A Natural Shift Due for the High Court?

Cynics say Bill Clinton will probably nominate Bruce Babbitt to the Supreme Court for one reason: The popular new Interior Secretary is a slam-dunk confirmation for the fiasco-prone President.

But those who figure Bucolic Bruce might be more at home roamin’ the range should check out the Spring-Summer Constitution, the thrice-yearly journal of the Foundation for the United States Constitution.

As foundation chair Dwayne O. Andreas says in his preamble to “The Environment and the Law” special issue, “a whole tangle of issues affecting how we live has moved into the nation’s courtrooms and legislative chambers. Clean air and water, the course of underground streams and giant rivers, and private ownership of land have all inspired lawsuits and lawmakers.”

So, although the word environment isn’t mentioned once in the Constitution, environmental issues are increasingly likely to merit constitutional review.

Babbitt, who practiced environmental law in Arizona before joining his pal Bill in Washington, probably wouldn’t get much out of this issue.

But the detailed articles and essays, which read like a primer for an accelerated high school law and ecology class, will educate most.

The lead article, by H. Forest Anderson, a forest resource analyst for the Wilderness Society, is a history of attitudes and legal actions regarding America’s land, from colonial land grants, to federal land grabs, to massive giveaways, to more recent stewardship in spotted owl turf.

Another article, “Takings,” discusses at length the complex interpretations of the Fifth Amendment edict: “ . . . nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”

In an intricate analysis of the case law and appeals, author Joseph Sax concludes that the current Supreme Court “is becoming much more focused on the historical rights of property owners.”

Other articles in this well-designed, color-rich journal take on more specific topics.

T. H. Watkins, editor of Wilderness Magazine, contributes a fine profile of Harold L. Ickes, Interior Secretary from 1933 to 1946, and there’s a piece on Jimmy Carter’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act--the Superfund.

The most dramatic story in the package discusses the history of this nation’s dealings with Shoshone and Arapaho Indians over all-important water rights. And a guest column by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, describes that famous son’s lifelong interest in raising raptors and practicing falconry, and the legalities of such.

The most thought-provoking essay, however, is an excerpt from a book, “The Wealth of Nature,” by historian Donald Worster.

Worster begins by pledging his allegiance: “In a world that often seems to have gone plumb crazy, the Constitution reassures us with its good sense.”

That document’s one shortcoming, as he sees it, is in its failure to embrace nature. But Worster predicts a new Amendment.

“It will declare that all the lands of these United States belong in a final sense to all the people and that present occupants have the use of them for their fruits only. It will demand that any use of the land not leave any lasting impairment, or diminish its beauty, or endanger public health. That new document will affirm . . . that all forms of life, nonhuman and human alike, are henceforth to be considered as citizens dwelling together in this great and virtuous republic.”

Maybe that suggestion will spark what will probably be deathly boring confirmation hearings if Babbitt (Saint Bruce to environmentalists) is nominated:

“Can you tell us, Mr. Secretary, do your views on abortion rights extend to non-human citizens?”

(Constitution, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N. Y., 10020)

Required Reading

Here’s the story: An honors student walks into a Kentucky high school classroom and casually pumps a bullet into the head of his teacher, a 48-year-old mother of three.

Plopping down in front of the stunned class, he asks: “Do you guys like me now?”

One stunned student said of the shooting scene: “This isn’t supposed to happen. This must be MTV.”

This story is a well-told tear-jerker, People Weekly’s standard fare. There’s a difference, though. In the June 14 issue, it is followed by another all-too-similar story of a school-yard slaying. Which is followed by a two-page, yearbook-like gallery of 28 other students and teachers killed in school violence last year. The impact is powerful.

New on Newsstands

Maybe the only way to expand the health and fitness market was to further segregate. Which is what Rodale Press has done with Heart & Soul, “the nation’s first healthy lifestyle magazine for African Americans.”

Heart & Soul is graphically slick, informative and lively.

In fact, except for a few very small nods to differences in cultural tastes and cosmetics, the only real distinction between this magazine and the competition is that it features a lot more dark complexions in its features and ads. That’s a shortcoming for which other magazines deserve to lose their African-American readers.

(On newsstands, or contact Rodale Specials, 33 E. Minor St. Emmaus, Penn. 18098, (215) 967-5171).

Shredder Fodder

Sure, Shannen Doherty from that zip code show is an obnoxious twit. But she’s only 22.

For People to run paparazzi shots of her on a hotel balcony is a cheesy invasion of privacy. For the magazine to wax moralistic about her ex-boyfriend’s lame lawsuit--”the allegations . . . remain deeply disturbing”--is beyond bonehead.

Back off the brat!

* Something about Spielberg movies whets magazine editors’ monstrous appetites for flackery.

Remember Jaws and Jaws II? Suddenly every magazine in the country snapped up any story about sharks, no matter how fishy.

Now, with Jurassic Park, magazines are rampaging over journalistic restraint like giddy Godzillas. Omni, U.S. News and Disney Adventures are just a few of the magazines that have cloned dino stories.

Worst offender is Newsweek, for devoting eight doting pages to a daffy cover story: “Could Dinosaurs Return?”

Newsstand News

Until last Friday, industry insiders could turn to two excellent magazines on magazinedom: Folio and Magazine Week. Last week the Cowles Business Media, owner of the former, bought out the latter. Magazine Week has stopped publication, and Cowles is still deciding exactly how it will use the assets it purchased, sources say.

Magazine junkies mourn the loss.