Inside Politics

Liberal judges await

Throw Away the Key, a Maryland-based victim-advocacy group yesterday denounced the U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed the death penalty for criminals under 18.

“By suggesting that 17-year-olds are less responsible for their actions, the court has given a dangerous new gift to teen predators to use liberal judges to further reduce penalties for murders, rapes and gang violence perpetuated by teen predators,” said spokesman Michael Paranzino.

“For urban communities racked by gang violence, the court has just made the violence problem worse. America’s working-class families will now pay for the justices’ preening for Old Europe’s approval,” he said, accusing the court of “undermining the U.S. Constitution by citing foreign laws and imposing them on Americans.”

Mr. Paranzino added, “Until Americans realize that these court decisions are simply a handful of unelected people imposing their political preferences over the text of the U.S. Constitution, judicial reform will not happen.”

Thou shalt display

Americans favor displaying the Ten Commandments on the grounds of government buildings, according to an Associated Press poll released yesterday.

“Do you believe the display of the Ten Commandments ought to be allowed on government property such as courthouses, or not?” the survey asked.

More than three-quarters — 76 percent — said “yes.” Another 23 percent disagreed and 1 percent of respondents were not sure. The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted last Tuesday to Thursday and has a margin of error of three percentage points.

Mary, not Karen

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer’s new tell-all “Taking Heat: The President, the Press and My Years in the White House” is being disputed before it’s even on store shelves.

Mr. Fleischer, who manned the hottest hot seat in the world from 2001 to 2003, hopes his 370-page memoir will be a must-read.

“An adviser to President Bush scoffed at the book’s claim that Fleischer was reluctant to join Bush’s front-running 2000 campaign and had to be ‘convinced’ by top adviser Karen Hughes — after Fleischer’s candidate, Elizabeth Dole, dropped out in late 1999,” the New York Daily News reported yesterday.

Story Continues →