Month: January 2018

Political Calendar: Week of January 14, 2018

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Political Calendar for the Week of January 14, 2018:

Sunday, January 14, 3:00 p.m.: Beyond Tucson: A Time to Break Silence, at the University of Arizona Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd., Tucson. Adapted from the title of his famous speech of April 4th, 1967, in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. officially spoke out against the Vietnam war, the words ring just as true today fifty years after they were first spoken. This free and open community event is a grassroots effort by dozens of individuals from a plethora of Tucson arts organizations.  This multiplicity of voices joins in concord to honor and respect the vision and integrity of Dr. King through dance, music, poetry and song. Among the community collaborators are Artifact Dance Project, Words on the Avenue, UA Dance, the UA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, and the Fred Fox School of Music.

Monday, January 15: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Monday, January 15, 8:00 a.m.: Annual Martin Luther King Day March in Tucson. Begins at MLK Way at The Bridges in the UofA Tech Park (S. Kino Parkway and 36th Street), march to Reid Park, Demeester Outdoor Performance Center, 900 S. Alvernon Way. Celebration in the park 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 15, Noon: Democrats of Greater Tucson luncheon, Dragon’s View Restaurant (400 N. Bonita, South of St. Mary’s Road between the Freeway and Grande Avenue, turn South at Furr’s Cafeteria). New price: buffet lunch is $10.00 cash, $12 credit; just a drink is $3.50. Featured speaker is Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel on “Modern journalism in the age of Trump.”Next Week: David Gibbs on “Kochs off campus.”

Monday, January 15, 4:oo p.m.: MLK Celebration After Party, at the Dunbar Auditorium, 325 W. 2nd Street, Tucson.

Monday, January 15, 7:30 p.m.: Free screening of “Hidden Figures” at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson.

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Arizona legislature to court: you can’t tell us that we are violating the law by not funding schools

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Earlier this week, I pointed out that Governor Doug Ducey, as well as reporters and pundits, were not discussing the lawsuit filed last year by Arizona school districts for being short-changed by our lawless Tea-Publican legislature on capital funding. Arizona schools to sue state over funding – again:

A year after voters passed Prop. 123 to resolve a $1.6 billion lawsuit over school funding, Arizona school districts are again taking the governor and Legislature to court.

And this lawsuit is even larger.

School budget officials have estimated the cuts since 2009 total about $2 billion.

On Tuesday, Governor Ducey offered a weak response: School capital funding case goes to court, Governor Ducey only offers pennies on the dollar of what is actually owed.

On Friday, the state of Arizona was in court arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide that our lawless Tea-Publican legislature and governor are violating the law, and a previous landmark Arizona Supreme Court decision, on capital funding for schools. The state’s position is not supported at law or prior court decisions. State presses for dismissal of Arizona school funds suit:

An attorney for the state told a judge Friday he has no legal right to hear a complaint that the Legislature is not providing enough funds for schools.

“This is a political question,” Brett Johnson told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin.

The courts have previously rejected the “political question” doctrine in prior decisions.

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Partisan gerrymandering cases headed to the U.S. Supreme Court

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There has been a lot happening in partisan gerrymandering lawsuits lately, and luckily Rick Hasen at Elction Law Blog has put together a summary of where these cases stand today that will save me a lot of time. The State of Play on Partisan Gerrymandering Cases at the Supreme Court:

Back in 2004 the Supreme Court in Vieth v. Jublelirer split 4-1-4 over what to do about claims that partisan gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution. Four Justices said it was non-justiciable, four Justices said it was justiciable and raised a variety of challenges, and Justice Kennedy, in the middle, agreed with the Court’s liberals that the cases were justiciable, but agreed with the Court’s conservatives that the proposed standards didn’t work.  He essentially told everyone to keep working on the issue and come back, maybe looking at the First Amendment, maybe history, and maybe computers.  The cases at or coming to the Court seek to satisfy Justice Kennedy in various ways.

Here’s the state of play; the Supreme Court heard argument in October in Gill v. Whitford involving a challenge to state legislative districts in Wisconsin. Gill raises a partisan gerrymandering challenge under the Equal Protection Clause, and the McGhee/Stephanopoulos “efficiency gap” figured in (but was not the entire basis) for the analysis. Last month, the Court somewhat surprisingly also agreed to hear full argument in Beniske v. Lamone, a case challenging a Maryland congressional district as a partisan gerrymander under the First Amendment. I explained in this LA Times piece why the Court might have agreed to full argument in Benisek v. Lamone. Argument in the Maryland case will be later in the Spring.

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Grand opening of Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th for LGBTQ Youth

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SOUTHERN ARIZONA AIDS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES OPENING OF

THORNHILL LOPEZ CENTER ON 4TH

 “ The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) is proud to announce the opening of Tucson’s newest youth center, the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th. To mark the grand opening, SAAF invites the community and media representatives to attend a Ribbon Cutting and Open House on January 18, 2018 from 11:30-1pm at the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th, 526 North 4th Avenue.

 The objective of the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th is to serve youth through programming, direct client services, and community engagement, with a direct focus on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) youth. The central program of the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th is Eon, a safe space for LGBTQ & allied youth. At Eon, youth can work on homework, access art programming through a collaborative with the Museum of Contemporary Art, participate in peer-to-peer education opportunities and harm-reduction, empowerment-driven programming. In addition to Eon, SAAF will collocate other youth programming at the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th in order to best serve the community.

 The center is named after Curtis Thornhill, originally from southern Arizona. Mr. Thornhill said: “I am very excited to be part of a project giving youth, especially LGBTQ youth, a safe space in southern Arizona. The Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th will remind our whole community that our youth are loved and welcome.”

 SAAF’s Executive Director, Wendell Hicks, added: “SAAF has always been driven by transformative action. The Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th will change and save the lives of many, many youths and I couldn’t be prouder of that.” Adam Ragan, SAAF’s Associate Director of LGBTQ Initiatives noted: “What started a couple years ago as a dream of a few in the community is now a reality. Youth will have a safe space to access programs, education, art, and most importantly, each other. We know the power of peer-to-peer programming can really impact the lives of youth for years to come.”

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