AZ BlueMeanie

The Blue Meanie is an Arizona citizen who wishes, for professional reasons, to remain anonymous when blogging about politics. Armed with a deep knowledge of the law, politics and public policy, as well as pen filled with all the colors stolen from Pepperland, the Blue Meanie’s mission is to pursue and prosecute the hypocrites, liars, and fools of politics and the media – which, in practical terms, is nearly all of them. Don’t even try to unmask him or he’ll seal you in a music-proof bubble and rendition you to Pepperland for a good face-stomping.

AIRC chooses starting point ‘grid’ map

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: At its public hearing on Thursday, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission selected the grid map that will serve as the starting point for further public discussion. Arizona redistricting commission picks a starting map: The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has chosen the grid map it will use as a starting point for determining … Read more

(Update) Prison-based gerrymandering of districts

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I spoke with Peter Wagner from Prisoners of The Census (prisonersofthecensus.org) who recommended that those of you concerned about this issue use the tools his organization provides at its web site. http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/

2010 data and tools

  • Correctional Facility Locator (2010) Annotations and correctional facility counts by block, searchable by county.
  • Our database of annotations of each block that contains a correctional facility and the demographic breakdown of each will be accessible at the URL http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/2010blocks/$geoid/ where $geoid is the 15 digit state-county-tract-code of a block with a correctional facility, ie http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/data/2010blocks/361219702001024/
  • Point shapefile with the group quarters (including correctional facilities) populations

For those of you who have the technical knowledge to know how to use the census data bases, I am told this "point shapefile" tool is most useful (particularly for the AIRC if you are reading this).

For the nontechnical, like me, you can use the "correctional facility locator" tool, select "state name," type in Arizona and hit search, which will bring up a list of census tract/blocks/correctional population.

The key to your testimony at Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) public hearings is to request that the AIRC flag these census tract/blocks for prisons in their reports and identify incarcerated populations on the draft district maps under discussion so that they are readily identifiable to the public. This will facilitate knowledgeable public discussion, and will build a public record for Department of Justice Voting Rights Section preclearance of district maps, and a public record for any potential litigation.

For our state legislators who have been remiss in correcting this serious flaw in federal and state law, Prisoners of the Census has Model state legislation "with some guidance on how to customize it for your state."

To help you understand this issue better, here is a video that Prisoners of the Census did for the state of Massachusetts.

Script for the video is below the fold. Many thanks to Prisoners of the Census.

Reminder: Pima County Democratic Party Blood Drive on Friday

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Pima County Democratic Party: Pima County Democratic PartyandRed Cross of Southern Arizona Blood Drive Friday, August 19, 201110:00 am – 3:00 pm Call Headquarters TODAY to Make Your Appointment! 520-326-3716 The Red Cross is also offering some great incentives this time around including: All donors will receive a coupon … Read more

(Update) Prison-based gerrymandering of districts

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) meets today in Casa Grande for the first presentation of the "grid" maps and to take public testimony regarding district lines. The AIRC is meeting in Tucson on Monday in continuation of this process. See Independent Redistricting Commission. I have previously posted a resource-rich post about Prison-based … Read more

Not everyone on the right is in love with Governor Goodhair Rick Perry

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Markos Moulitsas at Daily Kos saved me the time and trouble of compiling the list of complaints against Neo-Confederate secessionist Governor Goodhair Rick Perry (R-TX) from the right — apparently not everyone is in love with him, like the feckless Washington, D.C. media villagers and Beltway bloviators (is this going to be … Read more