Civil & Human Rights

President Obama to pursue comprehensive immigration reform after the ‘fiscal cliff’ is resolved

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Both the The Arizona Republic(an) and the Arizona Daily Star editorialized today for immigration reform in the next Congress. These editors seem to think that Tea-Publicans in Congress are ready to be reasonable on immigration reform. They express unjustified confidence in Tea-Publicans not grounded in fact or to  be believed from past conduct.

President Obama will “begin an all-out drive for comprehensive
immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship” for 11
million undocumented immigrants, after Congress addresses the fiscal
cliff, the Los Angeles Times reports. Obama plans push for immigration reform:

As soon as the confrontation over fiscal policy winds down, the Obama
administration will begin an all-out drive for comprehensive
immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship for 11
million illegal immigrants, according to officials briefed on the plans.

While key tactical decisions are still being made, President Obama
wants a catch-all bill that would also bolster border security measures,
ratchet up penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants, and
make it easier to bring in foreign workers under special visas, among
other elements.

U.S. Supreme Court will hear same-sex marriage cases

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The U.S. Supreme Court waited until late in the day to take advantage of the Friday news dump.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it will consider whether California’s
ban on same-sex marriage (Prop. 8) is constitutional, HOLLINGSWORTH, DENNIS, ET AL. V. PERRY, KRISTIN M., ET AL. (12-144), and whether Congress may
withhold federal benefits from legally married same-sex couples (Section 3 of DOMA) by
defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, UNITED STATES V. WINDSOR, EDITH S., ET AL. (12-307). Supreme Court says it will hear same-sex marriage cases:

The court will hear arguments in the spring about about one of the
country’s most politically divisive social issues, with a decision by
June.

[According to SCOTUSblog: The arguments very likely will be March 25-27, and a
decision is very likely around June 27.]

The court will examine a key section of the 1996 Defense of Marriage
Act. The Obama administration announced in 2011 it was abandoning
defense of the law, and a string of lower courts has said it is
unconstitutional to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples who are
legally married in the states where they live while offering them to
opposite-sex married couples.

This marks the first time the
justices will hear arguments relating to same-sex marriage. Because the
DOMA case concerns couples who already are married under state law, the
case they selected would not require an answer to the broader
constitutional question of whether homosexuals must be allowed to marry.

The court also said it would review a lower court’s decision to
overturn Proposition 8, in which California voters in 2008 amended the
state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Quick overview of election reform bills introduced in Congress

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced a bill they're calling the "Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely
(FAST) Voting Act" (S.3635) Text of Legislation. Under their proposal, states that "aggressively"
pursue election reforms would be rewarded with federal grants.

And
what kind of reforms are proponents looking for? It's not a short list,
but the Warner/Coons bill calls for flexible registration
opportunities, including same-day registration; expanding early voting;
"no-excuse" absentee voting; and "formal training of election officials,
including state and county administrators and volunteers."

The FAST Act is roughly modeled after the Race to the Top education initiative — it's a competitive grant program, not a set of federal mandates.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced a related proposal, the "Streamlining and Improving Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act" in the House (H.R. 6591) Text of Legislation.

UA students & activists ask DeConcini: ‘Why did you sell your soul to CCA?’ (video)

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No ccaby Pamela Powers Hannley

Today, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) is meeting on the University of Arizona campus. One of ABOR's most infamous members is former Senator Dennis DeConcini.

Why is DeConcini being villified through social media and the blogs? Because he's also a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which builds, owns, and manages private prisons across the country.

Arizona has multiple CCA prisons— thanks to close ties between CCA and Governor Jan Brewer, former State Senate President Russell Pearce, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) boosters in the Arizona Legislature, and DeConcini. More background and a video shot on the UA campus, after the jump.

The American Taliban fails to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Treaty

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This caught my attention: "UN treaty on disability rights dies on altar of home school movement."

Say what now?

Sahil Kapur at Talking Points Memo explains in Senate Republicans Block Ratification Of U.N. Treaty On Rights For The Disabled, Citing Impact On Home-Schoolers:

The Senate Tuesday fell short of the two-thirds vote required to
ratify a United Nations treaty aimed at securing rights for disabled
people around the world, when the vast majority of Republican senators
voted against the treaty. The final vote was 61-38 vote. All the nay votes were Republican.

[Only eight Republicans voted yes: Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, John
Barrasso of Wyoming, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and
Olympia Snowe of Maine, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska and John McCain of Arizona.]

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities essentially
makes the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act a non-binding
international standard. It requires no change to U.S. law.

Originally signed by then-President George W. Bush in 2006 and
re-signed by President Barack Obama in 2009 shortly after he took
office, the treaty has been championed by former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS),
the one-time GOP presidential nominee who suffered a disability while
serving in the Army in World War II. Dole was on the Senate floor
Tuesday ahead of the ratification vote, in a wheelchair, accompanied by
his wife, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC).