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Supremes Demand Unanimous Verdicts for Convictions

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The U.S. Supreme Court Monday ruled that criminal jury verdicts must be unanimous to result in convictions, a decision addressing laws in Oregon and Louisiana that allowed convictions even with two jurors voting to acquit.

“Wherever we might look to determine what the term ‘trial by an impartial jury trial’ meant at the time of the Sixth Amendment’s adoption—whether it’s the common law, state practices in the founding era, or opinions and treatises written soon afterward—the answer is unmistakable,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in an opinion. “A jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict.”

So how did Louisiana and Oregon wind up with laws not requiring unanimous verdicts for convictions and why did three justices rule in favor of the existing laws?

We ask Andrew C. McCarthy, former chief assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. We also discuss the push to release prisoners in many parts of the country to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and the inexplicable surprise by some local officials when the freed inmates commit more crimes.

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Trump vs. WHO & the Beauty of Federalism

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This week, President Trump temporarily defunding the World Health Organization over its failure to confront China over its deceptions or even do any work to confirm the information China was trying to spoon feed to the rest of the world.

On Thursday, President Trump laid out his three-phase plan to restart the U.S. economy.  It provides criteria for starting the three phases all the way up to a fully re-engaged society.  It also leaves the opening and closing power with governors.

Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner weighs in eloquently on both subjects.  Turner explains why the WHO must be confronted now and why we cannot wait until after the crisis has largely subsided.  She also details what the WHO could do right now to prove it’s more than an apologist for China.

Turner also hails the plan to restart the economy, with special praise for the federalist approach of giving states the flexibility to make their own decisions on reopening.

Although she isn’t expecting any changes in the traditional health policy debates, Turner says this newfound respect for states rights ought to be applied to our health care system as a whole.

“All the things that Washington loves to control by rules and regulations, we’ve seen the health sector actually functions better if we get those out of the way,” said Turner, who says other aspects of the coronavirus response prove her point as well.

“When we have seen good responses to needs, we have seen the private sector stepping up: coming up with tests, producing supplies, turning automobile factories over to be able to produce ventilators.  Where we have seen failures, it’s been in central controlled government programs,” added Turner.

Listen to the full podcast to hear where Turner believes the government dropped the ball and more of her analysis on both of these key issues.

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The Real Phyllis Schlafly: Hollywood vs. Reality

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In the 1970’s the Equal Rights Amendment was on its way to swift ratification, when a woman named Phyllis Schlafly launched a grassroots effort to torpedo the amendment by showing women why they didn’t want it.

Wednesday night, F/X and Hulu are teaming up to present “Mrs. America,” a multi-part examination of the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  Unsurprisingly, the Hollywood story line is that the amendment was a good thing and Mrs. Schlafly was wrong to oppose it.

According to Schlafly’s daughter Anne Schlafly Cori, “Mrs. America” gets her mother’s hair and wardrobe exactly right but fails to capture her warmth and ability to inspire thousands of women.  It also badly mischaracterizes the Schlafly marriage.

In this podcast, Schlafly Cori explains why her mother jumped in to lead the fight against the ERA, what she thinks of efforts by Democrats to claim they’ve ratified the amendment long after the window of opportunity expired, and why she thinks the resurgence is all about abortion.

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Why Virginia’s New Gun Control Laws Make Citizens Less Safe?

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On Friday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed several gun control bills into law, and while he did not get his prized “assault weapons” ban, gun rights groups say second amendment rights in the commonwealth are greatly weakened by these new laws.

The new legislation requires universal background checks, limits citizens to one firearm purchase per month, established “red flag” laws allowing police to take firearms away from people alleged to be a threat to themselves or others, and gives localities the freedom to establish gun-free zones.

John Crump is Virginia State Director at Gun Owners of America.  In this podcast, he explains which of the new laws bother him the most, why universal background checks give the government information he believes they have no business having, and why he fears red flag laws will be highly abused to deny people their constitutional rights.

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The Dangers of Rushing to Vote by Mail

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Concerns over the coronavirus have forced the postponement of several political primaries and Wisconsin recently served as the focal point of a bitter debate over in-person voting during a health crisis.

Many voting rights activists are now pushing hard for voting by mail to be an option for every voter come November, but some experts say that idea could lead to big problems with election integrity.

President Trump and others contend voting by mail – while available in every state – is more vulnerable to fraud than in-person voting.

Hans von Spakovsky served on the Federal Election Commission, on President Trump’s commission on election integrity, and manages the Election Law Reform Initiative at the Heritage Foundation.  In this podcast, von Spakovsky explains why he thinks this push is premature, why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s approach to voting by mail would be an election integrity nightmare, and why voting by mail does open up the most opportunities for mischief.

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How Long Can We Afford to Keep the Economy Shuttered?

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On Thursday, the Labor Department announced 6.6 million people filed for first-time unemployment last week.  In the past three weeks, more than 16 million Americans lost their jobs.

How much longer can our economy afford to be locked down?  How fast can it get up and running once it is restarted?  And what policies will be most helpful?

Dr. Gary Wolfram teaches political economy at Hillsdale College.  He addresses these questions, explains why strong government action is needed in a crisis like this, and why suggestions by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and others that we need to ban large gatherings for 12-18 months is simply unrealistic.

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Iran’s Horrific Coronavirus Response

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Iran was one of the first nations afflicted with Coronavirus after it moved on from China, but the Iranian regime’s callous indifference and calculated cruelty towards its own people could result in much bigger consequences than the virus might inflict.

Alireza Jafarzadeh is deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.  He says the response to the virus has been nothing short of appalling.

According to Jafarzadeh, the regime denied the virus existed in the country for three weeks and kept flights to and from China at a robust pace. He says the mullahs and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps are stockpiling vital medical supplies. Instead of distributing them to the medical professionals or the public, they are giving preference to proxy groups in other countries and selling other materials to the highest bidders.

He says there is no urgency in helping the public, only on how to maximize profits from the crisis.

“This is a regime that intervenes in the most personal aspects of the life of the citizen.  You can’t even have a party in your own home,” said Jafarzadeh. “Yet, when there is a crisis this big, the regime is nowhere to be found.”

Listen to Jafarzadeh’s full discussion with Radio America’s Greg Corombos as he explains why sanctions relief is not necessary to help the people of Iran and why the demand for regime change will be greater than ever once this crisis is over.

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The Economy: How Bad Will It Get & How Do We Turn It Around?

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On Thursday, the Department of Labor reported more than 6.6 million people filed new jobless claims over the past week. Combined with the nearly 3.3 million from last week, more than 10 million people since our economy largely shut down due to the coronavirus.

With the nation effectively on pause at least through April, what will the economic toll be over the next few weeks and how quickly can those losses be reversed once we’re past the crisis?

Brian Wesbury is chief economist at First Trust Advisors and is a former chief economist for the Joint Economic of Congress. He explains where he thinks our economy is headed, how strong the relief bill from Congress is and what the big economic lessons ought to be from this crisis.

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What Price Should China Pay?

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Time and time again, China lied about the severity of the coronavirus, how it started, and how many people died there.  Now, by all accounts, the communist rulers are lying about there being no new cases.

Is there any question China is lying?  What does it gain from these deceptions when the lies are so obvious?  What does the poor Chinese response to the virus tell us abut the regime in general?  And what should be the immediate and long-term U.S. responses for China needlessly endangering so many lives around the world?

We get answers from Gordon G. Chang, a China expert and author of “The Coming Collapse of China.”

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Assessing the Coronavrus Response

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The debate over the federal response to the coronavirus threat has been raging for weeks but what goes into a response of this scope? How do the different agencies coordinate, how do the feds collaborate with the states, and how does the private sector partner with the government so seamlessly?

Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner addresses these questions and more in this interview with Radio America’s Greg Corombos.

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