Nation
Court denies Nader ballot access The Supreme Court decided on Saturday to uphold a state court's decision to keep independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader off the ballot in Pennsylvania, agreeing that there were many flaws in the signatures collected by the campaign. Nader asked the nation's highest court to review his case after a lower court deemed thousands of signatures necessary for ballot access to be invalid. The Nader campaign expressed disappointment and pledged to continue to appeal decisions made on the state level. Nader contended that the court wrongly excluded signatures from state residents who were not registered to vote. The Supreme Court has not yet acted on a similar case involving Nader and the Ohio ballot.
ACLU sues FBI over terror interviews
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the FBI over the bureau's interviewing of Muslims and Arabs as part of an investigation into a possible pre-election terrorist attack. The ACLU is trying to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to ensure that the constitutional rights of those interrogated are being respected. "These random interviews or interrogations raise the concern that the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Forces operating in Northern California are infringing upon the civil rights and civil liberties of immigrants, U.S. citizens, and organizations by interrogating them without any valid basis, rationale, or individualized suspicion for doing so," the ACLU's FOIA request reads.
Rapper refocuses registration efforts Taking a cue from both Bush and Kerry, rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is focusing his voter registration effort, with its slogan "Vote or Die," on a few swing states. "If you are going to play the game, you need to play it all the way," Combs said to CNN. "And if you are talking about flexing your power, and you ain't flexing in the swing states, then you ain't flexing your power." The Citizen Change program will launch a three-day get-out-the-vote drive starting Tuesday in Milwaukee and Detroit, followed by rallies in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Miami. P. Diddy started the non-profit initiative earlier this year in the hopes of involving traditionally overlooked voters.
WWF warns of resource consumption Global reliance on fossil fuels, the spread of cities, the destruction of natural habitats for farmland, and exploitation of the oceans are destroying the Earth's ability to sustain life, said the World Wildlife Foundation in a report released last week. "We are spending nature's capital faster than it can regenerate," said WWF chief Claude Martin, releasing the 40-page study, to CNN. "We are running up an ecological debt which we won't be able to pay off unless governments restore the balance between our consumption of natural resources and the Earth's ability to renew them." Burning of fossil fuels - such as from automobiles and power plants - contributes to global warming, many experts say.
State
GOP says Democrats aid illegal aliens The Massachusetts Republican Party is raising the issue of immigration in many state legislative races, mailing fliers to households accusing Democrat incumbents of voting for state-college tuition breaks for illegal immigrants. The mailings have drawn outrage from some immigrant rights groups, who have decried them as misleading. The GOP and Gov. Mitt Romney, however, have stood by the mailings. "When Barbara L'Italien voted to give illegal immigrants a tuition break at our state colleges and universities, she turned her back on some of our best and brightest," read one flier.
Justice counters activist label The Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court countered the charge of "judicial activism" that has been leveled by opponents of gay marriage since the court authorized the practice last spring. Margaret Marshall also attacked the growing national trend to elect judges and urged that the courts be left out of politics. "I don't think they are activist judges," Marshall said in a speech at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast. "I think they are judges doing their constitutional duty." Marshall did not single out either President George W. Bush or Gov. Mitt Romney, both of whom have used the term "judicial activism."
Boston police union endorses Kerry Boston's police patrolmen's union voted to endorse Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), BC Law '76, citing in part his refusal to cross a police picket line during a contract dispute with the city. Roughly 50 members of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association representative body voted to endorse Kerry after Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) urged them to do so. "This is a significant endorsement, particularly if you go back to 1988," Delahunt said, referring to the union's controversial endorsement of Republican George H.W. Bush over then Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Frank, Senate hopeful, raising profile The undeclared campaign for John Kerry's Senate seat became more visible last week, as Rep. Barney Frank began an advertisement campaign aimed at raising his profile for the race that would occur if Kerry wins the White House in November. Frank, a Democrat who represents a district from Newton to Fall River, has purchased $350,000 worth of airtime, mainly on Boston television stations. Frank acknowledged that the advertising campaign is designed at least in part to set the stage for a possible Senate run. "The best way to win any campaign is before the campaign begins," said Frank to the Boston Globe.
Kerry plans to await results in Copley
Sen. John Kerry's campaign for the White House will end with an election night gala in Copley Square that may attract huge crowds and reporters, as happened at the Democratic National Convention, while offering Bostonians a chance to be a part of political history. As many as 30,000 people are expected to be at what Kerry hopes will be a victory party. The event would be outside the Boston Public Library on Copley Square, near the adjacent Hancock Tower and Trinity Church. The Kerry campaign is negotiating the terms of the permit with Mayor Menino's office. "The request is pending for a myriad of reasons, including security and traffic," said Menino spokesperson Seth Gitell to the Boston Globe.
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