Courts & Law

Civil unions city ordinances in Arizona about to expand?

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

EqualLast week Bisbee legalized civil unions, pushing aside AG's legal warnings. The City of Tempe announced that it too would explore a ciivl unions ordinance. Tempe to begin discussion on civil-union laws. Members of the Tucson City Council have advised me that city Attorney Mike Rankin has been asked to explore the legality of a ciivl unions ordinance for Tucson. Can the City of Flagstaff be far behind? Maybe even Phoenix?

Today in the Arizona Republic, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton put these efforts into context. Stanton dons cape, defends little Bisbee against Horne:

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton this week said that if Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has a problem with cities giving legal status to gay and lesbian couples, he should stop bullying tiny Bisbee and take the issue up with the state’s largest city.

Phoenix has had a domestic- partner registry since 2009. Couples who file a declaration of partnership with the city clerk then have a right to visit their partners in any hospital in the city.

“We can’t go beyond our area of jurisdiction,” Stanton said. “But this gives legal status in any area where the city can provide support.”

He said that’s what Bisbee is trying to do with its civil-union ordinance.

“As mayor of Phoenix, I stand with Bisbee,” he said. “I support local control. And if the attorney general wants to pick on somebody, they ought to look at Phoenix.”

Update to ‘Offshore Leaks’ investigation: WaPo investigative report

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post today has a lengthy investigative report into the "Offshore Leaks" investigation by a consortium of media outlets from 46 countries around the world. See previously, Offshore world: 2.5 million leaked files reveal stunning extent of global tax havens. You can read the full ICIJ report here.

The Washington Post reports today, Piercing the secrecy of offshore tax havens:

A New York hedge fund manager allegedly swindles $12 million from a
prominent Baltimore family. An Indiana couple is accused of bilking
hundreds of customers by charging for free trials of cosmetic products. A
financial manager in Texas promises 23-percent returns but absconds
with $33.5 million of his investors’ money in a classic Ponzi scheme.

All three cases have one thing in common: money that ended up
in offshore accounts and trusts set up in tax havens around the world.

The existence of the trusts surfaced during a joint examination of the offshore world by The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists,
a D.C-based nonprofit news organization. ICIJ obtained 2.5 million
records of more than 120,000 companies and trusts created by two
offshore companies, Commonwealth Trust Ltd. (CTL) in the British Virgin Islands
and Portcullis TrustNet, which operates mostly in Asia and the Cook
Islands, a South Pacific nation. The records were obtained by Gerard Ryle, ICIJ’s director, as a result of an investigation he conducted in Australia.

Update on the City of Tucson’s legal challenge to consolidated election dates

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last year, Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R-Scottsdale) sponsored HB 2826 (consolidated election dates; political subdivisions), a bill providing for the consolidation of elections in the fall of even numbered years only. The law will apply to elections in 2014 and thereafter.

This legislation purportedly is the first of its kind enacted in the
nation – a strong indication that it is an ALEC drafted bill, as it was
also supported by other "Kochtopus" funded groups such as Americans
for Prosperity, the Goldwater Institute, and the Tea Party.

Charter cities are entitled under the Arizona Constitution to determine how they are governed, and how to conduct elections. Arizona Supreme Court unanimously rejects 'Paton's Law'.

The City of Tucson filed its special action for declaratory and
injunctive relief on October 10, 2013 in the Pima County Superior Court,
City of Tucson v. State of Arizona et al. (Case No. C20126272). The City of Phoenix filed a Motion to Intervene as a plaintiff. The case is now assigned to Judge James E. Marner.

In a Minute Entry Order dated March 20, 2013, Judge Marner ordered:

IT IS ORDERED as follows:

1. Opening briefs are due by March 29, 2013 and are limited to a maximum of thirty pages.

2. Responses are due by April 15, 2013 and are limited to a maximum of fifteen pages.

3. There will be no replies to the responses.

4. Oral Argument on Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Special Action and for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief set on Monday, April 29, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. in Division 10
for two hours is affirmed.

Tempe to debate joining Bisbee with civil unions ordinance

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

OK, I thought the City of Tucson and/or Flagstaff would be the first to take up my challenge to lock arms with the city of Bisbee in enacting a civil unions ordinace to stick a finger in the eye of Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy and the self righteous Tom "banned for life by the SEC" Horne, but it appears that the city of Tempe will take up the challenge first. I tip my hat to you for stepping up to the plate to defend civil rights. Tempe to begin discussion on civil-union laws:

EqualTempe, a historically progressive city, is poised to become embroiled in the debate over equal rights for same-sex couples.

Today, the Tempe City Council will discuss civil-union laws in its private executive session. The discussion comes two days after residents of Bisbee watched their council approve a historic vote to legalize civil-union certificates, which provide same-sex partners with some of the same rights as married couples.

Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville called the Bisbee vote momentous. On Wednesday, Granville, a Democrat, told The Arizona Republic that he asked for the council executive session on civil unions. He wants Tempe to be the first Valley city to approve civil-union certificates for its residents.

If approved, the legal rights would apply to an estimated 165,000 Tempe residents compared with 5,600 or so in Bisbee.

“Tempe tends to be a leader in issues of civil rights,” Granville said. “And, to me, equality based on sexual orientation is one of those very same civil rights.”

Laugh riot: Mr. Sex on The Side is going to defend the ‘sanctity of marriage’

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This is a laugh riot. Arizona Attorney General Tom "banned for life by the SEC," who got caught having an extramarital affair during an FBI investigation into his political corruption, FBI report: Tom Horne was having affair when he hit parked car, climbed up on his high horse named "self-righteous" and announced that Mr. Sex on The Side will file a lawsuit to defend the "sanctity of marriage" by suing the city of Bisbee over its civil unions ordinance. Now that's chutzpah. AG Horne to challenge Bisbee's civil union vote:

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne will file a lawsuit challenging Bisbee's new civil union ordinance, his office confirmed Wednesday. There was no timeline yet available for when the lawsuit may come.

Horne's decision comes hours after the small southeastern Arizona city of Bisbee ignored vociferous opposition and threats of lawsuits and legalized civil unions for same-sex couples Tuesday night. It was an historic council vote that turned into a political circus, as nearly 100 people packed the chambers in both opposition and support.

The City Council pushed aside legal warnings from the state’s attorney general and a conservative advocacy group and voted 5-2 to become first city in the state to offer civil-union certificates for all couples that would extend to same-sex partners some of the same rights as married couples within the Bisbee boundaries.

The ordinance, which goes into effect in 30 days, would cover joint property ownership, property inheritance, guardianship and adoption rights.