Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Maricopa County Superior Court smacked down "Birther" Secretary of State Ken Bennett today for his refusal to accept the petitions of the Quality Education and Jobs Act initiative on the specious grounds of a "clerical error," based upon the practices of his office, not any requirement of statute. Judge Robert Oberbillig had harsh words … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Our lawless state legislature and Governor are like a full employment program for lawyers and judges. Tea-Publican authoritarianism and religious extremism leads them to violate the law and the constitution constantly. How many times do they have to be beat down by the Arizona Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court?
A lawsuit was filed last week to challenge the unconstitutional abortion bill passed by our lawless legislature. On Monday, another lawsuit was filed to challenge the unconstitutional attempt by our lawless legislature to defund Planned Parenthood women's health clinics. Planned Parenthood wants court to block law forbidding Medicaid funding to abortion providers – East Valley Tribune:
Planned Parenthood asked a federal judge Monday to block a new law which would bar it from getting state Medicaid funds.
The complaint says the Legislature acted illegally in approving a measure which forbids any funding from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's health insurance for the poor, to any organization which also provides abortions. It asks Judge Neil Wake to prohibit Arizona from implementing the law as scheduled on Aug. 2 and, eventually, to declare it void and unenforceable.
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According to the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood has more than 66,000 patient visits a year, including about 3,000 from those eligible for AHCCCS. Services provided include pap smears, breast exams, contraceptives and tests and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases.
It also provides abortions at five of its 13 Arizona locations.
Current federal law precludes Medicaid funding for abortions except in narrow circumstances.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Lawyer/lobbyist Michael Liburdi for the secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust is also representing the GOP-backed Save Our Vote Committee in a ballot challenge against the Open Elections/Open Government Act initiative. What can I say, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Open primary foes file lawsuit to keep measure off Arizona … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio's racial profiling trial will begin as scheduled on Thursday, July 19. Profiling lawsuit against Arpaio set for July 19 | Arizona Capitol Times: The lawsuit alleges that officers based some traffic stops on the race of people in the vehicles and made the stops so they could inquire … Read more
By Michael Bryan
In the flurry of news and opinion gusting out of our computer screens and smart phones, it is easy to become 'news blind' – so focused on the flakes and flurries that we forget where we are headed. We stumble confusedly ahead with no map to our destination. It's easy to get lost in the storm.
I personally read almost every news source in Arizona – and keep up with national reaction to our politics, as well – in bringing to readers of BlogForArizona the Arizona Donkey Feed, which appears on our right-hand sidebar every day (you may also have the Feed emailed to you daily). So I, too, often find myself in that blizzard without a map.
I decided I might like to sit down once a week and take some time to look around, and identify what I think are the most significant landmarks around where we stand now. It might not be a map that will tell us where we are headed, but maybe I can get some idea of where we are. Over time, perhaps it will become a map of sorts.
I would also like to let you all know that Jim Nintzel of Tucson Weekly and AZPM's Roundtable fame will be guest-host at Drinking Liberally in Tucson. Come down to the Shanty of 4th Avenue this Wednesday at 6pm and experience the Nintz first-hand.
So, here are some thoughts on what I think are the most important, or just most interesting, developments in the past week in Arizona's politics.