Opinion: In today’s pages
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The editorial board takes on the Supreme Court again today for its decision to uphold a ban on a rare abortion procedure. The Court ignored precedent and didn’t seem to mind that the ban made no exception for a woman’s health:
This muddled decision doesn’t attack the basic holding of Roe vs. Wade, and it will have no effect on the vast majority of abortions performed in this country. But Ginsburg is right that it is a retreat, and one that can’t be explained by anything other than a change in the court’s membership.
The board also tells Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that ‘dreamtime is over’ and writes a preview of U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales’ appearance today before the Senate Judiciary Committee (for the latest check here).
On the next page, Opinion contributing editor Jonathan Chait says the Gonzales scandal is a sign that the Bush administration wants to use the judicial system as an arm of the Republican party. Candy reviewer Cybele May breaks it to the Food and Drug Administration that chocolate-loving Americans will know the difference between real chocolate and cheap substitutes.
Two Cal Poly Pomona professors say ‘charter mania’ could backfire on California’s tradition of free, universal public education. And Patt Morrison recalls that before Don Imus got fired, two journalists were pink slipped for criticizing President Bush’s reaction to 9/11.