Courts & Law

Well this should be fun . . .

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ lesbian first cousin, Jean Podrasky, will be attending Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s arguments before the Supreme Court on gay marriage. She should wave and blow a kiss to her cousin, "Hi Johnny!"

John Aravosis posts, Justice Roberts’ lesbian cousin will attend Tuesday’s Supreme Court gay marriage arguments:

Podrasky,
who lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her partner Grace
Fasano, announced the news in a blog post at the National Center for
Lesbian Rights.

I know that my cousin is a good man. I feel confident
that John is wise enough to see that society is becoming more accepting
of the humanity of same-sex couples and the simple truth that we deserve
to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality under the law. I
believe he understands that ruling in favor of equality will not be out
of step with where the majority of Americans now sit. I am hoping that
the other justices (at least most of them) will share this view, because
I am certain that I am not the only relative that will be directly
affected by their rulings.

California election watchdog does what Arizona legislature refuses to do to protect its own GOP operatives

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Earlier this month, Cronkite News reported No state law on 'dark money' coming this legislative session:

For all of the controversy during the last election over the
influence of so-called dark money in politics, the Arizona State
Legislature is unlikely to produce any laws on the subject this session.

Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, introduced the only bill
addressing dark money, one that would have increased disclosure
requirements for groups making such donations, but it didn’t receive a
hearing.

Farley said that the “future of our democracy” depends on citizens
knowing who is funding campaigns, something that certain corporations
can keep secret because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling.

“I just think that we owe it to our voters to do everything we can to
reveal as much as we can about where it comes from,” he said during a
recent Senate Elections Committee session on Citizens United.

Redistricting trial in U.S. District Court this week

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The lawyers/lobbyists of the GOP's secretive redistricting organization FAIR Trust take their wild conspiracy theories about the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) to court today in U.S. District Court. These hucksters are challenging the state legislative districts which they believe should have been gerrymandered to create a permanent Republican majority in perpetuity because, after all, it is the divine right of Republicans to lord over us all.

Based upon the biased reporting of Howard Fischer today in the Arizona Daily Star, Arizona redistricting challenge heads to US court today, it appears that lawyer/lobbyist David Cantelme from FAIR Trust is pinning his hopes on  the claim that population deviation between the districts is a violation of law. He apparently believes that state legislative district populations must be strictly equal.

Challengers are pinning their hopes on the fact that 30 districts
crafted by the Independent Redistricting Commission are not all equal in
population.

Attorney David Cantelme contends the differences were
done "deliberately, intentionally and in violation of the
one-person/one-vote principle."

The goal of the commission, he charges, was to cluster as many
Republicans as possible together in districts, leaving the other,
underpopulated districts with more Democrats than otherwise would occur,
giving Democrats an unfair and illegal advantage in electing their own
candidates to the Legislature.

Historic civil rights arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court this week

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

GavelThis week historic civil rights arguments will he heard in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the rights of gays and lesbians to marriage equality. On Tuesday, the Court will hear Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and on Wednesday the Court will hear United States v. Windsor, the challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Spectators started camping out in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday for the handful of public seats available to these historic arguments. You can be certain that both pro and anti gay marriage demonstrators will be out in force in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday and Wednesday to create a circus atmosphere for the Beltway media villagers.

Anti-abortion Christian Taliban waging a crusade in Republican-controled state legislatures

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

TalibanEalier this month, the state of Arkansas passed the most restrictive abortion law in the nation — a 12-week ban that prohibits most abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected using an abdominal ultrasound.

Arkansas' action touched off a race to the bottom among Republican-controled state legislatures where the Christian Taliban is firmly in control.

The state of North Dakota passed two anti-abortion bills last week, one banning most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected,
something that can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy (before many women are even aware that they are pregnant).
Another measure would prohibit women from having the procedure because a
fetus has a genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. Lawmakers urge governor to veto North Dakota abortion bills:

If the governor signs the measures, North Dakota would be the only state with those laws.

North
Dakota is one of several states with Republican-controlled Legislatures
and GOP governors looking at abortion restrictions, ranging from
denying funding under the federal health care law to requiring women to
get an ultrasound and teenagers to get parental permission before having
abortions. Just days before North Dakota lawmakers approved the ban,
Arkansas instituted a 12-week ban that prohibits most abortions when a
fetal heartbeat can be detected using an abdominal ultrasound.

A
fetal heartbeat can generally be detected earlier in a pregnancy using a
vaginal ultrasound, but Arkansas lawmakers balked at requiring women
seeking abortions to have the more invasive imaging technique. North
Dakota’s measure doesn’t specify how a fetal heartbeat would be
detected.