Civil & Human Rights

10th Circuit grants stay pending appeal in proof-of-citizenship voter registration case

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NoVoteThe 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a stay pending the appeal of the district court order in Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) requiring the EAC to modify the federal National Voter Registration form to require documentary proof of citizenship for Arizona and Kansas residents. Court extends stay in Arizona, Kansas voting case:

A federal appeals court has delivered a new setback to officials in Arizona and Kansas, ruling that residents in those states can continue registering to vote using a federal form without having to show proof of citizenship.

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Earlier this month, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver issued a stay of a lower court ruling ordering the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to immediately modify its federal voter registration form to add special instructions for Arizona and Kansas residents about those states’ proof-of-citizenship requirements.

Late Monday, the appeals court extended its block on the lower court order and granted an expedited hearing on the merits of the case sought by the federal commission and voting rights groups.

Kobach has said if the courts do not allow the federal form to be revised, he would implement a system in Kansas allowing people who register using the federal form to vote only in federal races such as for president and members of Congress.

Read the Stay Order here (.pdf).

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

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U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane for the U.S. District Court for Oregon struck down that state’s sane-sex marriage ban today. Same-sex marriages were allowed to proceed immediately this afternoon.

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog.com reports, Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban nullified:

EqualIn a ruling that might never be tested in an appeal, a federal judge in Oregon at midday Monday ruled (.pdf) that the state’s ten-year-old ban on same-sex marriage is invalid under the federal Constitution.  U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane of Eugene did so by applying the most relaxed constitutional test.

The judge put his ruling into effect immediately, thus allowing county officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, unless a higher court steps in to block it.  It is not clear at this point that anyone has the legal right to pursue an appeal; state officials refused to defend the ban and, in fact, added their support to the challenge by four same-sex couples.

The only other entity that has come forward to provide a defense — the National Organization for Marriage, a strong opponent of same-sex marriage — was denied a role in the case by Judge McShane last Wednesday.  It is now seeking to appeal that denial to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but — before Judge McShane issued his decision — the Ninth Circuit on Monday morning refused to postpone his denial of that group’s entry into the case.

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‘With all deliberate speed’: 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, schools are still segregated by race

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TopekaJournalSaturday is the 60th Anniversary of the most important U.S. Supreme Court decision of the 20th Century, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). The decision overturned Plessy v. Feguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state-sanctioned racial segregation under the racist doctrine of “Separate but equal.” The U.S. Supreme Court gave its blessing to Jim Crow  laws and black codes.

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court in Brown held that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled to be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In Brown II (1955), the Supreme Court ordered the lower federal courts to require desegregation “with all deliberate speed.”

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Oregon may be next court to strike down state’s same-sex marriage ban (updates)

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The Oregonian reports today, Gay marriage: Judge rejects attempt to intervene; ruling to overturn Oregon ban may follow:

EqualU.S. District Judge Michael McShane on Wednesday rejected an attempt by an anti-gay marriage group to intervene in the lawsuit seeking to overturn Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage.

McShane’s ruling raised expectations by gay marriage supporters that his next step will be to overturn the 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

The judge’s decision to reject an attempt by the National Organization for Marriage to intervene leaves all of the official parties in the case — including Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum — arguing that Oregon’s prohibition violates the federal equal protection of rights of gay and lesbian couples seeking to marry.

“We feel very confident this is headed in the right direction,” said David Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case. He noted that 13 federal judges in a row — including one in Idaho on Tuesday — have now issued rulings granting additional legal status for gay marriages.

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NO PLACE TO HIDE — from Dominionist oppression? Not quite yet.

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Cross posted from the Arizona Eagletarian

The internet has long been heralded as an unprecedented instrument of democratization and liberalization, even emancipation. But in the eyes of the US government, this global network and other types of communications technology threaten to undermine American power…

Ultimately, beyond diplomatic manipulation and economic gain, a system of ubiquitous spying allows the United States to maintain its grip on the world. When the United States is able to know everything that everyone is doing, saying, thinking, and planning — its own citizens, foreign populations, international corporations, other government leaders — its power over those factions is maximized…

That’s doubly true if the government operates at ever greater levels of secrecy. The secrecy creates a one-way mirror: the US government sees what everyone else in the world does, including its own population, while no one sees its own actions. It is the ultimate imbalance, permitting the most dangerous of all human conditions: the exercise of limitless power with no transparency or accountability. p 169, No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald. Published May 13, 2014 (emphasis mine)

That’s essentially how Greenwald wraps up chapter three, “Collect it All,” which in his latest book (released just days ago) describes, in exquisite detail, the mission of the National Security Agency (NSA).

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