Civil & Human Rights

GOP war on voting: rejecting your constitutional right to legislate by citizens initiative and referendum

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Last week Governor Jan Brewer, and Tea-Publicans in the Arizona legislature on a party-line vote, deprived the citizens of Arizona of their constitutional right to a citizens referendum to refer HB 2305, the GOP Voter Suppression Act, to the voters to decide the issue.

On Wednesday, Tea-Publicans in the Arizona House voted along party lines to refer HCR 2018 (.pdf) to the ballot in November which, if approved by the voters, would add a “sunset” provision to any citizens initiative or referendum which “authorizes or requires the expenditure of state money,” referring the matter back to the voters in another referendum every eight (8) years.

This bill is similar to the Senate version of the bill, SCR 1003 (.pdf), which has been approved by the Senate Elections Committee and Rules committee. The House bill will be substituted for the Senate version and voted upon by the Senate in short order.

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A shameful day in the U.S. Senate

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BlindJusticeAttorneys are not supposed to be judged by the crimes of their clients. In the United States, we believe that everyone accused of a crime, no matter how heinous,  is entitled to a legal defense by competent legal counsel.

We believe in this so much that we made it the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution in the Bill of Rights.

A majority of the U.S. Senate failed this fundamental principle today. Seven Democratic senators shamed themselves and their oath to uphold the Constitution by joining with Tea-Publican senators, whom are incapable of being shamed, to defeat the nomination of Debo Adegbile as an assistant attorney general.

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AZ House approves unlawful CAP bill for harassment and intimidation at abortion clinics

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TalibanThe Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) bill for surprise inspections of abortion clinics, HB 2284 (.pdf) was approved by Tea-Publicans in the Arizona House on a party-line vote on Tuesday, demonstrating that Cathi Herrod’s influence over Tea-Publicans has not been diminished following the public relations debacle over her Religious Bigotry bill vetoed by Governor Brewer. House approves warrantless abortion clinic inspections.

This bill is really about harassing and intimidating abortion services providers and invading the constitutional medical privacy rights of their clients. The bill is sponsored by a CAP water-carrier and Arizona state chairman of ALEC, Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria.

Democrats and Planned Parenthood opposed the bill. The federal courts have previously ruled that snap inspections of abortion clinics are unlawful because women’s medical privacy rights are at risk.

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Is Cathi Herrod really all that?

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I’m becoming increasingly skeptical that Cathi Herrod, President of Center for Arizona Policy, is (or ever was) as all-powerful as she is reputed to be. Let’s look at recent evidence: First there’s the humiliating defeat of the religious bigot bill SB1062 and the swift public recanting and repudiation of by it three Senators who had voted for it. And then comes this, a new PPP poll of the Governor’s race:

Moving on to the Governor’s race for this year, it looks pretty wide open for both the Republican primary and the general election. The leader for the GOP nomination is ‘undecided’ at 34%. 5 candidates have measurable amounts of support at this point- Ken Bennett at 20%, Christine Jones at 16%, Scott Smith at 12%, Andrew Thomas at 9%, and Doug Ducey at 6%. Al Melvin, John Molina, and Frank Riggs all register at 1% in the poll.

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Egyptian Police Detain, Assault, & Deport Peace Activist Medea Benjamin

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On route to a women’s conference in Gaza, Code Pink founder and peace activist Medea Benjamin was detained by Egyptian police and held in an airport prison cell for several hours without being charged. During her detention, the petite Benjamin said she was “jumped on” by Egyptian police and “violently handcuffed” resulting in a  fractured … Read more