FEBRUARY 24

FEBRUARY 24 — 1868 Andrew Johnson impeached; 1993 DNA Identification Act infroduced; 1988 1st Amendment protected in People Vs. Larry Flynt; 2005 Ray Charles gets post office dedicated in his honor

FEBRUARY 24

1868 – Johnson is impeached.

The Tailor of Tennessee, Democratic VP Andrew Johnson, accidentally became president after Republican president Abe Lincoln was assassinated. That alone was an amazing tale in American politics. He once stated that this was a country for white man, and shall be as longs as he was president.

The Radical Republicans, who controlled Congress enacted the Reconstruction, which protected newly freed slaves and punishment for slave owners and ex-confederates. Instead, Sir Veto came up with his own plan to exonerate ex-Confederates, stand in the way of any civil rights for former slaves, and bring back seceded states as gently as possible.

The Republicans knew they would get nowhere with Johnson in office, so passed the Tenure of Office act which prohibits the president from removing officials confirmed by the Senate without senatorial approval, and written specifically for President Johnson and his secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton.

Stanton and Johnson would test this new act. He had Stanton, a Radial Republican from office and replaced him with Ulysses Grant. The Senate overruled this decision, and Johnson dismissed Stanton entirely, forcing Stanton to physically lock himself into his office.

On February 24, 1868, the House officially impeached President Johnson, and the Senate would hold his trial. Johnson carried himself well during the eleven week trial and promised to play nicer with Congress. At least nicer.

He squeaked by his removal from office by one vote, then continued to fight the Radical Republicans until Grant would take over as president.

1993 – DNA Identification Act is introduced.

Now we have these giant databases called CODIS and NDIS that hold our genetic codes! Let me back up. The concept of using DNA as part of evidence to convict a criminal started becoming a necessity by 1989 with the Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods.

The idea of simply using a strand of hair, drop of blood, or swab of saliva could instantly link a suspect to a crime was the breakthrough of crime-fighting of the 20^th century. Say what you will about how former FBI director J Edgar Hoover would’ve handled DNA, but that’s neither here nor there.

The conversation needed here is about the 4^th amendment, or prohibited search and seizure. The FBI claim that according to federal law,  criminal justice agencies are the only branches that have access to the CODIS and NDIS, and that the access is strictly for law enforcement and criminal defense only.

In 2013 the supreme Court ruled in the court case Maryland V King that the collection of DNA from those arrested but not convicted just yet of a crime is a warranted part of the police booking procedure and there a reasonable collection.

1839 – William Otis of Philadelphia patents the steam shovel for making railroads. It was capable ofmoving 380 cubic meters of earth per day.

1982 – Reagan announces Caribbean Basin initiative.

According to ustr.gov, it’s intended to facilitate the economic development and export diversification of Caribbean Basin economies, which was another way of saying it was designed to prevent the overthrow of the governments in the region by the brutal and totalitarian forces of communism.

Reagan announced “If we do not act promptly and decisively in defense of freedom, new Cubans will arrive from the ruins of today’s conflicts.” Later, in 2000, the CBI would become the CBTPA, or the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnersihp Act, which basically expanded its role o other beneficiary countries.
1988 – The First Amendment is protected in the case of Hustler Magazine Vs Larry Flynt. In 1983, liberal Larry and his magazine had posted a satire of the conservative Reverend Jerry Falwell having an incestuous encounter with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued the porn mag for 200 grand, and won, until Flynt appealed the case to the Supreme Court, who reversed the decision unanimously, 8-00, in favor of Falwell and in defense of freedom of speech.

2005, A post office near the Los Angeles studio where Ray Charles recorded much of his music was renamed after the R&B legend. A federal bill was signed by US President George Bush to rename the post office. Charles, died in June 2004 at the age of 74, suffering from acute liver disease.