Bharatt Goel Archives - JURIST - Commentary

Commentaries by Bharatt Goel

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Decay of The Colossal Wreck: Confederate Statues as Protected Cultural Property

October 6, 2020 11:30:58 pm

What is common between Rhodes, Rushmore, and Robert E. Lee? At first glance, the initial consonants, yes. However, what is more, common and conspicuous is their contemporaneousness today owing to the resurfacing of their racial pasts. Their troubling legacies have triggered vehement calls for the removal and/or destruction of their monumental statues and sculptures, among [...]

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International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.