Finally, the Court said that the state of New York had "a legitimate interest" (good, valid reasons) in banning physician-assisted suicide. They said the ban would help the state prevent euthanasia, protect doctors' medical ethics, and protect terminally ill people who might feel pressured to end their lives. Most importantly, they said, New York's ban helped protect human life. The right to life (however long it may last) is an "unalienable right" (a natural right) guaranteed by the Constitution. The right to death, the Court said, is not.
Sawi language (Dardic)
Sawi, Savi, or Sauji, is a Dardic language spoken in parts of Afghanistan. It is also spoken in parts of Pakistan. There are estimated to be about 4,200 speakers worldwide.
Cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is punishment that causes severe suffering, pain, or humiliation. Many countries have laws against cruel and unusual punishment. There are also international laws and treaties against this type of punishment.
For most of recorded history, the death penalty was often painful on purpose. Severe historical punishments included being burned or boiled to death; cut or torn apart; crushed by stones; sawed in half; crucified; and many other extremely painful methods of execution. Punishments that were not meant to cause death were also often painful on purpose.
The exact words "cruel and unusual punishment" were first used in the English Bill of Rights 1689. In 1791, the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution made "cruel and unusual punishment" illegal in the United States. Seven years later, the British Leeward Islands used the same words in their Slavery Amelioration Act.
Here are some examples of other laws that include protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution says that "cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted." However, the Constitution does not define exactly what cruel and unusual punishments are.
In a case called "Furman v. Georgia" (), the Supreme Court of the United States decided what questions they would use to figure out whether a punishment was cruel and unusual. Justice William Brennan wrote the opinion in the case. He made four rules about punishments:
In this decision, the Supreme Court set a precedent that if a punishment broke any of these four rules, it would be viewed as "cruel and unusual," and would be illegal under the Constitution.
Early Norwegian black metal scene
The early Norwegian black metal scene was a black metal music scene and subculture in Norway during the early 1990s. It is said to have created the modern black metal genre and produced many influential artists.
The scene drew a lot of media attention after some members were responsible for two murders and lots of church burnings in Norway. The scene had an ideology that some people say was like a cult. They had anti-Christian and misanthropic views. Some were actual Satanists who wanted to spread terror, hatred and evil. The core members called themselves "The Black Circle" or "Black Metal Inner Circle". It was made up of mainly young men who gathered around the record shop Helvete ("Hell") in Oslo. They liked to wear corpse paint. The scene was exclusive, and most bands wanted to remain underground and out of reach to the mainstream.
In August 1993 and May 1994, many members of the scene were arrested for arson, murder, assault and possession of explosives.
During the 1980's, bands were called "black metal" if they had Satanic lyrics. These bands usually only used these lyrics for "shock value." During 1990–1992, a lot of bands who were influenced by those bands, began playing a new type of black metal. The rise of popularity during this time was called the "second wave of black metal".
History of racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation means separating people because of their races. In the United States, racial segregation has existed since before the United States was its own country. Slavery, racist laws, racist attitudes, and many other things caused the United States to segregate white and non-white people for centuries. Although segregation is now against the law, racist attitudes still remain, and new forms of segregation have formed over time.
The first African slaves were brought to America in 1619. This was just nine years after British settlers created the first permanent settlement in America, at Jamestown, Virginia.
People in all thirteen American colonies used slaves. Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States owned slaves, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, James Madison, Patrick Henry, and John Jay.
Abolitionists started trying to make slavery illegal in the mid-1700s. By 1804, all of the northern states had ended slavery. However, none of the Southern states had. The Southern states believed that slavery was their right, and they did not want to give it up. Cotton had become a very important crop in the South. Owners of large cotton plantations were used to having slaves to do work for free, which made the plantation owners richer because they did not have to pay anybody to work.
Eventually, the South tried to leave the United States. This caused the American Civil War. The North won, and in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution made slavery illegal everywhere in the country. In 1868 and 1870, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments gave African-Americans citizenship, and gave them the right to vote.
Losing the Civil War did not change people's ideas about African-American people. During slavery, slave owners had not seen slaves as humans. They saw them as property, things to buy and sell, like animals you would use on a farm. After the War, many white people still did not see African-Americans as equal to whites.
Starting in 1890, the all-white legislatures in the Southern states began to pass state laws that required segregation. These racist laws became known as Jim Crow laws. For example, blacks could not:
In 1896, in a case called "Plessy v. Ferguson", the Supreme Court ruled that these laws were legal. They said that segregation was fine, as long as things were "separate but equal." In the South, everything was separate. However, places like black schools and libraries got much less money and were not as good as places for whites. Things were separate, but not equal.
Segregation kept African-Americans from having the basic rights that the Founding Fathers had written into the Constitution of the United States. Law-makers, government officials, voting officials, and police officers were all white. This prevented African-Americans from having any say in their government; being able to get the same voting rights as white people; having police officers protect them; or being able to get justice for crimes against them. Because they could not count on all-white police forces to protect them, violence against African-Americans, especially lynchings, increased. Because African-Americans could not vote, they also could not serve on juries. This meant that if a black person was ever on trial for a crime, the jury would be all-white.
Problems were worst in the South. However, African-Americans went through different kinds of segregation in other places.
Across the United States, segregation in housing was a problem. Many African-Americans could not get mortgages to buy houses. Realtors would not sell black people houses in the suburbs, where white people lived. They also would not rent apartments in white areas. Until the 1950s, the federal government did nothing about this.
When he was elected in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson made government offices segregated. He believed that segregation was best for everyone.