'Barefoot Bandit' gets more than 7 years for spree

Colton Harris-Moore, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," glances at the courtroom gallery as he walks to the defense table, in Island County Superior Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Friday to burglary and theft charges in the Barefoot Bandit case. The 20-year-old softly answered affirmatively when the judge asked if he understood his rights. He said guilty when the judge asked how he wanted to plead. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Colton Harris-Moore, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," glances at the courtroom gallery as he walks to the defense table, in Island County Superior Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Friday to burglary and theft charges in the Barefoot Bandit case. The 20-year-old softly answered affirmatively when the judge asked if he understood his rights. He said guilty when the judge asked how he wanted to plead. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Colton Harris-Moore, right, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," stands with his attorney, John Henry Browne, in Island County Superior Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Friday to burglary and theft charges in the Barefoot Bandit case. The 20-year-old softly answered affirmatively when the judge asked if he understood his rights. He said guilty when the judge asked how he wanted to plead. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Colton Harris-Moore, left, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," is escorted to the defense table, in Island County Superior Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Friday to burglary and theft charges in the Barefoot Bandit case. The 20-year-old softly answered affirmatively when the judge asked if he understood his rights. He said guilty when the judge asked how he wanted to plead. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Colton Harris-Moore, left, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," talks with his attorney, John Henry Browne, right, in Island County Superior Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Friday to burglary and theft charges in the Barefoot Bandit case. The 20-year-old softly answered affirmatively when the judge asked if he understood his rights. He said guilty when the judge asked how he wanted to plead. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Island Co. Sheriff's Deputy Luke Atkins stands watch outside Island County Superior Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Coupeville, Wash. prior to the sentencing hearing for Colton Harris-Moore, who is also known as the "Barefoot Bandit." Harris-Moore is expected to plead guilty to about 30 state felony charges arising from a two-year, cross-country crime spree in stolen planes, boats and cars. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

COUPEVILLE, Wash. (AP) ? The youthful thief who rocketed to international notoriety as the "Barefoot Bandit" while he evaded police in pilfered cars, boats and planes during a two-year crime spree was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in a Washington state prison after pleading guilty to dozens of charges.

Colton Harris-Moore, now 20, showed no reaction as the sentence was delivered by a judge who took pity on his bleak upbringing at the hands of an alcoholic mother and a series of her convict boyfriends ? a situation she described as a "mind-numbing absence of hope."

"This case is a tragedy in many ways, but it's a triumph of the human spirit in other ways," Island County Judge Vickie Churchill said. "I could have been reading about the history of a mass murderer. I could have been reading about a drug abusive, alcoholic young man. That is the triumph of Colton Harris-Moore: He has survived."

Harris-Moore's daring run from the law earned him international fame and a movie deal to help repay his victims after he flew a stolen plane from Indiana to the Bahamas in July 2010, crash-landed it near a mangrove swamp and was arrested by Bahamian authorities in a hail of bullets.

Friday's proceedings consolidated cases against Harris-Moore in three Washington counties. He has already pleaded guilty to federal charges in Seattle and will be sentenced for those crimes early next year, but the sentence is expected to be shorter than his state term.

Harris-Moore faced a sentencing range of just over seven years to just under 10 years.

"Colton's very pleased," said his attorney John Henry Browne. "He was expecting the worst."

Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks said he's glad the case is over and he could live with the sentence.

"I can see why people are sympathetic to him," Banks said. "It's still a significant amount of time for someone who's never been in the adult system."

Wearing handcuffs and an orange jail uniform, Colton Harris-Moore spoke softly in court while entering his pleas.

In a statement provided to the judge, he said his childhood was one he wouldn't wish on his "darkest enemies."

Still, he said he takes responsibility for the crime spree that brought him international notoriety, and said he learned only too late of the fear he was instilling in his victims.

Harris-Moore said he studied manuals and online videos to teach himself to be a pilot, and the thrills he experienced while flying stolen planes renewed his passion for life and will help him rehabilitate while in prison.

"The euphoria of the countdown to takeoff and the realization of a dream was nearly blinding," he wrote of his first illicit flight on Nov. 11, 2008. "My first thought after takeoff was 'Oh my God, I'm flying.' I had waited my entire life for that moment."

He said he'll use his prison time to study and get ready to apply to college, with the hope of earning an aeronautical engineering degree.

Several victims and a few curious citizens watched Harris-Moore enter his pleas in Island County Superior Court, along with Harris-Moore's aunt.

Browne also said the young man's time on the run was horrific and included spending nights in culverts and portable toilets.

Harris-Moore's first conviction came at age 12, in 2004, for possession of stolen property, and according to the reports, his first experience with burglary came when he broke into the homes of his classmates to steal food because his mother spent most of her Social Security income on beer and cigarettes ? something she has denied.

Over the next three years he was convicted of theft, burglary, malicious mischief and assault, among other crimes.

In 2007, the boy was sentenced to three years in a juvenile lockup after pleading guilty to three burglary counts in Island County. But he fled the minimum-security facility in April 2008 and was soon back to his old tricks, breaking into unoccupied vacation homes, stealing food and sometimes staying there.

As red-faced investigators repeatedly failed to catch him, his antics escalated: He began stealing planes from small, rural airports and crash-landing them ? at least five in all.

Waves of burglaries broke out on Orcas Island, where Kyle Ater runs his Homegrown Market and Deli, in late 2009 and in early 2010, after stolen planes were found at the airport there. The second time, Harris-Moore left Ater's new security system in a utility sink, under a running faucet.

Harris-Moore's final spree came after he stole a pistol in eastern British Columbia and took a plane from a hangar in Idaho, where investigators found bare footprints on the floor and wall. That plane crashed near Granite Falls, Wash., after it ran out of fuel.

He made his way to Oregon in a 32-foot boat stolen in southwestern Washington ? stopping first to leave $100 at an animal shelter in Raymond, Wash. From Oregon, authorities said, Harris-Moore traveled across the United States, frequently stealing cars from the parking lots of small airports. In Indiana, he stole another plane and made for the Bahamas, more than 1,000 miles away, where authorities finally caught him in a manhunt that spanned multiple islands.

Among the courtroom spectators Friday were 18-year-olds Annie Cain and Hayley Hanna, who drove from nearby Langley to be at the courthouse at 5:30 a.m. ? four hours before the hearing.

"We wanted to be here just because he's so young, and everything he did, it's fascinating," Cain said.

Fox bought the movie rights in a deal that could be worth $1.3 million, and Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award for writing the movie "Milk," about the gay rights activist Harvey Milk, is working on the screenplay.

Harris-Moore doesn't get to keep any of the money under the terms of his federal plea deal.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-16-Barefoot%20Bandit/id-016de647c013404590a08961c924baef

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Gingrich assailed by debate rivals, fights back (AP)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich clashed sharply with one rival, took pains to compliment another and said it was laughable for any of them to challenge his conservative credentials Thursday night in the last campaign debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses kick off the 2012 primary season.

In a forceful attack, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said Gingrich "had his hand out and received $1.6 million to influence senior Republicans and keep the scam going in Washington, D.C.," for Freddie Mac, a government-backed housing entity.

"Just not true," Gingrich shot back. "I never lobbied under any circumstances," he added, denying an allegation she had not made.

The clash underscored the state of the race, with Gingrich, the former House speaker, atop the polls in Iowa and nationally, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his other pursuers work in television ads and elsewhere to overtake him in the final days before the caucuses.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has staked his campaign on Iowa, was quick to challenge Gingrich as a conservative leader. He recalled that Gingrich had to contend with a "conservative revolution' from the ranks of Republican lawmakers when he was House speaker in the 1990s.

Romney, who runs second in the polls in Iowa, largely refrained from criticizing Gingrich, despite increasingly barbed attacks in day-to-day campaigning. Instead, he firmly rejected suggestions that he had once favored gay marriage only to switch his position. "I have been a champion of protecting traditional marriage," he said.

Given the stakes, Gingrich, Bachmann and Santorum weren't the only contenders eager to impress Iowa voters and a nationwide television audience with their conservative grit.

"I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry, referring to the Denver Broncos quarterback whose passing ability draws ridicule but who has led his team to a remarkable seven wins in eight weeks.

"We're getting screwed as Americans," said former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, insisting that he, in fact, was a steadier conservative than any of the others on stage.

"Anybody up here could beat Obama," said Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, whose views verge on libertarianism and who has struggled to expand his appeal.

And Bachmann, who was quicker than any other candidate to criticize a rival, bristled when challenged repeatedly on the accuracy of her facts. "I am a serious candidate for president of the United States, and my facts are accurate," she said.

Indeed, the big question in the opening moments of a fast-paced two-hour debate went to the heart of a dilemma that could eventually settle the race ? do conservative Republican caucus and primary voters pick a candidate with their hearts, or do they look elsewhere if they judge their favored candidate might not be able to defeat the president.

Those voters begin making that choice on Jan. 3, and if experience is any guide, one or more of the presidential hopefuls on the debate stage will not make it out of the state to compete in the New Hampshire primary a week later.

Gingrich, who seemed an also-ran in the earliest stages of the race, has emerged as a leader heading into the final stretch of the pre-primary campaign.

His decades in Washington and his post-congressional career as a consultant have been the subjects of tough critiques from Romney's campaign in the past week.

But the former speaker passed up an offer to criticize his rival on the issue of Medicare, saying, "I'm not in the business of blaming Gov. Romney." In fact, he said, Romney has made constructive suggestions for preserving the program that tens of millions of Americans rely on for health care yet faces deep financial woes.

Gingrich drew criticism earlier in the year for calling a GOP Medicare proposal "right-wing engineering." Romney refrained from criticizing that plan but did not embrace it in full.

Bachmann, who has long-since faded to the back of the pack in the polls, showed no such reluctance.

When he labeled her charges inaccurate, she shot back that when she made similar contentions in the previous debate, she was judged factually accurate by an independent arbiter. She said Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac was in furtherance of a "grandiose scam" to keep alive an entity at the heart of the housing crisis.

"I will state unequivocally for every person watching tonight: I have never once changed my positions because of any payment," Gingrich said, adding that in fact, he favored breaking up both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, his benefactor.

Moments later, Bachmann challenged Paul even more aggressively, saying his refusal to consider pre-emptive action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon was dangerous.

"The problem would be the greatest under-reaction in world history if we have an avowed madman who uses that nuclear weapon to wipe nations off the face of the earth," she said, referring to an International Atomic Energy Agency report that said Iran was "within just months of being able to obtain that weapon."

Paul questioned the report. "They have no evidence; there has been no enrichment," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_el_ge/us_republicans_debate

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Will Google Chrome kill Firefox? (The Week)

New York ? Google's Chrome browser is gaining ground, while Mozilla's Firefox is flailing

Last week, it was reported that Google's rapidly rising Chrome browser had surpassed Firefox for the first time in popularity. According to research firm StatCounter Global Stats, Chrome accounted for 25.96 of the global browser usage in November, second to Internet Explorer. That's up from just 13.35 percent a year ago. Mozilla's Firefox had 25.23 percent of the marketshare in November, down from 31.17 last November and part of a slow but steady decline. That decline, along with uncertainty surrounding a key revenue-generating partnership Mozilla has with Google, has many asking if Firefox is doomed:

Firefox is definitely in trouble: "It hasn't been a good year for Mozilla and its flagship product, the Firefox browser," says Ed Bott at ZD Net. It's lost significant market share to Google Chrome and some important execs have left. The company also relies on a partnership with Google for much of its revenue, and that partnership is now in question. In an age where consumers want their browser to be the same one that their apps rely on, Google and Microsoft could well push Firefox into irrelevance.
"Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends"

And Mozilla has made some poor decisions: In an attempt to keep up, Mozilla has gone from version 3 to version 8 in less than 12 months, says Garry Pryzyklenk at Search Enginge Watch. Those quick changes were a "recipe for disaster." IT administrators couldn't update their users' computers quickly enough. The new versions were plagued with compatibility and functionality issues, and users were rightfully annoyed. What was once a solid, reliable browser has become anything but.
"Browser wars: How Chrome overtook Firefox for the first time"

Firefox is going down, unless someone steps in: "If nothing changes, Chrome will soon vault [further] ahead of Firefox," says Henry Blodget at Business Insider. Last year, Mozilla's deal with Google ?? Google pays Mozilla to feature a little search window in the top right corner of the Firefox browser ? accounted for 84 percent of the company's revenue. If, as seems likely, Google pulls the plug, Firefox will feel the pain. Microsoft could step in and help Mozilla strike a blow against Google, but that doesn't seem to be happening. And, even so, it's likely Microsoft could only prolong Firefox's life for a year or two.
"And has Google now killed off Firefox completely by pulling the plug on its toolbar deal?*"

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111205/cm_theweek/222138

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Legal Theory Blog: Legal Theory Lexicon: Public Reason

Introduction

How should citizens in a modern pluralist democracy debate and discuss public affairs? What kinds of reasons are appropriate in the context of judicial opinions, legislative debate, or administrativedecisionmaking? There is wide agreement that the government should not censor public debate about politics, at least not without very good reason. But when it comes to a related question of political morality - "To what ideal should citizens aspire in political debate?" - the issue is cloudy. For example, some have argued that religious reason should be excluded from public debate; others argue for the exclusion of statements which degrade people on the basis of their religion, race or ethnicity. Still others contend that in public debate, an ideal of political morality should mirror the freedom of expression: all viewpoints should contend in a marketplace of ideas. An ideal of public reason can provide guidance on these issues.?This post provides a very short introduction to the?idea of public reason--with a special emphasis on the role of that idea in the work of JohnRawls.

Before we get into the background and complications, let's briefly state the core idea of JohnRawls's?idea of public reason--the version of the idea that has been most influential in legal theory.Rawls?argued that public political debate about the constitutional essentials should be conducted on the basis of public reasons. His view was that public reason included common sense, the noncontroversial results of science, and public political values. Nonpublic reasons include the deep and controversial premises of particular moral and religious?theories; for example, the utilitarian idea that?only?consequences count would be a nonpublic reason.?Rawls?thought that the Supreme Court's deliberations and opinions about the meaning of the United States Constitution exemplified the idea of public reason.

Historical Perspective?

Where does the idea of public reason come from??Contemporary scholarship sometimes assumes that the notion of public reason was invented out of whole cloth by?Rawls, but in fact, it has a long philosophical history. For example, the phrase "public reason" is found in ThomasHobbes's?Leviathan. The section of Leviathan in which this passage appears addresses the question, whose reason should govern the question of whether a purported miracle has occurred?

For in these times, I do not know one man, that ever saw any such wondrous work, done by the charm, or at the word, or prayer of a man, that a man endued but with a mediocrity of reason, would think?supernaturall: and the question is no more, whether what we see done, be a Miracle; whether the Miracle we hear, or read of, were a?reall?work, and not the act of a tongue, or pen; but in plain terms, whether the report be true, or a lye. In which question we are not every one, to make our own private Reason, or Conscience, but the?Publique?Reason , that is, the reason of God's Supreme Lieutenant, Judge; and indeed we have made him Judge already, if wee have given him a?Soveraign?power, to doe all that is necessary for our peace and defence. A private man has?alwaies?the liberty, (because thought is free,) to?beleeve, or not?beleeve?in his heart, those acts that have been given out for miracles, according as he shall see, what benefit can?accrew?by?mens?belief, to those that pretend, or countenance them, and thereby conjecture whether they be Miracles, or Lies. But when it comes to confession of that faith, the Private Reason must submit to the?Publique?; that is to say, to God's Lieutenant.

In this passage, Hobbes uses the phrase "public reason" to refer to the reason or judgment of the sovereign.

A second use of the phrase "public reason" is found in Rousseau's Discourse on Political Economy:

In effect, though nature's voice is the best advice a good father could listen to in the fulfillment of his duty, for the magistrate it is merely a false guide which works constantly to divert him from his duties and which sooner or later leads to his downfall or to that of the state, unless he is restrained by the most sublime virtue. The only precaution necessary to the father of a family is that he protect himself from depravity and prevent his natural inclinations from becoming corrupt, whereas it is these very inclinations that corrupt the magistrate. To act properly, the former need only consult his heart; the latter becomes a traitor as soon as he listens to his. Even his own reason ought to be suspect to him, and the only rule he should follow is the public reason , which is the law. Thus nature has made a multitude of good fathers of families, but it is doubtful that, since the beginning of the world, human wisdom has ever produced ten men capable of governing their peers.

Rousseau's use of the phrase "public reason" is quite different than?Hobbes's. Public reason is contrasted to the reason of private individuals. The latter sort of reason is self-interested; the former sort is concerned with the common good. This suggests a connection between Rousseau's idea of public reason and his notion of the general will. The general will (like public reason) is concerned with the good of all; whereas, the individual will (like private reason) is concerned with the good of the individual.

Another early use of the phrase "public reason" is found in Thomas Jefferson's Second Inaugural Address:

[I]t is proper that you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently those which ought to shape its administration . . . . [They include] the diffusion of information and the arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reasons.

Jefferson's notion of public reason seems connected to an ideal of democratic government. Information should be widely diffused so that government actions may be judged at the bar of public reason - which in this case seems to be the collective reason of the citizens of a democratic society. In this view, the quality or efficacy of public reason is connected to the freedom of speech and press.

In What is Enlightenment, Kant introduces the idea of public reason as an answer to a question that might be phrased, "What restrictions on freedom of public discourse will facilitate public enlightenment?" Kant replies:

The public use of man's reason must always be free, and it alone can bring about enlightenment among men; the private use of reason may quite often be very narrowly restricted, however, without undue?hinderance?to the progress of enlightenment. But by the public use of?one's?own reason I mean that use anyone may make of it as a man of learning addressing the entire reading public . What I term the private use of reason is that which a person may make of it in a particular civil post or office with which he is entrusted.

As Kant uses the phrase, "public reason" is defined in terms of the audience to which reasons are given. Public reason is addressed to the entire public. Public reason should be free if the public is to become enlightened - that is, if citizens are to rely on their own reason without the guidance of another. Notice Kant's use of the phrase is, in a sense, diametrically opposed to?Hobbes's. For Hobbes, public reason is reason bound by the judgment of the sovereign; for Kant, public reason is precisely that reason which is free from such constraint.

Here is the point of the history: the idea of public reason is contested, with different theorists offering different conceptions public reason.??I am about to give you?Rawls's?ideas about public reason, but it is very important to realize that?Rawls's?theory is just one of many, and that new theories of public reason are likely to emerge in the years ahead.

Rawls?and Public Reason

In an early formulation,?Rawls?explained what he has called the "idea of free public reason"

[G]reat values fall under the idea of free public reason, and are expressed in the guidelines for public inquiry and in the steps taken to secure that such inquiry is free and public, as well as informed and reasonable. These values include not only the appropriate use of the fundamental concepts of judgment, inference, and evidence, but also the virtues of reasonableness and fair-mindedness as shown in the adherence to the criteria and procedures of common sense knowledge, and to the methods and conclusion of science when not controversial, as well as respect for the precepts governing reasonable political discussion.

Although this discussion contains the core of the?Rawls'?position, a few additional points deserve separate discussion:

First,?Rawls?understands public reason as the reason of a political society. A society's reason is its "way of formulating its plans, of putting its ends in an order of priority and of making its decisions accordingly." Public reason contrasts with the "nonpublic reasons of churches and of many other associations in civil society." Both public and nonpublic reason share features that are essential to reason itself, such as simple rules of inference and evidence. Public reasons, however, are limited to premises and modes of reasoning that can appeal to the public at large.?Rawls?argues that these include "presently accepted general beliefs and forms of reasoning found in common sense, and the methods of science when these are not controversial." By contrast, the nonpublic reason of a church might include premises about the authority of sacred texts and modes of reasoning that appeal to the interpretive authority of particular persons.

Second, the limits imposed by?Rawls'?ideal of public reason do not apply to all actions by the state or even to all coercive uses of state power. Rather, his ideal is limited to what he calls "the constitutional essentials" and "questions of basic justice." Thus, the scope of the freedom of speech and qualifications for the franchise would be subject to the?Rawlsian?ideal, but the details of tax legislation and the regulation of pollution control would not.

Third,?Rawls'?ideal of public reason applies to citizens and public officials when they engage in political advocacy in a public forum; it also governs the decisions that officials make and the votes that citizens cast in elections. The ideal does not apply to personal reflection and deliberation about political questions; by implication it could not apply to such reflection or deliberation about questions that are not political in nature.

With these features in mind, we can offer a summary of the?Rawlsian?ideal of public reason; this ideal has three main features: (1) The ideal of public reason limits the use of reason to (a) the general features of all reason, such as rules of inference and evidence, and (b) generally shared beliefs, common- sense reasoning, and the noncontroversial methods of science. (2) The ideal applies to deliberation and discussion concerning the basic structure and the constitutional essentials. (3) The ideal applies (a) to both citizens and public officials when they engage in public political debate, (b) to citizens when they vote, and (c) to public officials when they engage in official action - so long as the debate, vote or action concerns the subjects specified in (2). WithRawls's?view in mind, we proceed to two preliminary subjects: first, the role of the idea of public reason in the regulation of public discourse and, second, the ways in which a particular ideal of public reason might be justified.

Public Reason and Law

How is the idea of public reason relevant to legal theory???One answer to this question might begin with?Rawls's?observation that judicial reasoning, for example the reasoning of the Supreme Court, exemplifies public reason. It would be unusual to see a Supreme Court justice rely on a particular religion or on a deep philosophical view about the meaning of life or the ultimate nature of the good. There are exceptions, however. One of the most infamous Supreme Court opinions in the contemporary period is Chief Justice Burger's concurring opinion in?Bowers v.?Hardwick, the case that was recently overruled in?Lawrence v. Texas. Burger argued that criminalization of homosexual conduct was constitutionally permissible, because the prohibition on such conduct was rooted inJudeo-Christian morality. Arguably this argument exceeded the bounds of public reason, because the United States is a pluralist society in which there are many citizens outside of the?Judeo-Christian tradition, including, for example, Buddhists, adherents of Native American religions, and nonbelievers.

One of the interesting features of the idea of public reason is that it provides an argument?againstwhat we might call?going deep?in legal theory. By?going deep, I mean making arguments that rely on deep philosophical premises, about?ultimate values?on the one hand?or?metaethics?and?moral psychology?on the other. So, for example, it might be argued that utilitarianism (or welfare economics) is an inappropriate source of legal arguments,?when?the argument relies on a deep utilitarian premises, such as the notion that only utility (e.g.?hedonic?value or preference satisfaction) is valuable. That premise, it might be argued, goes beyond public reason.

The idea of public reason is deeply controversial?and the subject of heated debate, but the connections between public reason and law have only recently begun to be explored in depth.

Related Lexicon Entries

Bibliography

• John?Finnis,?On Public?Reaon?(2007).
• Charles?Larmore,?Public Reason?in?The Cambridge Companion to Laws?368 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Samuel Freeman, ed., 2003).
• Lawrence?Solum,?Public Legal Reason, 92 Virginia Law Review 1449 (2006).
• Cass?Sunstein,?Incompletely Theorized Agreements, 108 Harv. L. Rev. 1733, 1739-40 (1995).
• John?Rawls,?Political Liberalism?(revised ed. 2005).

(This entry was last revised on December 4, 2011.)

Source: http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2011/12/legal-theory-lexicon-public-reason.html

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2010 Washington 3rd U.S. House Race: Peculiar Contest for Democratic Stronghold Seat (ContributorNetwork)

Washington's 3rd U.S House District race is being closely watched by both major political parties as Democrat Denny Heck and Republican Jaime Herrera compete for a seat left open by the departure of a longtime incumbent. When Democratic congressman Brian Baird announced he was stepping down after six terms in office, the Republicans set their sights on overtaking a seat held by Democrats for all but two terms during the last 50 years.

In an energetic top-two primary race, Democrat Heck came out on top with 5,000 more votes than Herrera, and outperformed Herrera in her home county. Although the Democrat claimed the most votes, more votes were cast for Republicans than Democrats overall in the six-way race, 54 percent to 42 percent. And now recent polls indicate that Herrera has taken the lead in this race.

Candidate:

Jaime Herrera

Party: Republican

Political experience: In 2007, Herrera was appointed to a vacant seat in the legislature and was re-elected in the subsequent election, according to her website. From 2005 to 2007, she worked as a legislative assistant to the Washington 5th Congressional District representative, Cathy McMorris Rodgers. After graduating from college, she held temporary positions in the state senate, worked on the George W. Bush campaign and then obtained a job in the White House Office of Political Affairs before taking the job with Rodgers.

Professional experience: Herrera career experience is all political, according to her campaign biography. Herrera earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Washington.

Key issues: Herrera has designated jobs the No. 1 issue in her campaign, citing the district's high unemployment. Her proposal to create jobs is to balance the budget and cut taxes, letting businesses succeed or fail on their own without government involvement.

Herrera opposes the national health care plan enacted by Congress. Her plan for making health care affordable would include small-business pools, portability features and tort reform.

On national security, Herrera opposes the closing of the Guantanamo Bay facility and civilian trials for terrorists. She would support providing resources for a "robust" military and veteran care.

Endorsements: Among her organizational endorsements are the National Rifle Association, National Federation of Independent Business, Washington Association of Realtors and Washington Credit Union League.

Chances of winning the race: According to Real Clear Politics, Washington's 3rd congressional district is leaning Republican. A Survey USA poll taken for KING TV from Sept. 12 to 14 shows her up nine percentage points over her opponent. Herrera's lead declined by two points compared to a similar poll conducted three weeks earlier in the wake of the primary. Cook Political Report and CQ Politics consider this contest a toss-up and too close to call.

Candidate: Denny Heck

Party: Democrat

Political experience: Denny Heck's political experience includes serving as chief of staff to Gov. Booth Gardner from 1989 to 1993. Heck served five terms in the state house of representatives, beginning in 1976 where he served as majority leader and co-chaired the Education Committee.

Professional experience: In 1993, Denny founded state public affairs station TVW where he worked until retiring in 2003. He was host of Inside Olympia. He co-founded Intrepid Learning Solutions, a worker-training company and is a co-owner of Bruin Development.

He received his bachelor's degree from Evergreen State College.

Key issues: Wall St. reform, green jobs and health care reform are priorities in the Heck platform.

To reform Wall St., Heck advocates re-enactment of the Glass-Steagall Act, limiting banks to a traditional banking role and requiring the trade of derivatives to take place on public exchanges.

Heck wants to see targeted green-energy investments, renewable energy development and creation of a Smart Grid.

He contends that the national health care reform bill is imperfect and a work in progress but a step in the right direction. To bring down health costs, Heck advocates policies to attract greater numbers of doctors to work as primary care physicians and strengthening comparative effectiveness research throughout the health care industry.

Endorsements: Heck got the endorsements of Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood.

Chances of winning the race: The Cook Political Report and CQ Politics are both calling this race a toss-up, while Real Clear Politics would hand it over to the Republicans. The only voter surveys in this race, conducted for KING TV, give his opponent a nine-point advantage. But Heck is running in a Democratic stronghold, beat his opponent in the primary, and won the nod of his opponent's home county in the primary, all signs he could come out the victor in this unusual contest.

Key Differences between Jaime Herrera and Denny Heck

On jobs creation, the difference between Herrera and Heck is the difference between laissez-faire and targeted investment.

The candidates are polar opposites on health care with Hererra opposing the national health care reform bill and Heck supporting it and wanting to expand upon it.

Hererra has staked out a "go get 'em" approach to fighting terrorism and advocates increased military spending, while Heck did not address national security as a primary issue in his campaign.

Heck advocates green investments while Herrera has not made that an issue in her campaign.

2008 results: Democrat Brian Baird defeated Republican Michael Delavar 64 percent to 36 percent.

Demographics: Washington's 3rd District is home to 662,111 people, whose median age is 35.8. The population is 69.3 percent white, 6.5 percent black and 3.5 percent Asian. 30.8 percent of the population identifies as Latino, regardless of race. More than one-fifth of the population is foreign-born. 39.6 percent of the district's residents speak a language other than English at home. Only 22.7 percent of the population has a bachelor's or higher degree, compared to a 27.4 percent national average. Of the subset of the population over 16 years of age, 64.9 percent were in the labor force during the survey period.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111206/us_ac/6838720_2010_washington_3rd_us_house_race_peculiar_contest_for_democratic_stronghold_seat

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Boston U. drops Boston College 75-61 (AP)

BOSTON ? Darryl Partin scored 15 of his 27 points in the closing 8 1/2 minutes to help Boston University to a 75-61 victory over its crosstown rival Boston College on Saturday.

D.J. Irving added 17 points and Matt Griffin and Dom Morris each had 11 for the Terriers (4-4), who won their fourth straight for coach Joe Jones ? an assistant under second-year Boston College coach Steve Donahue last season.

Lonnie Jackson led Boston College (2-6) with 11 points. It was the Eagles' third consecutive loss.

The two schools ? longtime hockey rivals ? first met on the basketball court in 1905. Boston College owns a 39-17 all-time edge.

Partin, last week's America East player of the week, came in averaging 23.4 points per game. He had 10 points at the half on just 3-of-10 shooting.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_boston_u_boston_college

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Singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son in custody

FILE - In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. A missing persons report has been filed for McCready and her 5-year-old son Zander. The Department of Children and Families says the report was filed with Cape Coral Police Tuesday night after McCready took Zander from McCready's father's home. McCready doesn't have custody of her son ? her mother does ? and was allowed to visit the boy at her father's home. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. A missing persons report has been filed for McCready and her 5-year-old son Zander. The Department of Children and Families says the report was filed with Cape Coral Police Tuesday night after McCready took Zander from McCready's father's home. McCready doesn't have custody of her son ? her mother does ? and was allowed to visit the boy at her father's home. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) ? By the time Arkansas authorities took country singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son from her and into custody on Friday evening, one thing had already become apparent to much of America: McCready's life has come to resemble a bad country song.

Since her success in the mid-1990s as a honey-voiced success story out of Nashville, McCready has been increasingly known for her personal foibles instead of her music.

This week's custody battle was the latest in a long saga of personal heartache and brushes with the law.

Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller said in an email Friday night that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring McCready's son, Zander, back to his maternal grandmother in Florida. His grandmother has been his guardian since 2007.

Officials say he's safe and in good health.

Gayle Inge, Zander's grandmother and McCready's mother, was tearful when she talked about the news by phone Friday night with The Associated Press.

"I'm real excited that he's safe," she said. "But I can't explain what this is like. We feel for Mindy and we feel for Zander."

Inge said Zander was taken into custody at McCready's boyfriend's lake home in Arkansas. Inge said that her son ? McCready's half-brother ? texted McCready, who responded with a text that said her mother would never see her again.

"I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her," Inge said, adding that her daughter and grandson were found by authorities "hiding in a closet."

McCready, who turned 36 on Wednesday, did not respond to emails late Friday.

The evening's developments capped a days-long struggle between McCready ? who is seven months pregnant with twins ? and several others, including state of Florida child welfare authorities, a Fort Myers, Fla. judge and her own mother.

Authorities say McCready took the boy during a visit late last month to her father's Florida home, where she was allowed to visit the boy. McCready's parents are divorced.

A Florida judge signed an order Thursday telling authorities to take the boy into custody and return him. It's not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges.

McCready said earlier in the week that she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, where she has a home, despite violating the custody arrangement. She told the AP that her son had suffered abuse at her mother's house, a claim that Inge vehemently denies.

"I'm doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble," McCready wrote in an email to the AP on Thursday. "I don't think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place."

McCready told the AP Wednesday night she was in Tennessee and couldn't travel because she is pregnant with twins.

The boy's father, Billy McKnight, told NBC's "Today" show Friday he spoke on the phone with McCready and their boy after the judge's 5 p.m. EST Thursday deadline expired.

"He did sound healthy and ok. He wasn't crying or scared," McKnight said about their son.

"I think she believes she has a case and doesn't realize she's pushing her luck on this one," he said.

McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy, who was living with McCready's mother.

"We can confirm that Zander has been taken into custody and we are working with Arkansas state officials to bring him back to his legal guardian in Florida," Durdaller wrote late Friday. "He is safe and in good health.

McCready had provided a series of emails to the AP with Lee County Judge James Seals' ruling to return the boy.

"Mom has violated the court's custody order and we are simply restoring the child back into our custody," the judge wrote. "Nothing more. Nothing less. The court makes no judgment about whether Mom will or will not competently care for the child while in her custody. It only wants the child back where the court placed him."

McCready found fame in the mid-1990s when she moved to Nashville at the age of 18, armed with only her karaoke tapes. Her first album, "Ten Thousand Angels," sold two million copies.

Her next four albums weren't as successful. Her personal troubles began encroaching on her professional success. According to her website, she suffers from severe depression.

McCready fought the release of a tape in which she reportedly talked about former Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, with whom she had an affair as a teenager.

In August, she filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Inge.

And in 2008, McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt.

During the TV show "Celebrity Rehab 3" in 2010, McCready came off as a sympathetic figure, and host Dr. Drew Pinsky called her an angel in the season finale.

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-03-People-McCready/id-0d0c2180ea67424d88e487b861b73bf9

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