Courts & Law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a choice to make: Deny funding to crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio's appeal of a federal
judge’s ruling that his office engaged in racial profiling, or concede
that the supervisors condone his racial profiling. Sheriff Joe Arpaio appeal funding questioned:

[T]he Board of Supervisors refused to take a public stance on the issue last week, with
the majority of supervisors saying the issue is not so black-and-white,
and there are outstanding questions over legalities and logistics of the
appeals process.

U.S. District Judge Murray Snow issued a ruling late last month that the
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office engaged in racial profiling against
Latinos. In his 142-page ruling on Melendres vs. Arpaio, Snow
outlined the constitutional violations sheriff’s deputies committed when
they targeted Latino drivers and detained them on the side of the road
longer than other drivers.

Arpaio’s attorney, Tim Casey, denied Snow’s findings and said he would appeal the ruling.

Casey said the sheriff should determine how the case moves forward as the elected official named in the lawsuit.

“It is my understanding that, because this case does not involve a
claim for money damages and only involves a claim for declaratory and
injunctive relief that relate to the operations of MCSO, that the
elected sheriff as policymaker for MCSO and its operations determines
whether to appeal,” Casey said.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

So everyone is having a freak-out today over Glenn Greenwald and Spencer Ackerman’s big scoop in The Guardian on the secret court order compelling Verizon to turn over to the NSA basically all of its call record data (as do other communications networks).  NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily.

I don't know what everyone is so excited about. Congress overwhelmingly approved the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, and Americans terrified of terrorist attacks after 9-11 overwhelmingly approved surrendering their liberty for a false sense of security. Have you all forgotten that?

I fought the USA Patriot Act, and I have fought every extension of the Act — which the American people and Congress also overwhelmingly supported. You all got what you wanted. There is no surprise here. The government has been doing exactly what you asked for since 2001.

As the Senate Intelligence Committee co-chairs said today, ‘It’s Called Protecting America’: Senators Defend NSA On Phone Records:

The top two senators on the Intelligence Committee on Thursday
defended the National Security Agency’s collection of Americans’ phone
records after it was reported in The Guardian.

“It is lawful. It has been briefed to Congress,” Senate Intelligence
Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told reporters at an impromptu news
conference in the Capitol. “This is just meta data. There is no content
involved. In other words, no content of a communication. … The records
can only be accessed under heightened standards.”

“I read intelligence carefully. And I know that people are trying
to get to us,” Feinstein said. “This is the reason we keep TSA doing
what it’s doing. This the reason the FBI now has 10,000 people doing
intelligence on counter-terrorism. This is the reason for the national
counter-terrorism center that’s been set up in the time we’ve been
active.”

“And it’s to ferret this out before it happens,” she said. “It’s called protecting America.”

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Over the next few weeks, perhaps as early as Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the affirmative action case of Fischer v. University of Texas at Austin, (11-345), involving the University of Texas at Austin’s
use of race in undergraduate admissions decisions; and  Shelby County v. Holder, (12-96), which involves the question whether Congress’ decision in 2006 to reauthorize Section 5 of
the Voting Rights Act under the pre-existing coverage formula of Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act exceeded its authority.

It would be a fairly safe bet that Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas will state with certainty, and no sense of irony, that the United States is now a "post-racial society" where racism no longer exists, and public policies to eliminate the vestiges of institutional racism like affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act are no longer needed in a "race-neutral society." One has to wonder what America they live in.

This story over the weekend should cause the Justices to question their "post-racial society" certitude. Backlash greets Cheerios ad with interracial family:

Here we go again, with more proof, if anyone needed it, that the
post-racial American society some hoped the election of an African
American president signified is far from here.

Who would have thought that breakfast cereal would trigger the latest
racial battle line? In this case, a Cheerios ad much like every other
homespun Cheerios ad — with a heart healthy message and loving family –
ran into trouble from some commenters because of the kind of family it
featured. Mom is white, dad is black and their cute little daughter is a
mix of the both of them.

That’s it.