Civil & Human Rights

Joe Biden at the National Conference of La Raza

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

For the past few days, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) held its annual conference featuring workshops, townhalls, and networking events for the Latino community. This year’s gathering in Las Vegas provided the presidential campaigns with another opportunity to address a captive audience of Latino leaders. Biden at La Raza: Mitt Wants You to Show Your Papers But He Won't Show Us His:

[Y]esterday, Vice President Biden represented President Obama at NCLR and highlighted the differences between the President and his opponent. Biden talked about how Romney wants to maintain the Bush tax cuts, how Romney supports a budget that cuts Head Start and restricts Medicaid, and how Romney casts the President as being out of touch.

Vice President Biden then threw a zinger when he addressed Governor Romney’s failure to release multiple years of his tax returns, which is something that the presumptive GOP nominee’s father had done during his pursuit of the presidency. Biden said, “He wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his,” in reference to Romney’s support of the Arizona immigration law while refusing to release his own tax returns.

Check out the clip of Biden at NCLR below the fold:

The GOP war on voting in the D.C. Circuit Court

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Monday, a panel of federal Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court began trial of the case of the U.S. Department of Justice challenge to the Texas voter photo ID requirement. POLITICO reports Texas voter ID trial opens:

The case, which could make its way to the Supreme Court, is the first major federal court showdown in this election cycle over a series of laws Republican-controlled state legislatures have approved that require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In March, the Justice Department Civil Rights Division refused to clear the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 14, saying Texas officials had failed to prove that it wouldn’t adversely affect minorities.

As the trial got under way in a packed courtroom, DOJ trial attorney Elizabeth Westfall went even further, arguing that the federal government will show racial motivation in Texas’s passage of the law.

“The facts will convincingly demonstrate the discriminatory purpose and effect of Senate Bill 14,” Westfall told the three-judge panel in her brief opening argument in a trial expected to last through Friday.

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The law, signed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in May 2011, requires nearly all voters to show photo ID when voting in person. Most forms of state-issued photo ID, including driver’s licenses and firearms permits, are accepted. However, student IDs from Texas state universities are not.

Last year, South Carolina passed a similar law, which the Justice Department also rejected. South Carolina has also filed suit, but that case has yet to come to trial.

Under federal law, lawsuits seeking so-called “pre-clearance” of changes to voting procedures in all of seven mostly Southern states and parts of nine others, are heard by three-judge panels composed of two district court judges and an appeals court judge. D.C. Circuit Judge David Tatel and District Court Judges Rosemary Collyer and Robert Wilkins were selected to hear the Texas voter ID case.

Close down the Tent City Jail: Part Deux (video)

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TentCity4

On Saturday, June 23, 2012, thousands of protesters from Puente Arizona, the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, the United Church of Christ, and left-leaning activist groups held a rally and vigil at the infamous Maricopa County Tent City Jail– while Phoenix Tea Party and militiamen held a counter rally.

Immigrant rights protesters, bathed in candle light, sang and listened to speeches about standing up to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his forces of hate– while militiamen dressed in camouflage uniforms brandished their weapons and shouted angrily about their rights.  

Predictably, amateur videos and photos were uploaded as the scene unfolded, but for a more in-depth view of the demonstration, check out this video by Phoenix independent videographer Dennis Gillman, after the jump.

Conspiracy theories, circular firing squads, and party darlings: Have AZ Dems jumped the shark?

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by Pamela Powers Hannley Left-wing Facebook pages, blogs, and online-only radio news shows are on fire with charges and counter charges about the Arizona Democratic Party's backroom politics, party darlings, and the quest for party solidarity during the 2012 elections. For those of you safely ensconced down here in sunny Baja Arizona, here's a news flash you won't … Read more

SCOTUS gives split decision on SB1070: UPDATE on Tucson protest

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by Pamela Powers Hannley The US Supreme Court issued their long-awaited decision Arizona's infamous SB1070. They struct down several parts of the "papers please" law, but kept the "papers please" part. From the Huffington Post… WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a split decision in the Obama administration's challenge to Arizona's aggressive immigration … Read more