What Words Are (And Aren't) In The US Constitution

[The gist of this post is to point out the many words that are NOT mentioned in the Constitution.  Since the so called 'Originalists' who have gained a majority of the Supreme Court want to base their decisions strictly on the words found in the Constitution, then it would seem they would have to overturn many past decisions - including Citizens United.]

 A few weeks ago I announced a contest about how often different words showed up in the Constitution.  I guess I was asking a lot more of readers than they were willing to do.  I only got one response - which was a comment suggesting I should have checked out the word 'gun.'  (Gun is not mentioned, 'arms' is mentioned once.) I figured enough people had gone over that already and the part that includes 'a well regulated militia.'  

My point here was to support the belief that the so called 'Originalist' faction is a sham created to give radical conservative Supreme Court Justices their own way to spin things.  As you go through the list below, think about how many words NOT mentioned in the constitution seem to have Supreme Court decisions that ignore the fact they aren't mentioned.  

[Originalists basically argue they want to interpret the Constitution by using the words the Founding Fathers wrote.  I've covered it in several earlier posts:

Thursday, February 25, 2016   I Think Scalia's Originalism Is Like Intelligent Design Of Constitutional Theories

Monday, March 20, 2017    As Neil Gorsuch Takes Center Stage, What Exactly Is Originalism About?

Monday, October 12, 2020     Revisiting Originalism ]

I took an online copy of the Constitution and the searched it for each of the terms.  Here's my list of words and how often they show up:

	In Constittuion?		How often?	Contest Notes
	YES	NO
MAN		√	0	Manner = 11
WOMAN		√	0
CORPORATION		√	0
INDUSTRY		√	0
PERSON(S)	√		49
CITIZEN	√		22
LIFE	√		4
LIBERTY	√		3
ECONOMY		√	0
CAPITAL	√		1	“Capital or otherwise infamous crime”
CAPITALISM	√		0
MARKET	√		0
MARRIAGE	√		0
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE		√	1	Along with invasion
BUSINESS		√	1	“Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business”
TAX	√		10	Tax or taxes
VOTE	√		36
COMMERCE	√		2	“Regulation of Commerce”
BANKRUPTCY	√		1
SECURITIES	√		1
SEX	√		1
RELIGION	√		1
CHRISTIAN		√	0
WELFARE	√		2	“General welfare”
THE PEOPLE	√		9
GOD		√	0

Let me mention the context notes first.

1.  Man - I also checked 'men' and 'women'.  'Manner' was the closest thing to 'man' that showed up. Basically the constitution never mentions 'man' or 'woman.'  It talks about 'persons' and 'citizens.' Even the 18th Amendment (women's suffrage) doesn't mention women directly.

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

No where could I find person to refer to anything other than an individual human being.  Not to corporations (which are never mentioned.) 

2.  Capital - This word is mentioned in the context of 'capital punishment.' Neither capital (in the sense of money) nor capitalism are mentioned in the Constitution. 

3.  Domestic Violence - is mentioned once.  Not to mean violence within a household, but rather more like the January 6 insurrection.  It's mentioned along with 'invasion.'

4.  Business - The only mention is in regards to  needing a quorum for Congress to conduct business.  It is not used to refer to business enterprises, just as the words 'corporation,' 'industry,' 'economy,' or 'market' are used.  

5.  Tax - is mentioned 10 times

6.  Commerce is mentioned twice - both times in the phrase 'regulation of commerce.'

7.  Welfare is mentioned twice.  First in the Preamble that lists 'promote the general Welfare' as one of the goals of establishing the Constitution.  Second, 'general Welfare' is one of the reasons for levying taxes.  

8.  

Considering all of the Supreme Court decisions that give corporations rights that are reserved for persons -most egregiously in Citizens United - it's hard to imagine how this is done by so called 'Originalists.'   I'm not a lawyer and I haven't studied the evolution of business law, but it seems to me attorneys wanting to overturn Citizens United might take an Originalist approach and point out that corporations are not even mentioned in the US Constitution.  Nor are businesses or enterprises.  

But 'regulation of commerce' is listed.  

Promoting the general Welfare is listed.  That would seem to be a strong bases for including things like universal health care and many other programs that improve people's lives.  

I realize the law is complicated. My suggestion that since corporations aren't mentioned in the Constitution and 'person' only refers to actual human beings, Citizens United should be overturned, probably faces many obstacles I've overlooked.   But the lack of these terms in the Constitution seems to me to be one more way to show the silliness of the Originalist approach.  

People, Not Prisons - Stories, Poems, Songs, Heartbreak

 ACLU Alaska's The Alaska Prison Project Action Network (PRAN), hosted a People, Not Prison night a bit over a week ago.  

PRAN Goals
Substantially reducing the incarcerated population, especially among people of color, people with mental disabilities, and other vulnerable populations.  The human and financial costs of mass incarceration are staggering, and the burden falls disproportionately on the poor, the ill, and people of color.  However, the current fiscal crisis, overcrowding issues, and growing understanding about the correlation between rehabilitation and improved public safety create the best opportunity to challenge Alaska’s addiction to incarceration.  Increasing public accountability and transparency of jails, prisons, and other places of detention.  Because places of detention are inherently closed environments housing the unpopular and the politically powerless, external oversight is critical to guard against mistreatment and abuse.  The business of detention, which creates financial incentives for both increased incarceration and harsher conditions of confinement, has made public accountability even more important.  The federal Prison Litigation Reform Act and flimsy state public records laws have significantly reduced judicial oversight of prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities, and resulted in serious abuses going unchecked. Ending cruel, inhuman, and degrading conditions of confinement.  Far too many incarcerated people are held in conditions that daily threaten their health, safety, and human dignity.  Denial of adequate medical and mental health care, basic sanitation, and protection from physical and sexual assault are all too common.  Across the country, tens of thousands of prisoners are held in long-term solitary confinement, a disturbing practice used in Alaska all too often.  The devastating effects of such treatment, particularly on persons with mental illness, are well known.  Expanding prisoners’ freedom of religion, expression, and association.  Prisoners’ rights to read, write, speak, practice their religion, and communicate with the outside world are often curtailed far beyond what is necessary for institutional security.  Not only are these activities central to the ability of prisoners to retain their humanity, they also contribute to the flow of information between prisons and the outside world and thus provide a vital form of oversight of these closed institutions. Expanding access to justice for incarcerated Alaskans. Access to justice is an essential right for all victims of abuse, especially those who have been abused while incarcerated. But all too often, the prison system creates barriers to counsel and legal resources. The Alaska Prison Project works to assist incarcerated people seeking relief from abuse by fighting to limit new policies further restricting prisoners’ access to the courts and counsel, assisting prisoners in understanding the processes by which they must pursue relief for any harms they have suffered, and representing classes of prisoners seeking relief from abuse.

There were several several other partners - Keys to Life, the Learning Inside Out Network (LION) -and probably some others I missed.  Keys to Life is

 "Dedicated to Empowering, Creating and Strengthening an Inclusive Community through Rich Arts and Cross-Cultural Experiences."

Storytelling is a big part of what they do.  For the People, Not Prisons night they highlighted their Lullaby Project where they work with women prisoners, talking to them, getting them to write, and then pairing them up with a musician who works with them to take their words and put them into a song, which is recorded and given to their child(ren).    The women pick the style of music they want.  That evening a band and vocalists played four or five of those songs.  

The LION project had a box that generated poems.  Their overall goal is:

"The Learning Inside Out Network supports education and creative collaboration between people who are inside and outside of Alaska’s jails and prisons. As a grassroots group, we catalyze community wellness projects and advocate for individuals and families affected by incarceration."

There were also art pieces.  We were told that the prisoners cannot get paid for the work they do in prison, but they had agreed to donate any proceeds to the Prison Project Action Network.  I understand reasoning that would keep prisoners like Michael Cohen from profiting by writing a book about his years with Trump, but in this case it seems petty and even counter productive to rehabilitation goals.  

And there were also stories and poems that prisoners had written and paper where readers could leave notes for the prisoners.  Here are a couple.  These are high resolution images so if you click on them they'll get larger.

And there were live stories told by ex-prisoners.  Trevor Stephano told about being imprisoned as a juvenile and how the structure of the prison system puts pre-trial people who could not get out on bail with seasoned criminals who know how to take advantage of them and recruit them into prison gangs.  (It's been a little over a week and I may not be conveying it quite like he said it.)  If I remember correctly, Trevor has gotten a college degree and is working at a law firm now.

Jacqueline Shepherd wasn't a prisoner, but was caring for some children of prisoners and visited a number of prisons to see their fathers.  She talked about experiences getting in to see prisoners.  Her very first visit she had on a tank top and a work suit jacket.  She was told she could only wear one layer.  She felt the tank top was inappropriate, but so was the suit jacket with nothing underneath.  But the rules were the rules.  She also had a parka and ended up wearing that with nothing underneath.  She told another story about a woman with a month old baby in line in front of her.  The guard said she couldn't bring in the baby bottle with milk.  The woman only spoke Spanish.  She had a four hour visiting slot and the baby couldn't go that long without eating.  Sorry, no liquid.  Eventually they worked out that she could bring in dry formula and as she was getting it out, some spilled onto the floor.  She was given a broom to sweep it up.  

I'd had a somewhat different frustrating experience.  I flew to Oregon to visit a friend who was in prison.  We'd gone through all the paper work and he'd been told I was approved to visit.  But when I got there, they didn't have the paperwork and I couldn't visit.  Had to fly back to Alaska and come down another time.  

Dimitrios Alexiadis talked about the difficulties for prisoners getting out of prison.  How hard it is finding housing that will take an ex-con, and the same with employers.  

It was both difficult and uplifting hearing first hand about the problems with our prison system and the work that people are doing to help individual prisoners and to change the system itself.  The timing made it doubly meaningful because I had just posted about how corrupt and ineffective prisons are.   

One other event of the evening was the reading of the names of people who have died in Alaska prisons this year.  I got the list so I could post it here for us all to think about.  

Lawrence Lobdell

Luke Dennis

Kitty Douglas

Leefisher Tukrook

Jarvis Sours

James Wheeler

Austin Wilson

David Bristol

Nastashia Minock

RobertVann

Bernie Alexia

James Keith Rider

The point was made that when prisoners die, their obituaries highlight their worst mistakes.  We were admonished to consider what our obituaries might look like if we had to highlight our worst mistakes.  

Prisons are expensive and effective only to the extend that they keep dangerous people away from the rest of the population and they employee guards and make a profit for private prison companies.    We have these prisons because 

• people believe prisoners are bad people and deserve to be punished
• they are out of sight so we don't see how demeaning, dehumanizing they are
• we are fed a regular stream of scare stories from the media - usually fed by law enforcement public relations offices - and so politicians campaign on being tough on crime
• because we don't spend the money up front on education, helping poor families, and physical, mental and emotional health

This list could go on and on, but these are a few of the reasons

Moose Loopish

 A friend told me the other day that he averaged 60 miles or so per day over 13 days in France on his bike this summer.  I've been doing much shorter rides.  But he got me thinking I should do the Moose Loop - a loop along the Anchorage bike trails that remembers, physically, the outline of a moose's head. Most of it is on trails but there is still a gap between the end of Campbell Creek trail and the Kincaid trail.  It's about 32 miles altogether if you do the northern loop.  

AIFF 2022 Poster And Reaching Avanos (Metacyclicly) [UPDATED September 28, 2022]

My brain has been wandering.  I've got half a dozen posts either in draft form or in that wandering brain.  But sitting down to type them up here has been a challenge.  For one thing, I just got a copy of the 2022 Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) poster.  

I think it looks great and I'm trying to find out the artist [UPDATE:  Jessica Thorton] so I can give credit here.  The festival will be all live this year, not much Bear Tooth, a lot of museum if I remember right.  

My summer biking Anchorage trails in real life/from Istanbul to Cappadocia in my head is complete. 

Actually, Cappadocia is a region with several major towns..  The biker whose map I was following on RidewithGPS ended up at the far end of Cappadocia in the town of Avanos.  Here are some pictures from https://visitmyturkey.com/en/avanos/.

These are out in the country side nearby.  From Wikipedia:

"Old Avanos is riddled with a network of small underground "cities" which may once have been residential but are now mainly used by the many pottery enterprises. Although there is no documentary evidence to prove when these structures were carved out of the earth, it is probable that work on some of them began in the Hittite period.

As Venessa, the ancient Avanos was the third most important town in the Kingdom of Cappadocia (332BC-17AD) according to the geographer Strabo.[5] Although it was the site of an important temple of Zeus, nothing remains of it today. [5]In Roman and Byzantine times Avanos had a large Christian population who were responsible for the rock-cut Dereyamanlı Kilisesi. [6]Unusually, this is still occasionally used even today."

Avanos, by the route map I was following, is 891 km from Istanbul.  I made it to 897 km on Saturday and today went on to 912 km.  (900 km = 559.23 miles)  Weather permitting, I'm now hoping to hit 1000 km (621 miles).  I thought that was pretty good for the summer until I talked to a friend the other day who did over 600 miles in 13 days in France.  Oh well.  

But I'm hoping that by 2024 at the latest I will have been to Istanbul and Avanos in person.  

Then there's the follow up on the Words in the Constitution post.  

Dimitrios Alexiadis

I've also got pictures from an ACLU event on prisons and the people in them that was co-sponsored with several other organizations that work with prisoners.  Just putting up pictures is relatively easy, but there were important messages as well.  But if I wait too long I'll forget the details.  

And more.  But the bike, the yard, Netflix (watching the rescue of the Thai soccer team from the flooded caves series now - finished two episodes and the international cave divers have reached the boys, and there's still a bunch more episodes to go; enjoying trying to catch as much Thai as I can; don't think this is a spoiler since we saw this live in the news a couple of years ago), and other things steal from blogging.  Oh yeah, got my bivalent booster and flu shot the other day too.  Slightly sore arms, but that was all.  

This LA Times Story Tells us Prisons Are A Criminal Justice Joke

[The point here is the excerpt below from an LA Times story.  But I ended up putting a lot of context before the excerpt.  You an skip down to the quote if you think you know all the introductory thoughts already.  And, of course, you don't need my permission to do that, or whatever you want.]

I've watched enough prison movies and read enough books and articles to know that the US prison system doesn't work very well*.  First of all we top the world in prisoners per 100,000 population:

The countries on this list are not among the most enlightened and prosperous.  But we're on top.  By a lot.  

Our justice system massively discriminates against people of color.

"Nationwide, Black people are locked up in state prison at a rate of 1,240 per 100,000 residents, as compared with 261 whites. That’s 4.8 times greater incarceration of Black than white people, based on 2019 data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. On average, one of every 81 Black Americans is in a state prison.

In California, it’s worse. One of 62 Black Californians is in state prison."

The editorial goes on to counter the traditional response that it's because people of color commit more crimes, but rather it's discrimination throughout the justice system.

When people make lascivious remarks about what evil things might happen to a young defendant when he reaches prison, do you smile or do think that something is wrong with prisons? If you smile or if you're the one who makes the joke, you're part of the problem.  

What about people who are wrongly convicted?  The Innocence Projects around the US have gotten 399 prisoners exonerated.  Those are just the people who were able to get enough evidence to prove their innocence, even though it's guilt that is supposed to be proven in court. 

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery, EXCEPT for prisoners.

"Thirteenth Amendment

Section 1

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

  Prisons and companies who get prisoners to work for them take advantage of this exception.  

So all that was preface to this excerpt from an  LA Times story that appeared last week about the Mexican Mafia (their term) that has operated in San Bernardino for decades (again, according to the story). 

This excerpt truly tells us of how truly corrupt and failing these prisons are.  (Yes, I know they depict this in tv shows and movies regularly, but still it's shocking.)

Moreno was Rodriguez’s “secretary” — a role once typically filled by women who were not in prison, who used visits and letters to pass messages from Mexican Mafia members to their underlings. But the proliferation of contraband cell phones in the state prison system has proved a “game changer,” testified Lt. Eddie Flores of the San Bernardino Police Department. Prisoners can now communicate directly with one another to arrange drug deals, order assaults and organize collection rackets, Flores testified.

Phones are smuggled in by correctional officers and “free staff” — plumbers, electricians, food preparers, Goo Goo testified. “I’ve seen nurses bring ‘em in, I’ve seen ‘em flown in on drones.”

A phone costs about $1,200 in prison, he said. “You kind of learn how these things work, the economics. If you’re bringing in too many cell phones, flooding the yard, the price drops.”

Goo Goo described his daily routine as Rodriguez’s man on the street: “I’d get up in the morning — it’s like going to work, having a job,” he told the jury. First he would call someone in the prison system, usually Moreno.

From his cell at the state prison in Calipatria, where he was serving 10 years for possessing an assault rifle, Moreno would tell Goo Goo what needed to be handled that day. “Patch this up here, that there,” he recalled. Deliver drugs. Pick up money.

That's from LA Times,  but if you can't get in, it's also on Wildlandfire News.

*Whether the prison system 'works well' or not, of course, depends on whose objectives you measure it by.  The official objectives to get dangerous criminals off the streets so they can't keep committing crimes, to mete out justices, to rehabilitate offenders, or the objectives of other players like the prisoners who are well connected, the owners of the private prisons, or the various people who work in the prison who can double and triple their salaries by smuggling in contraband.  

"If an explanation contradicts the sense of who a person is, it can be damaging. There should be more attention paid to the way people describe their own distress."

"If an explanation contradicts the sense of who a person is, it can be damaging. There should be more attention paid to the way people describe their own distress."

This comes from a September 18, 2022 LA Times interview of writer  Rachel Aviv [Mental illness, as told by the patients].  The book features four people with mental health problems, talking from their own experience.  

There are lots of interesting thoughts, but this one grabbed my attention most.

I couldn't help but think about gay and transgender people having other people trying to deny their stories.  And it hit me.

People who react so strongly to LGBTQ folks are trying to deny evidence that contradicts their own world view.  Making LGBTQ people disappear, helps keep their own world view whole.  

Of course, that goes for lots of other attempts to censor, oppress, and otherwise hide that which contradicts people's dogma.  In these four tales, people with mental health problems are disbelieved because people want to believe that science can cure them or perhaps to deny the possibility they may be or become mentally ill without a way out.  Defund the Police disrupts peoples belief that police will protect them.   The Catholic Church denying Galileo's proof that the earth goes around the sun.  Everyone who ridiculed Darwin because Evolution was at odds with the story of creation.  

Of course, though maybe not obvious,  the first part of the quote refers not only to the patient (in this case) but also to the person who denies the patient's story.  

People say there may be no reasoning possible with hardcore Trump supporters.  But perhaps simply asking them to explain their world view might make their grievances understandable.  You needn't believe it,  you probably can't alter it.  But listening is the first step.  For them and for us.  I know a serious conversation for an hour might help a true believer see this "liberal" as not embodying their stereotypes.  

That's it.  That's all I have to say.  

Critical Mass Bike Ride Anchorage Today

Image from BikeAnchorage

 People gathered at Loussac Library at 11 am.

My very rough count near the flag poles was 150 - 200 bikers.  They said the previous ride - in 1971 - had 300 riders.  But in 1971 there were a lot fewer competing events in Anchorage.  But also a lot fewer people overall.  People kept coming.

The point, according to the organizers, was to increase awareness of the need for better accommodation of bikes and other non-car vehicles and pedestrians in Anchorage.  I rode near the front of the pack.  Here we were waiting for the light to turn left from 36th onto Denali.  

It was a little sketchy at some intersections.  Volunteers blocked traffic at some points, but it all looked pretty loose.  Fortunately, drivers seemed patient and many waved and honked (short taps, not long angry ones).  

Here's looking back on Northern Lights, waiting for the light at Arctic, I think.  The lights did break up the long train of bikes a bit.

Almost back at our starting point. 

It could hardly have been a nicer day - sunny and in the low 60s - but there was a strong south wind. As we got back to Loussac people peeled out of the crowd of bikes.   

COVID Is Still Here And Where To Check The New Expiration Date Of Your Home COVID Tests

With vaccinations people are feeling more secure that COVID won't kill them.  I see fewer masks indoors these days.  

The State went from daily reporting to weekday reporting to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, reporting to once a week reporting.  

But people are still dying of COVID, right here in Alaska.  28 new deaths were reported this week. (Although there's a new report each week, deaths seem to get accumulated over a period of time and then are reported in bulk.  These were the first deaths reported since August 24, 2022)

I'm still reporting these every week, but not in the main part of the blog.  They're reported in the Alaska Daily COVID-19 Count 3 tab just below the blog header.

Here's my latest report from that page:

Wednesday, September 14, 2022 - I'm getting this up on Thursday.  People are treating COVID as though it were gone.  To the extent that I even forgot to update this yesterday.  But the numbers are a reminder that this isn't over.  And that people are still dying of COVID, even here in Alaska.  

25 new deaths were reported this week.  These are the first deaths reported in three weeks because, I'm assuming, it takes a while to gather these numbers.  It would be truly shocking if these were all in the last week. It would be useful to know what the vaccination status of those dying was.  They may report that somewhere, but I'm not digging deeper than the main dashboards now.

21 more people were hospitalized in the last week.  Actual number of COVID patients in the hospital reported as 66, up four from last week.  Number of vents is down two to zero.

Number of ICU beds available statewide is 21 (down from 34 last week) and one in Anchorage (down from two.)  I believe this is not a COVID specific number, but includes all ICU beds in the state regardless of illness.  

Even new resident cases are up - 980/950 compared to last week's 879/902.  Ditto for non-resident new cases:  544 new cases, up from 519 last week.  A regular warning on these last numbers - many, if not most, tests are self tests which tend not to be reported, so the reported numbers don't tell the whole story.  

 

COVID Home Test Expiration Extension

Are your at home COVID tests expired?  The FDA has extended expiration dates. My June - Aug 2022 expired home tests are now good to Dec 2022 to February 2023.  Check yours here: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list

A little ways down it has a list of many different products for home testing. Each has a link to see the updated expiration dates.  That's where you'll find the details.