of other "minor" offenses.

 

Note that these fines will only apply to Virginia residents meaning that the thousands of Marylanders who work here would be treated as a different class in terms of fines. 

Bad Call

Today the Supreme Court ruled that it was OK for a school to suspend a student who held up a banner that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" while off school property.  They ruled that schools are allowed to regulate students speech concerning illegal drugs.

 

There are two things wrong with this:

1. The kid was just trying to proclaim free speech and this had nothing to do with drugs.

2. Saying that speaking freely about certain things is prohibited in certain contexts a is very, very bad precedent to set.  This ruling could mean that students could not talk about the pros and cons of medical marijuana in classes, something that should be debated.  It could also be expanded to include political speech.  Maybe next they will not allow students to talk about any current events at all.

3. The student was not on school property.  This fact is probably the worst part of it.  If a school says you can't say something within its classrooms, that's one thing.  Maybe its a private school, so private property, etc.  However, the school has no right to punish someone for saying anything while off of the property.

 

I'm sure the school would have responded similarly if it had been alcohol or tobacco related.  This incident is really not about drugs, but the Supreme Court thinks it is, so here's my 2 cents.  If all drugs are so bad and that one puff of a joint would kill someone, they wouldn't need to regulate speech.  The truth is, puffing on the joint is probably safer than puffing on a cigar. 

 

Lastly, if Jesus was alive today I'm almost certain that he would be hittin' that bong.