This Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will host a reenactment organized by the Supreme Court Historical Society of the 1908 case Muller v. Oregon, a landmark Progressive Era decision where the Court unanimously upheld Oregon’s law limiting female laundry employees from working more than 10 hours a day.

This “progressive” victory was made on the following basis:

The Brandeis Brief made much the same point, claiming that since women were responsible for bearing future generations, their bodies were in some sense collective property. “The overwork of future mothers,” Brandeis wrote, “directly attacks the welfare of the nation.”…

Writing for the majority in Muller, Justice David Brewer followed Brandeis’ lead. “As healthy mothers are essential to vigorous offspring,” Brewer wrote, “the physical well-being of woman becomes an object of public interest and care in order to preserve the strength and vigor of the race.”

Although shocking this isn’t much different from other oppressive views imposed on us be government for our own good: smoking bans, fatty food bans, campaign finance reform, gun bans, etc. All are efforts, largely by “progressives”, to sacrifice our freedom for the good of the state.

Meet the new tyrant, same as the old tyrant.

According to exit polls, whites opposed the amendment 53-47. But blacks supported it 70-30, and Latinos supported it 51-49. The polls have blacks at 10 percent of the electorate for this issue, with Latinos at 19 percent and whites at 63 percent. (Asians, at six percent, opposed the proposition 53-47.)

it wasn’t too long ago that the courts had to intervene to allow interracial marriages. Kinda sad that just as we elect our first Black President, the African-Americans of California reject recognition of the relationships of another minority.

Although, in some tepid statements, Obama publicly stated that he was opposed to Prop 8, he also said that he opposes gay marriage. By straddling the fence and never investing any capital on the issue within the African-American community, it seems he doomed it to failure. I wonder if Ellen will be so friendly with him if he visits her show again…