Courts & Law

Tom ‘banned for life by the SEC’ Horne perpetuates the ‘voter fraud’ fraud

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The second most corrupt politician in Arizona, Tom “banned for life by the SEC” Horne, is quoted in the media today commenting on the decision of the U.S. District Court for Kansas, Judge: Ariz. can require voter citizenship:

bullshitjAttorney General Tom Horne, whose office argued the state’s case in Topeka, called Melgren’s decision a victory for election integrity.

“It’s important because voter fraud is a significant problem in Arizona,” he told The Arizona Republic, adding that he believes there “has been what I consider to be a media cover-up of the extent to which voter fraud is a problem in Arizona.”

Seriously? The Arizona Republic last year did an in-depth investigation into Horne’s unfounded allegations of of voter fraud and called bullshit.
Illegal immigrant vote-fraud cases rare in Arizona:

At an August news conference, Horne and Bennett cited voter-fraud concerns as justification for continuing a federal-court fight over state voter-ID requirements.

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An examination of voter-fraud cases in Maricopa County shows those involving illegal immigrants are nearly non-existent, and have been since before the changes to voter-ID requirements were enacted in 2004.

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SB 1062 and the Hobby Lobby case

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Next Tuesday, March 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the so-called “ObamaCare” contraception cases of Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. ( Docket for 13-354), and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation, et al. v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. (Docket for 13-356).

David H. Gans, director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights and Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center, and a coauthor of the center’s amicus brief in these cases, writes in an opinion at the Los Angeles Times, These claims shouldn’t have a prayer:

Are secular, for-profit corporations free to violate the rights of their employees by claiming that the law violates their corporate religious conscience? That’s the big question at the heart of the two blockbuster challenges to a key provision of Obamacare that will be heard by the Supreme Court next week. In its 225-year history, the Supreme Court has never held that secular, for-profit corporations are entitled to the free exercise of religion. It should not start now.

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GOP war on voting: Kansas Federal Judge orders EAC to enforce proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration

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gavelJudge Eric Melgren for the U.S. District Court of Kansas ruled today that the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) lacks the authority to deny the states of Kansas and Arizona ther request to modify the federal motor-voter voter registration form, and has ordered the EAC to enforce the proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote under Kansas and Arizona law. Kansas, Arizona prevail in voter citizenship suit:

A judge in Wichita has ordered a federal commission to enforce Kansas and Arizona laws requiring documents proving citizenship for new voters.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren ordered the Election Assistance Commission to immediately add Kansas- and Arizona-specific instructions to the federal voter registration form.

Those instructions will say that new registrants will have to provide documents proving citizenship before being allowed to vote, as required by state law.

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Our lawless legislature lost in court, now it’s fighting a settlement that saves taxpayers money

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gavelOur Tea-Publican lawless legislature believes in creating work for a select few lawyers who represent them in court for the unconstitutional or unlawful bills they enact into law.

Taxpayers wind up paying for these over-paid suits for the Tea-Publicans and wind up paying the attorney’s fees and costs of the successful litigants.

The latest example of our lawless legislature pissing away your tax dollars on fruitless litigation comes from Howard Fischer, Public schools seek deal to drop $1.2 billion suit against state:

The fight surrounds the 2010 decision by lawmakers to ignore Proposition 301, a 2000 voter-mandated requirement to make annual inflationary increases in state aid to public schools. But last year the Arizona Supreme Court ruled they violated the Voter Protection Act, a constitutional provision prohibiting legislative tinkering with anything approved at the ballot.

That ruling, affirming an appellate court decision, cemented in an additional $82 million in aid for the current school year and put the schools in line for another $80 million for next year.

The high court ruling left unsettled the question of all the aid that was not provided during the court fight.

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Lamda Legal files second lawsuit challenging Arizona’s same-sex marriage ban

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AzEqualEarlier this year in January, four same-sex couples filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Arizona, represented by attorney Shawn Aiken.  Their complaint argues that the federal courts must declare unconstitutional Arizona’s definition of marriage based on the Supreme Court ruling last year in the United States vs. Windsor case that deemed unconstitutional the denial of federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Suit filed to allow same-sex marriages in Arizona. “We’re saying, ‘Look, follow that rationale and make the same declaration as to the law in Arizona,’ ” Aiken said. “It’s that simple.”

Lamda Legal, the legal organization which has successfully litigated same-sex marriage cases across the country, has filed a second lawsuit in Arizona challenging Arizona’s same-sex marriage constitutional ban. With all due respect  to Mr. Aiken, this is the real McCoy. Lambda Legal files federal lawsuit challenging Arizona’s same-sex marriage ban:

Lambda Legal announced Thursday it has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Arizona on behalf of seven same-sex couples and the surviving spouses of two additional same-sex couples challenging the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

In the lawsuit, Lambda Legal, joined by pro bono co-counsel from Perkins Coie LLP, argues that the Arizona constitutional amendment and state statutes barring same-sex couples from marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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