[Special K]

In June, 2016, the DEA stated that it wanted access to the medical records of prescription drug users by arguing that brcause the records are submitted to third party, state prescription monitoring program, there’s no reasonable expectation of privacy. Therefore a warrant I not needed.

The DEA has stated that it wants access to medical records without a warrant due to the fact that the records are submitted to a third party which means that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy for the patients. The third party, a state’s prescription drug monitoring database program, is run by the state government. DEA has stated that it has the right to access the databases using only administrative subpoenas. These issued orders do not require a probable cause for access of the information. 32 states currently share this information through the National Association Board of Pharmacy Program. Some states willing cooperate including Wisconsin while other states like Oregon are fighting it. The DOJ has created a software for sharing data among all state Pharmaceutical Drug Monitoring Programs. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) which passed in March, calls for expansion of data sharing by PDMP.
My question is: Aren’t third party programs bound by HIPAA in protecting the rights and privacy of its patients? Does the federal and local government have the ability to access patient’s data without written consent from the patients? Does the administrative subpoena supersede the HIPAA privacy laws?

Information above retrieved from thedailybeast.com on June 11, 2016

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[Special K]

While listening to Democracy Now this morning, (the featured guest) Bill Fletcher, stated that the right wing of the Republican Party is six to eight states away from calling for a constitutional convention which would roll back gains such as Roe vs. Wade, etc. My question is: what is a constitutional convention and how would it impact legislation and American society as we know it?

[Benjamin F. Alexander]

One of the ways that the Constitution can be amended–which has never happened so far–is that two-thirds of state legislatures vote to call for a convention. From there, any amendment that gets passed must be ratified by three-quarters of the states, either in their legislatures or in special state conventions. I don’t see that ever happening. What has happened many times, for amending the Constitution, is that Congress passes and amendment by two-thirds in both chambers and then it gets sent out to the states for ratification.

As we know, the social conservatives want to make abortion illegal, limit marriage to one man one woman, and a few other choice goals. When there are Supreme Court rulings that go against their agenda, they desire both to get justices onto the Court who will overturn such rulings and amend the Constitution to make such rulings impossible. The good news, for those who are opposed to that movement, is that amending the Constitution, especially for drastic changes, is truly not easy.

[Special K]

Most people who want to restructure Social Security claim that social security is unsustainable. My question is: Are there any laws in the Constitution that forces the U. S. government to pay its debt to the Social Security fund? Starting with the Reagan administration, the U.S. government has been “borrowing” money from the Social Security fund and I haven’t heard anyone talking about the government repaying its debt to the system , with the appropriate interest that has been accruing. Why isn’t anyone talking about that? This question is for you Professor Alexander.

[Special K]

Over 25 years ago, my dad told me I should carry a pocket- sized version of the Bill of Rights around with me. As I so often did, I didn’t take him seriously. Since the dad of the Muslim fallen soldier, Khazir Khan, was waving his pocket -sized version of the Constitution and I can’t help but think how right my father was. Sales of the pocket- sized Constitution has skyrocketed which goes to show that I should probably listen to my dad more often.