Civil & Human Rights

Marriage Equality case in Michigan goes to trial in February

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Yet another marriage equality case is heading to trial in the courts, this time in Michigan. Case Against Michigan Ban on Gay Unions Is Sent to Trial:

EqualA federal judge on Wednesday ruled that a case contesting Michigan’s ban
on same-sex marriage would go to trial early next year, one among some 30 such challenges playing out in courthouses around the nation.

Here, advocates for same-sex marriage and even some opponents had speculated that the judge, Bernard A. Friedman, of the Eastern District of Michigan, might go further and overturn the state’s nine-year-old constitutional amendment on marriage as early as Wednesday.

[A] representative for Bill Schuette, the
Michigan attorney general, whose office has defended the state’s ban,
issued a directive to county clerks in the event that the judge ruled
against the state, advising them that they were forbidden to issue
marriage licenses to same-sex couples until appeals were completed.

In the end, Judge Friedman delayed an answer to the issue, instead
suggesting that a trial, set for Feb. 25, would examine a central legal
question surrounding the issue in Michigan, but also elsewhere: whether
the rationales for a ban on same-sex marriage serve a legitimate state
interest.

New Jersey Supreme Court rules in favor of Marriage Equality

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Breaking news today: New Jersey Supreme Court greenlights gay marriage starting Monday:

EqualThe New Jersey Supreme Court on Friday said gay marriages can begin taking place starting Monday, brushing aside a request from Gov. Chris Christie's (R) administration for a delay as it appeals.

"We conclude that the State has not made the necessary showing to
prevail … and that the public interest does not favor a stay," the judges wrote. "We therefore deny the State's motion for a stay."

The court ruled [unanimously] that the state has "not shown a reasonable
probability it will succeed on the merits," which will be argued in
January.

 

Christie's administration is appealing a lower-court ruling from
last month that legalized gay marriage, but his press secretary Michael
Drewniak said in a statement Friday the governor will comply with the
ruling.

"The Supreme Court has made its determination," Drewniak  said. "While
the Governor firmly believes that this determination should be made by
all the people of the State of New Jersey, he has instructed the
Department of Health to cooperate with all municipalities in
effectuating the order of the Superior Court under the applicable law."

The court scheduled oral arguments for early January.

Immigration Reform NOW: Protestors Blockade Entrance to Eloy Detention Center

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From the arrest of Congressman Raul Grijalva and other progressive representatives last week at an immigration reform rally to protesters chaining themselves to immigration detention center buses to the blockade of the Eloy Detention Center today, immigration reform advocates are turning up the pressure.

The Eloy blockade began this morning. For background information go here and for dramatic photos go here.

From the National Day Laborer Organizing Network…

Just now, protestors chained themselves in front of the Eloy Detention Center. Their action calls on the President to stop deportations and the criminalization of immigrants. Through civil disobedience they say they’re exposing the inhumane imprisonment at the center of current immigration policy and the needless warehousing of the undocumented who could benefit from reform.

Many of those inside Eloy have committed no major offense and instead are victims of Congress’ 34,000 minimum detention bed mandate and the profiling of Sheriffs like Arpaio and Border Patrol required to fulfill the arbitrary quota.

 

Judge Richard Posner admits he was wrong about voter I.D. – implications for McCutcheon v. FEC

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the leading intellectual leaders of the conservative movement. He is a sought after speaker at conservative events.

Judge Posmer wrote the majority opinion for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the Indiana voter I.D. case, and his majority opinion was the foundation for the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Bd., 128 S. Ct. 1610 (2008).

Rick Hasen at electionlawblog.com reports Breaking: Judge Posner Admits He Was Wrong in Crawford Voter ID Case:

Wow.

My transcription from HuffPostLive:

In response to Mike Sacks’s questions about whether Judge Posner and
the 7th circuit got it wrong in Crawford case, the one upholding
Indiana’s tough voter id law against constitutional challenge:

“Yes. Absolutely. And the problem is that there hadn’t been that much
activity with voter identification. And … maybe we should have been
more imaginative… we…. weren’t really given strong indications that
requiring additional voter identification would actually disfranchise
people entitled to vote. There was a dissenting judge, Judge Evans,
since deceased, and I think he is right. But at the time I thought what
we were doing was right. It is interesting that the majority opinion was
written by Justice Stevens, who is very liberal, more liberal than I
was or am….  But I think we did not have enough information. And of
course it illustrates the basic problem that I emphasize in book.  We
judges and lawyers, we don’t know enough about the subject matters that
we regulate, right? And that if the lawyers had provided us with a lot
of information about the abuse of voter identification laws, this case
would have been decided differently.”

New York Times on Arizona’s ‘two-tier’ voter registration

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

AZConfederacyArizona Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne and Arizona Secretary of State Ken "Birther" Bennett have conspired with nativist anti-immigrant activist and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to devise a "two-tier" voter registration system in their Neo-Confederate temper tantrum for "states' rights!" against the federal government. Creating two separate classes of voters based solely upon the registration form used violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, and is an overt act of voter suppression.

Today the New York Times takes notice, After
Court Ruling, 2 States Plan 2-Tier Voting System:

Barred by the Supreme Court from requiring proof of citizenship for
federal elections, Arizona is complying — but setting up a separate
registration system for local and state elections that will demand such
proof.

The
state this week joined Kansas in planning for such a two-tiered voting
system, which could keep thousands of people from participating in state
and local elections, including next year’s critical cycle, when top
posts in both states will be on the ballot.

The
states are using an opening left in June by the United States Supreme
Court when it said that the power of Congress over federal elections was
paramount but did not rule on proof of citizenship in state elections.
Such proof was required under Arizona’s Proposition 200, which passed in
2004 and is one of the weapons in the border state’s arsenal of laws
enacted in its battle against illegal immigration.

The
two states are also jointly suing the federal Election Assistance
Commission, arguing that it should change the federal voter registration
form for their states to include state citizenship requirements. While
the agency has previously denied such requests, the justices said the
states could try again and seek judicial review of those decisions.