- Texas Senate approves bill that would end faculty tenure at public universities.
- Texas Senate moves to end countywide voting on Election Day.
- Public schools would have to display Ten Commandments under bill passed by Texas Senate.
- Texas Senate approves bill that would ban diversity programs in public universities.
Friday, April 21, 2023
Thursday, April 20, 2023
The Right of Discovery / The Right of Conquest
How did the English divide up property after arrival in 1607?
- From Virginia Places: How Colonists Acquired Title to Land in Virginia.
The English who settled in Virginia starting in 1607 asserted that they owned the land. During the colonial period, individual colonist acquired real property primarily through grants from the Virginia Company, headrights, treasury rights, and military warrants.
The pre-existing ownership rights of the Native Americans, the current occupants, were dismissed. At various times the English stated simply that they owned the land through "right of discovery" and "right of conquest." Treaties were negotiated with different tribes in the 1600's and 1700's to extinguish Native American claims, but land was seized rather than purchased from the original inhabitants. The chain of title for parcels in Virginia starts with colonial records created by the English.
Charters issued by James I did acknowledge the land claims of the Spanish in the New World, based on prior settlement. The first charter issued to the Virginia Company in 1606 authorized the investors "to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of our People into that part of America commonly called VIRGINIA, but settlement was allowed only on territory "not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or People."
The Europeans who settled first at Jamestown were employees of the Virginia Company. The investors in that company controlled all the initial English land claims in the colony. That lasted less than a decade, after which land titles for individuals were established by company land grants to individuals and "particular plantations." After King James I revoked the Virginia Company's charter in 1624, land was privatized by treasury rights, headrights, militia rights, and land grants awarded by the governor and his Council of State.
The Virginia Company was not a successful business before it expired in 1624. The Spanish had found gold in the Caribbean, then seized vast wealth from organized Native American societies in Mexico and Peru - but there was no gold on the Coastal Plain of Virginia, and the paramount chiefdom led by Powhatan offered no stores of mineral wealth to exploit.
After John Rolfe made a profit from shipping Nicotiana tabacum tobacco in 1614, the Virginia Company recognized that it might generate a positive return on investment from agriculture. If farming was the answer, then the company certainly had one of the key requirements: land. The Third Charter in 1612 had granted the company all lands between 34-41 degrees, and in the Second Charter issued in 1609 it obtained all the land "from Sea to Sea West and North-west."2
Tobacco farming required large amounts of land because the plant exhausted key nutrients in the soil, parrticularly nitrogen, in just 2-3 years. New fields had to be cleared and planted regularly, so growing tobacco required owning large tracts of land.
Farming requires people to do the actual farming. At the same time as tobacco revealed a basis for profit in Virginia, the company was struggling to find new workers willing to be transported across the Atlantic Ocean. Negative reports from returning colonists discouraged even the poor in England from choosing to go to Virginia. After the Starving Time of 1609-1610, Lord de la Warre (as governor) and Sir Thomas Gates (as first marshal) had turned Jamestown into an armed camp with military discipline. They issued Laws Divine, Moral, and Martiall to control the behavior of the company's employees and soldiers.
Growing tobacco was a labor-intensive operation; large numbers of workers were needed to plant, weed, and harvest the crop. Owning a massive block of land in Virginia generated no profit for the investors unless there were farmers growing tobacco on that land. The Virginia Company needed to increase immigration to Virginia, and to decrease emigration of servants who had completed their time of required service.
The company adapted. Investors retained dreams of finding valuable minerals or generating profits from manufacturing items in Virginia such as glass, but the revised business plan took advantage of the company's greatest asset - its ownership of a vast amount of fertile land.
Related Concepts:
- Wikipedia: Headrights.
A headright refers to a legal grant of land given to settlers during the period of European colonization in the Americas. Headrights are most notable for their role in the expansion of the Thirteen Colonies; the Virginia Company gave headrights to settlers, and the Plymouth Company followed suit. The headright system was used in several colonies, including Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Most headrights were for 1 to 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land, and were granted to those who were willing to cross the Atlantic and help populate the colonies. Headrights were granted to anyone who would pay for the transportation costs of an indentured laborer. These land grants consisted of 50 acres (0.20 km2) for someone newly moving to the area and 100 acres (0.40 km2) for people previously living in the area. By ensuring the landowning masters had legal ownership of all land acquired, the indentured laborers after their indenture period had passed had little opportunity to procure their own land. This kept a large portion of the citizens of the Thirteen Colonies poor and led to tensions between the laborers and the landowners.
- Treasury Rights.
- Land Patents.
- Military Warrants.
- Wikipedia: Discovery doctrine.
The discovery doctrine, or doctrine of discovery, is a disputed interpretation of international law during the Age of Discovery, introduced into United States municipal law by the US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall in Johnson v. M'Intosh (1823). In Marshall's formulation of the doctrine, discovery of territory previously unknown to Europeans gave the discovering nation title to that territory against all other European nations, and this title could be perfected by possession. A number of legal scholars have criticized Marshall's interpretation of the relevant international law. In recent decades, advocates for Indigenous rights have campaigned against the doctrine. In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the doctrine.
- LII: doctrine of discovery.
The doctrine of discovery refers to a principle in public international law under which, when a nation “discovers” land, it directly acquires rights on that land. This doctrine arose when the European nations discovered non-European lands, and therefore acquired special rights, such as property and sovereignty rights, on those lands. This principle disregards the fact that the land oftentimes is already inhabited by another nation. In fact, this doctrine was used in order to legitimize the colonization of lands outside of Europe.
More broadly, the doctrine of discovery can be described as an international law doctrine giving authorization to explorers to claim terra nullius – i.e. said inhabited land – in the name of their sovereign when the land was not populated by Christians.
Nowadays, the world as viewed by international law is considered to be a finite world, because no land is open to state occupation (no terra nullius left), so this question no longer arises today. However, in 1792 Thomas Jefferson asserted that the doctrine of discovery was international, and therefore was applicable to the U.S. government. Today, the doctrine of discovery is still mentioned in American Imperialism and in regards to the treatment of indigenous people.
- Right of Conquest.
The right of conquest is a right of ownership to land after immediate possession via force of arms. It was recognized as a principle of international law that gradually deteriorated in significance until its proscription in the aftermath of World War II following the concept of crimes against peace introduced in the Nuremberg Principles. The interdiction of territorial conquests was confirmed and broadened by the UN Charter, which provides in article 2, paragraph 4, that "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." Although civil wars continued, wars between established states have been rare since 1945. Nations that have resorted to the use of force since the Charter came into effect have typically invoked self-defense or the right of collective defense.
The requirements for a free market
There doesn't seem to be a consensus on this, but the themes seems similar.
Here are some opinions
From the Students for Liberty:
Free markets usually encompass the principles of
- private property
- capitalism
- individual rights.
From the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Our business system is based upon four basic principles:
(1) freedom of choice
(2) private property rights
(3) profit motive of owners
(4) owner control.
From Investopedia:
The U.S. economic system of free enterprise has five main principles:
- the freedom for individuals to choose businesses,
- the right to private property,
- profits as an incentive,
- competition,
- consumer sovereignty.
From Wikipedia:
Central characteristics of capitalism include
- capital accumulation
- competitive markets
- a price system
- private property and the recognition of property rights
- voluntary exchange
- wage labor.
Here are some opinions
From the Students for Liberty:
Free markets usually encompass the principles of
- private property
- capitalism
- individual rights.
From the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Our business system is based upon four basic principles:
(1) freedom of choice
(2) private property rights
(3) profit motive of owners
(4) owner control.
From Investopedia:
The U.S. economic system of free enterprise has five main principles:
- the freedom for individuals to choose businesses,
- the right to private property,
- profits as an incentive,
- competition,
- consumer sovereignty.
From Wikipedia:
Central characteristics of capitalism include
- capital accumulation
- competitive markets
- a price system
- private property and the recognition of property rights
- voluntary exchange
- wage labor.
Market Failure and the Texas Sunset Commission
I'm thinking about where these agencies, which are under review for 2022-23, fit.
What aspect of market failure does each purport to address?
- Negative Externalities
- Uneven Information
- Monopolies
- Public Goods
- - and what type of public good?
- - - social
- - - common pool
- - - toll goods
- - - pure public good
Anatomical Board of the State of Texas
Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District
Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Office of the Independent Ombudsman
Texas Invasive Species Coordinating Committee
Texas Juvenile Justice Department
Lavaca-Navidad River Authority
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission
Public Utility Commission of Texas
Office of Public Utility Counsel
San Antonio River Authority
San Jacinto River Authority
Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
Office of State-Federal Relations
Upper Guadalupe River Authority
State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
Texas Water Development Board
State Water Implementation Fund for Texas Advisory Committee
What aspect of market failure does each purport to address?
- Negative Externalities
- Uneven Information
- Monopolies
- Public Goods
- - and what type of public good?
- - - social
- - - common pool
- - - toll goods
- - - pure public good
Anatomical Board of the State of Texas
Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District
Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Office of the Independent Ombudsman
Texas Invasive Species Coordinating Committee
Texas Juvenile Justice Department
Lavaca-Navidad River Authority
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission
Public Utility Commission of Texas
Office of Public Utility Counsel
San Antonio River Authority
San Jacinto River Authority
Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
Office of State-Federal Relations
Upper Guadalupe River Authority
State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
Texas Water Development Board
State Water Implementation Fund for Texas Advisory Committee
Why is 35 a state highway and FM 521 not?
Let's find out:
- https://www.txdot.gov/projects/hearings-meetings/houston/archive/061721.html
- https://www.txdot.gov/projects/projects-studies/houston/fm-521-bw-8-fm-2234.html
What is Space X anyway?
For our look at privatization.
From Wikipedia:
an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites.
From History of Space X, Goals, Funding:
SpaceX is privately funded.[78] SpaceX developed its first launch vehicle—Falcon 1—and three rocket engines—Merlin, Kestrel, and Draco—completely with private capital. SpaceX contracted with the US government for a portion of the development funding for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which uses a modified version of the Merlin rocket engine.[78] SpaceX is developing the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle,[79] the Raptor methane-fueled rocket engine,[80] and a set of reusable launch vehicle technologies with private capital.[81]
As of May 2012, SpaceX had operated on total funding of approximately $1 billion in its first ten years of operation. Of this, private equity provided about $200M, with Musk investing approximately $100M and other investors having put in about $100M (Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, ...).[82] The remainder has come from progress payments on long-term launch contracts and development contracts. As of April 2012, NASA had put in about $400–500M of this amount, with most of that as progress payments on launch contracts.[83] By May 2012, SpaceX had contracts for 40 launch missions, and each of those contracts provide down payments at contract signing, plus many are paying progress payments as launch vehicle components are built in advance of mission launch, driven in part by US accounting rules for recognizing long-term revenue.[83]
In August 2012, SpaceX signed a large development contract with NASA to design and develop a crew-carrying space capsule for the "next generation of U.S. human spaceflight capabilities", in order to re-enable the launch of astronauts from U.S. soil by 2017. Two other companies, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corporation, received similar development contracts. Advances made by all three companies under Space Act Agreements through NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative are intended to ultimately lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for both government and commercial customers. As part of this agreement, SpaceX was awarded a contract worth up to $440 million for contract deliverables between 2012 and May 2014.[84][85]
At the end of 2012 SpaceX had over 40 launches on its manifest, representing about $4 billion in contract revenue. Many of those contracts were already making progress payments to SpaceX, with both commercial and government (NASA/DOD) customers.[86]As of December 2013, SpaceX has a total of 50 future launches under contract, two-thirds of them are for commercial customers.[87][88] In late 2013, space industry media began to comment on the phenomenon that SpaceX prices are undercutting the major competitors in the commercial commsat launch market—the Ariane 5 and Proton-M[89]—at which time SpaceX had at least 10 further geostationary orbit flights on its books.
U.S. Constitution: The Enumerated Powers - Article 1, Section 8
- Avalon: Article One, Section 8.
- Constitution Annotated: Article One, Section 8.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
From the Texas Sunset Commission: Agencies Under Review for the 2022-23 Review Cycle
A good way to look at public policy arenas in the state of Texas.
- Click here for it.
For GOVT 2306 4/19/23
From the Texas Tribune:
- Texas House approves sweeping limits on local regulations in GOP’s latest jab at blue cities.
- - The bill in question is House Bill 2127.
In a major escalation of Republicans’ efforts to weaken the state’s bluer cities and counties, lawmakers in the Texas Legislature are advancing a pair of bills that would seize control of local regulations that could range from worker protections to water restrictions during droughts.
A bill backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and business lobbying groups, House Bill 2127, would bar cities and counties from passing regulations — and overturn existing ones — that go further than state law in a broad swath of areas including labor, agriculture, natural resources and finance. It received initial approval Tuesday in the Texas House by a 92-55 vote but must come back before the chamber for a final vote.
The bill’s backers argue it’s needed to combat what they call a growing patchwork of local regulations that make it difficult for business owners to operate and harm the state’s economy. Texas’ economic growth and jobs are overwhelmingly concentrated in the state’s urban areas.
- In late-night testimonies, relatives of Uvalde victims call on Texas lawmakers to advance gun bill.
- - The bill in question is House Bill 2744.
With emotional testimony about their own experiences, parents of children who were killed in the Uvalde school shooting urged a Texas House committee late Tuesday to pass on to the full chamber a bill that would raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles. Families waited more than 12 hours after the House Select Committee on Community Safety first convened about 9 a.m. to testify about their final memories with some of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed in the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary and how their lives have changed since.
. . . This is the first Texas legislative session since the state’s worst school shooting in history. For more than 13 years, lawmakers have loosened gun regulations and made accessing firearms easier, despite eight mass shootings in the same period.
Any bill creating new regulations on gun access is sure to face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature.
The testimony was during a hearing for House Bill 2744, from Democratic state Rep. Tracy King, who represents Uvalde. The bill would prohibit selling, renting, leasing or giving a semi-automatic rifle with a caliber greater than .22 that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine to a person younger than 21 years old.
- Texas Senate passes $308 billion budget plan, kicking off high-stakes negotiations with the House.
- - The bill in question is HB 1.
The Texas Senate on Monday gave final approval to a $308 billion spending plan for the next two years, sending budget leaders into high-stakes negotiations with their counterparts in the House over property taxes and other divisive issues — with just weeks to go before the legislative session ends.
Senators voted 31-0 to spend $141.2 billion in general revenue on major investments in property tax cuts, juvenile justice, mental health, higher education, state parks, historical sites and pay raises for teachers and state employees.
State Rep. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversaw the budget-writing process for the chamber, said “smart fiscal policy” over the last several sessions allowed budget writers to make historic investments thanks to an unprecedented surplus in state coffers. Comptroller Glenn Hegar has said the surplus is from a record amount of sales tax and oil and gas taxes collected from Texans for the past two years.
What is Fintech?
I stumbled across a story claiming that Starbucks has effectively turned into a bank. The author builds the argument up from an analysis of how it uses its gift cards, a technology they innovated around 2008.
- How Starbucks secretly operates like a bank.
- Is Starbucks Actually a Bank?
It led me down a rabbit hole.
FinTech is short for Financial technology.
So what's that all about?
- Click here for the Wikipedia entry.
Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are regarded as the "ABCD" (four key areas) of fintech. The use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing, borrowing services, and cryptocurrency are examples of technologies designed to make financial services more accessible to the general public. Fintech companies consist of both startups and established financial institutions and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services provided by existing financial companies.
It all falls under the heading of financial services.
What are financial services?
Financial services are economic services provided by the finance industry, which together encompass a broad range of service sector firms that provide financial management, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, consumer-finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds, individual asset managers, and some government-sponsored enterprises.
As we discuss in GOVT 2305, the U.S. Constitution contains implied powers that allow for the creation and regulations of banks and other financial institutions. The field is very dynamic however, which leads to calls for new regulations, as well as resistance to those calls.
What are financial regulations?
Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be handled by either a government or non-government organization. Financial regulation has also influenced the structure of banking sectors by increasing the variety of financial products available. Financial regulation forms one of three legal categories which constitutes the content of financial law, the other two being market practices and case law.
Wikipedia lists the following as the major financial regulatory institutions in the United States (at the national level)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Federal Reserve System ("Fed")
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) (a State-based regulatory standards organization, the McCarran–Ferguson Act exempts the "business of insurance" from most regulation at the Federal level)
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
The Free Market, etc . . .
- The Free Market.
an unregulated system of economic exchange, in which taxes, quality controls, quotas, tariffs, and other forms of centralized economic interventions by government either do not exist or are minimal. As the free market represents a benchmark that does not actually exist, modern societies can only approach or approximate this ideal of efficient resource allocation and can be described along a spectrum ranging from low to high amounts of regulation.
- Supply and Demand.
relationship between the quantity of a commodity that producers wish to sell at various prices and the quantity that consumers wish to buy. It is the main model of price determination used in economic theory. The price of a commodity is determined by the interaction of supply and demand in a market. The resulting price is referred to as the equilibrium price and represents an agreement between producers and consumers of the good. In equilibrium the quantity of a good supplied by producers equals the quantity demanded by consumers.
- Market Failure.
The 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.
- - Public Goods
- - Externalities
- - Asymmetrical Information
- - Monopolies
- The U.S. Constitution and the Free Market:
- assure that the ground rules were fair (a fixed standard of weights and measures)
- encourage initiative and inventiveness (copyright and patent protection laws)
- provide a system of sound currency with an established value (gold and silver coin)
- enforce free trade (free from interfering special interests)
- protect individuals from the harmful acts of others
an unregulated system of economic exchange, in which taxes, quality controls, quotas, tariffs, and other forms of centralized economic interventions by government either do not exist or are minimal. As the free market represents a benchmark that does not actually exist, modern societies can only approach or approximate this ideal of efficient resource allocation and can be described along a spectrum ranging from low to high amounts of regulation.
- Supply and Demand.
relationship between the quantity of a commodity that producers wish to sell at various prices and the quantity that consumers wish to buy. It is the main model of price determination used in economic theory. The price of a commodity is determined by the interaction of supply and demand in a market. The resulting price is referred to as the equilibrium price and represents an agreement between producers and consumers of the good. In equilibrium the quantity of a good supplied by producers equals the quantity demanded by consumers.
- Market Failure.
The 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.
- - Public Goods
- - Externalities
- - Asymmetrical Information
- - Monopolies
- The U.S. Constitution and the Free Market:
- assure that the ground rules were fair (a fixed standard of weights and measures)
- encourage initiative and inventiveness (copyright and patent protection laws)
- provide a system of sound currency with an established value (gold and silver coin)
- enforce free trade (free from interfering special interests)
- protect individuals from the harmful acts of others
- what else?
- The first congress.
- The evolution of executive agencies
Criticisms
Social Costs
- Rules biased in favor of suppliers
- The welfare of laborers
What is the Labor Market?
The supply and demand for human labor.
Meaning you and me.
- From Investopedia:
The labor market, also known as the job market, refers to the supply of and demand for labor, in which employees provide the supply and employers provide the demand. It is a major component of any economy and is intricately linked to markets for capital, goods, and services.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The labor market refers to the supply of and demand for labor, in which employees provide the supply and employers provide the demand.
- The labor market should be viewed at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels.
- Unemployment rates and labor productivity rates are two important macroeconomic gauges.
- Individual wages and the number of hours worked are two important microeconomic gauges.
- In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles detailed reports on national and local labor markets.
From the Des Moines Register: Senate passes bill loosening child labor laws to let Iowa teens work longer hours
Not law yet since it has not passed
- Click here for the article.
Iowa children would be allowed to work longer hours, including in jobs that are currently prohibited such as serving alcohol, under a bill passed by the Iowa Senate early Tuesday morning after a marathon session.
The Senate voted 32-17 just before 5 a.m. Tuesday to pass Senate File 542. Two Republicans, Sens. Charlie McClintock, R-Alburnett, and Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, broke with their colleagues to join every Democrat in opposition.
The House must still pass the bill before it could go to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature.
The bill's Republican supporters said it will modernize Iowa's laws and teach children valuable skills through workforce training programs.
"While the responsibility of having a job might be more valuable than having a paycheck, the reward of the paycheck will allow these youth who want to have a job to possibly save for a car, maybe buy a prom dress, go to a summer camp, take a date out for the weekend," said Sen. Adrian Dickey, R-Packwood, the bill's floor manager.
Democrats argued the bill will increase the risk of workplace accidents by exposing inexperienced kids to more dangerous work environments. They tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to offer additional workers compensation benefits for teenagers who get injured on the job.
"You don’t like it being branded as a bill about child labor, but yet your bill talks about kids getting injured in the workplace," said Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines. "So let’s make it about taking care of kids who are injured working in these jobs, because it will happen."
Senators stayed late Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday morning before passing the bill at 4:52 a.m. The delay came after Dickey refused to yield to a question from Democrats about an amendment to the bill.
Democrats then went to hold a private caucus meeting, breaking up debate. Senate Republicans later drafted amendments to address some of the concerns Democrats were trying to raise.
The proposal has drawn condemnation from labor unions, which have held protests around the state in an effort to stop it.
And the U.S. Department of Labor's top lawyer, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, criticized bills like those in Iowa and other states, calling it "irresponsible for states to consider loosening child labor protections."
Reynolds, a Republican, spoke favorably about the law earlier this month. She pointed to her own experience babysitting, waiting tables and working at Younkers when she was young.
"That’s good experience," she told reporters April 4. "You know, it teaches the kids a lot and if they have the time to do it and they want to earn some additional money I don’t think we should discourage that."
"Ultimately, parents and kids will decide if they want to work or not."
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll from March found 50% favor the proposal, while 42% oppose it and 8% are unsure.
What would Iowa's child labor bill do?
The bill would let the directors of the Iowa Department of Education or Iowa Workforce Development to grant exceptions allowing 14- to 17-year-olds to work in jobs currently banned for minors, as long as they are part of an approved training program with adequate supervision and safety precautions.
If the bill becomes law, 16- and 17-year-olds would be allowed to serve alcohol at restaurants, as long as the employer has written permission from the child's parent or guardian.
The Senate amended the bill early Tuesday to say minors could not serve alcohol in bars. The previous version of the bill would have allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to serve alcohol in both bars and restaurants.
"It was not intended to put minors in Tom’s Tavern slinging drinks, rather to allow these youth to work in Renee’s Restaurant," Dickey said.
The Senate also amended the bill Tuesday to clarify that 16- and 17-year-olds cannot work in strip clubs, although Senate Republicans said that has never been allowed under current law.
The bill would let kids under 16 work up to six hours a day, two more than the current maximum of four hours a day. And they could work longer into the evening — until 9 p.m. during the school year and until 11 p.m. during the summer.
Sixteen and 17-year-olds could work the same number of hours per day as adults.
It would also create a committee to study the possibility of letting teens 14 and older get a special driver's permit to drive to work. An earlier version of the bill would have simply authorized the new type of permits for teens.
Students ages 14½ or older can already get a special permit to drive to school.
And the bill says that teens who are injured on the job can seek benefits under the state's workers compensation program. The initial version did not include those protections for minors who could be hurt on the job.
The bill also eliminates decades-old provisions in current law that let children between the ages of 10 and 13 work in street occupations like selling newspapers, or migratory labor conditions.
From Texas:
- Texas Child Labor Law – Labor Code Chapter 51
- Texas Child Labor Rules - Texas Administrative Code
From CBO: The Federal Budget in Fiscal Year 2021: An Infographic
- Click here for it.
A good way to understand public policy is to note where the money is going. This should help.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Sunday, April 16, 2023
From the New York Times: How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives
For our look at social movements.
- Click here for the article.
When the Supreme Court declared a constitutional right to same-sex marriage nearly eight years ago, social conservatives were set adrift.
The ruling stripped them of an issue they had used to galvanize rank-and-file supporters and big donors. And it left them searching for a cause that — like opposing gay marriage — would rally the base and raise the movement’s profile on the national stage.
“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” said Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, a social conservative advocacy group. “And we threw everything at the wall.”
What has stuck, somewhat unexpectedly, is the issue of transgender identity, particularly among young people. Today, the effort to restrict transgender rights has supplanted same-sex marriage as an animating issue for social conservatives at a pace that has stunned political leaders across the spectrum. It has reinvigorated a network of conservative groups, increased fund-raising and set the agenda in school boards and state legislatures.
The campaign has been both organic and deliberate, and has even gained speed since Donald J. Trump, an ideological ally, left the White House. Since then, at least 20 states, all controlled by Republicans, have enacted laws that reach well beyond the initial debates over access to bathrooms and into medical treatments, participation in sports and policies on discussing gender in schools.
“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” said Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, a social conservative advocacy group. “And we threw everything at the wall.”
About 1.3 million adults and 300,000 children in the United States identify as transgender. These efforts have thrust them, at a moment of increased visibility and vulnerability, into the center of the nation’s latest battle over cultural issues.
“It’s a strange world to live in,” said Ari Drennen, the L.G.B.T.Q. program director for Media Matters, a liberal media monitoring group that tracks the legislation. As a transgender woman, she said, she feels unwelcome in whole swaths of the country where states have attacked her right “just to exist in public.”
The effort started with a smattering of Republican lawmakers advancing legislation focused on transgender girls’ participation in school sports. And it was accelerated by a few influential Republican governors who seized on the issue early.
From the New York Times Magazine: How Much Power Should the Courts Have?
Very timely. Fits into our look at checks and balances.
- Click here for the article.
From the Washington Post: Russians boasted that just 1% of fake social profiles are caught, leak shows
Russia has always been good at propaganda.
- Click here for the article.
The Russian government has become far more successful at manipulating social media and search engine rankings than previously known, boosting lies about Ukraine’s military and the side effects of vaccines with hundreds of thousands of fake online accounts, according to documents recently leaked on the chat app Discord.
The Russian operators of those accounts boast that they are detected by social networks only about 1 percent of the time, one document says.
That claim, described here for the first time, drew alarm from former government officials and experts inside and outside social media companies contacted for this article.
“Google and Meta and others are trying to stop this, and Russia is trying to get better. The figure that you are citing suggests that Russia is winning,” said Thomas Rid, a disinformation scholar and professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He added that the 1 percent claim was probably exaggerated or misleading.
The undated analysis of Russia’s effectiveness at boosting propaganda on Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Telegram and other social media platforms cites activity in late 2022 and was apparently presented to U.S. military leaders in recent months. It is part of a trove of documents circulated in a Discord chatroom and obtained by The Washington Post.
From the American Security Project: Propaganda: A Tool of Strategic Influence
This is a bit dated, but its makes the point that the use of propaganda is common in order to influence public opinion one way or another.
- Click here for it.
The purpose of this factsheet is to demonstrate that, regardless of the emotion aroused by the term, “propaganda” has been and will remain a prevalent aspect of U.S. foreign policy. Tis fact sheet does not purport to place a moral judgment on its use, but rather explore its institutional and legislative basis as a tool for influencing foreign audiences. Below is a brief look at the fundamentals of propaganda and the relationship it holds with public diplomacy and the U.S. Government.
Origin of the Term
Propaganda finds its root in the Latin word “propagare,” used to describe the process of aiding plant reproduction by using cuttings from the plant.
• The Roman Catholic Church assisted in the evolution of the term in the 17th
century with the establishment of the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (the Congregation for Propagating the Faith).
• During the French Revolution, the term began to gain a more political rather than religious connotation.
• Continuing to evolve, by the mid-19th century, propaganda bore the political connotation it carries today.
Definition
Propaganda has many “official” definitions, however many of these carry subtle nuances. In its basic sense, propaganda can be defined as:
• Ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause.
Propaganda can be and often is completely truthful information. Tis information, while truthful, is often presented selectively to highlight some facts while omitting others that may present a differing view of an issue. As the term propaganda received an increasingly negative association, policy makers sought to distance themselves from outright promotion of its use. Illustrating this, Edmund Gullion, Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in1965, established the modern use of the term “public diplomacy” which he said, “deals with the influence ofp ublic attitudes on the formation and execution of foreign policies.”
Furthermore, in describing his effort to create a name for to the activities we now understand as public diplomacy, Gullion stated: “To connote this activity, we at the Fletcher School tried to find a name. I would have liked to call it ‘propaganda.’ It seemed like the nearest thing in the pure interpretation of the word to what we were doing. But ‘propaganda’ has always a pejorative connotation in this country. To describe the whole range of communications, information, and propaganda, we hit upon ‘public diplomacy’.”
Types
Propaganda comes in three different forms, white, grey and black:
• White: propaganda is correctly attributed to its true source and generally uses facts and truthful messages in a persuasive manner. Although it relies on truth, it is often presented in a biased manner.
• Grey: propaganda does not have a specifically identified source, and conceals its originator.
• Black: propaganda is falsely attributed to a source other than the true originator.
It can also describe the use of disinformation which spreads false information as truth to an audience with the intent that the audience does not realize it is being propagandized.
Propaganda vs. Public Diplomacy
Propaganda is better categorized as a sub-set of public diplomacy, rather than being equivalent to public diplomacy. Dr. Nicholas J. Cull, a leading scholar on the subjects of public diplomacy and propaganda, lays out some of the key differences between public diplomacy and propaganda:
U.S. Government Institutional and Legislative History
The use of propaganda in or by America is steeped in history dating back to the Revolution, with pieces like Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” a pamphlet which made the argument for American independence. Listed below is a chronological outline of some of the legislation and U.S. government institutions that have been tasked with conducting U.S. propaganda or related activities since the First World War:
• Woodrow Wilson created the Committee on Public Information with Executive Order 2594 on April13, 1917, which was designed to generate and maintain public support for U.S. participation in World War I. It conducts activities domestically and overseas.
• The Office of War Information (OWI) was established on June 13, 1942 and operated until September15, 1945. Its audience was both foreign and domestic. In 1943, Congress greatly cut OWI’s domestic budget for FY1944, primarily over its publication “Negroes and the War.”
Company Towns
For our look at local governments
- Company Towns.
- List of company towns in the United States.
- The Controversial History of America's Company Towns.
- PBS: Company Towns.
- America’s Company Towns, Then and Now.
- The Modern Company Town.
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Bills discussed in GOVT 2306 SCHS
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=SB39
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=SJR6
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https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=SB12
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https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=SB728
Friday, April 14, 2023
Thursday, April 13, 2023
“An act concerning Servants and Slaves” (1705), etc . . .
- Click here for the text.
- Click here for the Wikipedia entry.
__________
For related info:
- Ordinance of Laborers, 1349.
- Texas Constitution, 1861: Article VIII: Slaves.
- Texas Black Codes, 1866.
From Legal Match: How to Sue in Texas
Don't tell me you haven't learned anything useful in this class. If I was still giving you written assignments I'd ask you to find something to sue me about.
:)
- Click here for it.
Catching up on the 88th Texas Legislature
These are the bills that have been sent to committee that deal with aspects of the Texas Judiciary.
- Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee.
- Texas Senate Jurisprudence Committee.
Following up on the federal judges decision against Mifesprone
- Justice Department appeals Texas abortion pill ruling.
The Justice Department on Monday appealed a Texas judge’s decision that would block access to a key abortion drug across the country, arguing that the challengers had no right to file the lawsuit since they were not personally harmed by the abortion pill.
- - Click here for the appeal.
- - Appeals court temporarily keeps abortion pill available but limits access.
- - Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk.
- - - Wikipedia: Matthew J. Kacsmaryk.
- - - Click here for his original decision.
- - - For comparison, a contrary opinion from Washington state.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
What is Discovery?
Discovery is on the news currently because lawyers for Fox News apparently violated discovery rules and the judge in the case is not happy about it.
- Judge Imposes Sanction on Fox for Withholding Evidence in Defamation Case.
The judge overseeing Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox News said on Wednesday that he was imposing a sanction on the network and would very likely start an investigation into whether Fox’s legal team had deliberately withheld evidence, scolding the lawyers for not being “straightforward” with him.
The rebuke came after lawyers for Dominion, which is suing for defamation, revealed a number of instances in which Fox’s lawyers had not turned over evidence in a timely manner. That evidence included recordings of the Fox News host Maria Bartiromo talking with former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, which Dominion said had been turned over only a week ago.
In imposing the sanction on Fox, Judge Eric M. Davis of the Delaware Superior Court ruled that if Dominion had to do additional depositions, or redo any, then Fox would have to “do everything they can to make the person available, and it will be at a cost to Fox.”
He also said he would very likely appoint a special master — an outside lawyer — to investigate Fox’s handling of discovery of documents and the question of whether Fox had inappropriately withheld details about the scope of Rupert Murdoch’s role. Since Dominion filed its suit in early 2021, Fox had argued that Mr. Murdoch and Fox Corporation, the parent company, should not be part of the case because Mr. Murdoch, the chair, and other senior executives had nothing to do with running Fox News. But in the past few days, Fox disclosed to Dominion that Mr. Murdoch was a corporate officer at Fox News.
So what is it?
- From LII: Discovery.
In civil actions, the discovery process refers to what parties use during pre-trial to gather information in preparation for trial.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have very liberal discovery provisions. Before the rules were adopted in 1938, plaintiffs essentially had to prove their case before filing suit. See notice pleading. The Federal Rules changed that such that under the rules' liberal discovery approach, plaintiffs who strongly suspect that they were wronged can file a lawsuit, even if they do not have solid evidence. Additionally, during discovery, they can force the defendant to give them evidence that they can use to build their case.
Discovery under the Federal Rules is very broad. According to Rule 26(b)(1), "Parties may obtain discovery regarding any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense." The federal rules also provide several tools that can be used to get information from other parties, including interrogatories, depositions, and requests for admission. A party may also compel other parties to give them access to documents, real property, or other things for review or testing. See Rules 26-37.
Complying with discovery rules is particularly difficult and expensive for institutional defendants because it takes time and incurs legal fees. This difficulty is somewhat mitigated by rules allowing defendants to simply grant plaintiffs access to their records, effectively telling them "if you want it, find it for yourself." See Rule 33. This does not, however, reduce the legal expenses involved in reviewing and responding to discovery requests. Depositions are particularly expensive.
In most states, an attorney’s work product is not obtainable through disclosure. This is an unqualified immunity regardless of subject matter. “Material prepared for litigation” is not absolutely protected, however. That generally means that work prepared by non-attorneys for the litigation would be discoverable. For example, in People v. Kozlowski, 11 N.Y.3d 223 (2008), notes from director interviews taken during a law firm’s internal investigation were not protected from a subpoena filed by the defendants.
From the ABA: How do Courts Work?
An insider look at the process.
- Click here for it.
>>Diagram of How a Case Moves Through the Courts
>>Civil and Criminal Cases
>>Settling Cases
>>Pre-trial Procedures in Civil Cases
>>Jurisdiction and Venue
>>Pleadings
>>Motions
>>Discovery
>>Pre-Trial Conferences
>>Pre-trial Procedures in Criminal Cases
>>Bringing the Charge
>>Arrest Procedures
>>Pre-Trial Court Appearances in Criminal Cases
>>Bail
>>Plea Bargaining
>>Civil and Criminal Trials
>>Officers of the Court
>>The Jury Pool
>>Selecting the Jury
>>Opening Statements
>>Evidence
>>Direct Examination
>>Cross-examination
>>Motion for Directed Verdict/Dismissal
>>Presentation of Evidence by the Defense
>>Rebuttal
>>Final Motions
>>Closing Arguments
>>Instructions to the Jury
>>Mistrials
>>Jury Deliberations
>>Verdict
>>Motions after Verdict
>>Judgment
>>Sentencing
>>Appeals
For more:
- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
From Wikipedia: 2023 Pentagon document leaks
This didn't take long. This is worth following.
- Click here for it.
In April 2023, two sets of classified documents of the United States began circulating on Twitter, Telegram, and 4chan. The documents, primarily relating to the Russo-Ukrainian War, included details about foreign nations, including North Korea, China, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. The documents began spreading on the instant messaging platform Discord, and allegedly originate from a Discord server known as "Thug Shaker Central", according to a Bellingcat investigation. A subset of documents were sent to Discord servers for a British-Filipino YouTuber and the sandbox video game Minecraft in late February and early March. In April, a 4chan user posted several documents on the website's political imageboard /pol/. The documents were then spread throughout pro-Russian Telegram channels; at least one image was altered to show more Ukrainian casualties than Russian casualties.
The documents concern intelligence that the United States has on other nations, and contain operational briefs from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Regarding the Russo-Ukrainian War, the documents suggest difficulties for both Russians and Ukrainians, in equal part; while one slide suggests that more Russians have died in the war than Ukrainians, several documents covering the Battle of Bakhmut suggest difficulties for Ukrainians in countering Russian flanking maneuvers and supply shortages in the area. Additionally, relations between Russia and other nations are covered, with multiple documents detailing efforts by Russian military intelligence agency GRU and paramilitary organization Wagner Group in promoting Russian ideals while downplaying American values. Other documents reveal attempts by Wagner Group to acquire weapons in Turkey, a NATO member. One set of documents alleges that Mossad encouraged staff and citizens to participate in judicial reform protests.
The leak has spurred a diplomatic crisis between the United States and the Five Eyes. An interagency effort—composed of the Department of Defense, the White House, the Department of State, and the U.S. intelligence community—are assessing the leak. Concurrently, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation have opened a criminal inquiry into the leaker. U.S. officials have accused Russia of being behind the leak.[1][2] Ukraine and Russia have downplayed the leak, with both countries saying that the documents contain distorted figures. Specific claims in the leaks have been denied by some countries, such as by South Korea[3] and Egypt.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
From ABC13: Changes could be coming to Texas courts as 2 bills prioritize murder trials, add more courts
A look at changes in the criminal justice system considered by the 88th Texas Legislature.
- Click here for the story.
Two important bills that can make an impact on the court system are making their way before the legislature in Austin this session.
The first bill is Senate Bill 402, the sponsors' goals are to prioritize murder and capital murder court cases.
The other is House Bill 130, it's the push for more courts to alleviate the backlog in Harris County.
This week, Harris County commissioners approved support for HB130 which would add six criminal courts in Harris County.
Here's why it's important.
"We haven't added but one court since 1984," county Commissioner Adrian Garcia said.
Since then, he says the population of Harris County has roughly doubled.
"So this is critical when you think about the growth and exposure of our population that we have to have a system that is sustainable from the standpoint of the need that comes our way," Garcia added.
State Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, a sponsor of the bill, said in a statement that the citizens of Harris County need help restoring their faith in the justice system. According to lawmakers, in Harris County, there are more than 1,800 murder or capital murder cases still awaiting trial. Supporters of the bill hope it won't only reduce the backlog at the courthouse but the overcrowding at the jail. Meanwhile, critics are worried about the cost.
"From a budgetary, having a well-run courthouse has an impact on the sheriff's jail operations...it can keep us from having to outsource inmates that cost us over 11 million dollars a year," Garcia said.
A separate bill was passed by the Senate, SB402, this week that would prioritize murder and capital murder cases over other criminal trials. That bill has to pass the house before it can become law. Two important pieces of legislation we're watching closely.
Also:
- Proposal to add more criminal courts to help ease backlog in Harris County.
Should Harris County add six extra district courts?
Harris County commissioners are exploring the proposal as a way to reduce the county's huge criminal case backlog.
As of Tuesday, there are 10,016 inmates at the Harris County Jail. 13 investigates reported jail overcrowding for more than a year.
So far, in 2023, four inmates have died. On Friday, Eyewitness News reported the jail is, once again, on the state inspector's non-compliance list.
According to district court statistics, there are more than 39,000 active cases pending. About 32% of them are more than a year old.
Adding courts isn't a new idea. Harris County brought in multiple visiting judges in January 2021 for the same purpose.
Since two Harris County commissioners court members boycotted multiple meetings in 2022, commissioners were unable to pass a new budget last year, and there are funding questions this year.
This proposal would mean asking the state legislature to allocate more money to put in the extra courts.
On Tuesday, every single commissioner expressed support for the plan. But a decision was delayed for another three weeks, while commissioners gathered more information.
"We've seen a 24% reduction in the backlog, but the jail is more overcrowded than ever. So does going through these things faster actually reduce overcrowded in the jail? Why is it that the jail population keeps growing? That's an open question that I'm going to ask our departments to go look into," County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.
The county budget office said the plan would cost an estimated $30 million in start-up costs and about $16 million in operating fees every year.
For 4/11/23
- U.S. Constitution: Article 3.
- - Avalon.
- - Annotated.
- U.S. Courts.
- Judicial Administration.
- U.S. Supreme Court.
- Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Southern District Court of Texas.
- Southern District of Texas: Houston Division.
Recent happenings in the judiciary:
For both 2305 and 2306.
Let's try to understand the nature of the conflict in each of these. And of course, there are many many more.
- Federal judge in Texas suspends FDA approval of abortion pill.
- U.S. Army sergeant found guilty of murder in 2020 shooting of Austin protester Garrett Foster.
- - Gov. Greg Abbott backs call for pardon for Daniel Perry, who killed Austin protester in 2020.
- The Army increasingly allows soldiers charged with violent crimes to leave the military rather than face trial.
- Jury Awards $26 Million to Family of Teenager Killed by Former Balch Springs Officer.
- Thousands of Cases Have Piled Up in Texas Courts—Here's What Lawyers Need to Know.
- Supreme Court sides with Texas death row inmate who says conviction was based on bad DNA evidence.
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Supreme Court issue 12 opinions from March 6-12.
- Texas synagogue arsonist who confessed to crime in his journal pleads guilty to hate crime charges.
- Court orders anonymous jury in civil suit over alleged rape by Trump.
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