- Rule of capture.
- SIPRIANO v. GREAT SPRING WATERS OF AMERICA INC.
- Texas water law.
- The Future of the Rule of Capture.
- Reasonable-use doctrine.
- Natural-flow doctrine.
- Texas Water Code.
Friday, April 29, 2022
Rule of Capture
Who is, and what is a Peace Officer?
- Click here for source.
When applying for various law enforcement jobs the term “Peace Officer” may be used. While the term can vary from state to state it usually means a position that carries a badge, has the power to arrest, and also carries a firearm. A police officer, deputy sheriff, state trooper, and special agent all have the similarity of being peace officer positions. There is also the term “Sworn” which generally means sworn in as a peace officer. Federal law enforcement positions get their authority from federal law. However, many federal law enforcement positions are also recognized as peace officers under state law which gives the authority to enforcement state and local laws. When determining your law enforcement career path it is helpful to have an idea as to if you want to apply for sworn or non sworn positions.
- Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 2.12.
The following are peace officers:
(1) sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve deputies who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(2) constables, deputy constables, and those reserve deputy constables who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated city, town, or village, and those reserve municipal police officers who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(4) rangers, officers, and members of the reserve officer corps commissioned by the Public Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public Safety;
(5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
(6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission;
(7) each member of an arson investigating unit commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
(8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081, Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
(9) officers commissioned by the General Services Commission;
(10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the Parks and Wildlife Commission;
(11) officers commissioned under Chapter 23, Transportation Code ;(12) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and security officers;(13) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers by the comptroller;
(14) officers commissioned by a water control and improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
(15) officers commissioned by a board of trustees under Chapter 54, Transportation Code;
(16) investigators commissioned by the Texas Medical Board;
(17) officers commissioned by:(A) the board of managers of the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital District, the Bexar County Hospital District, or the El Paso County Hospital District under Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code;(B) the board of directors of the Ector County Hospital District under Section 1024.117, Special District Local Laws Code;(C) the board of directors of the Midland County Hospital District of Midland County, Texas, under Section 1061.121, Special District Local Laws Code; and(D) the board of hospital managers of the Lubbock County Hospital District of Lubbock County, Texas, under Section 1053.113, Special District Local Laws Code;
(18) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
(19) investigators employed by the Texas Racing Commission;
(20) officers commissioned under Chapter 554, Occupations Code;
(21) officers commissioned by the governing body of a metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108, Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
(22) investigators commissioned by the attorney general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
(23) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
(24) officers appointed by an appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
(25) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code;
(26) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner of insurance under Section 701.104, Insurance Code;
(27) apprehension specialists and inspectors general commissioned by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as officers under Sections 242.102 and 243.052, Human Resources Code;
(28) officers appointed by the inspector general of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.019, Government Code;
(29) investigators commissioned by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement under Section 1701.160, Occupations Code;
(30) commission investigators commissioned by the Texas Private Security Board under Section 1702.061, Occupations Code;
(31) the fire marshal and any officers, inspectors, or investigators commissioned by an emergency services district under Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code;
(32) officers commissioned by the State Board of Dental Examiners under Section 254.013, Occupations Code, subject to the limitations imposed by that section;
(33) investigators commissioned by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as officers under Section 221.011, Human Resources Code; and
(34) the fire marshal and any related officers, inspectors, or investigators commissioned by a county under Subchapter B, Chapter 352, Local Government Code.
Medicaid 1115 Waivers
- About Section 1115 Demonstrations.
- Medicaid 1115 Waivers by State.
- Medicaid Waiver Tracker: Approved and Pending Section 1115 Waivers by State.
- Feds rescind health care funding agreement that would have paid for care for uninsured, poor Texans after 2022.
- Biden administration drops fight over Texas’ Medicaid waiver, now in place until 2030.
- Medicaid 1115 Waivers by State.
- Medicaid Waiver Tracker: Approved and Pending Section 1115 Waivers by State.
- Feds rescind health care funding agreement that would have paid for care for uninsured, poor Texans after 2022.
- Biden administration drops fight over Texas’ Medicaid waiver, now in place until 2030.
Thursday, April 28, 2022
From Wikipedia: Protectionism
A controversial - but sometimes very popular - aspect of foreign policy.
- Click here for the entry.
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. Proponents argue that protectionist policies shield the producers, businesses, and workers of the import-competing sector in the country from foreign competitors; however, they also reduce trade and adversely affect consumers in general (by raising the cost of imported goods), and harm the producers and workers in export sectors, both in the country implementing protectionist policies and in the countries protected against.
See also;
- Protectionism in the United States.
- Tariff in United States history.
The Foreign Dredging Act of 1906
I never heard of this thing before today.
It seems to be hurting foreign trade in the U.S. today.
- This 113-Year-Old Law Is Hurting American Ports.
- The 1906 Dredging Law That May Be Holding Back the U.S. Economy.
- Antiquated Jones Act Hobbles Texas’ Economy.
- 46 U.S. Code § 55109 - Dredging.
- How to Make US Ports Competitive Again.
- Maritime Laws definition.
- Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886.
- Merchant Marine Act of 1920.
From The Texas Tribune: New “resiliency center” at Houston Community College aims to prepare Texas’ largest city for disasters
Actually, this looks like fun.
- Click here for the article.
The frequency of these events has prompted Houston Community College to invest in an ambitious new training program for first responders, construction workers and business employees to lessen the deadly toil these disasters bring.
On Tuesday, HCC leaders unveiled their plans for the program that includes a $30 million resiliency operations center equipped with a 39-foot-wide swift water rescue channel, a 15-foot-deep dive area, and a 100-foot-long “rocky gorge” of boulders that are above and below the water surface to provide additional obstacle training.
“Our vision for this important initiative is to build a stronger, more resilient Houston where every Houstonian can be plan aware and response ready,” HCC Chancellor Cesar Maldonado said at a news conference announcing the center. “Every business can prepare for the future.”
The disaster simulations part of the resiliency operations center is at the heart of this new program, which will train first responders and residents in how to tackle flooded residential streets that include obstacles like floating debris, underwater vehicles and downed power lines.
The center will include training in rescue vehicles and will be used year round to replicate various emergency situations.
“What a firefighter would go through with the coursework to get certification would be much different from a citizen,” Maldonado said. “But certainly citizens are going to be using that facility to have a better understanding of what flooding means, what could be in the water, what kind of contaminants, what kind of hidden drains can cause a problem for children. So it’s not going to be just for the high-level first responders.”
- For more click here.
- For a power point presentation, click here.
- Click here for Resilient Houston.
Now here's a stupid question: If animals could talk, what species would be the rudest of them all?
Geese
Seriously, there is no competition.
Seriously, there is no competition.
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
The Regulatory State
- From Wikipedia:
The term regulatory state refers to the expansion in the use of rulemaking, monitoring and enforcement techniques and institutions by the state and to a parallel change in the way its positive or negative functions in society are being carried out. The expansion of the state nowadays is generally via regulation and less via taxing and spending. The notion of the regulatory state is increasingly more attractive for theoreticians of the state with the growth in the use and application of rule making, monitoring and enforcement strategies and with the parallel growth of civil regulation and business regulation. The rise of the regulatory state in the Industrial Revolution can be traced to network regulation first instituted by William Gladstone in 1844. The co-expansion of state, civil and business regulation at the domestic and transnational arenas suggest that the notions of regulatory governance and regulatory capitalism are as usefully theoretically as the notion of regulatory state.
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
From Wikipedia: Social Security Trust Fund
- Click here for it.
The Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (collectively, the Social Security Trust Fund or Trust Funds) are trust funds that provide for payment of Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance; OASDI) benefits administered by the United States Social Security Administration.[1][2][3]
Excess funds are used by the government for non-Social Security purposes, creating the obligations to the Social Security Administration and thus program recipients. However, Congress could cut these obligations by altering the law. Trust Fund obligations are considered "intra-governmental" debt, a component of the "public" or "national" debt. As of June 2015, the intragovernmental debt was $5.1 trillion of the $18.2 trillion national debt.
2020 U.S. Federal Budget
- Click here for the Wikipedia entry.
Revenues
- Individual Income Taxes
- Payroll Taxes
- - FICA
- - Medicare
- Corporate Income Taxes
- Excise Taxes
- Estate Taxes
- Gift Taxes
- Customs Duties
- Remittances from the Federal Reserve
- Miscellaneous fees and fines
Treasury Bonds
- Net Interest
Outlays
- Discretionary Spending
- - Defense
- - Non-Defense
- - - Health
- - - Transportation
- - - Education
- - - Veteran’s Benefits
- - - Housing Assistance
- Mandatory Spending
- - Social Security
- - Medicare
- - Medicaid
- - Paycheck Protection Program
- - Unemployment Compensation
- - Recovery Rebates
- - Civilian and Military Retirement
- - Veteran’s Benefits
- - Earned Income and Child Tax Credits
- - SNAP
Links - 4/26
https://www.sunset.texas.gov/reviews-and-reports/agencies/texas-racing-commission
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
https://www.alvincollege.edu/news/press-releases/ACC-Receives-TWC-Grants.html
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/22/greg-abbott-immigration-invasion-declaration/
https://www.convenience.org/Topics/Fuels/The-History-of-Self-Fueling
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/beauty.cfm#:~:text=The%20cornerstone%20of%20the%20initiative,existing%20Federal%2Daid%20primary%20system.
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/junior-college-movement
https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1871/Common-School-Movement.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aid_Road_Act_of_1916
https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/railroad/oil/page6.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_School_Laws
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-law-of-1642-the-old-deluder-satan-act-us-public-education.html
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/old-deluder-satan-act
Monday, April 25, 2022
Market Failure
- From Britannica.
market failure,
failure of a market to deliver an optimal result. In particular, the economic theory of market failure seeks to account for inefficient outcomes in markets that otherwise conform to the assumptions about markets held by neoclassical economics (i.e., markets that feature perfect competition, symmetrical information, and completeness). When failure happens, less welfare is created than could be created given the available resources. The social task then becomes to correct the failure.
Criticism of the market failure notion and of using government to remedy market failure’s effects has been articulated in the public choice school of economics. Public choice scholarship has had great impact on contemporary reforms of the public sector, replacing the Keynesian economics logics that drove much public service expansion. Such critiques have led to reforms seeking to replace governments with markets to challenge or remedy market failure.
Private Goods, Market Failure, and Public Goods
. . . a product or service produced by a privately owned business and purchased to increase the utility, or satisfaction, of the buyer. The majority of the goods and services consumed in a market economy are private goods, and their prices are determined to some degree by the market forces of supply and demand. Pure private goods are both excludable and rivalrous, where excludability means that producers can prevent some people from consuming the good or service based on their ability or willingness to pay and rivalrous indicates that one person’s consumption of a product reduces the amount available for consumption by another. In practice, private goods exist along a continuum of excludability and rivalry and can even exhibit only one of these characteristics.
The absence of excludability and rivalry introduces market failures that ensure that some goods and services cannot be efficiently provided by markets. Public goods, such as streetlights or national defense, exhibit nonexcludable and nonrivalrous characteristics. In a private market economy, such goods lead to a free-rider problem, in which consumers enjoy the benefits of the good or service without paying for it. These goods are thus unprofitable and inefficient to produce in a private market and must be provided by the government.
failure of a market to deliver an optimal result. In particular, the economic theory of market failure seeks to account for inefficient outcomes in markets that otherwise conform to the assumptions about markets held by neoclassical economics (i.e., markets that feature perfect competition, symmetrical information, and completeness). When failure happens, less welfare is created than could be created given the available resources. The social task then becomes to correct the failure.
The theory of market failure is at the heart of several economic analyses that support government action (intervention) in markets for goods and services or that justify outright government production. Many social welfare programs find their theoretical justification in market failure or in other violations of the standard market assumptions.
Criticism of the market failure notion and of using government to remedy market failure’s effects has been articulated in the public choice school of economics. Public choice scholarship has had great impact on contemporary reforms of the public sector, replacing the Keynesian economics logics that drove much public service expansion. Such critiques have led to reforms seeking to replace governments with markets to challenge or remedy market failure.
The theory: The descriptions of market failure were developed in the middle of the 20th century as part of a larger school of Keynesian welfare and macroeconomics. Important contributors included Arthur C. Pigou, Francis Bator, William Baumol, and Paul A. Samuelson. Those theorists were concerned with the correspondence between free market outcomes and social welfare optimization. In standard economics the “invisible hand,” or duality, theorem holds that laissez-faire market performance and Pareto optimality go hand in hand. When consumers and producers respond to price signals, they make their own decisions about whether to buy or sell and how to produce the good. The aggregate of those choices is the same as the Pareto optimal, or socially optimal, distribution. Pareto optimality—which takes its name from Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto—is attained when it is impossible to find an alternative that would make one actor better off while keeping all others as well off as before. Welfare economists were concerned with conditions under which that correspondence failed and sought to describe such conditions.
- Public Goods:
. . . economics, a product or service that is non-excludable and nondepletable (or “non-rivalrous”).
A good is non-excludable if one cannot exclude individuals from enjoying its benefits when the good is provided. A good is nondepletable if one individual’s enjoyment of the good does not diminish the amount of the good available to others. For example, clean air is (for all practical purposes) a public good, because its use by one individual does not (for all practical purposes) deplete the stock available to other individuals, and there is no way to exclude an individual from consuming it, if it exists. Another common example is national defense, because it is assumed that a nation-state cannot choose to protect just some of its residents from foreign aggression while excluding others from that protection; so too, providing one resident with national defense does not diminish the protection being provided to other residents. A public bad is similarly defined to be a “bad” that is non-excludable and nondepletable. For example, polluted air is a public bad, for the same reasons that clean air is a public good.
Public goods contrast with private goods, which are both excludable and depletable. Food is a straightforward example of a private good: one person’s consumption of a piece of food deprives others of consuming it (hence, it is depletable), and it is possible to exclude some individuals from consuming it (by assigning enforceable private property rights to food items, for example). Some goods fit neatly into neither category, because they are excludable but nondepletable (such as a music concert) or are non-excludable but depletable (such as a public beach, which may become less attractive, or “depleted,” as more individuals make use of it).
Public goods (and bads) are textbook examples of goods that the market typically undersupplies (or oversupplies in the case of public bads). For example, profit-maximizing firms and self-interested individuals can be expected to choose levels of production and consumption such that the aggregate level of pollution resulting from their activities leaves everyone worse off (according to their own preferences) than if each were somehow prevented from producing or consuming as much as is individually optimal. Commonly suggested solutions to such “market failures” include taxes and subsidies or government intervention.
An important similarity exists between problems involving the provision of public goods and collective action problems—such as voting, public protest, or output restriction in the case of oligopolists—where an individual typically cannot be prevented from benefiting from the achievement of the goal of the collective action, if it is achieved.
Ep.11 Upcoming May voting and runoffs, Alvin TX elections, third parties...
be nice, this is a work in progress.
we need subscribers - come on, you know you want to join up
we need subscribers - come on, you know you want to join up
From Vox: 2020’s historic surge in murders, explained
- Click here for the article.
That we don’t yet know what caused 2020’s murder surge isn’t surprising. To this day, there’s still a lot of debate and disagreement among experts about what caused the massive decrease that halved overall crime and violent crime rates in America since the 1990s — known as the Great Crime Decline. There are theories based on the research, ranging from changes in policing to less lead exposure to the rise of video games, but there’s not a single set of explanations that the entire field of criminology has embraced.
Regardless of cause, and permanent or not, experts also argue that there are things the US could do right now to reduce murders, from urban renewal initiatives to gun control laws to changes in policing. Even if there hadn’t been an increase in 2020, the proposed solutions could have helped make the US even safer than it was in the past few years.
From the Pew Research Center: What we know about the increase in U.S. murders in 2020
- Click here for the study.
The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century, according to data published this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The findings align with a separate tabulation of the nation’s murder rate published in September by the FBI.
The CDC tracks murders by analyzing information contained in death certificates. The FBI tallies murders by collecting information from thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country. Despite their different methodologies, both sources point to a sharp rise in the U.S. murder rate during the pandemic year of 2020, even as the rate itself remained well below the level of earlier decades.
. . . 5. It is not yet clear why murders rose dramatically in 2020. Experts have pointed to a variety of potential causes, including the economic and societal changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and changes in police-community relations after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota last year. But the exact reasons remain unclear.
The FBI data, at least, shows that murder wasn’t the only form of violent crime to go up last year. The rate of aggravated assault rose nearly 12% between 2019 and 2020. And since aggravated assault is by far the most common type of violent crime tracked by the FBI, the overall violent crime rate in the U.S. also increased in 2020, by about 5%. Two other kinds of violent crime tracked by the FBI – rape and robbery – declined in 2020.
From Roll Call: Former Utah Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, who helped shape health and tax policy, dead at 88
- Click here for the article.
Once in the Senate, Hatch championed a variety of issues including a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, which he sponsored 17 times; immigration and border security; religious freedom; and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
. . . Then-Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa was his ally in preparing a 1994 law that limited the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to withdraw dietary supplements from stores (supplements are a huge industry in Utah). A 1984 law credited with making generic medicines more widely available is named for its champions, Hatch and Democratic California Rep. Henry A. Waxman.
He was reelected in 2012 after a difficult challenge from the tea party, which charged Hatch with being out of touch. After seeing three-term Utah Sen. Robert F. Bennett denied the GOP Senate nomination in 2010 when conservatives at the party’s nominating convention lined up behind two challengers, Hatch had two years to prepare for a similar battle. He tacked to the right on most issues, established ties to the tea party movement and engaged in aggressive fundraising.
Legislation he was involved in
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
- Children's Health Insurance Plan.
- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
From the Pew Research Center - Criminal Justice
- What the data says (and doesn’t say) about crime in the United States.
How much crime is there in the U.S.?It’s difficult to say for certain. The two primary sources of government crime statistics – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) – both paint an incomplete picture, though efforts at improvement are underway.
The FBI publishes annual data on crimes that have been reported to the police, but not those that haven’t been reported. The FBI also looks mainly at a handful of specific violent and property crimes, but not many other types of crime, such as drug crime. And while the FBI’s data is based on information it receives from thousands of federal, state, county, city and other police departments, not all agencies participate every year. In 2019, the most recent full year available, the FBI received data from around eight-in-ten agencies.
BJS, for its part, tracks crime by fielding a large annual survey of Americans ages 12 and older and asking them whether they were the victim of a crime in the past six months. One advantage of this approach is that it captures both reported and unreported crimes. But the BJS survey has limitations of its own. Like the FBI, it focuses mainly on a handful of violent and property crimes while excluding other kinds of crime. And since the BJS data is based on after-the-fact interviews with victims, it cannot provide information about one especially high-profile type of crime: murder.
All those caveats aside, looking at the FBI and BJS statistics side-by-side does give researchers a good picture of U.S. violent and property crime rates and how they have changed over time.
- From police to parole, black and white Americans differ widely in their views of criminal justice system.
Black Americans are far more likely than whites to say the nation’s criminal justice system is racially biased and that its treatment of minorities is a serious national problem.
In a recent Pew Research Center survey, around nine-in-ten black adults (87%) said blacks are generally treated less fairly by the criminal justice system than whites, a view shared by a much smaller majority of white adults (61%). And in a survey shortly before last year’s midterm elections, 79% of blacks – compared with 32% of whites – said the way racial and ethnic minorities are treated by the criminal justice system is a very big problem in the United States today.
Racial differences in views of the criminal justice system are not limited to the perceived fairness of the system as a whole. Black and white adults also differ across a range of other criminal justice-related questions asked by the Center in recent years, on subjects ranging from crime and policing to the use of computer algorithms in parole decisions.
Crime Data
- Texas Crime Rates 1960 - 2019.
- FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
- Bureau of Justice Statistics: Criminal Victimization, 2019.
- FBI: Crime in the U.S.
- DPS: Crime in Texas, 2020.
- United Health Foundation: Violent Crime.
- FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
- Bureau of Justice Statistics: Criminal Victimization, 2019.
- FBI: Crime in the U.S.
- DPS: Crime in Texas, 2020.
- United Health Foundation: Violent Crime.
From the Texas Tribune - 4/25
In Texas, thousands in fines paid by oil and gas polluters benefit the fossil fuel industry.
After a Taiwanese plastics and petrochemical company leaked harmful gasses from its chemical plant in the Gulf Coast town of Point Comfort in 2021, Texas’ environmental agency fined it nearly $267,000. Instead of paying the entire fine to the state, Formosa — which uses fossil fuels to create plastics — sent half the money to the Texas Natural Gas Foundation, a nonprofit entity that promotes natural gas to the public.
Texas state law allows polluters to divert some of their fines that normally go to the state’s general revenue fund to “supplemental environmental projects,” or SEPs. The Texas Natural Gas Foundation has qualified as an SEP since 2016.
In theory, SEPs are meant to remediate industrial pollution and environmental harm by funding programs like cleanups at illegal dump sites, habitat restoration or household hazardous waste pickups in communities.
Public documents obtained by Floodlight show that SEPs like the one with the Texas Natural Gas Foundation can directly benefit the companies that are being penalized — by paying to staff and run industry programs.
According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s description of the Texas Natural Gas Foundation’s SEP, the nonprofit aims to raise $8 million to replace state government-owned diesel trucks and buses with new gas vehicles that the foundation argues are cleaner. Several school districts receive SEP funding for similar bus replacement projects. But by allowing entities like the Texas Natural Gas Foundation to receive state funds, Texas is allowing the fossil fuel industry to reshuffle money back to itself, public documents show.
Biden administration drops fight over Texas’ Medicaid waiver, now in place until 2030.
A federal health care program that Texas uses to help pay for health care for uninsured Texans — worth billions of dollars annually — is safe for another decade after the federal government said Friday that it would stop fighting the Trump-era agreement to extend the program beyond its expiration date later this year.
“It is not the best use of the federal government’s limited resources to continue to litigate this matter,” reads a letter sent Friday to state health officials from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “This should resolve the issue without the need for further litigation and will create no disruption to the people who rely on Texas’ Medicaid program.”
The announcement concludes a yearlong legal battle over the so-called 1115 waiver, specifically how long it should stay in effect and how parts of it should be funded.
After a Taiwanese plastics and petrochemical company leaked harmful gasses from its chemical plant in the Gulf Coast town of Point Comfort in 2021, Texas’ environmental agency fined it nearly $267,000. Instead of paying the entire fine to the state, Formosa — which uses fossil fuels to create plastics — sent half the money to the Texas Natural Gas Foundation, a nonprofit entity that promotes natural gas to the public.
Texas state law allows polluters to divert some of their fines that normally go to the state’s general revenue fund to “supplemental environmental projects,” or SEPs. The Texas Natural Gas Foundation has qualified as an SEP since 2016.
In theory, SEPs are meant to remediate industrial pollution and environmental harm by funding programs like cleanups at illegal dump sites, habitat restoration or household hazardous waste pickups in communities.
Public documents obtained by Floodlight show that SEPs like the one with the Texas Natural Gas Foundation can directly benefit the companies that are being penalized — by paying to staff and run industry programs.
According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s description of the Texas Natural Gas Foundation’s SEP, the nonprofit aims to raise $8 million to replace state government-owned diesel trucks and buses with new gas vehicles that the foundation argues are cleaner. Several school districts receive SEP funding for similar bus replacement projects. But by allowing entities like the Texas Natural Gas Foundation to receive state funds, Texas is allowing the fossil fuel industry to reshuffle money back to itself, public documents show.
Biden administration drops fight over Texas’ Medicaid waiver, now in place until 2030.
A federal health care program that Texas uses to help pay for health care for uninsured Texans — worth billions of dollars annually — is safe for another decade after the federal government said Friday that it would stop fighting the Trump-era agreement to extend the program beyond its expiration date later this year.
“It is not the best use of the federal government’s limited resources to continue to litigate this matter,” reads a letter sent Friday to state health officials from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “This should resolve the issue without the need for further litigation and will create no disruption to the people who rely on Texas’ Medicaid program.”
The announcement concludes a yearlong legal battle over the so-called 1115 waiver, specifically how long it should stay in effect and how parts of it should be funded.
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Federalism and Public Policy
Federalism and Public Policy:
A reminder about where to look for the basic functions of each level of government.
National Powers:
- development of commerce
- internal and external security
- coordinating state activities
U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 8.
U.S. Constitution: Article 2, Section 2.
U.S. Constitution: Article 3, Section 2.
U.S. Code.
U.S. Executive Agencies
House Committees
Senate Committees
State Powers:
Reserved and Concurrent Powers
- police powers - health, safety, welfare, morals
- create local governments
U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 4.
U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 10. (prohibited powers)
Texas Constitution
Texas Statutory Code
Texas Fiscal Size-Up
Texas Sunset Review Commission
Texas House Committees
Texas Senate Committees
Local Powers:
Wards of the state - Dillon's rule
- administrate state laws
- resolve local disputes
Texas Constitution Articles 9 and 11
Texas Local Government Code
Texas Constitution Article 3, Section 56 (limits on states)
Codes of Ordinances
- Categories of Public Policy.
- Federalism and Public Policy.
- The Public Policy Process.
- The Issue Attention Cycle.
Local Law Enforcement
County Level
- Brazoria County Sheriffs Office.
- Brazoria County Constables Office.
- Harris County Sheriffs Office.
- Harris County Constables Office.
Municipal Level.
- Alvin Police Department
- Houston Police Department
- Pearland Police Department
Independent School Districts
Community College Districts
Texas House Committees
- Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.
- Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee.
- Criminal Justice Reform, Interim Study Committee.
Texas Senate Committees
- Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.
- Senate Committee on Jurisprudence.
State Code
- Texas Penal Code.
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
- Texas District Courts - Brazoria County.
- Alvin Code of Ordinances.
- Alvin Police Department.
- Alvin Municipal Court.
- Alvin City Jail.
From the Texas Fiscal Size-Up: PUBLIC SAFETY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
- Click here for the source, and go to page 325.
Public safety and criminal justice agencies are funded in Article V of the General Appropriations Act and provide various services to ensure the safety and security of Texans. Those services include the adult and juvenile corrections systems (community supervision, incarceration, and parole services), law enforcement and highway patrol, the Texas military forces, and driver license processing. Additional services provided include county jail regulation, law enforcement officer training and licensing, alcoholic beverage industry oversight, and firefighter certification. Border security is coordinated among several Article V agencies and agencies in other articles of government. Public safety and criminal justice agencies are funded primarily with General Revenue Funds.
From the Fiscal Size-Up: Four methods of finance
- Click here for the source, go to page 1.
The Legislature uses four methods of finance to appropriate funds to state agencies and public institutions of higher education: General Revenue Funds, General Revenue– Dedicated Funds, Federal Funds, and Other Funds.
• General Revenue Funds include the nondedicated portion of the General Revenue Fund, which is the state’s primary operating fund. General Revenue Funds also include the Available School Fund, the State Instructional Materials Fund, and the Foundation School Fund;
• General Revenue–Dedicated Funds include approximately 200 accounts within the General Revenue Fund that are dedicated for specific purposes by statute or by the funds-consolidation process. For example, Account No. 151, Clean Air, is funded primarily through a portion of motor vehicle inspection fees and a portion of air pollution control fees. These Account No. 151 revenues are statutorily dedicated to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to provide funding for various air quality, monitoring, and permitting programs;
• Federal Funds include grants, allocations, payments, or reimbursements received from the federal government by state agencies and institutions. Th e largest portion of federal funding appropriations is for the Medicaid program in Article II. Other examples of Federal Funds appropriations include the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies, National School Lunch Program, Transportation Grants and National Highway System Funding, Special Education Basic State Grants, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program; and
• Other Funds consist of any funds that are not included in the General Revenue Fund (dedicated or not) or Federal Funds. Examples of Other Funds include the State Highway Fund, the Texas Mobility Fund, the Property Tax Relief Fund, the Economic Stabilization Fund, trust
Friday, April 22, 2022
From the Brookings Institution: US immigration policy: A classic, unappreciated example of structural racism
For our look at public policy.
- Click here for the article.
In sum, from the early 1900s through the 1960s, millions of predominantly white immigrants entered the country unlawfully, but faced virtually no threat of apprehension or deportation. Businesses lawfully employed these immigrants, who were eligible for public benefits when they fell on hard times.
By contrast, the undocumented population today—mostly Latino and overwhelmingly people of color— none of the privileges accorded to previous generations of white immigrants. The toughening of immigration laws coincided with a shift of immigration from Europe to newcomers from Latin America, Asia, and Africa,[x] often in the context of racialized debates targeted mainly at Latinos. Researchers have documented how through the 1960s, racialized views of Mexicans shaped law and bureaucratic practice.[xi] Over the next decade, Congress: ended the Bracero program, which had allowed as many as 800,000 temporary migrants from Mexico annually to work mainly in agriculture; cut legal immigration from Mexico by 50%; and ended the long-standing practice that parents of US citizens wouldn’t be deported. Reducing lawful means of immigrating predictably led to a rise in unauthorized entries, which was met with calls for tougher enforcement.[xii]
From the Sunset Review Commission: Impact of Sunset Reviews
We discussed this in a class the other day - what has the Sunset Review Commission actually done?
- Click here for the page.
Specific examples of the most impactful changes are highlighted below.
Less Burdensome Regulation
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s resources and capabilities had been stretched thin by decades of taking on new or troubled programs, jeopardizing the quality of service to licensees and the general public. Sunset eliminated 29 types of licenses that provided little or no benefit to the public and were held by 160,000 businesses and individuals, such as polygraph examiners and combative sports event coordinators. Sunset also streamlined the regulation of about 345,000 barbers, cosmetologists, and their businesses to reduce both the department’s workload and regulatory burdens on the licensees.
The Sunset process removed unnecessary regulatory obstacles to doing business in Texas at 10 state agencies, such as notarization of application forms, subjective qualifications to get a license or permit, onerous educational requirements, inconsistencies in licensing and examination processes, and arbitrary rules on how criminal convictions affect eligibility for certification.
More Accountable, Efficient State Government
The Texas Animal Health Commission’s animal health testing laboratory had become outdated, inefficient, and unjustifiably expensive to operate. Sunset directed the agency to close the lab and outsource regulatory animal health tests to Texas A&M University’s nationally accredited veterinary lab, to the extent testing is available, efficient, and cost-effective. The change will lower the state’s cost of testing for contagious animal diseases and eliminate duplication of state-funded operations.
Historically, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement has not effectively collected or used data to assess and prioritize regulatory processes such as audits, which state law requires to be risk-based. The Sunset Commission directed the agency to improve its approach to audits, contracting, and overall decision-making. Although the agency’s Sunset bill did not pass, these management directives should lead to operational improvements.
To improve consistency and efficiency of operations at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Legislature required the agency to adopt policies to guide its enforcement processes, and to standardize its regulatory programs to the extent feasible. The department must also refine existing strategic planning efforts and establish a more complete and formal internal audit process.
Broader Public Engagement
Sunset’s review of the Teacher Retirement System found a major disconnect between the agency and the retired teachers it serves, resulting in poor service and confusing requirements, particularly about the process to appeal agency decisions. Sunset required the agency’s board of trustees to appoint an independent ombudsman to monitor these interactions and recommend improvements, and required the agency to develop a strategic plan to communicate with and engage its customers.
Despite the Texas Department of Agriculture’s broad reach across Texas, it lacked an effective strategy to engage stakeholders statewide. The Legislature increased opportunities for public input into the department’s activities by authorizing the creation of advisory committees and requiring a strategic planning process with public input for inspections. Sunset also directed the department to improve information for the public on its website about its regulations and operations.
More Effective Public Safety
Having clear standards for jails is critical to the mission of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to protect both inmates and the public. For years, however, the agency set vague, ineffective requirements for how jails are managed and operated. Sunset directed the agency to develop more specific and effective jail standards that account for risk. Further, Sunset legislation requires the agency to implement risk-based inspections and more consistent enforcement protocols, with escalating penalties for noncompliance.
Complaints are an important tool in identifying and addressing regulatory violations that could harm the public. Sunset directed 11 agencies to more clearly explain their complaint filing procedures and final decisions to complainants, and to strengthen and formalize their processes for reviewing and investigating complaints, taking enforcement actions, and tracking, analyzing, and reporting complaint data. For example, Sunset directed the Credit Union Department to overhaul its complaints process and more clearly communicate its authority and process for investigating complaints.
Thursday, April 21, 2022
For ACC GOVT 2306 Ch 14
- Fracking.
- Land
- Good Roads Amendment
- Road User Fees
- environmentalism
- alternative energy
- Dream Act
- Spicewood Beach
- Federal Aid Road Act
- Ogallala Aquifer
- TCEQ
- rule of capture
- Plyler v Doe
- Light Rail
- mass transit
- Clean Energy Tax
- subsidies
- radioactive waste
- Trans Texas Corridor
- eminent domain
- diversified economy
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
From Wikipedia: Piggly-Wiggly
long story
- Click here for the entry.
At the time of its founding, grocery stores did not allow customers to gather their own goods. Instead, a customer would give a list of items to a clerk, who would then go through the store, gathering them. This created a greater cost and higher prices. Piggly Wiggly introduced the innovation of allowing customers to go through the store, gathering their goods, thus cutting costs and lowering prices.[2] Losses due to easier shoplifting were more than offset by profits from increased impulse purchasing. Others were initially experimenting with this format, which came to be known as a "groceteria", reminding people of cafeterias, another relatively new, self-service idea.[7]
Customers at Piggly Wiggly entered the store through a turnstile and walked through four aisles to view the store's 605 items sold in packages and organized into departments. The customers selected merchandise as they continued through the maze to the cashier. Instantly, packaging and brand recognition became important to companies and consumers alike.[6]
The original Piggly Wiggly Store, Memphis, Tennessee, 1918
Piggly Wiggly was the first to:
provide checkout stands.[9]
price mark every item in the store.[9]
provide shopping carts for customers, starting in 1937 in Oklahoma.[10]
The success of Piggly Wiggly was phenomenal, and other independent and chain grocery stores changed to self-service in the 1920s and 1930s. At its peak in 1932 (see Clarence Saunders), the company operated 2,660 stores and posted annual sales in excess of $180 million. In November 1922, Saunders attempted a squeeze on the substantial short interest in the stock, running the share price up from 40 to 120 and profiting by millions on paper. The Stock Exchange Governors responded by deciding that a corner had been established in Piggly Wiggly and removed the stock from the Board, eventually forcing Saunders to turn over his assets to the banks that had financed his leveraged position. Saunders reputedly lost $9 million in the attempted corner.
From Wikipedia: Title 42 expulsion
- Click here for the entry.
Title 42 expulsions are removals by the U.S. government of persons who have recently been in a country where a communicable disease was present. The extent of authority for contagion-related expulsions is set out by law in 42 U.S.C. § 265. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration used this provision (section 265) to generally block land entry for many migrants. The program has been continued by the Biden administration.[1]
From the Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott brags about his border initiative. The evidence doesn’t back him up.
Let's pay special attention to how this is financed.
- Click here for the link.
2021: Operation Lone Star
Description: Under the operation that launched in March 2021, Abbott deployed more than 10,000 Texas National Guard members and DPS troopers to the border to combat drug smuggling and unauthorized immigration. For the first time, some migrants are being arrested on state criminal trespassing charges after crossing into the U.S. on private property. The National Guard is also helping build border barriers and creating what Abbott and DPS call a “steel curtain,” a combination of vehicles, concertina wire and shipping containers, to deter anyone seeking to cross.
Stated reason: About two months after Biden’s inauguration, Abbott blamed the new administration for what he called an escalating crisis at the border. When the governor launched the operation, the number of people crossing into the state via the southern border had reached a two-decade high. Under Title 42, more than three-quarters of migrants apprehended from January through March were immediately turned away.
End date: Ongoing
Cost: DPS estimates spending about $2.5 million per week for up to 1,600 troopers involved in the mission. The Texas Military Department estimates that the current deployment of 10,000 National Guard members will cost an additional $2 billion a year, nearly five times what the Legislature had budgeted for the deployment. The cost doesn’t include additional funding for related expenses such as jails, public defenders and grants awarded to local governments through the governor’s office.
Claimed success: State officials have touted more than 13,000 criminal arrests, tens of thousands of pounds of drugs seized and more than 230,000 unauthorized migrants referred to the Border Patrol.
Reported concerns: An investigation by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and The Marshall Project found that the state’s claims of success have been based on shifting metrics that included taking credit for uncovering crimes that had no links to the border, work conducted by troopers who were in the region before the operation began, and arrests, drug seizures and migrant apprehensions made in conjunction with other agencies. More than nine months into the operation, DPS told the news organizations that it had removed about 2,000 charges it deemed not related to border crime from a dataset of arrests credited to Operation Lone Star. The state faces several lawsuits and calls for investigation from Democrats, lawyers and advocacy groups following media reports detailing alleged civil rights violations and court rulings raising questions about the constitutionality of the trespassing arrests. Despite DPS and Abbott’s office highlighting human trafficking and smuggling arrests, the largest share of arrests are of people accused of trespassing on private property. The Army Times and the Tribune have also reported about poor working conditions and suicides among National Guard members deployed under the operation.
Instructions for Form 1040
- Click here for it.
Affordable Care Act
Who Files
Dependents
Standard Deduction
Presidential Campaign Fund
Virtual Currency
Income
- PPP
- Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
- Community property States
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Form 1040: The U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- Click here for it.
From H&R Block: What is Form 1040?
From Wikipedia: Form 1040.
From Wikipedia: Tax Day.
Regarding the Income Tax
- History of taxation in the United States.
- Tariff in United States history.
- Income tax in the United States.
- Internal Revenue Service.
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
- Revenue Act of 1861.
- Revenue Act of 1862.
- Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894.
- Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895)
- Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- - Case law.
- Revenue Act of 1913.
- Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
- Marginal tax rates.
- Effective income tax rates.
- Tariff in United States history.
- Income tax in the United States.
- Internal Revenue Service.
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
- Revenue Act of 1861.
- Revenue Act of 1862.
- Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894.
- Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895)
- Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- - Case law.
- Revenue Act of 1913.
- Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
- Marginal tax rates.
- Effective income tax rates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget#/media/File:2020_US_Federal_Budget_Infographic.png
https://www.cbo.gov/topics/budget
https://www.reuters.com/business/us-cracks-down-russian-debt-payments-latest-sovereign-payments-halted-2022-04-05/
Selling K Building
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/u-s-treasury-confirms-russia-not-barred-from-servicing-bonds
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.alvincollege.edu/about/financial-information/pdf/Legislative-Appropriations-2022-and-2023.pdf
https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/060215/what-difference-between-upstream-and-downstream-oil-and-gas-operations.asp
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/excise-tax
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/#:~:text=Texas%20imposes%20a%206.25%20percent,as%20well%20as%20taxable%20services.
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/insurance/ret-tax.php
https://www.hctax.net/SpecialPermitTaxes/Hotel
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/exemptions/
https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/government-code/gov-t-sect-403-109.html#:~:text=(a)%20The%20property%20tax%20relief,allocated%20monthly%20to%20the%20fund.
https://wbctx.com/williams-brothers-wins-work-at-txdot-december-2015-letting/
https://www.alvincollege.edu/news/press-releases/ACC-Receives-Stimulus-Funds.html
https://www.alvincollege.edu/cewd/financial-aid.html
The Fiscal Size-Up - Some notes from Chapter 2
- Click here for it.
Major State Funds
- General Revenue Fund
- Available School Fund
- Foundation School Fund
- State Highway Fund
- Texas Mobility Fund
- Property Tax Relief Fund
- Tax Reduction and Excellence in Education Fund
- Economic Stabilization Fund
Federal Funds Appropriations
- Health and Human Services
- Business and Economic Development
- Education
Local Revenue
- Property Taxes
- - Taxable Values
- - Property Tax Levies
- Local Sales Tax
Thursday, April 14, 2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Land_Survey_System
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/pdf/CN.7.pdf
https://www.lanereport.com/134805/2020/11/delving-into-the-history-of-bourbon/#:~:text=There%20isn't%20much%20documentation,first%20African%20American%20master%20distiller.
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/cotton-gin-and-the-expansion-of-slavery
https://propaccess.trueautomation.com/mapSearch/?cid=51
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1966/395
https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/slavery-in-the-american-south#:~:text=Slaves%20had%20no%20constitutional%20rights,card%20games%20and%20horse%20races.
https://trid.trb.org/view/1258708#:~:text=The%20right%20to%20travel%20is,without%20government%20interference%20and%20intrusion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Casor
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-true-law-of-free-monarchies-by-king-james-vi-and-i
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Two-Treatises-of-Government
https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/houston/i45-galveston-causeway.html
https://abc13.com/new-construction-2022-real-estate-public-transportation-houston-traffic/11407560/#:~:text=This%20project%20will%20be%20seen,and%20start%20service%20in%202027.
https://communityimpact.com/houston/bay-area/transportation/2021/10/19/i-45-widening-project-deadline-from-nasa-parkway-to-fm-518-extended-by-several-months/
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2021/08/31/407437/controversial-i-45-expansion-project-set-to-move-forward-for-now/
https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/2010/12/uh-tsu-perpetuating-separate-but-equal/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clayton_Powell_Jr.
https://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2019/01/before-passing-away-carol-channing-passed-for-white.html
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/06/17/white-like-me
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/homer-plessy-31242.php
https://www.vox.com/2014/5/20/5732208/the-green-lantern-theory-of-the-presidency-explained
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
From Pro-Publica: America's Highest Earners and their Taxes Revealed
Just in time for tax day.
- Click here for it.
Which people and professions rake in the most income year after year? Which are most adept at shielding that money from the taxman? And what does this tell you about America?
A trove of IRS data obtained by ProPublica has the definitive answers, revealing the incomes and tax rates of the 400 Americans with the highest incomes from 2013 to 2018. It took an average of $110 million per year in income to crack that list — with plenty of names you would expect and some that may surprise you.
We’ll also show how much the 400 paid in federal income taxes. (ProPublica is naming the 15 highest income earners, along with an assortment that represent income patterns that we’ve identified.
In theory, our tax system is designed to tax the rich at higher rates than everyone else. That’s not the way it works at the loftiest incomes. The data reveals a system where the very highest earners, on average, pay far lower tax rates than the merely affluent do. And even among the top 400, some groups have it better than others: Tech billionaires pay rates well below even other business owners.
- Click here for the high earners and their tax rates.
INTERIM COMMITTEE CHARGES
Texas Legislature
- Texas House.
- Texas Senate.
- - Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.
- - Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.
From Wikipedia: Equality before the law
I think I prefer using "equality before the law" rather than "civil rights" since its a bit more precise. I more clearly states the goal of the various movements that seek to establish it.
- Click here for the entry.
Equality before the law, also known as equality under the law, equality in the eyes of the law, legal equality, or legal egalitarianism, is the principle that all people must be equally protected by the law.[1] The principle requires a systematic rule of law that observes due process to provide equal justice, and requires equal protection ensuring that no individual nor group of individuals be privileged over others by the law. Sometimes called the principle of isonomy, it arises from various philosophical questions concerning equality, fairness and justice. Equality before the law is one of the basic principles of some definitions of liberalism.[2][3] It is incompatible with legal slavery.
. . . Liberalism calls for equality before the law for all persons.[2] Classical liberalism as embraced by libertarians and modern American conservatives opposes pursuing group rights at the expense of individual rights.[3]
In his Second Treatise of Government (1689), John Locke wrote: "A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection, unless the lord and master of them all should, by any manifest declaration of his will, set one above another, and confer on him, by an evident and clear appointment, an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty."[14]
In 1774, Alexander Hamilton wrote: "All men have one common original, they participate in one common nature, and consequently have one common right. No reason can be assigned why one man should exercise any power over his fellow creatures more than another, unless they voluntarily vest him with it".[15]
In Social Statics, Herbert Spencer defined it as a natural law "that every man may claim the fullest liberty to exercise his faculties compatible with the possession of like liberty to every other man". Stated another way by Spencer, "each has freedom to do all that he wills provided that he infringes not the equal freedom of any other".
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Slavery Clauses in the U.S. Constitution
Article One, Section 2. 3: Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
- 3/5ths Compromise.
Article One, Section 9.1: The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importations, not exceeding 10 dollars for each person.
- Slave Trade Clause.
- Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves.
- African Slave Trade.
Article 4, Section 2.3: No person held to service or labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due.
- Fugitive Slave Clause.
Article 5: no amendment which may be made prior to the year 1808, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article.
From Wikipedia: Slave Codes
- Click here for it.
The most common elements are:
Marriage restrictions: Most places restricted the marriage rights of enslaved people, ostensibly to prevent them from trying to change masters by marrying into a family on another plantation. Marriage between people of different races was also usually restricted.
Prohibitions on gathering: Slave codes generally prevented large groups of enslaved people from gathering away from their plantations.
Slave patrols: In the slave-dependent portions of North America, varying degrees of legal authority backed slave patrols by plantation owners and other free whites to ensure that enslaved people were not free to move about at night, and to generally enforce the restrictions on slaves.
Trade and commerce by slaves: Initially, most places gave enslaved people some land to work personally and allowed them to operate their markets. As slavery became more profitable, slave codes restricting the rights of enslaved people to buy, sell, and produce goods were introduced. In some places, slave tags were required to be worn by enslaved people to prove that they were allowed to participate in certain types of work.
Punishment and killing of slaves: Slave codes regulated how slaves could be punished, usually going so far as to apply no penalty for accidentally killing a slave while punishing them. Later laws began to apply restrictions on this, but slave-owners were still rarely punished for killing their slaves. Historian Lawrence M. Friedman wrote: "Ten Southern codes made it a crime to mistreat a slave.... Under the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825 (art. 192), if a master was ′convicted of cruel treatment,′ the judge could order the sale of the mistreated slave, presumably to a better master."
Education restrictions: Some codes made it illegal to teach slaves to read.
- Click here for anti-literacy laws in the United States.
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