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![[1 of 2] Our Constitutional Rights - Albert Burgess](http://web.archive.org./web/20110515100112im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SeI5P0U2K-M/0.jpg "[1 of 2] Our Constitutional Rights - Albert Burgess")
The provisions providing for rights under the Bill of Rights were originally binding upon only the federal government. In time, most of these provisions became binding upon the states through selective incorporation into the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. When a provision is made binding on a state, a state can no longer restrict the rights guaranteed in that provision.
Examples of provisions made binding upon the states are the 6th Amendment's guarantee of a right to confrontation of witnesses, known as the Confrontation Clause, and the various provisions of the 1st Amendment, guaranteeing the freedoms of speech, the press, religion, and assembly.
For example, the Fifth Amendment protects the right to grand jury proceedings in federal criminal cases. However, because this right was not selectively incorporated into the due process clause of the 14th amendment, it is not binding upon the states. Therefore, persons involved in state criminal proceedings as a defendant have no federal constitutional right to grand jury proceedings. Whether an individual has a right to a grand jury becomes a question of state law.
The United Kingdom, as it has an uncodified constitution, does not have a constitutional bill of rights, although the Human Rights Act 1998 fulfills a similar role.
The European Convention of Human Rights applies in those nations which are members of the Council of Europe. Persons who have experienced Convention-infringing human rights violations on the territory of ECHR-signatory nations can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
In authoritarian regimes there are generally few or no guaranteed constitutional rights; alternatively, such rights may exist but be unobserved in practice (as was generally the case in the former Francoist Spain).
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| Name | Susie Castillo |
|---|---|
| Title | Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 1998 Miss USA 2003 |
| Competitions | Miss Teen USA 1998Miss USA 2003 (Winner)Miss Universe 2003(Top 15) |
| Birth place | Methuen, Massachusetts, United States |
| Photo | |
| Birth name | Susie Castillo |
| Birth date | October 27, 1979 |
| Height | |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Ethnicity | Dominican and Puerto Rican |
By 1996, at the age of 16, Castillo had already become a professional teen model appearing in many teen magazines and commercial advertisements. Upon graduating from Methuen High School, she enrolled at Endicott College, and in 2001 earned her Bachelors Degree in Interior Architecture and Design. She was awarded the Capstone Award, an honor which was bestowed upon her in recognition of her senior thesis.
Castillo represented her state in the Miss Teen USA pageant held in Shreveport, Louisiana on August 17, 1998. Although the pageant was usually broadcast live, that year's telecast was delayed due to a speech by former President Bill Clinton regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The pageant was won by Vanessa Minnillo of South Carolina.
As Miss USA, Castillo represented the Miss Universe Organization, making appearances for charities throughout the United States. Her "sister" 2003 titleholders were Amelia Vega (Miss Universe, of the Dominican Republic) and Tami Farrell (Miss Teen USA, of Oregon).
Castillo was formerly a regular Music Television (MTV) VJ and host of TRL, and helped with the launch of Mi TRL on MTV Tr3s in September 2006. She is now pursuing acting full time. She also played the role of Mercedes Hernandez in the TBS show "Tyler Perry's: House of Payne" in a select number of episodes in season 5.
She also signed on as the brand ambassador for Charlotte Russe (retailer) and Gossip Girl stylist, Eric Daman, who is going to help her design her own line influenced by her Latino heritage.
In 2007, Castillo became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena. Castillo's work for Neutrogena includes serving as the "virtual host" of the company's promotional web site, The Big Blush. In 2008, Castillo hosted the ABC Family reality television series, America's Prom Queen. With Michael Flatley, she is the co-host of the NBC dance-competition series Superstars of Dance in 2009.
Castillo co-hosted the 2008 Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day. The event was on August 23 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Canter in New York City. Nickelodeon's Quddus was Susie's co-host.
Castillo serves as one of the hosts of the school renovation reality series School Pride, airing on NBC in fall 2010.
Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Hispanic and Latino American people Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:American people of Dominican Republic descent Category:Puerto Rican female models Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:People from Methuen, Massachusetts Category:People from Lawrence, Massachusetts Category:Miss Universe 2003 delegates Category:Miss USA winners Category:Miss USA 2003 delegates Category:Miss Teen USA 1998 delegates Category:VJs (media personalities) Category:People from Essex County, Massachusetts Category:Endicott College alumni
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Ratner is known for his human rights activism.
He was co-counsel in representing the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States Supreme Court, where, in June 2004, the court decided his clients have the right to test the legality of their detentions in court. Ratner is also a past president of the National Lawyers Guild and the author of numerous books and articles, including the books, Against War with Iraq and , as well as a textbook on international human rights. Ratner is also the co-host of the radio program, Law and Disorder. He and three other attorneys host the Pacifica radio show that reports legal developments related to civil liberties, civil rights and human rights.
Ratner is the brother of radio talk show host and Fox News contributor Ellen Ratner and New Jersey Nets owner, Bruce Ratner. He is a 1966 graduate of Brandeis University. He received his law degree from Columbia Law School.
Ratner served as a special counsel to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, assisting in the prosecution of human rights crimes. Ratner sued the George H. W. Bush administration to try to stop the Gulf War, the Clinton administration to try to stop the strategic bombing during the Kosovo War, and he won a case on behalf of victims of the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, for war crimes.
Ratner is the President of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin and serves on the boards of non-profits including The Culture Project and The Brandeis Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, and The Real News (TRNN).
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| Name | Cynthia McKinney |
|---|---|
| Image name | Cynthia McKinney.jpg |
| Office | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 11th District |
| Term start | January 3, 1993 |
| Term end | January 3, 1997 |
| Predecessor | None — district created |
| Successor | John Linder |
| Office2 | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 4th District |
| Term start2 | January 3, 1997 |
| Term end2 | January 3, 2003 |
| Predecessor2 | John Linder |
| Successor2 | Denise Majette |
| Term start3 | January 3, 2005 |
| Term end3 | January 3, 2007 |
| Predecessor3 | Denise Majette |
| Successor3 | Hank Johnson |
| Date of birth | March 17, 1955 |
| Place of birth | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Party | Democratic (1986-2007) Green Party (2007-present) |
| Spouse | Coy Grandison (divorced) |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California |
| Residence | Lithonia, Georgia |
| Occupation | high school teacher, college professor |
In the 1992 election, McKinney was elected in the newly re-created 11th District, and was re-elected in 1994. When her district was redrawn and renumbered due to the Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Miller v. Johnson, McKinney was easily elected from the new 4th District in the 1996 election, and was re-elected twice without substantive opposition.
McKinney was defeated by Denise Majette in the 2002 Democratic primary. Some people believe she was defeated because of Republican crossover voting in Georgia's open primary election, which permits anyone from any party to vote in any party primary and "usually rewards moderate candidates and penalizes those outside the mainstream." Others believe that her defeat was due to her "her controversial profile, which included support for Arab causes and a suggestion that Bush knew in advance of the September 11 attacks." McKinney was re-elected to the House in November 2004, following her successor's run for Senate. In Congress, she advocated unsealing records pertaining to the CIA's role in assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the murder of Tupac Shakur and continued to criticize the Bush Administration over the 9/11 attacks. She supported anti-war legislation and introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
She was defeated by Hank Johnson in the 2006 Democratic primary, after finding herself in the national spotlight again over the March 29, 2006, Capitol Hill police incident, where she pushed a rookie Capitol Hill Police officer for stopping her to ask for identification. McKinney had recently changed her hairstyle and was not wearing her identifying congressional lapel pin. McKinney claimed the events as an example of racial profiling by police officers, but found virtually no support from either her own party or civil rights leaders. She left the Democratic Party in September 2007.
Members of the United States Green Party had attempted to recruit McKinney for their ticket in both 2000 and 2004. She eventually ran as the Green Party nominee in the 2008 presidential election receiving 0.12% of the votes cast.
.]] McKinney was exposed to the Civil Rights Movement through her father, an activist who regularly participated in demonstrations across the south. As a police officer, he challenged the discriminatory policies of the Atlanta Police Department, publicly protesting in front of the station, often carrying young McKinney on his shoulders. He became a state representative, and McKinney attributes her father's election victory after several failed attempts to the passage of the Voting Rights Act passed by Lyndon B. Johnson.
McKinney earned a B.A. in international relations from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She worked as a high school teacher and later as a university professor.
Her political career began in 1986 when her father, a representative in the Georgia House of Representatives, submitted her name as a write-in candidate for the Georgia state house. She got about 40% of the popular vote, despite the fact that she lived in Jamaica at the time with then-husband Coy Grandison (with whom she had a son, Coy McKinney, born in 1985). In 1988, McKinney ran for the same seat and won, making the McKinneys the first father and daughter to simultaneously serve in the Georgia state house.
In 1991, she spoke aggressively against the Gulf War, causing many legislators to walk out in protest of her remarks.
In 2007, McKinney moved from her long time residence in the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain to California.
McKinney also chastised Gore for failing to support the U'wa people of Colombia trying to oppose petroleum drilling near them. In a press release issued on February 22, 2000, entitled "No More Blood For Oil" McKinney wrote that "Oil drilling on Uwa land will result in considerable environmental damage and social conflict which will lead to greater militarization of the region as well as an increase in violence." Addressing herself to Gore, she wrote "I am contacting you because you have remained silent on this issue despite your strong financial interests and family ties with Occidental."
McKinney protested the result in court, claiming that thousands of Republicans, knowing they had no realistic chance of defeating her in the November general election, had voted in the Democratic primary against McKinney in revenge for her anti-Bush administration views and her allegations of voter fraud in Florida in the 2000 presidential election. Like 20 other states, Georgia operates an open primary: voters do not align with a political party when they register to vote and may participate in whichever party's primary election they choose. Thus, relying on the Supreme Court's decision in California Democratic Party v. Jones, which had held that California's blanket primary violated the First Amendment (despite the fact that the Court explicitly differentiated — albeit in dicta — the blanket primary from the open primary in Jones), on McKinney's behalf, five voters claimed that the open primary system was unconstitutional, operating in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the associational right protected by the First Amendment, and various statutory rights protected by § 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The district court dismissed the case, noting that the plaintiffs had presented no evidence in support of the 14th Amendment and Voting Rights Act claims, and lacked standing to bring the First Amendment claim. It interpreted the Supreme Court's Jones ruling to hold that the right to association involved in a dispute over a primary — and thus, standing to sue — belongs to a political party, not an individual voter. On appeal in May 2004, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this result in Osburn v. Cox, noting that not only were the plaintiffs' claims meritless, but the remedy they requested would likely be unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's decision in Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut. On October 18, 2004, the Supreme Court brought an end to the litigation, denying certiorari without comment.
Other factors in her defeat were her controversial statements regarding Bush's involvement in 9/11, her opposition to aid to Israel, a perceived support of Palestinian and Arab causes, and alleged antisemitism by her supporters. and on the night before the primary election, McKinney's father stated on Atlanta television that "Jews have bought everybody ... J-E-W-S." and commentators such as Alexander Cockburn allege that money from out-of-state Jewish organizations, angered by her stand on Middle East issues, was key in her election defeat. Cockburn also wrote that "Buckets of sewage were poured over McKinney's head in the Washington Post and the Atlanta Constitution." According to the Anti Defamation League, McKinney's use of the New Black Panther Party as security, given that organization's use of antisemitic and racist invective, and her failure to distance herself from that group, are "troubling." Georgia political analyst Bill Shipp addressed McKinney's defeat saying "voters sent a message: 'We're tired of these over-the-top congressmen dealing in great international and national interests. How about somebody looking out for our interests?' "
In 2004, McKinney served on the advisory committee for the group 2004 Racism Watch. On September 9, 2004, she was a commissioner in The Citizens' Commission on 9-11. On October 26, 2004, she was among 100 prominent Americans and 40 family members of those who were killed on 9/11 who signed the 9/11 Truth Movement statement, calling for new investigations of what they perceived as unexplained aspects of the 9/11 events.
McKinney hosted the first delegation of Afro-Latinos from Central and South America and worked with the World Bank and the U.S. State Department to recognize Afro-Latinos. She stood with Aboriginals against Australian mining companies. She was one of the 31 in the House who objected to the official allotment of the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004 to incumbent George W. Bush.
McKinney has said that she "remain[s] hopeful that we will learn the truth" about 9/11 "because more and more people around the world are demanding it."
During the Katrina crisis, evacuees were turned away by Arthur Lawson's Gretna police when they attempted to cross the Crescent City Connection Bridge between New Orleans and Gretna, Louisiana. McKinney was the only member of Congress to participate in a march across the Crescent City Connection Bridge on November 7, 2005, to protest what had happened on that bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In response, McKinney introduced a bill on November 2, 2005, that would temporarily deny federal assistance to the City of Gretna Police Department, Harry Lee's Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Crescent City Connection Police Department, in the state of Louisiana. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, but was not acted on. However, in August 2006, a grand jury began an investigation of the incident.
McKinney chose to be an active participant in the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, despite the Democratic Party leadership's call for Democratic members to boycott the committee. She submitted her own 72-page report. She sat as a guest along with only a few other Democrats. In questioning Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, McKinney referred to a news story in which the owners of a nursing home had been charged with negligent homicide for abandoning 34 clients who died in the flood waters. McKinney asked Chertoff: "Mr. Secretary, if the nursing home owners are arrested for negligent homicide, why shouldn't you also be arrested for negligent homicide?"
The Congressional Black Caucus' Omnibus Bill (HR 4197) was introduced on November 2, 2005, to provide a comprehensive response to the Gulf Coast residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. The second title of the bill was submitted by McKinney, seeking a Comprehensive Environmental Sampling and Toxicity Assessment Plan, or CESTAP, to minimize harm to Gulf Coast residents from the toxic releases into the environment caused by the hurricane.
At the request of McKinney, the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, chaired by Thomas M. Davis, held a previously unscheduled hearing titled "Voices Inside the Storm" on December 6, 2005.
McKinney, along with Rep. Barbara Lee (CA), produced a "Katrina Legislative Summary," a chart summarizing House and Senate bills on Hurricane Katrina. On June 13, 2006, McKinney pointed out on the House floor that only a dozen of the 176 Katrina bills identified on the chart had passed into law, leaving 163 bills stalled in committee.
On August 2, 2007, McKinney participated in a press conference in New Orleans to launch an International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which she described as an effort to seek justice for the victims of those hurricanes and their aftermath.
On November 18, 2005, McKinney was one of only three House members to vote for H.R. 571, introduced by House Armed Services Committee chairman Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, on which McKinney sat. Hunter, a Republican, offered this resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iraq in place of John Murtha's H.J.Res. 73, which called for redeployment "at the earliest possible date." In her prepared statement, McKinney accused the Republicans of "trying to set a trap for the Democrats. A 'no' vote for this Resolution will obscure the fact that there is strong support for withdrawal of US forces from Iraq ... In voting for this bill, let me be perfectly clear that I am not saying the United States should exit Iraq without a plan. I agree with Mr. Murtha that security and stability in Iraq should be pursued through diplomacy. I simply want to vote 'yes' to an orderly withdrawal from Iraq."
The second article also made charges against Vice President Dick Cheney alleging he manipulated intelligence in order to justify the Iraq War, and against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice alleging that she knowingly made false statements concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
In the midst of a media frenzy, McKinney made an apology on the floor of the House of Representatives on April 6, 2006, neither admitting to nor denying the charge, stating only that: "There should not have been any physical contact in this incident." Minutes before the Congresswoman's apology, McKinney's security officer made contact with a TV correspondent outside of the U.S. Capitol.
Though not indicted for criminal charges or subjected to disciplinary action by the House, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police said of Officer McKenna, “We're going to make sure the officer won't be harassed. We want the officer to be able talk to experts, who can look at his legal recourses, if he needed to."
In the runoff of August 8, 2006, although there were about 8,000 more voters than in the primary, McKinney received about the same number of votes as in July. Johnson won with 41,178 votes (59%) to McKinney's 28,832 (41%). McKinney's loss is attributed to a mid-decade redistricting, in which the 4th had absorbed portions of Gwinnett and Rockdale Counties, as well as her highly publicized controversial run-in with a police officer in the March 29, 2006, Capitol Hill police incident.
CNN reported that during her concession speech, McKinney hardly mentioned her opponent but praised the leftist political leaders elected in South America. She also questioned the efficacy of voting machines and criticized the media.
On July 9, 2008, she named as her running mate journalist and community activist Rosa Clemente and clinched the party's nomination three days later at the 2008 Green Party National Convention.
On September 10, 2008, McKinney joined a press conference held by third-party and independent candidates, along with Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, and initiator Ron Paul. The participants agreed on four basic principles:
On November 4, 2008 McKinney received 161,603 votes.
On July 7, 2009, McKinney was deported to the United States. The Israeli government indicated it will deliver the supplies via land.
McKinney has been featured in a full-length documentary titled American Blackout. On April 14, 2006, she received the key to the city of Sarasota, Florida, and was doubly honored when the city named April 8 as "Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Day" in Sarasota. On May 1, 2004, during her hiatus from office, McKinney was awarded the fifth annual Backbone Award by the Backbone Campaign "because she was willing to challenge the Bush administration and called for an investigation into 9-11 when few others dared to air their criticism and questions."
On June 14, 2000, a part of Memorial Drive, a major thoroughfare running through her district, was renamed "Cynthia McKinney Parkway," but the naming has come under scrutiny since her primary defeat in 2006. Her father had previously been honored when a portion of Interstate 285 around Atlanta was dedicated as James E. "Billy" McKinney Highway.
Category:Cynthia McKinney Category:African American United States presidential candidates Category:African American members of the United States House of Representatives Category:American anti-Iraq War activists
Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives Category:Female United States presidential candidates Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Category:Green Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Tufts University alumni Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:Women in Georgia (U.S. state) politics Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Youth rights individuals Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Greens
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