by David Safier One thing I won't do is question Tom Horne's intelligence. Integrity? That I'll question. Honesty too. For all I know, he may be self-deluded as well. But he's too accomplished in too many areas not to be a smart guy. That's why I say Horne can't possibly believe that most people who … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Nativist anti-immigrant lawyer Kris Kobach, the athor of Arizona's Prop. 200 (2004) and SB 1070 (despite disgraced former Sen. Russell Pearce's claims of authorship to the contrary), has a plan to get around the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June striking down the proof of citizenship requirement to register to vote in Arizona's Prop. 200 and a similar law in Kansas, where Kobach unbelievably is now Secretary of State. Kris Kobach's Bold New Plan to Keep People From Voting:
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has become a national figure by advising other states on how to implement anti-immigrant and voter suppression measures,
has come up with a new creative way to make it harder for Kansans to
vote: barring those who register to vote with a federal form from
casting ballots in state elections.
Back in June, the Supreme Court struck down
an Arizona elections law that required those registering to vote to
show proof of citizenship beyond what is required by federal voter
registration forms. In Kansas, Kobach has been struggling to deal with
the implementation of a similar proof-of-citizenship law, which has left
the voting status of at least 12,000 Kansans in limbo.
These voters, many of whom registered with the federal “motor voter”
form at the DMV, were supposed to have their citizenship information
automatically updated, a process that was delayed by a computer glitch. Kobach then suggested that these 12,000 voters be forced to cast provisional ballots – a suggestion that the state elections board rejected.
Now, the Lawrence Journal-World reports, Kobach has a new idea to deal with the problem that he created.
The paper reports that Kobach is considering a plan to circumvent the
Supreme Court’s decision in the Arizona case by creating two classes of
voters. Under this plan, those who register with a federal form would be
allowed to vote only in federal elections until they produced the
state-required citizenship documents. Those who meet the state
registration requirements would then be allowed to vote in state-level
elections.
Posted by Bob Lord
I've said before that Steve Lemons is the best journalist in Arizona. His Feathered Bastard post today, Bill Montgomery's Actions Argue in Favor of Ethical Rule He Opposes, helps make my case.
This seems simple enough. There's a proposed amendment to the ethical rule that requires prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence. The amended rule, Lemons reports,
would require prosecutors to reveal to defense counsel or a court any "new, credible, and material" evidence that creates a "reasonable likelihood" a convicted defendant did not commit the crime in question.
Under the suggested guidelines, a prosecutor must "make reasonable efforts" to look into the matter or have the "appropriate law enforcement agency" investigate the new evidence. And if there is "clear and convincing" evidence of a convicted person's innocence, the prosecutor must work to "set aside the conviction."
Seems that any ethical prosecutor would have no problem with this amendment. After all, nobody wants to keep wrongly convicted defendants locked up.
Well, nobody except Bill Montgomery. Montgomery is adamantly opposed to the amendment.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I told you the media that doesn't report on the far-right extremist movements in Arizona needs to expose and report on these anti-government Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists who like to pretend they are super-patriots and "constituionalists." The 'sovereign citizen' editorial the Arizona Republic should write.
One of the worst examples of these far-right extremists in our state legislature is their bee-hived queen, Rep. Brenda Barton of Payson. This woman is scary crazy. And today, this Birther-Bircher-Secessionist teabagger thought it was appropriate to compare President Obama to Adolph Hitler because the federal parks are closed due to the Tea Party government shutdown in Washington D.C.
The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports State representative stands by her comparison of Obama to Hitler:
Republican Rep. Brenda Barton of Payson
compared President Barack Obama to Adolph Hitler on her Facebook page
today in a post urging county sheriffs to revoke authority from the
National Parks Service “thugs” who are enforcing the federal shutdown on
national parks lands.
“Someone is paying the National Park Service thugs overtime for their
efforts to carry out the order of De Fuhrer… where are our
Constitutional Sheriffs who can revoke the Park Service Rangers
authority to arrest??? Do we have any Sheriffs with a pair?” she wrote.
The code words there are "constitutional sheriffs," a favorite far-right fantasy of the Sovereign Citizen movement.
by David Safier Dr. Word, as readers of his occasional posts are well aware, is not a man much given to emotions. However, he found himself falling victim to what is often referred to in the current lexicon as a "man crush." The object of his affections: Steve Benen, who writes on the Maddow blog. … Read more