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Oh no, Florida again

August 3, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

There is no state more infamous for its totally effed up election system than the state of Florida. And once again, Florida wants to lead the nation to a totally effed up election this year.

On Friday, a Tallahassee court judge ordered the state Legislature to redraw the boundaries of two congressional districts by Aug. 15 and said he will consider calling a special election later this year for all districts affected by the change. The Miami Herald reports, Fla. judge orders new congressional map:

The ruling, by Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis, sent new tremors throughout a state accustomed to election-year confusion and came a day after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told Gov. Rick Scott that he was carefully monitoring Florida’s compliance with federal election laws.

Last month, Lewis declared two of Florida’s 27 congressional districts invalid, ruling that the seats held by U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, and Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, were drawn to benefit Republicans and were in violation of the Fair District rules approved by voters in 2010.

The practical effect is that lawmakers must convene a special session in the next two weeks to meet the map-fixing deadline. Lewis would then decide when and if special elections would be held for the districts whose boundaries have been modified.

Marriage Equality in the Courts of Appeal

August 2, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

Congress may be on recess for the next five weeks, but during this time a number of same-sex marriage cases will be heard by the Courts of Appeal.

On Wednesday, August 6, at 1:00 p.m. the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear six same-sex marriage appeals from four states. Notice to the Media (.pdf):

DeBoer, et al v. Snyder, et al, Case No. 14-1341 (E.D. Michigan)

Obergefell, et al v. Himes, et al., Case No. 14-3057 (S.D. Ohio) consolidated with Henry, et al. v. Himes, Case No. 14-3464 (S.D. Ohio)

Bourke, et al v. Beshear, et al, Case No. 14-5291 (W.D. Kentucky). consolidated with Love, et al. v. Beshear , Case. No. 14-5818 (W.D. Kentucky)

Tanco, et al. v. Haslam, Case No. 14-5297 (M.D. Tennessee)

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is dominated by conservative judges appointed by Republican presidents. So far, every court since the U.S. Supreme Court marriage decision in U.S. v. Windsor in 2013 has struck down state same-sex marriage bans as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. If there is a Court of Appeals panel that could go the other way and create a conflict among the circuits, it is the Sixth Circuit (and the equally conservative Fifth Circuit).

House GOP votes to approve the TanMan’s frivolous lawsuit against the president

July 30, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

Last month I posted Approval of Congress at an ‘historic low,’ and yet . . .

Gallup released a new poll on Thursday revealing that only seven percent of Americans have any real confidence in Congress, an historic low. Congress’s ‘historically’ low approval ratings are abusing the word ‘historic’.

The 113th Congress will be the least productive in history. Yes, President Obama is right. The 113th Congress will be the least productive in history.

CongressProductivity

What Senate Tea-Publicans do not obstruct with the greatest abuse of the Senate filibuster rules in American history, the weakest Speaker of the House in modern American history, John Boehner, the consensus “Worst. Speaker. Ever.” fails to bring up for a vote in the House. This is the less-than-less-than-do-nothing 113th Congress — managing to exceed the previous less-than-do-nothing 112th Congress in lack of productivity.

If you owned a business and these people worked for you, you would not hesitate to fire them.

But the the less-than-less-than-do-nothing 113th Congress, the “Worst. Congress. Ever.” today voted to sue the president on the grounds that he too must do nothing. The anti-government insurrectionists of the Tea-Publican Party have declared war on our democracy and the Constitution.

Virginia is for Lovers: 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds district court order striking down state’s same-sex marriage ban

July 28, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

The dominoes keep falling . . . the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld the order of the U.S. District Court for Virginia in Bostic v. Schaefer striking down that state’s same sex marriage ban. The Washington Post reports, Court rules Va.’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional:

A federal appeals court panel on Monday upheld a decision that said Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

In a 2 to 1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond said that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed under the Constitution regardless of sexual orientation.

“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable,” said Circuit Judge Henry F. Floyd. “However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws. Civil marriage is one of the cornerstones of our way of life.”

Floyd was joined by Circuit Judge Roger L. Gregory.

Their colleague Paul V. Niemeyer dissented and called the ruling “fundamentally flawed.”

Read the opinion in Bostic v. Schaefer Here (.pdf).

Arizona has a history of botched executions

July 24, 2014 by AZ BlueMeanie

By now everyone has heard about Arizona’s botched attempt to execute a prisoner, Joseph Rudolph Wood, by lethal injection with a cocktail of drugs that may or may not have been obtained legally by the state (Arizona was caught buying illegal black market drugs for executions in the past). Execution of Arizona murderer takes nearly 2 hours.

This is not Arizona’s first botched execution of a prisoner. Back in the day, Arizona still executed prisoners by hanging. And it was a botched execution by hanging that led Arizona to switch to the gas chamber at that time. Meet Eva Dugan, the last woman hanged in Arizona:

Eva Dugan was described as a free-spirited woman who, according to Time magazine, had worked as a cabaret singer and prostitute in Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. After living that frontier lifestyle for years, she turned her attention south to the state of Arizona.

In 1927, Eva Dugan was in her early 50s and worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy reclusive rancher named Andrew Mathis. He was demanding, cranky and cheap. Eva had only worked two months for Mathis when neighbors reported him missing and became suspicious of Dugan, who had disappeared.