On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation are finally ratified. The Articles were signed by Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification on November 15, 1777, after 16 months of debate. Bickering over land claims between Virginia and Maryland delayed final …read more

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Article Title

The Articles of Confederation are ratified after nearly four years

AuthorHistory.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/articles-of-confederation-are-ratified

Access Date

March 1, 2023

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

March 1, 2021

Original Published Date

November 13, 2009

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

so, i posted this because it is also a reminder for our Youth…. we are at a crossroads and going back to the bad old days is NOT an option.

Nativegrl77

First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Some have raised the question of whether the Free Speech Clause and the Free Press Clause are coextensive, with respect to protections for the media. A number of Supreme Court decisions considering the regulation of media outlets analyzed the relevant constitutional protections without significantly differentiating between the two clauses.¹ In one 1978 ruling, the Court expressly considered whether the institutional press is entitled to greater freedom from governmental regulations or restrictions than are non-press individuals, groups, or associations. Justice Potter Stewart argued in a concurring opinion: That the First Amendment speaks separately of freedom of speech and freedom of the press is no constitutional accident, but an acknowledgment of the critical role played by the press in American society. The Constitution requires sensitivity to that role, and to the special needs of the press in performing it effectively.² But, in a plurality opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote: The Court has not yet squarely resolved whether the Press Clause confers upon the ‘institutional press’ any freedom from government restraint not enjoyed by all others.³ The plurality ultimately concluded that the First Amendment did not grant media the privilege of special access to prisons.⁴

Several Supreme Court holdings firmly point to the conclusion that the Free Press Clause does not confer on the press the power to compel government to furnish information or otherwise give the press access to information that the public generally does not have.⁵ Nor, in many respects, is the press entitled to treatment different in kind from the treatment to which any other member of the public may be subjected.⁶ The Court has ruled that [g]enerally applicable laws do not offend the First Amendment simply because their enforcement against the press has incidental effects.⁷ At the same time, the Court has recognized that laws targeting the press, or treating different subsets of media outlets differently, may sometimes violate the First Amendment.⁸ Further, it does seem clear that, to some extent, the press, because of its role in disseminating news and information, is entitled to heightened constitutional protections—that its role constitutionally entitles it to governmental sensitivity, to use Justice Potter Stewart’s word.⁹

constitutioncongress.gov

A doctrine that bars claims against the federal  government by members of the armed forces and their families for injuries arising from or in the course of activity incident to military service.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1950, in Feres v. the United States, 340 U.S. 135, 71 S. Ct. 153, 95 L. Ed. 152, that the federal government could not be held liable under the statute known as the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1291, 1346(b), (c), 1402(b), 2401(b), 2402, 2671-80) for injuries to members of the armed forces arising from activities incident to military service. The Federal Tort Claims Act allows persons intentionally or negligently wronged by a government employee to sue the government for their injuries. The Supreme Court’s decision barring suits involving injuries to members of the armed forces became known as the Feres doctrine. The doctrine remains in force, as the Supreme Court has rejected attempts to over-rule the decision.

Feres involved a suit brought by the executor of a soldier who had died when his barracks caught fire. The executor charged that the United States had been negligent in housing the soldier in barracks whose defective heating system was known to be unsafe. First, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that such a suit could be brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, which had waived the government’s traditional Immunity from claims in many circumstances. Noting that the statute said that “[t]he United States shall be liable … in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances” (28 U.S.C.A. § 2674), the Court concluded that the relationship between the government and members of its armed forces is “distinctively federal in character.” Therefore, it would be anomalous to have the government’s liability depend on the law of the state where the soldier was stationed. Second, the Court observed that in several enactments, Congress had established a “no-fault” compensation plan that provides pensions to injured members of the Armed Services.

Commenting on the Feres doctrine in United States v. Brown, 348 U.S. 110, 75 S. Ct. 141, 99 L. Ed. 139 (1954), the Court emphasized that discipline and “[t]he peculiar and special relationship of the soldier to his superiors” might be affected if suits were allowed under the Tort Claims Act “for negligent orders given or negligent acts committed in the course of military duty.” This view became one of the bedrock justifications for the doctrine in the years following Brown.

The U.S. Supreme Court has stressed that the Feres doctrine “cannot be reduced to a few bright-line rules,” but rather “each case must be examined in light of the [Tort Claims Act] as it has been construed in Feres and subsequent cases” (United States v. Shearer, 473 U.S. 52, 105S. Ct. 3039, 87 L. Ed. 2d 38 [1985]).

The doctrine does not bar a claim arising from an independent injury committed by the government after a soldier has been discharged (Brown). In Brown, an injury suffered by a veteran during treatment at a veterans administration hospital for a prior injury that he had sustained during military service was not barred by Feres. The Court distinguished Brown from Feres on the ground that in Brown, the second injury did not arise from or in the course of military service.

The doctrine did apply, however, to a suit involving the death of a soldier who was off the military base on authorized leave when he was kidnapped and murdered by a fellow soldier with a known history of violence (Shearer). The mother of the murdered soldier charged that the Army had been negligent in failing to warn the other soldiers that the murderer was dangerous and in failing to restrict the murderer’s movements while his discharge was being processed. The Supreme Court denied her claim under the Feres doctrine on the ground that the suit would require a civilian court to second-guess military decisions that are directly involved in the management of the armed forces. If such suits were allowed, “commanding officers would have to stand prepared to convince a civilian court of the wisdom of a wide range of military and disciplinary decisions.” As a result, military discipline would suffer the detrimental effects that the Feres doctrine was designed to prevent.

The doctrine also applies to third parties seeking indemnity from the federal government. In Stencel Aero Engineering Corp. v. United States, 431 U.S. 666, 97 S. Ct. 2054, 52 L. Ed. 2d 665 (1977), an injured National Guard officer brought a suit against Stencel, the manufacturer of the ejection system in his fighter aircraft. Stencel then filed a cross-claim against the United States for indemnity (reimbursement for damages that it might pay to the officer), alleging that any malfunction of the ejection system was due to faulty government specifications and components. The Supreme Court held that the same reasoning that prevented a member of the armed services from recovering under the Tort Claims Act would limit a third party from recovering in an indemnity action.

The Feres doctrine was challenged in two cases decided by the Supreme Court in 1987. The doctrine had long been criticized as unfair to service members. In United States v. Johnson, 481 U.S. 681, 107 S. Ct. 2063, 95 L. Ed. 2d 648, the United States was sued for injuries sustained by a service member as the result of the Negligence of air traffic controllers, who are civilian employees of the federal government. On a 5–4 decision, the Court reaffirmed the application of the Feres doctrine. The Court noted that civilian employees may also “play an integral role in military activities. In this circumstance, an inquiry into the civilian activities would have the same effect on military discipline as a direct inquiry into military judgments.”

In United States v. Stanley, 483 U.S. 669, 107S. Ct. 3054, 97 L. Ed. 2d 550 (1987), the United States was sued not only under the Federal Tort Claims Act but also directly under the Constitution. The Court rejected this attempt to circumvent Feres. It affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit because of the principles set out in the Feres decision.

Further readings

Maser, Mark G. 2002. “Feres Doctrine: United States Courts of Appeals Consistently Hold that Members of the Armed Forces are Barred from Bringing Suits Against the Government When Service Members are Injured Incident to Military Sponsored Sports and Recreational Activities.” Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law 12 (summer): 333–60.

Seidelson, David E. 1994. “From Feres v. United States to Boyle v. United Technologies Corp.: An Examination of Supreme Court Jurisprudence and a Couple of Suggestions.” Duquesne Law Review 32 (winter): 219–68.

Turley, Jonathan. 2003. “Pax Militaris: The Feres Doctrine and the Retention of Sovereign Immunity in the Military System of Governance.” George Washington Law Review 71 (February): 1–90.

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. 2003. The Feres Doctrine: An Examination of this Military Exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Second Session, October 8, 2002. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Feres Doctrine

This seems unAmerican?

1498 – Vasco de Gama landed at what is now Mozambique on his way to India.

1562 – In Vassy, France, Catholics massacred over 1,000 Huguenots. The event started the First War of Religion.

1692 – In Salem Village, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Salem witch trials began. Four women were the first to be charged.

1781 – In America, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.

1784 – In Great Britain, E. Kidner opened the first cooking school.

1790 – The U.S. Congress authorized the first U.S. census.

1803 – Ohio became the 17th U.S. state.

1810 – Sweden became the first country to appoint an Ombudsman, Lars August Mannerheim.

1811 – Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali massacred the leaders of the Mameluke dynasty.

1815 – Napoleon returned to France from the island of Elba. He had been forced to abdicate in April of 1814.

1845 – U.S. President Tyler signed the congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.

1862 – Prussia formally recognized the Kingdom of Italy.

1864 – Louis Ducos de Hauron patented a machine for taking and projecting motion pictures. The machine was never built.

1867 – Nebraska became the 37th U.S. state.

1869 – Postage stamps with scenes were issued for the first time.

1872 – The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of Yellowstone National Park. It was the world’s first national park.

1873 – E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, NY, began the manufacturing the first practical typewriter.

1879 – The library of Hawaii was established.

1890 – “Literary Digest” was available for the first time.

1896 – The Battle of Adowa began in Ethiopia between the forces of Emperor Menelik II and Italian troops. The Italians were defeated.

1900 – In South Africa, Ladysmith was relieved by British troops after being under siege by the Boers for more than four months.

1907 – In Odessa, Russia, there were only about 15,000 Jews left due to evacuations.

1907 – In Spain, a royal decree abolished civil marriages.

1907 – In New York, the Salvation Army opened an anti-suicide bureau.

1911 – Industrialist Henry Frick acquired Velasquez’s “Portrait of King Philip IV.”

1911 – Jose Ordonez was elected President of Uraguay.

1912 – Captain Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.

1924 – Disney released the first Alice Comedy entitled “Alice’s Day at Sea.”

1927 – The Bank of Italy became a National Bank.

1932 – The 22-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped. The child was found dead in May.

1937 – U.S. Steel raised workers’ wages to $5 a day.

1937 – In Connecticut, the first permanent automobile license plates were issued.

1941 – FM Radio began in Nashville, TN, when station W47NV began operations.

1941 – Bulgaria joined the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.

1941 – “Duffy’s Tavern” debuted on CBS Radio.

1947 – The International Monetary Fund began operations.

1947 – Chinese Premier T.V. Soong resigned.

1949 – Joe Louis announced that he was retiring from boxing as world heavyweight boxing champion.

1950 – Klaus Fuchs was convicted of giving U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.

1954 – The United States announced that it had conducted a hydrogen bomb test on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first U.S. test of a dry fuel hydrogen bomb under Operation Castle.

1954 – Five U.S. congressmen were wounded when four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives.

1959 – Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus from exile.

1961 – The Peace Corps was established by U.S. President Kennedy.

1962 – Pakistan announced that it had a new constitution that set up a presidential system of government.

1966 – The Soviet probe, Venera 3 crashed on the planet Venus. It was the first unmanned spacecraft to land on the surface of another planet.

1966 – Ghana ordered all Soviet, East German and Chinese technicians to leave the country.

1969 – Mickey Mantle announced his retirement from major league baseball.

1971 – A bomb exploded in a restroom in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol. There were no injuries. A U.S. group protesting the Vietnam War claimed responsibility.

1974 – Seven people were indicted in connection with the Watergate break-in. The charge was conspiring to obstruct justice.

1983 – The New Jersey Transit strike began. It ended on April 2.

1984 – The U.S.S.R. performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk, U.S.S.R.

1987 – The Boston Celtics defeated Detroit 112-102 to post their 2,235th NBA win.

1987 – S&H Green Stamps became S&H Green Seals. The stamps were introduced 90 years earlier.

1988 – Soviet troops were sent into Azerbaijan after ethnic riots between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

1989 – In Washington, DC, Mayor Barry and the City council imposed a curfew on minors.

1990 – In Cairo, 16 people were killed in a fire at the Sheraton Hotel.

1992 – Bosnian Serb snipers fired upon civilians after a majority of the Moslem and Croatian communities voted in favor of Bosnia’s independence.

1992 – King Fahd of Saudi Arabia announced major political reforms that ceded some powers after 10 years of disciplined rule.

1992 – Bosnian Muslims and Croats voted to secede from Yugoslavia.

1993 – The U.S. government announced that the number of food stamp recipients had reached a record number of 26.6 million.

1994 – Israel released about 500 Arab prisoners in an effort to placate Palestinians over the Hebron massacre.

1995 – The European Parliament rejected legislation that would have allowed biotechnology companies to patent new life forms.

1995 – Yahoo! was incorporated.

1996 – In Kuala, Lumpur, construction was completed for the Petronas Towers.

1999 – The Angolan Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia, exploded. Four other bombs went off in the capital.

1999 – In Uganda, eight tourists were brutally murdered by Hutu rebels.

1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones began their attempt to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon non-stop. They succeeded on March 20, 1999.

2002 – Operation Anaconda began in eastern Afghanistan. Allied forces were fighting against Taliban and Al Quaida fighters.

2003 – In New York, a $250,000 Salvador Dali sketch was stolen from a display case in the lobby at Rikers Island jail. On June 17, 2003, it was announced that four corrections officers had surrendered and pled innocent in connection to the theft. The mixed-media composition was a sketch of the crucifixion.

2003 – In the U.S., approximately 180,000 personnel from 22 different organizations around the government became part of the Department of Homeland Security. This completed the largest government reorganization since the beginning of the Cold War.

2003 – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents near Islamabad. He was the suspected mastermind behind the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

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