Civil & Human Rights

Just give us an up or down vote on the immigration bill

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Screenshot-6Congressional Democrats are going to try to bypass the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, the “Worst. Speaker. Ever.” who has refused to bring up any immigration bill in the House that he controls, by introducing a discharge petition in the House today. Democrats to Try Long-Shot Tactic for House Immigration Vote:

House Democrats will carry out a long-shot legislative maneuver on Wednesday that is intended to bring a broad immigration bill to the House floor for a vote — or, at the very least, to increase the pressure on Republicans to move forward on some form of overhaul before the end of the year.

The maneuver, known as a discharge petition, would require 218 signatures and allow House Democrats and Republicans who support the immigration legislation to circumvent the Republican majority and bypass the regular committee process.

Screenshot from 2014-03-26 09:39:51

House Democrats are calling the effort the #DemandAVote petition, and they hope to force Republicans to take up the immigration bill, which largely mirrors the broad measure the Senate passed last year. The bill has 200 co-sponsors, including three Republicans, and it is officially known as the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act.

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SCOTUS appears ready to grant corporations rights superior to the liberty rights of individuals

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There have been some excellent editorial opinions on the Hobby Lobby case argued in the U.S. Supreme Court today.

The New York Times: Crying Wolf on Religious Liberty – The Supreme Court should reject the claim of religious infringement in the health care law’s contraception mandate.

The Washington Post: A ‘compelling’ interest – The government has reason to protect contraceptive coverage.

The Los Angeles Times: Hobby Lobby case: Defenders of religious freedom should be careful what they pray for – The Supreme Court should reject the argument of some for-profit firms that they be allowed to opt out of Obamacare’s mandate on contraception coverage.

corplogoflag-copyBut the five conservative activist Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, who live in the epistemic closure of the conservative media entertainment complex feedback loop, appear to be unmoved.

We are on the verge of a conservative activist court introducing a radical revolutionary change in American law: that fictional legal entities such as corporations, partnerships and associations enjoy superior “religious liberty” rights in the commercial sphere, and can impose the fictional entity’s religious beliefs  on its employees of other religious faiths, or no religious belief. The logical extension of this radical doctrine is that fictional legal entities may also discriminate against members of  the public in the commercial sphere based upon the entity’s religious beliefs.

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Federal Judge strikes down Michigan ban on same-sex marriage

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6a00d8341bf80c53ef01901df0a0f0970b-piThe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has  struck down Michigan’s state ban on same-sex marriage. Federal Judge Overturns Michigan’s Ban On Same-Sex Marriage:

A federal judge has overturned Michigan’s constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage. In the decision, Judge Bernard Friedman, a Reagan appointee, argued that this is a case about people’s equal protection, lauding the couple that brought the case for the sacrifices they’ve made to raise their children:

In attempting to define this case as a challenge to “the will of the people,” state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people. No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples. It is the Court’s fervent hope that these children will grow up “to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.” Today’s decision is a step in that direction, and affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.

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The Democrats’ new Voter Expansion Project

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Announcement from the Arizona Democratic Party:

On Monday, March 24, at 9:00 AM / 12:00 PM EST, Executive Director of the Arizona Democratic Party DJ Quinlan, State Rep. Martin Quezada , and DNC Director of Voter Expansion Pratt Wiley will hold a press conference call to discuss the DNC’s new Voter Expansion Project and the impact it will have on Arizona.

The Voter Expansion Project was announced in a video by former President Bill Clinton to DNC supporters (below the fold). This new project will ensure that the Democratic Party not only protects Americans’ right to vote, but that we also work proactively with states across the country to expand voting.

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Ken ‘Birther’ Bennett and voter disenfranchisement

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How typical. The Arizona Republic editorializes today that it “has always opposed Prop 200’s voter ID requirements; we would have preferred a court decision tossing them out. But once the Supreme Court upheld them, it became clear the alternative encourages the worst of both worlds for voters.” Proof of citizenship: Let’s live with it.

Screenshot-15And what is this alternative? “Secretary of State Bennett . . .  said he will continue to prepare the dual-track [ballot] system in the event of yet another court decision against Prop 200. Dual-track voter registration is, unquestionably, the worst possible outcome.”

Secretary of State Ken “Birther” Bennett has no legal authority to institute a dual-track ballot system that disenfranchises eligible U.S. citizens of their right to vote in Arizona elections, based solely upon the voter registration form they used to register.

This dual-track system is the brainchild of anti-immigrant activist Kris Kobach, of counsel with the Immigration Law Reform Institute, the legal arm of the anti-immigrant Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and currently the Secretary of State of Kansas. Kobach is the coauthor of Prop. 200 (2004) and SB 1070 (2010).  The dual-track system was originally discussed in 2004, but it was dropped because it is unconstitutional. Now Kobach and Ken “Birther” Bennett want to test the envelope of constitutional law.

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