Author Archives: Ed Kowalski

There were no campaign rallies. No yard signs. No television ads. No candidates knocking on doors asking for your vote. Yet over the next nine months, those nine people may make decisions affecting immigration, gun ownership, climate policy, voting rules, religious liberty and the reach of government itself. Welcome to another Supreme Court term. AndContinue reading “The nine justices of the United States Supreme Court returned to the bench Monday.”

A Valley Viewpoint Narrative Here we go again. A New York judge issues a ruling against a Republican politician, the headlines practically write themselves, and suddenly we’re supposed to believe we’ve uncovered another great threat to democracy. This time the target is Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne. State Supreme Court Justice Victor G. Grossman ruledContinue reading “When a Campaign-Finance Dispute Becomes a Judicial Sermon”

A Valley Viewpoint Narrative There is an old rule in government that deserves a little more respect: Don’t use one controversy to permanently rearrange the furniture. Dutchess County just went through a bruising debate over Flock license-plate-reader cameras. People showed up. They asked questions. They challenged the technology, the privacy implications and the extent toContinue reading “Flock Is Gone. So Why Are We Still Rewriting the Rules?”

And the worst part is that I was trying to pay someone a compliment. In talking about the founder of Moredance, a performance dance troupe, I referred to her as an “imaginative and creative girl.” That was it. Six words. No insult intended. No condescension. No attempt to diminish an accomplished woman. Quite the opposite.Continue reading “Last night, I apparently committed a linguistic felony.”

There are stories you read on the internet and immediately assume somebody made them up. This isn’t one of them. Harvard really did appoint a visiting professor who performs in drag under the name LaWhore Vagistan. And Harvard really did offer a four-credit course called “RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Power.” I’ll give you a moment.Continue reading “Harvard Has Traded Veritas for Vaudeville”

A Valley Viewpoint Narrative There is something almost predictable about government in New York. Albany announces an ambitious program. Politicians hold a press conference. There are speeches about leadership, bold action and how New York will once again show the rest of America the way forward. Then somebody eventually asks a fairly basic question: CanContinue reading “Albany’s Climate Ambitions Keep Running Into Reality”

“Writing is the only way I have to explain my own life to myself.” That line has stayed with me because I understand it more today than I ever have. I don’t write because I have all the answers. Quite the opposite. I write because I still have questions—about life, love, family, faith, justice, power,Continue reading “Why I Write: 35,000 Readers and a Conversation I Never Expected”

Here’s something that deserves far more attention than it has received. The cybersecurity attacks against the federal judiciary’s electronic case-management infrastructure are not merely an IT story. They are a trust story. And more than a year after the judiciary publicly acknowledged sophisticated and persistent attacks against its case-management system, we now have an extraordinaryContinue reading “The Federal Courts Have a Trust Problem — And PACER Is Only Part of It”

A Valley Viewpoint Narrative There is a principle in our criminal justice system that should not be controversial: If the government accuses you of a crime, you have a right to know the evidence against you. Period. Prosecutors should disclose evidence. Defendants should have meaningful access to information necessary to prepare a defense. Exculpatory evidenceContinue reading “Destroyed by Discovery: When Criminal Justice Becomes a Paperwork Exercise”

There is a principle in our criminal justice system that should not be controversial: If the government accuses you of a crime, you have a right to know the evidence against you. Period. Prosecutors should disclose evidence. Defendants should have meaningful access to information necessary to prepare a defense. Exculpatory evidence should never be hidden.Continue reading “Destroyed by Discovery: When Criminal Justice Becomes a Paperwork Exercise”

The Flock camera controversy isn’t over just because the cameras are coming down. Now we’re seeing politicians take a self-congratulatory victory lap, presenting the decision as proof that “leaders listened.” Pleasant Valley residents did the hard part. They showed up, packed the public forum, raised serious questions, and made clear that surveillance technology deserves moreContinue reading “The Flock Camera Victory Lap”

Sometimes government listens. Sometimes citizens show up, ask difficult questions, refuse to accept rehearsed assurances—and the people entrusted with public power reconsider their position. That is what happened this week in Pleasant Valley. On Wednesday, residents packed Pleasant Valley Town Hall for a public forum on Flock cameras and automated license-plate readers. Two days later,Continue reading “They Listened: Dutchess County Withdraws Support for Flock Cameras”