Jack Fruchtman
Is ranked-choice voting in our future?
One of the most interesting features of the election season was the emergence of Maine’s statewide ranked-choice voting system, a first in the nation....
Now what?
The midterm elections have ended, the Republicans have held onto the Senate, and the Democrats will take over the House in January. The bluest...
Why did she do it?
For most of the year, pundits pounded their view that the blue wave was so powerful among those in anti-Trump America that the Democrats...
Where is Congress?
So often these days, the news moves so fast it’s hard, if not impossible, to keep up, even for diligent readers of the papers...
How’s the climate treating you?
As summer winds down, the air on the Island will become increasingly cooler and the humidity will diminish, as the poison ivy and sumac...
Questions and answers
Anytime is a good time to talk about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But especially so these days.
With so many references to these...
The president, civil liberties, and impeachment
James Madison long ago wrote that in establishing good government, he and his colleagues must find a way to allow reason, logical thinking, to...
With Kennedy out and Kavanaugh in, what might that mean?
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement on July 31 has riled the left and thrilled the right. Despite his moderate conservative nature, for the past...
The broad implications of the Pereira decision
The Supreme Court of the United States essentially engages in two kinds of interpretation. The most well-known is constitutional, when the justices decide whether...
Court’s gambling decision may have other implications for Vineyard and beyond
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports gambling on May 14, it did more than allow states to provide for...
Firearms: Prospects for change
In the aftermath of hundreds of thousands of marchers throughout the nation demanding new gun control measures after the horrifying February event in Parkland,...
Supreme Court reviews deportation of Martha’s Vineyard man
Updated May 12
WASHINGTON — It is virtually impossible to forecast how the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will rule based on the questions...
The court, the First Amendment, and Island life
Three current Supreme Court cases that the justices are just now considering could have an impact on Vineyarders and visitors to the Island. They...
Offshore oil and gas drilling: The Vineyard fear
With the ongoing controversy over President Trump’s remarks about immigration concerning Haiti and Africa, let’s not ignore the Trump administration’s Jan. 4 decision to...
Tax reform for whom?
The tax reform package making its way through Congress will have a mixed impact on Island residents. The House passed its version on Nov....
New federal report contradicts White House
On Nov. 3, 13 federal agencies jointly released an updated report that determined that global warming was continuing to contribute to sea-level rise, increased...
Marijuana’s future in Massachusetts
On Tuesday, Oct. 10, members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission came to the Vineyard to gauge Islanders’ views concerning the proposed regulations regarding...
DACA and the constitutional question
By now, most Americans know that the Trump administration has canceled the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), arguing that the...
Teaching constitutional law and politics in 2017
Former New York Times correspondent and current fellow at Brown Stephen Kinzer recently wrote in the Globe of the unrestrained authority that the president...
On immigrants, refugees, and other travelers
With the House of Representatives now in its August recess and the Senate soon to follow once it deals with some unfinished business, it...