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June 16, 2001
Editorials
Impairing the watchdogs
For those practicing public interest law, it just became more difficult to get through the courthouse door. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled 5-to-4 that prevailing parties in public interest lawsuits will no longer have their attorney fees paid by the losing side unless there is a tangible court judgment or settlement. The ruling is a marked departure from years of lower court precedents, and over the long term the ruling is expected to negatively impact organizations such as the NAACP, People for the American Way and all other attorneys and groups that bring lawsuits to vindicate important public interests.
A deserved veto
The transportation bill that rolled out of the Legislature was a "train" of more than 200 provisions, more of them bad than good. Gov. Jeb Bush was wise to veto it.
Letters
New gym name reminds us that every life is dear
Re: Name building for those who ennoble us,
Perspective
Taking jobs, alienating customers
For weeks Americans have been told that the outsourcing of high-tech jobs is good for our economy. So said Greg Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a recent report signed by President Bush. So, too, writes Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in articles praising the rise of call centers in India used for everything from making airline reservations and reading medical X-ray films to providing tech support for American computer firms.
Philip Gailey: Democrats fall off campaign finance reform wagon
Well, what do you know. Soft money is back, and it's making hypocrites of all those Democrats who fervently championed the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, not to mention those Republicans who objected to the law's restrictions on issue advocacy.
Bill Maxwell: Who is for the farm worker?
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is touting legislation to improve the lives of Florida's 300,000-plus farm workers, who endure institutional and systemic injustices each day in our fields and groves and their personal lives.
Robyn E. Blumner: For some defendants, an American gulag
In Bernard Malamud's masterpiece The Fixer, inmate Yakov Bok was subjected to psychological torture in a Soviet gulag through the humiliations of constant shackling and repeated strip searches.
© Copyright 2001 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
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