Civil & Human Rights

Religious bigotry rears its ugly head at the Arizona Capitol

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." – Article VI, Paragraph 3, U.S. Constitution.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" – First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"The liberty of conscience secured by the provisions
of this constitution shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of
licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of
the state. No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied
to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or to the support of any
religious establishment. No religious qualification shall be required for any
public office or employment, nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness
or juror in consequence of his opinion on matters of religion, nor be
questioned touching his religious belief in any court of justice to affect the
weight of his testimony." – Article 2, Section 12, Arizona Constitution.

Rep. Steve "Secession" Smith (R-Maricopa) from District 11 has been working overtime this session for the title of "Most Offensive Legislator."  Dude, if I award you the title now, will you please just go away?

The latest incident involves what should have been a non-event in the 21st Century under American constitutional law. "Rep. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, acknowledged his secular views as he gave the daily House invocation on
Tuesday, urging legislators to look at each other, rather than bow
their heads, and 'celebrate our shared humanness.'" Arizona lawmaker: I’m an atheist:

Rep. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, who said it was freeing to be open about his
secular views, also introduced about a dozen fellow members of the
Secular Coalition for Arizona who watched from the House gallery.

[Note: "Atheism" and "Secular humanism" are not interchangeable synonymous terms. Look it up Arizona Republic. Nowhere in his invocation did Rep. Mendez state "I'm an atheist" as you attribute to him in the headline (see below).]

Tucson & Worldwide: March Against Monsanto, May 25

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Citizens in Tucson– and more than 300 other cities– will be marching, preaching, and organizing against Monsanto and genetically modified foods this coming Saturday, May 25. More than 900 Tucsonans have RSVP'd for this event here.
Here is the information from the March Against Monsanto, Tucson Facebook page.
MORE THAN 900 MARCH AGAINST 
MONSANTO in TUCSON Arizona-May 25th
Reid Park, Festival Area – 1100 S. Randolph Way Tucson, AZ 85716

Tucson, AZ March Against Monsanto ~ Tucson, is part of a grassroots global movement. People on 6 continents, in 49 countries, in over 300 cities and in 47 states in the USA will unite to March Against Monsanto. The Tucson gathering begins with registration at 11am including a free raffle ticket for every participant, music and speakers will follow. 

The March loop starts 12pm – 1:30pm and includes a walk along the northbound path to Camino Campestre, west to Country Club, south to 22nd St., east to Lakeshore Dr. then back north to the Festival area.
Speakers include: Melissa Diane Smith-GMO Free Project of Tucson, Jared Keen-Plant-Based Nation, Cara Silverstein-ShopOrganic.com, and many more. Music: Jay Wesley Anderson from The Impending Flip, The Natives Are Restless and others. There will be many terrific raffle prizes, face painting and balloons for the children and great information available. 

We March because research studies have shown that Monsanto’s genetically-modified foods can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer, tumors, infertility & birth defects. Currently GMO foods are untested by the FDA & are unlabeled in the USA. More details about Monsanto after the jump.

‘Gang of Eight’ immigration reform bill advances in the Senate

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sausage makerIt has often been said that people do not want to see the "sausage making" process of legislation, and nowhere is that a truer statement than with the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill.

After multiple attempts by Tea Party senators to add "poison pill" amendments to kill the bill — all defeated — there was a death-defying friendly amendment offered yesterday by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to treat gay partners equally under federal law for immigration purposes. Tea-Publicans howled that this was a deal breaker, and Sen. Leahy eventually withdrew his amendment.

Of course, Advocates
were outraged at lack of LGBT protection in immigration bill. This is a timing problem. This bill needs to move forward in the Senate now. The U.S. Supreme Court is not expected to rule on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) until June. Should the Court strike down DOMA, as most court observers anticipate, it would remove the obstacle to treating gay partners equally under federal law. The immigration bill will still be going through the "sausage making" process, and may be amended to respond to any Supreme Court ruling. Patience and perseverance are virtues in the "sausage making" process.

So it is good news that the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved its final mark-up of the comprehensive immigration reform bill on a vote of 13 to 5. Senate
panel approves sweeping immigration reform bill:

After five days of debate over dozens of amendments, the Judiciary
Committee voted 13 to 5 in support of the bill, with three Republicans
joining the committee’s 10 Democrats. The legislation emerged with its
core provisions largely intact, including new visa programs for
high-tech and low-skilled workers and new investments in strengthening
border control.

“The dysfunction in our current immigration system affects all of us
and it is long past time for reform. I hope that our history, our
values, and our decency can inspire us finally to take action,”
committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said. “We need an
immigration system that lives up to American values and helps write the
next great chapter in American history by reinvigorating our economy and
enriching our communities.”

9th Circuit Court of Appeals strikes down Arizona’s 20-week abortion ban

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It looks like the "Mayor" of Washington, D.C., Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), has a bit of a problem with his plan to take his anti-abortion crusade nationwide. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Arizona's 20-week abortion ban law today. Doh! Court Strikes Down Arizona 20-Week Abortion Ban:

TalibanThe 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law violated a woman's
constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus
is able to survive outside the womb. "Viability" of a fetus is
generally considered to start at 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about
40 weeks.

Nine other states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks or even
earlier. Several of those bans had previously been placed on hold or
struck down by other courts.

Judge Marsha Berzon, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel on the
San Francisco-based court, said such bans before viability violate a
long string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings starting with the seminal Roe
v. Wade decision in 1973.

The judge wrote that "a woman has a constitutional right to choose to terminate her pregnancy before the fetus is viable."

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the ban into law in April 2012 after it was
approved by the Republican-led Legislature. Supporters said the law was
meant to protect the mother's health and prevent fetuses from feeling
pain. U.S. District Judge James Teilborg ruled it was constitutional,
partly because of those concerns, but the 9th Circuit blocked the ban
from going into effect until it ruled.

Lawyers representing Arizona argued that the ban wasn't technically a
law but rather a medical regulation because it allowed for doctors to
perform abortions in medical emergencies. Berzon rejected that reasoning
and deemed the legislation a law banning abortions before a fetus is
viable.

"The challenged Arizona statute's medical emergency exception does not
transform the law from a prohibition on abortion into a regulation of
abortion procedure," Berzon wrote. "Allowing a physician to decide if
abortion is medically necessary is not the same as allowing a woman to
decide whether to carry her own pregnancy to term."

Berzon was joined by judges Mary Schroeder and Andrew Kleinfeld.

The ‘Mayor’ of Washington, D.C. wants to take his anti-abortion crusade nationwide

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This guy, again . . . last month I posted about Rep. Trent Franks still fancies himself 'Mayor' of Washington, D.C.:

When Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) is not channeling Joe McCarthy with his
Islamophobia conspiracy theories about how the Council on American
Islamic Relations tried to plant "spies" in the national security
apparatus, House Republicans accuse Muslim group of trying to plant spies, or claiming that African-Americans were better off under slavery than they are today (why? Because "abortion!"), or declaring that President Obama is one of the most dangerous enemies facing America today and "an enemy of humanity", or threatening to impeach President Obama
over his refusal to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act,
this Christian Right anti-gay, anti-abortion zealot fancies himself the
"Mayor" of Washington, D.C., proposing to outlaw the constitutional
right to a safe abortion in the District.

Apparently "Mayor" of Washington, D.C. is no longer good enough for Franks. Not content with attempting to impose his anti-abortion crusade upon the women who live in the nation’s capital, Rep. Trent Franks  now intends to take his anti-abortion crusade nationwide with a bill to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks. Arizona Congressman Wants To Expand His DC Abortion Ban To Restrict Reproductive Rights Nationwide:

Franks, who invoked the illegal abortion provider Kermit Gosnell to justify his decision to re-introduce a 20-week abortion ban in DC, now says that Gosnell’s crimes have compelled him to amend his bill so it applies to women across the country.

The Arizona congressmember announced his decision to expand his bill on Friday.