By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings The meeting schedule from the publicity flyer: AHCCCS Community Forums General – Sessions for Families, Advocates, and Community Partners Tuesday, October 8, 2013 1 – 3 p.m. Casino del Sol Conference Center 5655 West Valencia Road Tucson, AZ 85757 RSVP: ForwardTucson@AZAHCCCS.gov Friday, October 11, 2013 1 … Read more
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings
It's been well-known for a while that tea party types don't play well with others; turns out that they don't play well with each other, either.
Here in AZ, that fact has been evident nearly from the start.
In 2011, tea party types in the then-LD20 Republican district organization were apoplectic over the fact that the majority of that district's GOP activists elected a supporter of Sen. John McCain*, Anthony Miller, as the district chair. The threats, while marginally veiled, were extreme enough for him to fear for the safety of his family and himself, and he ended up resigning the post.
* – I'm sure the fact that Mr. Miller is African-American had absolutely nothing to do with their outrage over his election as chair. /end sarcasm
Just this year, Andy Biggs, the Republican president of the state senate, declared the seat of Sen. Rich Crandall, a fellow Republican, vacant. Crandall had announced that he was resigning to take a job in Wyoming, but tried to time his resignation so that his children would have continuous health insurance coverage (they have pre-existing conditions, and a gap in insurance coverage would give any future insurance providers an excuse to deny coverage.
Now, Mike McClellan, a blogger at AZCentral.com has the scoop on what some tea party types are doing down in Gilbert.
Posted by Bob Lord
If you believe Bill Montgomery's public statements, he's 100% certain Debra Milke is guilty of conspiring to kill her four-year old son in 1989.
If you look at the information out there, you'd know he can't be. I'm not saying Milke is innocent (although my hunch is that she is), but there are far too many question marks for anyone with a functioning brain to be certain she's guilty. That's why the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the 1990 conviction in a unanimous decision.
Milke was convicted on the testimony of one witness, Phoenix Police Detective Armando Saldate, who said Milke confessed to having a role in the murder. Here's what points in the other direction: 1) Saldate had a history of misconduct, including lying; 2) the prosecution failed to disclose the exculpatory evidence regarding Saldate's misconduct; 3) Saldate did not record the alleged confession (in derogation of oreders from superiors), failed to have someone observe the alleged confession, and claims to have destroyed his notes; 4) Saldate had violated other suspects' Miranda rights on multiple prior occasions; 5) the actual murderers, both on death row for the past 20+ years, have steadfastly refused to implicate Milke and 6) Saldate has indicated through his attorneys that he intends to invoke his 5th Amendment rights if asked to testify at a retrial.
by David Safier
A multi-ethnic, multi-generational flash mob in the lumber aisle of a Home Depot in Salt Lake City to set up a marriage proposal from one man to another. Is this a great (and changing) country, or what?
Video below the fold.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Constitutional provisions enacted by the voters through initiative or
referendum can only be repealed by the voters through another
initiative or referendum. At least, this is how it is supposed to work.
The ballot referendum proposed by the Arizona Legislature in 1979 to
amend the Arizona Constitution to impose a "resign to run" law was
approved by the voters at the 1980 general election. Article 22, Section 18
of the Arizona Constitution provides "Except during the final year of
the term being served, no incumbent of a salaried elective office,
whether holding by election or appointment, may offer himself for
nomination or election to any salaried local, state or federal office."
The "resign to run" law was undermined a few years ago by an
incorrectly decided court decision in the case of John Huppenthal, which
has become known as the "Huppenthal Rule": candidates can file an
exploratory committee and collect money and signatures before
"officially" declaring their candidacy. Back in the day, the courts actually enforced the "resign to run" law, see Conrad Joyner v. Rose Mofford, 706 F.2d 1523 (1983). Somehow, the court decided to carve out an exception for Mr. Huppenthal.
Earlier this year, Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) sponsored HB2157, which
effectively nullifies what little remained of the "resign to run" law
through legislative legerdemain, without referral of the measure to the
voters. Under his bill, an elected official will only be considered a candidate for
another office after filing his or her nominating papers for that office. This is known as "the exception swallowing the rule of law."