Author Archives: James J Heaney

Fetal Legal Eagle: Personhood FAQ

Next year, North Dakota will vote on a state constitutional amendment that defines the beginning of human life as the beginning of human rights.  This is also known as a Personhood amendment.  I have written about Personhood before, but, in … Continue reading

Posted in Abolitionism, Mere Opinion | 1 Comment

Just War Theory Tested in Syria

The Just War Theory is a framework for analyzing the exceptional cases where war — that is, the deliberate use of potentially deadly force on a mass scale against a legitimate, sovereign authority — might possibly be something other than … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis, Politics | 58 Comments

An Old-New Republican Platform

I was digging around the dusty corners of the Documents folder on my computer today when I found, in a rarely-visited folder, a document from 2009 called “A New Party Platform.”  I opened it up and was fairly delighted by … Continue reading

Posted in Declarations, Law, Politics | 850 Comments

Life, Death, and Lies in the El Salvador Anencephaly Case

RH Reality Check is being transparently dishonest — one might even call it lying — in the case of Beatriz and Rachel, the El Salvadorean duo that’s been making headlines this week.  In other news, water is wet and Monday … Continue reading

Posted in Abolitionism | 852 Comments

Abortion Restriction is Still a Winning Issue

Last night, I was having some discussions about the future of the GOP (I mentioned these in my post yesterday), and I was asked whether we need to give up on abortion, moot it as an issue, and focus on … Continue reading

Posted in Abolitionism, Analysis | 1,479 Comments

Why Republicans Will Always Lose, by Douglas Adams

Reading the much-talked-about GOP “autopsy” today, trying to put together some impromptu thoughts about it for a Senate District meeting tonight, I find myself reminded of a passage from Douglas Adams’ novel Life, The Universe, and Everything.  Slartibartfast, a hapless … Continue reading

Posted in Mere Opinion, Politics | 1,803 Comments

No, It Is Not Illegal To Marry A Virgin In Guam

This is hardly how I wanted to break a two-month absence from my blogging work. I was hoping for some notes on the new Pope Francis, or that I’d finally finish my thought experiment on rape and rebuttable presumption, or … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Mere Opinion | 1,496 Comments

Roe v. Wade + 40: J’accuse

All day, I thought about how to address the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. How do you adequately commemorate 55 million murdered children in a Facebook status or a blog post? For the crime cannot — must not — … Continue reading

Posted in Abolitionism | 2,363 Comments

Why We Lost: Not Enough Votes

First things first: I was wrong.  Nate Silver was right.  The Democrats did, indeed, have a turnout miracle.  Final exit polling shows the Democrats with a D+6 advantage on election night, essentially matching their D+7 result in 2008, and burying … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis, Horse Race, Politics | 2,265 Comments

I Support the Minnesota Marriage Amendment

I had planned to spend tonight, the last night before the election, finally talking about Minnesota’s Voter ID Amendment, explaining why requiring photographic identification is a wise policy and why the arguments against the amendment are (as I was planning … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis, Law, Marriage, Politics | 1,675 Comments