Civil & Human Rights

Ronstadt Center Re-Development: When Is a Public Process Not Public?

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Ronstadt-dance22-sig-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

More than 90 days have passed since the Tucson City Council voted to begin a 60-90 day public comment period to gather information and ideas related to the proposed re-development of the Ronstadt Transit Center. During that time,  the Tucson Bus Riders Union held a public forum at the Rialto, compiled and organized hundreds written comments collected at the forum, met with City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, and participated in collecting 2800 surveys from bus riders.

What has Corky Poster done? Poster is the architect and planner who was City Council hired to gather the public input. Rumor has it that Poster has held eight “stakeholder” meetings in recent weeks. With the information gathered at those meetings, he has compiled a report outlining consensus goals and objectives and said report was to be delivered to the City Manager’s office last week before Poster left town on vacation. More photos and details on the secret public process and who the real stakeholders are after the jump.

Federal Judge enjoins racial profiling by crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio and his MCSO

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember when crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio, Sheriff of Maricopa County, told his ardent critics who accused him of having a policy of unlawful racial profiling of Latinos to "prove it" in court? Be carfeful what you wish for, old man.

Today, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow specifically found from the evidence presented at trial that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has a policy of unlawful racial profiling of Latinos, and issued an order enjoining that policy, with a 142 page Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
(.pdf). Awesome!

If you don't have time to read 142 pages, Stephen Lemons at the Phoenix New Times has his celebratory take, Joe Arpaio's Doomsday: Arpaio Loses ACLU Civil Rights Lawsuit, MCSO Enjoined from Racially Profiling Latinos:

U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow just handed the ACLU, the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the law firm Covington
& Burling, all Latinos and everyone who has strived for justice in
Maricopa County a reason to celebrate over the long holiday weekend by
ruling against Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the big Melendres v. Arpaio racial profiling lawsuit.

Essentially, Snow found that the MCSO does engage in racial profiling and discrimination, and he has ordered it to stop.

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.”