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Libertas Institute: Why are juries important?
Kirsten Tynan: In the legal system, there are many parties involved who have a vested interest in a certain outcome. Really, the only independent party in the courtroom is the jury—or, if you prefer, each individual juror. The judge obviously is paid by and works for the government; judges often come from the ranks of prosecutors. They have an interest in keeping business rolling by keeping the courtroom full. Prosecutors, of course, are often elected officials whose livelihood depends on getting prosecutions and whose continued employment often depends on appearing to be tough on crime.
Defense attorneys are also not always independent; although we may think of them as always on the side of the defendant, that's not always true. A lot of public defenders, who incidentally are also paid by the government, have a cozy relationship with the other government employees in the courtroom and may not steer their client in a direction that is in their client's best interest.
So really, the purpose of the jury is to be an independent body that stands between the defendant and a malicious prosecution, unjust law, or corrupt process. They are there to be a bulwark for liberty.
LI: What is jury nullification?
KT: In its strictest sense, it's when a jury votes to acquit the defendant even though they believe that the defendant has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That said, people often use the term a little more broadly to mean other things. They may use it to refer to when a mistrial happens because a jury is hung because some of the jurors are attempting to nullify.
LI: Does jury nullification mean that the law itself becomes nullified?
We're asking people to consult their conscience in their deliberations, and not just blindly rubber stamp a conclusion they're led to by the judge and prosecutor.
KT: I don't necessarily like the term jury nullification; it's not ideal. But the nullification part is supposed to refer to the fact that the law was not enforced in the case at hand. If a jury does acquit somebody via jury nullification, that does not change the law; it can still be applied in future cases. What does happen over time, for particularly objectionable types of laws, it does influence how the rest of the system deals with those laws. Sometimes if juries refused to convict repeatedly in many different cases, police may stop arresting people for whatever offense that is, prosecutors may use their power to stop prosecuting those charges, and eventually legislators may end up changing the law. So while the jury is not able to change the law itself, and can only deal with the case before them, over time the cumulative effects of many different jury decisions can influence the rest of the system.
All that said, you might hear it referred to more accurately under the term "conscientious acquittal," which I really like. It really emphasizes what we're talking about here—we're asking people to consult their conscience in their deliberations, and not just blindly rubber stamp a conclusion they're led to by the judge and prosecutor.
LI: Why is jury nullification an important tool?
KT: It's really the final check on a law. Everyone in the system has discretion. Police decide whether they're going to arrest someone for a particular offense. Prosecutors decide whether or not they will charge someone for a particular offense, and what charges they are going to level. Judges even have discretion inside the courtroom, to a certain degree, and they can sometimes overturn guilty verdicts if they believe that verdict was unjust.
Where the buck stops is with the jury. When they deliver a not guilty verdict, that cannot be overturned and they cannot be punished for delivering that verdict, no matter what their reason was.
If there is an unjust law, which I think most of us have some ideas about the injustice of some of our laws; if there are laws being unjustly applied in ways that were not intended for them to be used; if there is a law that prohibits something properly but then punishes its violation disproportionately severely, which we see in the cases of three-strikes laws and mandatory minimums in a lot of cases; or if there's a law that is generally good but in the particular case at hand there are some unique extenuating circumstances that would make enforcing it unjust—in all of those cases, if the jury votes not guilty, that cannot be overturned. So they are really the final check on overreach by government, against corruption, and against malicious prosecution. That's how the jury has real power in the courtroom.
If the jury doesn't also have the right to judge the law, then the law can simply dictate their fact-finding role out of existence.
If they didn't have that power, there is certainly nothing that they could do in the courtroom that wasn't basically prescribed by the rest of the system. In An Essay on the Trial By Jury by Lysander Spooner, he says:
But for their right to judge of the law, and the justice of the law, juries would be no protection to an accused person, even as to matters of fact; for, if the government can dictate to a jury any law whatever, in a criminal case, it can certainly dictate to them the laws of evidence.
Often times we'll hear myths spread, especially by prosecutors and judges, that the jury's role is finding fact, and it's a judge's role to determine the law. But as Spooner explains, if the jury doesn't also have the right to judge the law, then the law can simply dictate their fact-finding role out of existence.
LI: There's a rigorous process to be selected as a juror. If an individual were to admit that they would be willing to acquit a defendant of violating a law they believe to be unjust, is it likely that they would be able to be seated as a juror to begin with in our modern court system?
KT: That's a good question. There is a threshold beyond which it would be impossible to remove all of these people. If there are only a few people who talk about jury nullification during jury selection, then almost certainly they'll be removed.
But when we have people who have common knowledge of it—when it's part of the culture the way it was during the time our country was founded—you simply wouldn't be able to form a jury by excluding these people. That's where we want to get to.
Activists spread FIJA literature in Denver.
A good example of where we're starting to see that is in Denver. There's a group of activists there who have been leafleting since last year. We're hearing from them reports that these questions are getting asked in the courtroom, and people are admitting they know about it and are still getting on juries. We think that's because it's become so saturated with this information that a jury couldn't be formed anymore if they were excluded.
To give a specific example of that, even though these people didn't call it jury nullification, there was a case in Montana a few years back where a guy was being prosecuted for simple possession of very small amount of marijuana. During jury selection, so many people were saying that they wouldn't vote guilty and were asking why taxpayer dollars and their time were being wasted, and were being excused as jurors, that the judge saw that a jury couldn't be formed and told the prosecution and defense to revisit the idea of a plea bargain. The defendant ended up taking a plea that involved no punishment and not admitting guilt.
The end result, if everyone knows about this right and is prepared to use it in appropriate circumstances, is that jurors can't be screened out on that basis, otherwise you can't get a jury.
LI: You mentioned a past cultural awareness of this issue, which appears to have changed. Why was jury nullification better known in the past, and what forces caused the lack of knowledge about it today?
It was better known in the past because the denial of the benefits of trial by jury—specifically, jury nullification—was one of the reasons we had an American Revolution to begin with.
KT: It was better known in the past because the denial of the benefits of trial by jury—specifically, jury nullification—was one of the reasons we had an American Revolution to begin with. If you look at the Declaration of Independence, there's a very specific sequence. In the list of grievances you'll find taxation without representation (basically), followed by depriving colonists "of the benefit of trial by jury" (note that it specifically refers to the benefit, not just trials themselves), and then after that it's the grievance about being transported overseas to be tried for pretended offenses.
What that series of grievances really tells a story of, is that at the time that the Declaration was written, what was going on was that to avoid what were considered unjust taxation laws, colonists were breaking the law to evade them. Their neighbors, in many cases, were not convicting them. Grand juries wouldn't indict them, and it was hard to get juries to convict.
So to get around that, i.e. to circumvent jury nullification, the Crown decided to remove the accused from that environment to eliminate the protection of the jury of their peers, and that way they could get convictions. This is a main reason why this power of juries was so well known long ago.
Why it is no longer well known is an evolving story. What most people will point to is an 1895 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Sparf v. United States, where it was ruled that judges are not required to inform jurors about their rights to nullify. It did not take that right away—in fact, the ostensible reason for the ruling was in part because it was so commonly known at the time, that it was not necessary for judges to educate jurors.
Since that time, it's gone from "judges are not required to inform jurors" to courts ruling more and more against even allowing the notion into the courtroom—to the point where it is virtually a secret thing.
Whether or not that characterization is accurate is a matter of debate, because at the time there was some history going on that suggested that certain judges may have had reason to be unfavorable to jury nullification. So they may have overstated how commonly known it was, but at that time you could make a social statement that would be somewhat plausible that jury nullification was well known.
Since that time, it's gone from "judges are not required to inform jurors" to courts ruling more and more against even allowing the notion into the courtroom—to the point where it is virtually a secret thing. Almost invariably, with a few unique exceptions, you're not going to hear about this jury power within the courtroom.
The only way you're going to find out about it is if you know before you get to court, or afterward, possibly to your horror. Now we are seeing prosecutors file motions before trial begins not only to exclude explicit mention of jury nullification, but to exclude any line of argument that might hint in that direction. We've seen rulings that redact relevant information from evidence in order to dissuade the jury from nullifying. It's just ridiculous the lengths to which judges and prosecutors go.
Noah Kleinman stands outside the court where he was convicted of distributing marijuana.
I should mention the Noah Kleinman case, in which a man was prosecuted under federal law for medical marijuana. In his trial, there was a mid-trial voir dire (the process of jury selection). What basically happened was, there were people holding signs outside the courtroom about jury nullification and things like that. When it came to the attention of the prosecutor and judge in the case, they stopped the trial and individually interviewed each juror in a rather intimidating manner to find out if they had seen any of the signs, if they understood what it meant, and if they thought it applied to the case at hand. They were intimidated to the point that even if they had thought of nullifying, they probably weren't going to. And they did convict him.
All that's happened is that it's become secret because these courtrooms are so tightly controlled in an effort to tilt the scale in favor of conviction.
You'll hear it said that jury nullification is illegal, which is untrue. Or that it's extra-legal or not lawful, which are untrue. The facts are these: a juror has every right to acquit somebody and cannot be punished in any court in the United States for their verdict. It's totally within their rights. It's not legally prohibited. All that's happened is that it's become secret because these courtrooms are so tightly controlled in an effort to tilt the scale in favor of conviction.
LI: Is that your allegation as to why prosecutors and jduges have become hostile to the concept itself, because of the incentive to convict?
KT: I think that is absolutely right.
LI: Critics point out that jury nullification can also be used in bad ways, such as in the Jim Crow South. How do you respond?
While it is true that jury nullification can be used for nefarious purposes, we believe in our system that that is less of a sin than it is to punish somebody who has not harmed another.
KT: I have a few comments on that. The first thing is that any situation that involves imperfect information and people will have error. The way that our legal system was designed was based on Blackstone's formulation, which says that "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer." The playing field was tilted purposefully in the direction of non-conviction, on the notion that if we are going to err—and we know that any political system will always have error—we want to do so in the direction of liberty.
While it is true that jury nullification can be used for nefarious purposes, we believe in our system that that is less of a sin than it is to punish somebody who has not harmed another.
The second point is that even in situations such as a Jim Crow South, where juries nullified for egregious reasons, that's not so much a feature of jury nullification as it was of the culture at that time. One of the important things that people who bring up this opposition point usually omit is that at the time, it was illegal for black people to serve as jurors. That means you had all-white juries deliberating on somebody's fate, and that changes the deliberation process. When someone doesn't have to look another person in the eye and be accountable to them for wrong behavior, they are somewhat more psychologically primed to do something wrong.
What we've seen evidence of in more recent studies is that when there is even one person of color on a jury, a large amount of racial disparity in jury verdicts disappears. That's an important element that was missing in the Jim Crow South.
Now let's say we got rid of jury nullification by getting rid of the jury. Let's say these were bench trials. Would a racist judge be a better solution than the jury? If you didn't have that bad thing happening because of the jury, it would still be happening because of the judge. And the reason why, is that there was a much more fundamental problem there in that era. It was endemic social racism.
Finally, another feature is a Jim Crow era law still in existence today that relates to jury nullification. Somewhat shortly after the Civil War, Louisiana had to revamp its constitution and did so with the specific, overtly stated intent of disenfranchising newly freed black citizens from the political process. They did that through two channels: the voting process and juries. People were excluded through literacy tests that nobody could pass, poll taxes, and those sorts of things. The jury exclusion analog in Louisiana is that they did away with a unanimous requirement for a verdict. That still exists today; you could convict someone on a 9-3 vote, and today it's a 10-2 vote in some cases and 11-1 in others. Capital cases are unanimous.
While jury nullification can be used for unsavory purposes, the fact is it would be much, much worse if we got rid of the jury or overruled the jury's power.
What that did is exclude the ability of a black juror to try and nullify. This makes it so that the majority has all the power and doesn't have to listen to the minority. At the time, that was a racial minority, but now this law means that any minority on the jury is going to have their voice extinguished. Someone who is a pro-liberty person in the minority, or somebody who has a conscientious belief that is not common, will not have their voice heard.
While jury nullification can be used for unsavory purposes, the fact is it would be much, much worse if we got rid of the jury or overruled the jury's power. The jury represents a cross-section of the community. A judge is a single person who doesn't have to deliberate with other people, doesn't have to be socially accountable to other people for the reasons behind his verdict, and is a specialized segment of society—often white, male, wealthy people who have had the opportunity to get a law degree and be hired into government positions and work their way up the chain. That doesn't represent the community. Even if they have the best of intentions and mean to be as fair as possible, there are situations where they're just not going to see all points of view.
The only way to get rid of jury nullification is to put all the power in the hands of the judge. That is going to deliver far, far worse outcomes—not just in jury nullification cases, but in all cases.
One of the things we've seen evidence of is that, for example, when you have a jurors who are told that the defendant was found carrying a knife, often times upper class jurors will interpret that as a kind of malicious intent. Lower class jurors will often interpret that as being because of a need for protection or for work. So you can see, even where there isn't a malicious intent to be unfair, we all come from different backgrounds and have different knowledge and points of view.
The only way to get rid of jury nullification is to put all the power in the hands of the judge. That is going to deliver far, far worse outcomes—not just in jury nullification cases, but in all cases.
LI: Juries often render their verdict without having any idea the impact of their decision—in other words, what punishment the defendant faces. If they knew the potential sentence, do you think juries would act differently?
KT: We have seen over and over people make public statements, or call us directly, after they've served as a juror and were unwittingly led into punishing someone more severely than they thought was appropriate. And they are devastated. These jurors went in with the intention of trying to deliver a just verdict, and their hands were tied because the court said not to consider the sentence, and that jurors are only there to say whether something was done or not. "Pay no attention to the consequences of the choice you're making while you're holding somebody else's life in your hands," jurors are effectively told.
There is no other aspect of our lives where we are told that it is not only responsible, but our duty to ignore the consequences of our choices while we are making those choices. We would actually be considered irresponsible, probably unethical, and in some cases even criminally liable if we ignored the consequences of our actions and harmed somebody as a result.
It's beyond appalling, and we know that jurors in many cases would make different decisions had they realized the full effect of their verdict.
In contrast, jurors are told that this is their only option. It's beyond appalling, and we know that jurors in many cases would make different decisions had they realized the full effect of their verdict.
LI: Some activists around the country have been prosecuted for distributing some of your literature in order to inform juries. Can you share a story or two about that?
KT: The one thing I want to stress here is that when there is a charge of so-called "jury tampering," or anything along those lines, we're seeing win after win after win for free speech. The only loss I've seen is when someone was charged with contempt of court for distributing literature in violation of a judge's anti-free speech zone order, and when you have a contempt case, guess who adjudicates that—it's the judge who held you in contempt. It's not a stretch to see why that judge would convict you.
Julian Heicklen distributes literature informing prospective jurors outside the court building.
We have seen pretty much every other case in the past few years either have the indictment thrown out, as in the case of Julian Heicklen in New York, because the judge basically explained in her order dismissing it why what we do is not jury tampering. We've seen, in Colorado, seven felony counts each against Mark Iannicelli and Eric Brandt dismissed by a state judge. We have a preliminary injunction in place against the Denver police from enforcing the illegal anti-free speech zone order that came after those felony charges.
I do want to stress that these arrests are often reported in the media, and almost never do these victories get reported.
Also going on right now is the case of Keith Wood in Michigan who was charged with jury tampering and felony obstruction of justice. So far, the obstruction charge has been thrown out and they're working on getting the tampering charge dismissed. If not, it will go to a jury trial. What will be presented as evidence at a jury trial? Probably our brochures that he was handing out, so that will be a well-informed jury if the county is foolish enough to go forward with that.
I do want to stress that these arrests are often reported in the media, and almost never do these victories get reported. That really irks me, because it's really important for people to understand that what we do is legal, and that if they are being harassed, there are ways to push back against that. If someone is arrested, there is a high likelihood that they will win.
LI: There's a strong appetite right now for what is broadly classified as criminal justice reform. How integral a component of that would you consider jury nullification to be?
KT: I'm going to broaden that a little bit. I do think it's integral, but I don't think it's only jury nullification education specifically that's crucial, but rather reclaiming our right to trial by jury. Virtually no criminal cases at this point go to juries anymore. It's a very small percent that do. People are strong-armed into plea bargains.
First, a jury trial is very expensive. Second, the person may not have the resources to pay for a jury trial because their wealth may have been confiscated through asset forfeiture. Third, there is a phenomenon known as a trial tax, where when a person turns down a plea bargain and goes to trial by jury and happens to lose, they are going to serve on average a substantially longer amount of time in jail or prison than they would have if they had taken the plea bargain. So essentially they are being charged a certain amount of time for the offense, and then a certain amount of time—usually far more than the plea bargain, or what the prosecutor thought was appropriate for the offense—just for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed 6th amendment right.
Not only is it crucial to have fully informed jury, but we need to be able to get in front of a jury to begin with.
When nobody can get a jury trial, or when they are intimidated or priced out of it, and when they only get a jury that is basically controlled by the judge and the prosecutor, that's a big indicator of an unhealthy system and probably a big contributor to this out-of-control criminalization. Not only is it crucial to have fully informed jury, but we need to be able to get in front of a jury to begin with.
LI: Many people, when they receive their jury summons in the mail, consider it a burden and something to be avoided. Do you think that's the proper perception one should have toward potential jury service?
KT: I understand it, but I don't like it. I understand it, because in today's courtrooms, we often see people who are basically led to a conclusion after being kept ignorant of relevant information, such as the sentence or details of the trial that the judge maybe doesn't want them to see.
Vernon Hershberger and his wife, joined by a few jurors from his case.
There's an example of this in the Vernon Hershberger case. There was a charge against him for breaking a hold order on some goods on his property. That order that the jury got to see was so heavily redacted that they were unaware that the hold order was invalid if they found him not guilty on the other charges levied against him, which they did. So they inadvertently convicted him of something out of being led to it by the judge selectively filtering information.
So I understand when people feel like they are just pawns in the system, they certainly don't want to forgo their time and money to sit on a jury. But I think when people learn about jury nullification, and learn about the real power and purpose of the jury, their attitude often improves substantially. Because then they understand that they are not just there to be somebody else's minion and do what they are told. They are actually the most powerful people in the courtroom, and they have the most responsibility.
Also, when people think about what they would want if they were the defendant, that really changes things. We all think "I'm doing nothing wrong, nothing could happen to me," but as the book Three Felonies a Day points out, any one of us—especially if we fell out of favor with certain government officials—could be easily finding ourselves unjustly prosecuted. When people realize that they could be a defendant, they wonder who they would want judging them. Do they want a government employee, who has an incentive to convict, to be their judge? Do they want people who don't want to be there, who are going to do whatever it takes to get out of there the quickest, and not care about the defendant? Or do they want a conscientious person sitting in that seat? When we understand that it could be us, that definitely improves a person's attitude a lot of the time toward jury duty.
We should stop calling it jury duty. It's not a duty to me—it's an opportunity. Jury opportunity.
LI: If you could speak to the public for two minutes on this issue, what message would you convey?
KT: If we saw someone drowning in a lake, and around that lake was a pretty, grassy area with a "Don't walk on the grass" sign, would we look at that sign and say to ourselves, "I would love to go save that drowning person, but unfortunately I can't walk on the grass"? None of us would ever do that. Nobody with a conscience could wake up the next morning and feel good about themselves.
As jurors, we're told that's what we're supposed to do. We get an instruction that says we should ignore the potential consequences. We're to ignore our personal feelings about the law. We're supposed to just do what we are told. And people will think they have no options—but that's simply not true. You always have the option to vote not guilty when you believe that is just. And with your two simple words—not guilty—you can save a life.]]>
The only things certain in life are death and taxes. Rarely, however, do you find a tax plan bad enough to guarantee them both. Such is the nature of the proposed scheme to double taxes on capital investment through the deceptive cry to close the so-called "carried interest loophole." This proposal could kill growth on Utah's "Silicon Slopes" — a growing nexus of tech ventures along the Wasatch Front.
Under current tax law, investment fund managers pay ordinary income taxes on management fees and capital gains taxes on carried interest — a type of gain on the value growth of the investment. Tax policies that treat investment gains differently than income are designed to incentivize savings and investment — critical factors in the equation for economic growth.
Lobbyists for this enormous tax hike call those who disagree "ideologues" and "zealots" with "dogmatic views" and insist that we need to double these taxes in the name of "equality" and "fairness" and to reduce the deficit. However, not only would this policy not make a significant dent in the deficit, it would reduce capital investment while causing pension funds, university investment funds and charitable funds to take a hit.
The sad irony about this call for fairness is how failed government policy itself has perpetuated unfairness. Artificially low interest rates from the Federal Reserve, aimed at keeping government debt afloat, harm the savings efforts of average Americans — particularly seniors. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., is now the highest-paid region in the country. The federal government and its generously paid bureaucrats are taking a larger slice of the economic pie; now those in Washington want to turn their crosshairs to America's hard-earned savings to fuel its insatiable spending appetite.
As U.S. workers sustained layoffs and wage stagnation during the recession, Washington boomed. Unrestrained federal spending in the face of reduced tax revenue fueled the bureaucracy bubble while Main Street suffered. Now, leftist ideologues call for more taxes on the very investments designed to help Main Street recover. Calls for "fairness" from Washington, D.C., should fall on deaf ears.
Tax hike advocates argue that tax collections from carried interest would be a panacea for the federal budget and deficit. However, collection estimates place potential annual tax revenue from the tax hike at only $1.7 billion per year, or 0.05 percent of the federal budget — a quarter percent of the annual deficit. Put in perspective, tax hikes on carried interest might generate enough to fund just our military for a single day each year — hardly a budget panacea.
However, the economic costs would bring very real harm to states like Utah with many young and growing companies. Moreover, the only way out of our government debt is intense economic growth — the very type of growth that is fueled by investments from capital funds.
Tax hike advocates characterize current rates as a giveaway to the wealthy. The reality is that by incentivizing investors to risk capital, companies can access more funds to expand and hire new employees, leading to job and income growth. As the investment pays off and as the company succeeds, the fund managers recognize their gains in the form of carried interest while workers realize more and better paying jobs. The management fees these investment firms charge for their work is taxed at the ordinary income rates, but the partnership portion of the gains that accrue from those investments are taxed at capital gains rates.
Capital funds are of particular benefit for entrepreneurial ventures — something very important to Utah's growing economy. One need only look out the window to see office buildings and new companies popping up everywhere. If you were to pull back the financial curtain, you would find that many of these ventures are buoyed by investment funds — capital that is available largely because of low tax rates.
Our hometown NBA team, the Utah Jazz, plays in the newly re-named Vivint Smart Home Arena. Vivint's success is a great example of investment capital fueling growth. The Utah-based startup was acquired by Blackstone, a New York based private-equity fund. Utah has become a top 10 destination for investment capital as Wall Street funds have found start-up gold on our Silicon Slopes. The calls for Congress to more than double the taxes on investment gains for large capital funds could be a death sentence for these critical investment dollars, which contribute to job growth in Utah.
Washington needs to learn that soaking the investor class by doubling taxes is not a sound budget strategy — cutting spending is what is needed. Utah's Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee should resist this proposal.]]>
Due to the emotional stress of this ordeal along with pending litigation—which Libertas Institute has intervened to provide—and at the young woman's request, we have changed both of their names to keep them anonymous for the time being.
Libertas Institute has reviewed the relevant laws, court documents, and audio recordings from each court appearance to substantiate the family's claims. The views expressed below do not necessarily represent Libertas Institute.
Libertas Institute: Tell our readers how this experience began.
Diane: Sarah was charged with habitual truancy in November 2015 for missing "97 unexcused class periods" throughout the previous year. She had been struggling emotionally and dealing with bullying at school and had a hard time being on campus.
Sarah: We had to show up at the Fourth District Juvenile Court before Judge Suchada Bazzelle. When she asked me why I was missing school, I told her this:
I feel like going to school makes me want to… I'd rather commit suicide than walk in the halls of school. I've been treated really badly by other students and teachers. And I've never felt it was a safe place to be.
It was not an easy thing for me to even be able to go on the days that I did. I would feel that I was trapped and alone. I could not stand being there. I got counseling and I was on medication and nothing seemed to help. When I was at school, everything made it worse. I could not stand it.
LI: Did the judge show any compassion?
Diane: Not at all. She threw the book at us and didn't believe Sarah because she couldn't provide any evidence showing what was done to her. We tried doing the Home & Hospital program for her so there could be some flexibility, but a school boundary change put us in the middle of a game of hot potato, with neither school wanting anything to do with it.
Things had gotten so bad that last fall I decided it would be better to homeschool Sarah, so I went to the Alpine School District office to fill out the affidavit. The woman I spoke with told me that the district has 30 days to sign off on the form (which is not correct at all; once the affidavit is submitted I am legally homeschooling my daughter and no approval is needed). She said that the truancy officer would be notified if I attempted to homeschool Sarah and that it may result in automatically having to appear before Judge Bazzelle. Sure enough, there we were in court.
LI: Did you feel like your rights were being violated?
We wanted to leave the state but [Judge Bazzelle] wouldn't let us, simply because Sarah had missed some school.
Diane: Well at that point, I didn't understand that I had the legal right to homeschool. I trusted the school administrators who lied to me, and followed their advice. But I explained to the judge that my husband had a job offer in another state and that we were planning on moving. In fact, we had an offer in on our house. Judge Bazzelle said "you're prohibited… you can't move until I say so." We wanted to leave the state but she wouldn't let us, simply because Sarah had missed some school.
Judge Bazzelle's illegal order in violation of this mother's rights must not stand. Libertas Institute has intervened to help appeal the case and overturn the current ruling. Please help us cover our attorney fees to defend parental rights in Utah.
LI: What was it like to be in court, all because of missing school?
Diane: Sarah is a good girl. She gets good grades, wants to learn, wants to go to college and get a great job. But she has some struggles to deal with. And when I saw that the very people who are supposed to be helping her were instead pushing her into an environment that was hurting her, I became very frustrated.
Sarah: The second time we were in court, there were so many people there that the judge was surprised. (It was a different judge this one time, Judge Cordell; the rest of the times it was Bazzelle.) When the judge confirmed we were there because of my truancy, he said "We have a lot of people here for that charge! I've done homicides with fewer people." It was crazy that all of this was necessary.
Homeschooling is a legal alternative, but we weren't allowed to do it. They were forcing Sarah to attend public school.
Diane: That time in court, Sarah's attorney said "I think we need to allow her to exercise her options which are allowed in Utah law," referring to being able to homeschool her as an option. The judge (again, it wasn't Bazzelle this time) said "Yeah, her options are defined by the law. And those options are either be in school or be pursuing one of the alternatives." Homeschooling is a legal alternative, but we weren't allowed to do it. They were forcing Sarah to attend public school.
LI: You said before that you didn't turn in the homeschool affidavit, though. Did you finally do it?
Diane: Yes, in fact on two other occasions I turned one in. The third time was in March of this year. I had the affidavit notarized and turned it in. The school district administrators provided the form to the court, and the next week we were again before Judge Bazzelle to explain why Sarah still wasn't attending school.
I was blown away: the judge made an order telling the school district officials that they didn't have to comply with my affidavit. Specifically, Judge Bazzelle said this:
Because this matter is pending before the court and has been pending before the court a couple of months now, I think that the requests that have been filed with the district are belated and I'm going to direct that the district not act on either one of those requests at this time, until we reach an adjudication in this matter. I'll reconsider the question at that time.
Sarah's attorney spoke up seeking clarification, and the judge reaffirmed "by order of the court, I'm going to relieve them of that." She was basically saying that the school district didn't have to fulfill my request.
The district has no responsibility and so the judge telling them that they can't "act on my request" is ridiculous. There's nothing to act on. It's my right.
But state law is very clear that I have the right to homeschool Sarah and I don't need the school district's permission. They don't have to process anything before I can exercise that right. The law states, "A local school board shall excuse a school-age minor from attendance, if the school-age minor's parent files a signed and notarized affidavit with the school-age minor's school district of residence." That's it. No permission is needed. The district has no responsibility and so the judge telling them that they can't "act on my request" is ridiculous. There's nothing to act on. It's my right.
Judge Bazzelle's illegal order in violation of this mother's rights must not stand. Libertas Institute has intervened to help appeal the case and overturn the current ruling. Please help us cover our attorney fees to defend parental rights in Utah.
LI: Let's be clear here. Sarah was in trouble for not attending school. So you attempted to homeschool her instead, and the school district administrators told you not to and the judge then prohibited you from doing so?
Diane: That's correct. When Sarah's attorney told the judge that I had the right to homeschool her, and that her therapist said that's what needed to happen for her, the judge said this:
Nothing's being done with this child. I need her to go to school. She was told that by Judge Cordell, and she was told that by me. She needs to go to school.
There's a lot of effort being put in to get her out of school. I just want her to go to school. That's all she needs to do. She needs to go to school. That's the law.
LI: But that's not the law, as you point out. The law also says that you can homeschool. Sarah, how does this make you feel?
Sarah: I told the judge that going to school causes me all sorts of problems, and she wouldn't listen. She kept forcing me to go to public school instead of letting my mom pull me out. I am really confused by it all and just want to find the quickest way to make all of these problems go away.
Utah County already has a big problem with teen suicides, and the judge's lack of flexibility and understanding seemed destined to perpetuate this problem.
Diane: This hearing was in March, and in addition to telling the school district they didn't have to allow me to homeschool (which is bogus), the judge said Sarah "is to attend main stream school every class, everyday, be on time, do the required work and maintain passing grades of C or better." There was no thought or regard for her mental well being. Utah County already has a big problem with teen suicides, and the judge's lack of flexibility and understanding seemed destined to perpetuate this problem. I don't want that for my daughter.
LI: Did your case go to trial?
Diane: Yes. After some pre-trial hearings, we were back in court in May for a trial. On advice of her attorney, Sarah pled guilty to the truancy charge, and that's when the hammer fell.
Between court dates, Sarah had suffered an injury on her left knee. Her doctor provided a note for the school to excuse her for several weeks due to the significant pain she was experiencing. But the judge completely disregarded it and wouldn't consider the excuse as valid unless we had dragged the doctor into the courtroom to tell the judge in person.
My rights were being violated, and what's worse, the people doing it were lying about it.
The school administrators also claimed in court that I had asked them to shred Sarah's homeschool exemption. That is absolutely not true. And besides, they didn't do that; they provided a copy of it to myself and the court, which they couldn't have done if they had destroyed the document. My rights were being violated, and what's worse, the people doing it were lying about it.
Judge Bazzelle then issued a lengthy list of orders. She continued to show her bias, saying that Sarah had to go to a "main stream school" rather than homeschool, and that she should just suck it up and go to school despite the physical pain and psychological problems. In this May court hearing she said this:
Well what I'm asking Sarah to do is not extraordinary. I'm asking her to go to school. It's just really that simple. If there's all this other talk about this plan or do homeschooling or UVU… like, whatever. That's all a lot more work than what I'm asking you to do.
The point is that she can't "ask" (or order) Sarah to go to school. I have the right to homeschool her. All of this is because Sarah wouldn't attend a handful of days in public school, and now they won't let me educate her in the home. It's ridiculous.
LI: What did the judge order you and Sarah to do?
For every class that Sarah was tardy, the judge ordered her "to bring a king or movie sized candy bar" to her at the next court hearing.
Diane: Well, like before, Sarah was ordered to go to school every day. But get this: for every class that she was tardy (even by one minute), the judge ordered her "to bring a king or movie sized candy bar" to her at the next court hearing.
LI: Come again? The judge wanted candy bars for Sarah's tardiness?
Diane: That's right. And when I was in court a couple weeks later on a contempt charge—because I was not "ensuring Sarah is in school"—I saw several teenagers in there with bags of candy to comply with similar orders they had been given by the judge. We refused to bring the judge any candy.
Sarah was also ordered to attend summer school, to sign up for school tracking, to provide a weekly progress report, meet with the school counselor, create an academic plan, comply with whatever a probation officer ordered, and be on house arrest anytime there was a single missing assignment she hadn't completed.
LI: Did you abide by these orders?
Diane: No. I was homeschooling, even if the judge claimed I shouldn't or couldn't. The stress from all of these court proceedings caused Sarah to attempt suicide again, so I want to do what helps her—not do what hurts her because a judge tells me to, despite my right to homeschool.
LI: Do you think the judge is in the wrong?
Diane: She absolutely is. This is an abuse of authority. She has no right to deny me of my rights.
A doctor wrote, "Due to the nature of her anxiety, attending school is very detrimental to Sarah's health at this time, as well as her safety." And yet attending school is precisely what the judge was ordering.
We have signed statements from Sarah's doctors—both for her knee issues as well as her anxiety and depression—stating that she should not be in school. For example, one doctor wrote that Sarah "should not return to school until symptoms are managed." Another wrote that it would be "counter-productive for her to return to school." Another wrote, "Due to the nature of her anxiety, attending school is very detrimental to Sarah's health at this time, as well as her safety." And yet attending school is precisely what the judge was ordering.
LI: Sarah, what do you want at this point?
Sarah: I want this problem to go away. I want time to recover and not have to deal with judges and truancy officers and school administrators and county prosecutors. I want to focus on getting ready for college and my future.
LI: Diane, what do you want at this point?
I have the right as her mother to homeschool her, and the recommendations of multiple medical professionals agree that's what I should do. The judge is out of line.
Diane: I want what's best for Sarah, and in this case, that means pulling her out of the school system. The judge doesn't want me to, but she doesn't have that power, even though she thinks she does. I have the right as her mother to homeschool her, and the recommendations of multiple medical professionals agree that's what I should do. The judge is out of line.
LI: If you had two minutes to speak with state lawmakers, what message would you deliver?
Diane: Parental rights are not theoretical. Judges can't disregard these rights when what Sarah needs, and what her doctors agree with, is time away from public school. Judge Bazzelle has abused her authority and harmed my daughter by forcing her into an environment and circumstance that has provoked thoughts of suicide. I want to get out of her courtroom and on with our life. Lawmakers should ensure there is accountability for judges so they cannot do this type of thing in the future. No family should have to suffer what mine has.
Judge Bazzelle's illegal order in violation of this mother's rights must not stand. Libertas Institute has intervened to help appeal the case and overturn the current ruling. Please help us cover our attorney fees to defend parental rights in Utah.
The self-styled "sharing economy" has brought innovation and efficiency to a number of industries in Utah, each of which has struggled to navigate byzantine and protectionist policies. Uber and Lyft drivers were fined $6,500 each time investigators discovered them until the state legislature legalized their operation. Zenefits was shut down from offering their innovative services until the backlash led to swift change in the Utah Department of Insurance. And still, Tesla remains unable to sell their new vehicles directly to Utah drivers.
Add Airbnb and VRBO to the list. These companies facilitate "short-term rentals"—offering a space in one's home for a couple days or weeks at a time. While long-term rentals (30 or more days) are generally legal throughout the state, their short-term counterparts are not shown the same hospitality. In many cities, they are restricted to the point of effectively being banned.
So much for property rights.
Proponents of tight restrictions on short-term rentals point to past problems as a justification for denying homeowners the right to rent out a room in their home. St. George, for example, prohibits them in almost all residential zones citing a past problem with a "party house" rented out to noisy delinquents. Councilwoman Michele Randall claims to have spoken with residents "who have had vacation rentals near their homes and they say it's a big party with loud music and cars coming and going all night."
There are two important points to make here. First, the rights of the many should not be violated because of the actions of a few; one rental becoming a party house does not mean that the rest are likely to cause the same problems. Second, and more importantly, there are already existing ordinances to abate nuisances—light, noise, traffic, etc.
Any home can be temporarily turned into a "party house." Banning short-term rentals on this basis is like denying people the right to possess firearms on the basis that a very small minority will use them to harm others. We should focus on the underlying problem rather than the superficial connection. In the case of short-term rentals, cities should deal with actual nuisances from any residence, rather than prohibit all homeowners from peaceably providing lodging to others.
Many Utah cities ban short-term rentals using their land use ordinances—in other words, the laws governing how you can use your property. To be consistent, cities should remain focused on actual use of the property. Renting a room for a night to a traveler passing through town becomes no different than having your mother-in-law stay for the weekend. Both involve an extra car parked on the driveway or the street, and an extra person in the home.
Further, long-term rentals are largely legal—as if a person staying at your home for 31 days is materially different than 29. Arbitrary limits such as these become confusing and unreasonable when not connected to any underlying principle.
A study last year by Libertas Institute found that many cities throughout Utah explicitly ban short-term rentals for most or all properties, such as Herriman, Moab, Hurricane, Midway, Park City, Provo, St. George, Syracuse, and Washington. Many others similarly enforce a prohibition against them using land-use ordinances. Because single family residential zones do not explicitly allow a short-term rental, it is inferred by many city planners that they are by default prohibited.
Legislation designed to prohibit cities from arbitrarily banning short-term rentals was drafted this year on grounds that the use of property is not inherently different from letting a friend or family member use a spare room. The government should therefore not have an interest in regulating this practice unless and until it becomes an actual nuisance, much like any nuisance in any type or use of residential property. Unfortunately, the government definitely does assert an interest; the Utah League of Cities and Towns lobbied against the bill in order to preserve the status quo and allow cities to continue to arbitrarily regulate away the rights of homeowners.
But the issue isn't going away, and more legislative attempts will be forthcoming. As with other innovative enterprises, the public is on the side of Airbnb and VRBO. These popular services fill a void in Utah's marketplace and do so in a way that enriches communities by creating friendships and experiences between a host and their guests.
Nobody wants a party happening next door, but this actually happening is highly unlikely and, to the extent it does happen, can be dealt with using existing nuisance laws. Whether it's Grandma visiting for the weekend or honeymooners looking to rent a basement for the week, homeowners in Utah have the right to peaceably use their property in the sharing economy.]]>
Just five months ago, only 14% of ground transportation at the airport was serviced by Uber and Lyft drivers. Since then, that number has increased to 26%.
These companies faced significant hurdles in become legally enfranchised. As first revealed by Libertas Institute, Salt Lake City imposed $6,500 fines on drivers who were discovered using a secret shopper program. Ironically, one of these secret shoppers hired to punish the new companies actually preferred them over taxis.
Political pressure mounted in favor of ridesharing, leading the legislature and city council to revise the laws to enfranchise these disruptive services. Following the deregulation an agreement was made between the companies and the airport, and since that time drivers have been able to legally operate.
Market disruption such as ridesharing is often controversial as upstart companies must navigate through a barrier of protectionist laws designed to shield the established industry from their competition. Utah's constitution demands a free market; the difficulties government imposed upon these companies and their drivers clearly demonstrates that elected officials have been unwilling to abide by that rigorous constitutional provision.]]>
This comes as a shock to many, as Herbert has long been an ardent proponent of the standards, dismissing and denigrating the concerns raised by critics.
The letter takes an about face, conceding that "there are legitimate concerns that I share with those opposed to the Common Core" and asking the Board to "consider implementing uniquely Utah standards, moving beyond the Common Core to a system that is tailored specifically to the needs of our state."
The Governor also states that "it is critical that we not repeat past mistakes made during the 2010 implementation of the Common Core standards," noting that "we must work with parents and students to understand what works and what can be improved." We find this interesting, as this argument was the basis of our lawsuit against the State Board of Education. Utah law specifies that in "establishing minimum standards related to curriculum and instruction" the Board shall consult with local school boards, teachers, parents, and others.
This was not done. To rebut the arguments outside of the court, the Governor asked the Attorney General to review some of the concerns about Common Core—concerns that Herbert has not conceded until today. That legal analysis, signed by Attorney General Reyes, inaccurately states that the language regarding consulting parents was not in statute in 2010 as the Board was adopting Common Core. That is completely incorrect; the statute had been in place for years prior. It was utterly disregarded during the rushed process of adopting the Common Core standards.
It is important to note that the Board of Education adopted an experimental set of standards for which there was no evidence. No trials had been done. Nothing had been tested. They rushed the state into its adoption not because of any empirical data, but because its adoption was required in order to qualify for a potential federal grant that, in the end, Utah did not receive. For filthy federal lucre, hundreds of thousands of Utah children were turned into pedagogical guinea pigs.
We welcome the Governor's newfound concern with the Common Core standards and encourage the State Board of Education to follow suit—this time actually consulting with the parents and teachers who are impacted by their top-down decisions.
In a pre-written letter released mere minutes after the Governor's letter to the Board, Board chairman David Crandall states that the Board "is cognizant of the issues surrounding the 2010 adoption" and that they will "always look for ways to improve upon" the standards. Nothing is stated in direct response to the Governor's suggestion about the Common Core standards specifically.
Read the Governor's letter here.]]>
Regardless of who is elected as president in November, Utah employers will likely "feel the bern" of increased employment costs thanks to a proposed federal rule from the Obama administration dealing with overtime pay.
The Fair Labor Standards Act currently requires employers to pay overtime rates to non-exempt employees who work over 40 hours per week. Exempt employees are usually white-collar, salaried employees who work in professional or administrative functions, including teachers, a shift manager at a small retail store, or the top executive at a Fortune 500 company. Since 2004, salaried employees earning more than $23,660 have been exempt from overtime laws.
President Obama recently directed the Department of Labor (DOL) to "update"—in other words, increase—this threshold by 113% to $50,440. That "update" is nearly five times the inflation rate since 2004. Such a sweeping change is not in fact an update—it's an aggressive intervention.
The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics place the average Utah wage at $43,108, which means the proposed threshold for exempt status is 17% higher than Utah's average wage level. This new regulation by the Obama administration could force more than half of all Utah workers to become hourly wage laborers, losing their exempt status as salaried employees.
Even the teacher exemption is deceptive, since non teachers do so much of the critical work in Utah's public schools. The proposed rule would apply to—and eventually financially punish—a school's office staff, charter school directors, and others, many of whom often put in far more than 40 hours per week, simply because they care so much about serving their students.
Public schools would also have to begin tracking and managing those employees' hours, lest they trigger the overtime pay requirements. Working from home—such as responding to school-related emails—would be verboten. And these school employees would be "punching a time clock," rather than being trusted as professionals to get their job done.
Ostensibly, President Obama wants to ensure that workers are "paid a fair day's pay for a fair day's work." The implicit assumption is that employers abuse overtime exemptions by placing workers on a salary not commensurate with the work required. The reality is that wages and workloads respond to the immutable laws of supply and demand. At its heart, Obama's proposed rule is just a price control, and as plenty of studies and common sense both indicate, these schemes entail arbitrary manipulation of markets and therefore are doomed to fail.
The consequences of this labor takeover would be far reaching. The last round of overtime rule changes triggered a chain of employment lawsuits, creating huge litigation costs for employers. Instead of paying employees more, employers will likely forego hiring new workers, rearrange existing staff, invest in machinery and automation, hire temporary workers, and ship jobs overseas.
Rather than helping workers earn more, this rule would likely reduce pay for many Utahns. Employers will switch to hourly wages for these salaried workers with current overtime built in—except now the employee would have a lower guaranteed minimum. And if there is a slow month or if the company needs to save money, they will likely cut overtime hours first.
Most Utahns rightly oppose the Obama administration interfering in Utah's education and health care systems. Now Utahns should be concerned about interventions in our labor market. Utah's economic engine can't continue churning with the slowdown in hiring or the wage reductions that President Obama's proposed rule would create. Utah's education employees, business leaders, and congressional delegation must unite to stop this proposed rule.]]>
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality held its 2nd Annual lawnmower exchange event last week. This "clean air initiative" is funded by the Utah legislature through the "CARROT" program (Clean Air Retrofit, Replacement, and Off-Road Technology Program) and is administered by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The program seeks to find ways to replace higher emitting vehicles and equipment with lesser emitting alternatives.
This year, the program distributed 944 deeply subsidized electric lawnmowers, many in exchange for existing gas-powered mowers. Based on average lawnmower use and carbon emissions statistics, the program may lead to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 668 tons a year—or 4,676 tons over the seven year life of a lawnmower. This comes at a cost to Utah taxpayers of $52.49 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions removed. For comparison, scholars estimate the social costs of carbon emissions to be between $3 and $24 per ton.
In other words, Utah taxpayers are likely paying double the social costs of carbon emissions to reduce them—notably emissions that are not created during the winter inversion season, either.
Like "Cash for Clunkers," many consumers are not trading in new gas-powered mowers, but rather mowers they were likely to replace on their own in the near future with newer, more efficient models. Perhaps some may have even purchased electric models to replace older mowers anyway. Enterprising consumers might even proactively purchase barely salvageable used mowers in order to receive the trade-in discount while retaining their existing gas mowers at home.
Like any government intervention in the market, a subsidy merely leads to inefficiencies. In this case, an arbitrary reduction in the price for consumers from $399 to $100 per mower yielded overwhelming demand. Reservations for the nearly 1,000 mowers were exhausted in the first hour, crashing the DEQ servers. News stories called this phenomenon a "success" of the program and described the program as "popular." In reality, it is merely the operation of basic economic principles—demand for a good increases when its price is lowered, leading to a shortage of supply at prices below market equilibrium.
Ripple effects in the market for used lawnmowers will now be felt for discount shoppers looking for a second-hand mower for the season. Undoubtedly, many likely purchased a used model to qualify for the discounted trade-in price, and others who might have sold an old mower will not be selling this year. Much like "Cash for Clunkers," the real benefit here is to the lawn mower retailers; the state purchased the mowers from Lowes.
The "Cash for Clunkers" program was also criticized because of the small impact it had on reducing emissions. Some estimates projected the emissions offset to be a mere two days worth of nationwide overall emissions. The Utah mower program has an even smaller impact—it will reduce annual emissions in Utah by 1/1,000th of a percent (0.001%) of statewide emissions.
To put that in perspective, based on emissions statistics for Utah, the amount of emissions reduced by this program is equivalent to eliminating all emissions in the state for 5.5 minutes a year. At a total cost of roughly $250,000 for the mowers, that is an expensive five minutes.
Fortunately for Utah taxpayers, the legislature declined to appropriate more money for the program this year despite a $500,000 request in the Governor's budget for the continuation of the CARROT program. Unfortunately, not appropriating funds to a government program one year only renders the government program "mostly dead." Be on the lookout for the state to round up loose change to resurrect programs like these in the future.
30 annual mowings at 25 hours of operation a year for exchanged gas-powered mowers. 1 hour of gas mowing is equal to 100 car miles. 2,500 mi/yr * 23.6 mpg = 105.9322 gal/yr * 19.4 lbs of carbon per gallon = 2,055.08468 lbs of CO2/yr * 7 year useful life of the replacement electric mower (warranty is only 5 years) = 14385.59276 lbs of CO2 offset over the life of the replacement electric mower.
Subtract the carbon emissions (1,176 lbs) of electricity production to charge the replacement electric mower. 30 annual electric mowings. 3.5 KWH to recharge after each mowing * 1.607 lbs of CO2/KWH (Rocky Mountain Power's carbon emission rate) = 5.6 lbs of carbon per mowing * 30 mowings = 168 lbs of CO2/yr. * 7 yr life (warranty is only 5) = 1,176 lbs of CO2 emissions over 7 years.
Net carbon emission offset of using an electric mower = 13,209.59 lbs (6.6 tons). This is further discounted as only about 75% of electric mowers distributed were accompanied by an exchange of a gas-powered mower being taken out of service.
Total carbon offset of the 944 electric lawnmowers distributed is approximately 4,676.2 tons over 7 years. At a state subsidy of $260/per mower ($399 retail cost, customer pays the state $100 and the state receives a bulk purchase discount from the retailer) the price per ton of carbon offset is $52.49.
Annual carbon emissions in Utah are 66.4 million metric tons. The annual carbon offset for the mower exchange program is 668.03 tons. As a share of Utah's annual carbon emissions of 66.4M, the annual offset represents 0.00001 (or 0.001%) of emissions.]]>
The ideological breakdown revealed that 90% of Democrats and 76% of independents are in favor, whereas 55% of Republicans support legalizing medical cannabis. Even more "very conservative" respondents are in favor—49% versus 44% of them who oppose.
Despite LDS Church opposition to Senator Madsen's recent bill, a majority of Mormons still support legalization—55% to 40% in opposition.
With recent legislation having failed, medical cannabis patients and advocates are now looking to file a ballot initiative that would give the option directly to the supportive public, rather than allowing the skeptical House of Representatives to substantially restrict (or opt not to pass) a medical cannabis program.
Libertas Institute has two summer research internships available for college students or recent graduates. Join our successful organization to help advance the cause of liberty in Utah!
We are in need of policy research assistance to prepare some of the legislative proposals Libertas will be advancing in the 2017 general session beginning next January.
Job responsibilities
These are unpaid positions, though we will gladly work with your school to provide credit if that is an option. Any necessary expenditures related to assigned work will be reimbursed.
Interns will work in Lehi on a part-time basis, either a morning or afternoon shift.
Interested students should submit a resumé and two writing samples to firstname.lastname@example.com with "Research internship application" in the subject line.]]>


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Editorial Primera Hora, Inc.
< 5
< 500k
Biotech/Healthcare->Healthcare Facilities/Services
SIC Code:
8011 - Offices and Clinics of Medical Doctors
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Twilight Time Presents: From the Dark to the Way Too Light
What do two film noirs, three westerns, one failed Charlton Heston adventure epic, and one of the worst giallo movies have in common? They've all seen the light of Blu-ray.
A timeless, tiresome proverb tells us it is darkest before the dawn, and we have all surely met that one idiot who is always more than happy to impose some form of such an idiom upon you whenever things aren't looking overly bright for you. Fortunately, there is no lack of lighting in this sextet of moving picture offerings from Twilight Time. In the instance of the two film noir titles included in this lot ‒ Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) and a re-issue of The Big Heat (1953) ‒ the lighting is always perfect. When we're in the great
T-Rex Movie Review: A Teenage Gold Medalist is Still a Teenager
T-Rex thrives in its moments of tranquility, which eerily and excitingly juxtapose the moments of explicit competition and internationally sanctioned brutality.
Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari's spacious and often tranquil sports documentary follows boxer Claressa "T-Rex" Shields before, during, and after her historic gold-medal victory at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Born, raised, and trained in Flint, Michigan - of water-crisis fame - T-Rex fought through the amateur ranks to become the first female boxer to take home the gold at the Olympics when she was seventeen years old. Ever on the precipice of history, Claressa's story is bold, unbridled, and told in a way that highlights the essence of her character rather than a distorted or inflated image
The Neon Demon Movie Review: A Glittering Mess You Must See
Showgirls for Millennials.
I entered the theater with feelings of doubt prior to watching Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon. The one-two punch that was Bronson and Drive led to the utter train wreck of Refn's Ryan Gosling follow-up, Only God Forgives, so the director is 2-1 in my book, and critics division on Neon Demon is as wide as our current political party lines. Three critics walked out before the film was over and audience members were shouting at the screen. When the lights went up, I was left confused. Was this a prestige picture by a director touted as a "revolutionary,"
Charlie Chan 3-Film Collection DVD Review: Honorable Circle, Now Complete
Confucius say: 'Last of previously unreleased titles from franchise finally find way to disc. Hell, yes.'
It's usually easy to say exactly where a film franchise begins. Universal Studios' Jaws (1975) movies officially started with Steven Spielberg's Jaws (though we can see early traces of the film's formula on display in Spielberg's Duel) and came to a hilariously anticlimactic conclusion in Jaws: The Revenge (1987). However, numerous foreign-made "sequels" and outright ripoffs have managed to confuse people who evidently find it difficult to differentiate the real deal from a school of blue fish. In the case of another film franchise ‒ that of the Charlie Chan legacy ‒ it truly is difficult to pinpoint what began
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 2 Blu-ray Review: Some Things Don't Translate
A second volume of movies from Nikkatsu's '60s heyday branches out from just crime movies, with occasionally baffling results.
Japanese cinema is samurai showdowns, tough gangster pictures, or calm, quietly devastating domestic dramas. Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi. Oh, and Godzilla. Maybe a few decades of nothing for a while, then long-haired ghosts and incredibly violent weird movies by Takashi Miike. That's what the industry and art form looked like to even an interested observer not too long ago. There were a few other movies that came in through the cracks (Afterlife in the late '90s, Kitano's fireworks before that) but the vision of Japanese cinema, internationally, was fairly stable for a long of film enthusiasts. With their Nikkatsu releases in
Valley of Love Movie Review: Isabelle and Gerard and the Goddamn Heat
Nicloux writes and directs this strange and lovely odyssey through Death Valley.
Guillaume Nicloux writes and directs the considerate Valley of Love, which kind of has one foot in Maurice Pialat's 1980 film Loulou and the other in a spectral inversion of reality. It positions its two glorious stars - Isabelle Huppert and Gérard Depardieu - nearly as themselves and dumps them in Death Valley. Valley of Love was France's 2015 Cannes entry and it resonates as a classical road movie, putting two screen icons on a path to elusive elements like self-discovery, resolution, and peace. Nothing comes easy and Christophe Offenstein's exceptional tracking shots ensure the audience is along for every
Central Intelligence Movie Review: The End is Near
It's just not funny.
I have long since theorized that if Kevin Hart and Melissa McCarthy ever made a buddy film together, it would signify the beginning of the end of life as we know it. They have made enough terrible films on their own to start a club. To escape the record-setting heat (not meant to be a reference to McCarthy's The Heat, a record-setting film in terms of how bad I thought it sucked) this past weekend, I headed for the local theatre and the new release Central Intelligence starring Mr. Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. After struggling through the majority
Twilight Time Presents: Dramatic Epics from Time (and Even Space!)
An infinite number of stars. Six movies. Positively no refunds.
Whether you attended only one week of high school or an entire day in the food and beverage industry, you're more than highly likely to be aware of something called "drama." Generally, it's a toxic element of life, which many of us tend to ignore (or at least pretend to when you really, matter-of-factly thrive on it). But when it comes to the moving pictures, the drama has a tendency to be much more fulfilling. Not because it's healthier (though technically, it is, since we don't actually have to live it), but because there's a darn fine chance it has
LAFF 2016 Review: Dr. Feelgood
Opioid addiction and one doctor's questionable practices are brought to light.
The first rule of the Hippocratic oath can be recited by those without a medical degree: First, do no harm. But in a world where nearly all problems can be fixed, or at least sated, with the help of a pill, questions crop up as to whether the cure is as bad as the disease. The recent death of Prince through opioid overdose only makes Eve Marson's documentary, Dr. Feelgood, tragically timelier. Dr. Feelgood tells the tale of Virginia doctor William Hurwitz, accused of overprescribing opioid medications to his patients who see him as an angel of mercy. Audiences first
Zootopia Blu-ray Review: The Great Bunny Detective
Disney's latest animated adventure focuses on an odd couple of buddies tasked with setting aside their differences for the greater good.
Judy Hopps is a bunny. Nick Wilde is a fox. In the peaceful animal world of Zootopia, that doesn't automatically make them enemies, since predators and prey exist in perfect harmony. When a few predators mysteriously start disappearing and reverting to their primal ferocity, they threaten to destroy the urban utopia unless rookie Officer Hopps and her devious acquaintance Nick can crack the case. Although it's a cartoon, Zootopia isn't just for kids. Its recurring theme of bigotry blatantly uses the different animal classes in place of race relations, while elsewhere amusing riffs on The Godfather and Breaking Bad make
La Chienne Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Early Renoir is a Delight
Criterion does a masterful job of bringing an early sound picture to live.
Life has not gone well for Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon). He works as a cashier for a hosiery company and is generally despised by his colleagues. In an opening scene, they openly mock and scorn him for being a wet blanket and for having to run home to his wife instead of going out on the town with them. The wife, too, rather deplores Maurice and spends nearly every moment of her time on screen berating him. The only pleasure the poor fellow gets from life is painting and even that is spat upon by his wife who declares he
Blood Bath Blu-ray Review: Bloody Interesting
Sometimes the behind-the-scenes stories are more interesting than the actual films.
Roger Corman's name is synonymous with low-budget, independently financed b-pictures. He's produced over 400 films in his career, most of which come with titles like Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda or Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. They almost always made money because he knows the basics of filmmaking and he has his finger on the pulse of what's going to sell. He also gave a great many A-list directors and actors their start in the business including folks like James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Jack Nicholson. A famous bit of spurious trivia says that he filmed Little
Fathom Events Presents Ghostbusters (1984) on the Big Screen
Who you gonna call?
From the moment it was announced that they were remaking Ghostbusters with women as the leads, the Internet lost its collective minds. Thousands of people have gone insane with hatred towards a movie they've not yet seen. As with any passionate internet wave, the backlash was as intense as it was inevitable. Cries of sexism came fast and furious as if anyone who wasn't completely in love with the idea of this reboot hated all women. Now of course, if you spend any amount of time on the various internet boards in which this film is discussed, you'll find a
Warcraft Movie Review: It's for Those Who Grew up Playing the Game
It's also for the moms and dads who want to watch their children enjoy this bit of fantasy come to life.
The year was 1999. I watched my then-boyfriend play this fantasy/strategy game on an old Windows computer and I thought to myself, "Hey, I like planning! I'll give this a try!" That game was the Battle.net edition of Warcraft II and I played it for hours on end. I liked the sound of the little guy who proudly announced, "Job done!" when he was done building a house or chopping down trees. I planned my villages and managed my time, always waiting for something to come in and distract me from my work. When it happened, I'd panic every time,
Time to Choose Movie Review: The Truth is Still Inconvenient, and More Important
A new generation is set to inherit our mistakes, but we still have a choice...
A decade has passed since Al Gore reported to us about climate change, and won an Academy Award, with An Inconvenient Truth. Since then cars have become more gas efficient (or entirely electric) and not a day goes by that articles about food consumption or drought pop up to remind us of the real effects of climate change. Documentarian Charles Ferguson's Time to Choose espouses the same rhetoric as the Gore doc, but with added scrutiny towards individual pollutants destroying our world. Opening by documenting Earth's majesty, those who enjoyed the BBC's Planet Earth series might experience some deja vu.
Le Amiche Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Antonioni Drains the Passion from Melodrama
This middle-period entry from the Italian master hints at what's to come, but stands on its own as an interesting work.
It's tempting to label Michelangelo Antonioni's fourth feature film Le Amiche a transitional work, as it shuns Neorealism and embraces melodrama like some of his earlier work, but also moves toward the aggressively modernist sensibilities that would define subsequent masterpieces like L'Avventura, La Notte and Red Desert. While it's true that Le Amiche only obliquely studies interpersonal alienation, it's also more than just a bellwether for the more experimental work to come. With its long, meandering takes and restrained performances, it acts like a melodrama that's had the passion slowly drained out of it, and stands on its own as
The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead Movie Review: Behind the Punk Music
This movie should have more rocking and less talking.
When you hear the words "punk music," the first names that pop up are usually The Sex Pistols, The Clash, or The Ramones. In recent years, there were bands like My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte, and Fall Out Boy joining the ranks. I'm sorry, but it's hard to consider these bands as punk. There are way better bands that don't get any exposure but should, groups like Catbath, Fuzzy Machete, Rapedoor, Breed, and TsuShiMaMiRe. One band that helped start the punk movement and the one that recorded the very first album was The Dammed. However, they never got much credit
Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers by Emilio P. Miraglia Blu-ray Review: Killer Queens?
Arrow Video places two more (partly) forgotten gialli on the map in a box set that some folks will kill for.
Following in on the high, blood-stained heels of their previously-released gialli box set, Death Walks Twice: Two Films by Luciano Ercoli, Arrow Video has once again assembled a mini ensemble to two dissimilarly similar titles from a somewhat forgotten Italian genre filmmaker. This time, we are allotted the opportunity to discern (and maybe even dissect) two unique thrillers from the realm of movies fueled by sex, violence, funky fashions, even funkier music, and J&B Scotch aplenty, both of which were helmed and brought to fruition by one Emilio P. Miraglia. Much like Ercoli ‒ whose films were made and distributed
LAFF 2016 Review: Free CeCe
A dark examination of violence and imprisonment against trans women of color.
With trans issues at the forefront of several legal squabbles, it isn't surprising that documentaries have cast their eye towards analyzing the world of LGBTQI issues and the broken justice system which repeatedly fails them. Acting as a close cousin to the fantastic Southwest of Salem is Free CeCe, a similar story of prosecutorial misjustice and a sobering look at violence against trans women of color. On a hot summer night in 2011, Chrishaun "CeCe" McDonald was attacked by a group of white people while out walking with friends. In the ensuing melee, a man died and CeCe is arrested,
The Fits Movie Review: Confidence and Dance Are a Fitful Combo
Director Anna Rose Holmer crafts a coming-of-age film on par with The Witch
Donovan once sang it "must be the season of the witch" and with Robert Eggers' New England folktale, The Witch, and Anna Rose Holmer's The Fits, Donovan might be on to something. The Fits leaves audiences simultaneously enraptured and curious, concoting a hazy world remarkably unremarkable, filled with double meanings and symbolism. One of the year's best films with a powerhouse performance from newcomer Royalty Hightower makes The Fits a "fitting" entry in a cinematic landscape examining female adolescence. Toni (Hightower) is a young girl interested in boxing but who dreams of joining her gym's local dance troupe filled with
Tab Hunter Confidential Movie Review: It Tells the Hard Truth about the Darkside of Stardom
A personal and ultimate look at the complicated career of a 1950s Hollywood heartthrob as told by Tab himself.
As we all know, Hollywood can be a make-or-break industry, creating stars and destroying them. Some make it, while others don't. I think no one knows that better than Tab Hunter, the once dominating hunk of the 1950s, who became the biggest sensation of that decade. He was considered at the time the ultimate blue-eyed, blond-haired stud who graced the covers of countless magazines, and starred in many films. His amazingly good looks and all-American boyish sex appeal drove many of his fans to extreme frenzy, making him the epitome of the young matinee idol whom all others are measured.
KISS Rocks Vegas Cinema Event Review: Exactly What You'd Expect from a KISS Concert
The only issue in regards to the concert is that every time they perform they give the exact same performance.
Fathom Events is known for bringing one-time events into movie theatres throughout the country. These presentations can range from plays and ballets to full-scale rock 'n' roll concerts like the one KISS filmed during their residency in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Casino. Before the film started, there was some KISS trivia flashed on the screen. The best two were how on December 31, 1972, Gene Simmons debuted his fire-breathing trick and managed to set fire to his hair at the same time. And the other was that during KISS's first photo shoot the photographer did not realize they
Me Before You Movie Review: A Melodramatic Romance and Questionable Portrayal of Disability
Jojo Moyes' novel gives audiences a generic portrait of disability couched in a formulaic melodrama.
A common technique in classic film of the 1930s-1950s was disabling, or other means of eliciting tears, one half of a romantic couple with the subsequent melodrama inspiring tears and pity in equal measure. Just how would the two lovers survive in such a cruel world? This weekend's adaptation of Jojo Moyes' novel, Me Before You, seeks to tap in to the melodrama of old, but in 2016 it's far too generic and unpleasant. After losing her job, Louisa "Lou" Clark (Emilia Clarke) takes a chance at being the caretaker to a wealthy disabled man named Will (Sam Claflin). Will
The Naked Island Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Japanese film explores the travails of a poor farming family without the use of dialogue.
Kaneto Shindo's film about the daily struggles of a poor farming family has one major hook: a total absence of dialogue. Filmed in black and white on a rocky speck of an island off the coast of Japan, the film initially plays more like a documentary than a narrative film until a tragic event unfolds in the final act. Up until that point, the daily monotony of hardscrabble farming life wears out its welcome as a film subject long before its allotted time is over. The family consists of a middle-aged man, his younger wife, and their two young sons.
The Assassin Blu-ray Review: Mesmerizingly Beautiful, Maddeningly Obtuse
Hsiao Hsien Hou won Best Director at Cannes for this gorgeous, but largely plotless and completely unsatisfying historical drama.
It's hard when reviewing a movie to admit that you don't get it. If you have enough ego to broadcast your opinions on films, you probably have enough ego to be sure you have something interesting to say about them. So when a movie confounds you, there can be the temptation to pretend you get what it's doing, for appearance's sake. This movie isn't smarter than me, after all! Well, The Assassin has confounded me, and I'm not sure if that's because it was smarter than me, or what it was trying to do was something I am not receptive
Killer Dames - Two Gothic Chillers By Emilio Miraglia Blu-ray Review
Arrow Video creates another fantastic set featuring two Italian giallo films.
Emilio Miraglia rose through the ranks of Italian cinema in the early '60s, making his bones as an assistant director on over 15 films before taking the reins as director. After a couple of mostly forgotten action flicks and a heist picture, he made two well regarded (at least among genre fans) giallos before turning to the Spaghetti Western genre. He directed six films between 1967 and 1972 and then completely disappeared from cinema all together. It's the giallos he is remembered for and Arrow Video has put the pair together in another of their fantastic, limited edition releases. A


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Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
The Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology offers an international and interdisciplinary forum for discussion of the aging process and issues of the aged throughout the world. The journal emphasizes discussions of research findings, theoretical issues, and applied approaches and provides a comparative orientation to the study of aging in cultural contexts.
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South Boston News & Record
and Mecklenburg Sun
Wednesday crash claims life of Charlotte resident
06/29/16 - 6:50 am
U.S. flags that are American made, and Southside proud
06/29/16 - 6:43 am
Clarksville celebrates nation's founding with parade
06/29/16 - 6:36 am
Player, coach of the year
06/27/16 - 7:22 am
Barnes earns POY year honors while Bane named top coach
- More A&E
Leggett building demolition to begin
SoVaNow.com / September 11, 2013
The demolition of the old Leggett building in Chase City, at the corner of Main and Second Streets, will begin this week, members of Town Council were informed Monday during their monthly meeting. The building was condemned last month after its roof collapsed.
Mayor Eddie Bratton said, "It will be necessary to re-route traffic away from the building during certain times as a safety consideration. There is a real possibility that some building materials could fall into the street in the initial knock-down."
Council also learned that long-awaited construction work at the railroad crossing on Sycamore Street and the storm water control ditch is set to begin. This will result in another traffic detour, said Bratton: "This and the Leggett detour may make some confusing routes from time to time."
He asked for patience from the residents while the demolition and road construction work is ongoing.
In other developments at the Council meeting, the first set of contracts have been awarded for the Third Street neighborhood renewal project. This neighborhood revitalization project, paid for with Community Development Block Grant funds, will build or rehabilitate 21 houses and provide road improvements along West Third Street in Chase City.
In other business, Council approved a new town weed ordinance, which gives a homeowner only five days to trim their lawns after receiving a warning from the town. Failure to address the problem will result in the offending homeowner being assessed a penalty.
Council sent to the planning Commission, a request to rezone the property at the corner of Roark and Ogburn Streets.
Town Treasurer Virginia Petersen announced that the town will hire a new assistant treasurer to replace Joan Creedle who is retiring at the end of the year.
Petersen hopes to fill the position by Oct. 1 so a period of training can be undertaken.
During the Mayor's comments, Bratton commended the police department for its handling of a spate of break-ins around Chase City. "Our officers were able to locate and arrest the suspect and he is being detained for several charges.
"This was good police work and the professional efforts of our Police Department often go necessarily unnoticed. This is one case where we can say well done and thank-you to Chief Jordan and our police department."
Bratton said Community Watch Meetings will resume next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the fire department meeting room.
"Recent criminal activity in town emphasizes the need for us to be vigilant about our neighborhoods and these sessions are helpful in learning what we should guard against. So, I encourage you to take the time to attend."
He reminded everyone that the South Central Fair arrives next month, followed by the Autumn Jubilee to close out that week with its annual Sunday afternoon events.
Bratton and the members of Council wished former Mayor Duke Reid a "speedy recovery." Reid is currently in a nursing home recovering from a broken hip.
A special recognition was given to Peggy Brame, who two weeks ago celebrated her 100th birthday. "Just imagine all the world events she has witnessed and the changes in our town particularly." Bratton said.
Vice Mayor Lisa Gillispie reminded residents to support the barbeque chicken dinner being held this Saturday, and the Autumn Jubilee in October.
During the public comment period, Jimmy Clary shared his thoughts on the poor conditions he perceives for the town. He challenged the citizens and the town organizations to take the problems seriously and to take corrective actions.
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CommentsTearing down the old Leggett building? What's wrong with you people? Why didn't you buy it and turn it into a boutique hotel or an apartment building? I guess the owner is having to foot the bill for demolition. Such a wasted opportunity to blow taxpayer money. You council members should be ashamed!
- By Spend if you have and even more when you don't on 09 / 11 / 13
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