Civil & Human Rights

Poll: GOP primary voters want Gov. Brewer to veto SB 1062

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A poll of Republican primary voters taken this week reveals that a majority of Republican primary voters want Governor Jan Brewer to veto SB 1062. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, Poll: GOP voters want Brewer to veto SB1062:

In the automated poll of 802 Republicans by Coleman Dahm, a Republican political consulting firm in Phoenix, 57.1 percent of respondents who were asked about the bill said they would like Brewer to veto it. Only 27.6 percent said they want her to sign SB1062. The remaining 15.3 percent had no opinion. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

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Bert Coleman, one of the firm’s partners, said that the poll was of “hard core” Republican voters who had voted both of the last two primary elections. He said the results show that even conservative Republicans believe the bill is bad for the state’s image and will harm its economy.

Now, you are scratching your head and asking yourself, “How is it possible that 50 out of 53 Tea-Publicans in the Arizona legislature voted in favor of SB 1062, when a majority of even Republican primary voters want Governor Brewer to veto this bill? How is it possible these Tea-Publican legislators were elected to office when they are so out of touch with their own constituents?”

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AZ GOP First Vice Chair advises Religious Right to vote for Al Melvin!

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The dysfunctional Arizona GOP is once again allowing the disgraced and recalled former Senate President and current First Vice Chair of the Arizona Republican Party, Russell Pearce, to behave as if he is still “King Russell” (only in his own mind).

Screenshot from 2014-02-26 12:10:20Today Russell Pearce chooses sides in the GOP primary for governor by advising the Christian Right, “If you call yourself a Christian, now is the time to stand and be counted in the name of God, country and family” — and vote for Cap’n Al Melvin! From the Arizona Republic, Stand up, Christians:

If you call yourself a Christian, now is the time to stand and be counted in the name of God, country and family.

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I was very disappointed to see some of our Republican candidates for governor lose their nerve when it came to Senate Bill 1062, which amends the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And now some state senators who voted for it want to hide and retract their vote for religious freedom.

Unbelievable.

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Making sense of the legal analyses of SB 1062

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There are a couple of legal analyses out today that attempt to make the point that SB 1062, the Religious Bigotry bill, is just not that big a deal. Wrong.

Howard Fischer has a report captioned in the Arizona Daily Star, Outcry over Arizona’s SB 1062 overshadows bill’s limited power. Howie relies on former ASU Law Professor Paul Bender, who comments “My summary is: It means almost nothing.””[T]he main thing people miss is, there’s no right of action against a bigot in the first place,” Bender said. “The bigot doesn’t need this.”

Howie cites the “three part test” contained in SB 1062:

The law provides a three-part test that someone seeking to use the shield would have to establish in court.

First, the person’s action or refusal to act “is motivated by a religious belief.” Second, that belief must be “sincerely held.”

And third, there would need to be proof that being forced to do something “substantially burdens the exercise of the person’s religious beliefs.”

It is that last provision that prevents SB 1062 from being a catch-all for any religious claim.

But Howie never asks the all important question: “How has this three part test been used in real world practical application?”

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Our Tea-Publican lawless legislature loses in court, again (part the infinity)

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6a00d8341bf80c53ef01910386dd8c970c-piYou may recall that on the opening day of the legislative session this year, lobbyist Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP), and her allies in the anti-choice, anti-constitutional rights for women movement suffered a major defeat when the U.S. Supreme Court denied Arizona’s petition to the court requesting review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the Arizona Tea-Publican legislature’s 20-week abortion restrictions, Horne v. Isaacson (13-402).

On Monday, lobbyist Cathi Herrod and the CAP and its legal partner in the Christian Reconstructionist and Dominionist movement, the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), suffered another major defeat when the U.S. Supreme Court denied Arizona’s petition to the court requesting review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Betlach v. Planned Parenthood (13-621) striking down the Arizona Tea-Publican legislature’s attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. U.S.  Supreme Court won’t revive Arizona abortion law:

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a move to resurrect an Arizona law that would have disqualified abortion providers from receiving public funding for other medical services.

The high court declined to hear Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s appeal of a lower court ruling that blocked the 2012 law.

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George Takei and House Minority Leader Chad Campbell on The Last Word

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George Takei and House Minority Leader Chad Campbell were the interview on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on Monday night. (Video below the fold).

Last week, George Takei threatened to boycott Arizona:

Actor and gay rights activist George Takei warned Arizona to expect a boycott campaign if the controversial so-called “turn away the gay” bill becomes law.

In an open letter to residents beginning with “Dear Arizona,” the Star Trek actor sarcastically congratulated them for becoming the “first state actually to pass a bill permitting businesses–even those open to the public–to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s ‘sincerely held religious belief.’”

“This ‘turn away the gay’ bill enshrines discrimination into the law. Your taxi drivers can refuse to carry us. Your hotels can refuse to house us. And your restaurants can refuse to serve us,” Takei wrote.

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“The law is breathtaking in its scope. It gives bigotry against us gays and lesbians a powerful and unprecedented weapon,” said Takei. “But your mean-spirited representatives and senators know this.” He added, “They also know that it is going to be struck down eventually by the courts. But they passed it anyway, just to make their hateful opinion of us crystal clear.”

Takei described his deep ties to the state; his husband Brad was born in Phoenix and the pair spends three weeks in Arizona every year on vacation to visit family and friends. But, Takei vowed to spend his time and tourist dollars elsewhere if this law gets the greenlight.

“If your Governor Jan Brewer signs this repugnant bill into law, make no mistake. We will not come. We will not spend. And we will urge everyone we know–from large corporations to small families on vacation–to boycott. Because you don’t deserve our dollars. Not one red cent.”

Read the full text of Takei’s letter.

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