Posted by AzBlueMeanie: In a simple three-paragraph ruling drafted jointly by the U.S. Department of Justice and lawyers for the state of Arizona, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton ordered that the injunction be dissolved against the "show me your papers clause" of SB 1070. That provision, Section 2B, requires officers to make a reasonable … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: As the Bard would say, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark Pennsylvania." The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today, rather than ruling on that state's voter ID law as the state's highest court, instead remanded the case back to the Republican trial court judge who ignored the evidence at trial and ordered … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's law repealing most collective bargaining for local and school employees was struck down by a Dane County judge on Friday. Judge throws out Walker's union bargaining law:
The law remains largely in force for state workers, but for city, county and school workers the decision by Dane County Judge Juan Colas returns the law to its status before Walker signed the legislation in March 2011.
Colas ruled that the law violated workers' constitutional rights to free speech, free association and equal representation under the law by capping union workers' raises but not those of their nonunion counterparts. The judge also ruled that the law violated the "home rule" clause of the state constitution by setting the contribution for City of Milwaukee employees to the city pension system rather than leaving it to the city and workers.
The decision could still be overturned on appeal – the Supreme Court has already restored the law once in June 2011 after it was blocked by a different Dane County judge in a different case earlier that year.
"The decision essentially creates the (2011) status quo for municipal employees and school district employees because it declared the essential provisions of Act 10 to be unconstitutional," said Lester Pines, an attorney for the Madison teachers union and one of its members.
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A spokeswoman for Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said he would likely appeal the decision.
"We believe the law is constitutional. We are reviewing the decision, but we're planning to appeal," Dana Brueck said.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The suprising, and wrongly decided Pennsylvania superior court decision on voter ID, will go before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court this Thursday. Voter ID law set for review by state Supreme Court | PennLive.com:
Pennsylvania will take its place as a battleground state on a different political front this week as supporters and opponents argue the validity of the state’s new voter ID law before the state Supreme Court.
Oral arguments are scheduled for Thursday in Philadelphia. They will be televised live on Pennsylvania Cable Network at 9:30 a.m.
The six-member court — evenly split between Democrats and Republicans — will be tasked with reviewing Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson’s August ruling that permitted Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law to be implemented for the Nov. 6 election. If the justices are deadlocked, Simpson’s decisions will stand.
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Plaintiffs in this case say the state, as of Tuesday, had issued nearly 7,000 nondriver’s license photo ID cards since March, when the law was enacted. That proves their point that with at least 100,000 voters needing IDs, there’s strong evidence that “you are going to have tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, without ID on Election Day,” said Witold Walczak, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania’s legal director.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
If you are a citizen who is concerned about the independence of the judiciary and attempts by extremists to undermine the Judicial Merit Selection System and to politicize the selection of judges in Arizona, you will want to attend the Pima County Democratic Party Nucleus Club meeting this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Viscount Suite Hotel, 4855 E. Broadway Blvd. in Tucson.
The featured speaker is retired Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Stanley Feldman, who will speak against Prop. 115 on the topic: ”Is our judicial system becoming over-politicized?”
I posted about Chief Justice Feldman's opposition to Prop. 115 earlier this year when it was still working its way through the judiciary committees of the Legislature. Arizona's Judicial Merit Selection System Threatened.
Prop. 115 represents an act of craven cowardice by the State Bar of Arizona, the Arizona Judges Association, and the Arizona Judicial Council who caved under threats from extremists like Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy and Tea-Publicans in the Legislature who wanted to put the full repeal of the Judicial Merit Selection Sytem on the ballot in November.
This so-called "great compromise" is in reality a "great capitulation." It should result in the replacement of the board members of the State Bar of Arizona, the Arizona Judges Association, and the Arizona Judicial Council for such cowardice in failing to stand up to extremism. This is what lawyers and judges are supposed to do – we are the last line of defense. I am ashamed for my profession.
The Arizona Republic reports Proposition would give Arizona governor more power in judge selection:
A ballot proposition going before Arizona voters this fall would, if approved, give the governor more power and discretion in the process of selecting judges in large counties.