Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) and individual commmissioners have responded to our lame-duck Governor's demand letter, calling her allegations unwarranted. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports IRC responds to Brewer, says allegations unwarranted - Arizona Capitol Times:
An attorney for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission said the host of allegations lobbed at the panel by Gov. Jan Brewer are not grounds for removing individual commissioners, and that the governor is not following the constitutional process for ousting members of the IRC.
Mary O’Grady, an attorney for the IRC, refuted Brewer’s accusations in letter to the governor on Monday. The letter, written on behalf of the entire IRC, was a unified response from the commission to Brewer, who initiated the removal process last week with a formal letter detailing various allegations of “neglect of duty” and “gross misconduct in office.”
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Brewer’s Oct. 26 . . . does not meet constitutional muster because the governor did not make any accusations against individual commissioners, O’Grady wrote. Instead, the governor leveled seven “general allegations” at the IRC as a whole. The governor’s letter was addressed to all five commissioners.
O’Grady said Brewer overstepped her constitutional authority by attempting to resolve questions that are currently being investigated in the court system. Brewer accused commissioners of violating state open meeting laws during the hiring of the IRC’s mapping consultant, which is the basis of an investigation initiated by Attorney General Tom Horne.
“A court, not the governor, should determine in the first instance whether the commission has violated constitutional open meeting requirements,” said O’Grady, a former Arizona solicitor general. “Until a court resolves the pending constitutional issue regarding open meeting requirements and determines that a violation of the open meeting law has occurred, you have no basis for even considering the removal of any commissioners for open meeting violations.”
O’Grady said Brewer’s accusations that commissioners failed to cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation are unwarranted because they were following statutory procedure. Furthermore, she said, three commissioners’ refusal to be interviewed for the investigation was backed up by the courts when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dean Fink on Friday removed Horne from the investigation, citing a conflict of interest.
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O’Grady once again accused Brewer of intruding on the court’s judicial review function. The accusation that commissioners did not properly use constitutional criteria are unfounded, she said.
“The Constitution’s removal provisions for serious misconduct and gross neglect do not give the governor any authority to review the maps to determine whether she believes they satisfy constitutional requirements,” O’Grady said. “The draft maps are not final and the commission will take all public input into consideration when making its adjustments in order to create final maps.”
O’Grady urged Brewer to abandon any efforts to remove commissioners from office and prevent the IRC from completing its work.
“The five commissioners have done nothing to justify a notice from the governor threatening to remove them from office,” she said.
The Tea-Publican leadership of the Arizona legislature appears ready to disregard these well-reasoned legal arguments against Governor Jan Brewer's overreach, and has signaled that a Special Session on Tuesday will be announced by the Governor later today. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Lawmakers told to prepare for special session on IRC - Arizona Capitol Times:
State lawmakers have been told by leadership to prepare for a possible special session on Tuesday to deal with the Independent Redistricting Commission, the Arizona Capitol Times learned today.
The special session call by Gov. Jan Brewer would likely be issued this afternoon.
It would deal with two items on the agenda: The adoption of a memorial containing the Legislature’s comments to the redistricting commission and the possible dismissal of IRC members, according to a source familiar with the plan but is not a lawmaker.
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Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, confirmed that House Republicans received an email today from Majority Whip Debbie Lesko “giving us the heads-up that we might be looking at 1pm tomorrow” for a special session.
Lesko said that she was waiting on final confirmation from the speaker and the Senate, but that it would “most likely” be happening Tuesday, with a vote being taken around 1 p.m.
This Tea-Publican tyranny to violate the Arizona Constitution and the rule of law and to vitiate the AIRC, a quasi-legislative independent body created by the voters of Arizona, cannot be allowed to stand. If the Governor calls this Special Session, it's time to Occupy the Capitol. Go Wisconsin on their ass! It's time to defend democracy against Tea-Publican tyrrany. Enough is enough!
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