Materially Altered

Gnarly article in today's New York Times about how the United States Supreme Court materially alters opinions without notice, sometimes years after they are issued. The page one story is based upon a forthcoming law review article.
The article is by Adam Liptak, based on research by Harvard Law School Professor Richard J. Lazarus. Our Supreme Court lacks transparency when it materially alters opinions without noting the corrections or alterations.
Our U.S. Supreme Court Justices need to show when they alter their opinions, instead of doing it sub rosa.
Makes you wonder. Does that happens elsewhere -- in other courts, or in newspapers?
Twice since 2006, people have asked me to materially alter my past opinions on this blog. I refused.
Once, a Record neighborhood columnist, Becky Greenberg, objected to me quoting Maurine Boles, Mayor of Joseph Boles, about saving Fish Island from developers. I was quoting her column, which was in the Record. I declined her invitation to censor the news, which she had reported:
Finally, regarding a recent column mentioning Fish Island, Maurine Boles says she is concerned "with the dock on Fish Island.
"When we moved here 40 years ago," says Maurine, "we explored the island and at that time the ruins of Jesse Fish's home was there, The coquina walls were still standing and the outline was clear. At the same time there was a structure made of very large coquina blocks. It was on the outer edge near the northeastern side of the property. It had rifle slits on all sides and we were told that the facility was used to protect the property from Indians and to keep the slaves from escaping. Jesse Fish's grave was also clearly there though it had been desecrated by digging, Capt. Usina said there were rumors that money had been buried with the body. Today I understand very little is left of any of the sites.
"When plans first came out concerning construction of the 312 bridge the original plans had the road and bridge going directly across the Fish homesite. Louis Arana who was the historian at the Castillo (de San Marcos) at the time and I got in touch with Tallahassee and with some help from I think Hamilton Upchurch the route was changed so as to miss the homesite. It turned out to be a hollow victory since the curve created to miss the historic sites gave much more opportunity for commercial development, but we tried. Fish Island as you know was the very first commercial orange grove in Florida ... oranges individually wrapped in paper were shipped in barrels from a coquina dock which "I think is still part of the Fish Island Marina. Unless the PUD that the city commission approved in the l990's specifically included the historic sites then I was told that condo and anything could be built directly over these historic sites which would be lost forever.
"I have also heard rumors that if the dock is approved for residents of the development that these same owners could turn around and sublease their slips to other people and make a profit. It is such a shame to think about Florida's first commercial orange grove becoming just another condo development."

The column remains on the Record website, and in the archives of this blog. Fish Island can still be saved, and included in the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. I am glad that Maurine Boles spoke out, and proud to have quoted her. I never understood why Becky Greenberg wanted to delete this information from public debate.
Likewise, I declined the demand of the millionaire then St. Johns County Arts Council President, Philip A. McDaniel, that I censor my criticism of his 2008 column, which resulted in the nationally controversial firing of St. Augustine Record firing longtime political cartoonist Ed Hall.
Cartoonist Ed Hall was fired by the St. Augustine Record after McDaniel blasted a cartoon depicting a fungible fat Florida school superintendent cutting art, athletics and music while not cutting his own perks (or girth). Misunderstanding the cartoon as a reference to St. Johns County School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Joyner, Ed.D., Mr. McDaniel published a column attacking the cartoonist and saying needed to do "better research." McDaniel later demanded I materially alter my blog because people who read my blog thought less of him for getting cartoonist Ed Hall fired. I said no.
For a mere $75, I bought Ed Hall's original cartoon, which he inscribed to me as follows,"Thanks, Ed, for keepin' it real." (I also bought three of his other cartoons, which lambasted the mosquito control helicopter purchase and ribbed St. Johns County good 'ole boys after one was busted for bribery.
Upon review of the cartoon that Mr. McDaniel hated, the generic "Administrators" character looks nothing like the oversensitive, very Republican Dr. Joseph Joyner, Ed.D. The cartoon is aimed at other Florida districts and its captions are light-hearted: "WE'VE TRIMMED EVERYTHING -- ART. MUSIC. ATHLETICS. Nothing's helped.... so we're canceling school. .. with paid leave of course."
The incident revealed just how retaliatory, dull and humorless our putative St. Johns County government, arts and business leaders are, and how one of them (Mr. McDaniel) would actually try to wheedle me to take my concerns off my blog because of people learning about what he did to Mr. Ed Hall, an excellent cartoonist fired by the Record under pressure from Superintendent Joyner and Mr. McDaniel.
Mr. McDaniel has since done some good things for our community (adaptive reuse of the old ice plant, now a distillery-restauraunt). He deserves credit for that, but should never have asked me to delete my concerns about his back-shooting cowardly attacks on cartoonist Ed Hall, with bad taste demands to cover them up ex post facto. How ironic, louche and gauche for an Arts Council Chair to attack a political cartoonist and then want to censor history.
P.S.: it appears that McDaniel's 2008 column on Ed Hall is no longer indexed on the Record's website. It may be viewed here: here:
You will still find coverage of it on the Internet on this blog, on the Daily Cartoonist, and on Historic City News.