Civil & Human Rights

Obama to use executive order for ENDA protections for employees of federal contractors

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You will recall that last November, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act on a vote of 64-32. Senate votes to ban discrimination against gay and transgender workers.

The TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, the “Worst. Speaker. Ever.” promised that he would never allow a vote on ENDA in the House . . . “because I’m Speaker, that’s why.”

Pride-Flag-Thumbnail-Friday-3x2-256x171Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, while 17 states and the District also bar discrimination based on gender identity. Hundreds of the nation’s largest companies also have similar bans.  But there is no federal civil rights protection, despite widespread belief among Americans that such a law already exists. Most Americans Don’t Know People Can Be Fired For Being Gay, Only Half Support Law Preventing It.

With Boehner refusing to budge, the White House has been under pressure to issue an executive order. As of this afternoon, President Obama is prepared to do just that. Obama Drafting Executive Order On LGBT Job Discrimination:

President Barack Obama has directed his staff to draft an executive order that would ban workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors, a White House official told The Huffington Post.

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Immigration Blow-up: 1000s of Children Flood the Border

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In Tucson, we live on the front lines of the battle for immigration reform. As the Congress rushes to further militarize the US-Mexico border with more Border Patrol officers and expensive high-tech gadgets, we imprison thousands of innocent people in for-profit jails, we turn a blind eye to the exploitation of undocumented workers, we regularly … Read more

U.S. District Court for Wisconsin strikes down state’s same-sex marriage ban

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The dominoes continue to fall . . . today a U.S. District Court Judge in Wisconsin struck down that state’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional. The Wisconsin State Journal reports, Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage ban struck down:

EqualA federal judge has struck down Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage ban, the latest in a sweeping number of such rulings this year.

“Quite simply, this case is about liberty and equality, the two cornerstones of the rights protected by the United States Constitution,” U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote in her Friday ruling.

Read the Ruling Here (.pdf).

The ruling does not mean that same-sex couples will immediately be able to marry. In her order, Crabb gave the plaintiffs until June 16 to submit a proposed injunction describing “in reasonable detail … the act or acts restrained or required.” She wrote that the plaintiffs should identify what they want each named defendant to do or to be enjoined from doing.

She gave the state a week after that to file a response in opposition, and if they do, the plaintiffs will have a week to reply.

Crabb wrote that she would address the state’s pending motion to stay the injunction until after materials on the proposed injunction are filed. She wrote that both sides could supplement what they’ve already submitted on the motion.

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Secretary of State race: Goddard v. GOP voter suppression

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If you care about the fundamental constitutional right to vote and GOP voter suppression efforts like HB 2305, then you had better be paying attention to the Secretary of State race.

Former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is running for Secretary of State this year. The Payson Roundup scoops the big dailies with this report. Voting reform dominates campaign:

goddardThe normally low-key secretary of state’s office has suddenly moved to the center of the political debate as the result of a swirl of intensely controversial election reforms and rising concerns of about the impact of mysterious “dark money” on the political system.

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In a recent appearance in Phoenix, former Arizona Attor­ney General Terry Goddard said he decided to run yet another statewide campaign to win the open secretary of state’s office as a result of fierce struggles over voting requirements plus court rulings that allowed donors to pour millions in “dark money” into political campaigns without revealing their identities.

“Dark money does get people excited — people are getting very upset,” said Goddard. “The devil’s in the details when it comes to disclosure laws.

“These groups all sound like motherhood and apple pie, but you need more than the name.”

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SCOTUS will not block same-sex marriage in Oregon

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Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog reports, Court won’t block Oregon same-sex marriages :

EqualThe Supreme Court, in a one-sentence order without explanation, refused on Wednesday afternoon (.pdf)  to stop same-sex marriages in Oregon.  The denial was by the full Court, after Justice Anthony M. Kennedy had submitted the plea to it.

The request had come from a private group that is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage, the National Organization for Marriage.  It had been barred from taking part in the case over the constitutionality of an Oregon ban, and it had asked the Justices to put off a judge’s decision striking down that ban.  It has an appeal on file at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and wanted the federal judge’s decision put off until that appeal was decided.

In January, the Court had put on hold a different federal judge’s order striking down Utah’s same-sex marriage ban.  In that case, state officials had sought a delay. Although other federal judges have struck down similar bans elsewhere, in all of those cases the rulings have been put on hold — when that was requested by state officials — while appeals went forward.

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