Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Earlier this year I posted about Rep. John Kavanagh's bill to designate a person a “vexatious litigant’’ and to make it difficult for them to file lawsuits if they initiated at least five unmerited litigations, other than in small claims court, over a period of seven years. HB 2021 (.pdf) (Passed unanimously in the Judiciary Committee with amendment). As I said at the time:
I'm curious — does this apply to the Arizona Legislature and the Goldwater Institute, which routinely file "vexatious" litigation only to have the court declare that the legislature's actions were unconstitutional and unlawful? Because they clearly qualify as a "vexatious litigant" given the number of lawsuits they have lost over the years (again today). These ideological extremists have been racking up millions of dollars in attorneys fees and court costs at taxpayer expense in pursuit of their ideological agenda. Shouldn't this be stopped?
Tea-Publicans believe that Kavanagh's notion of vexatious litigation "applies to thee, not to me."
The Arizona Daily Star today reports today that the gun worshipers and fetishists want a cause of action to sue any local government official (read the City of Tucson) which enacts "illegal" regulations of firearms in violation of their absolutist view of the Second Amendment.
Get in line, assholes! You get to sue for damages when the government violates the law or the Constitution when I get to sue our lawless legislature and governor for damages for pissing away taxpayer money on lawsuits defending their unconstitutional and unlawful extremist agenda in court. Proposed law wants to make elected officials to pay for adopting illegal gun laws:
A proposed state law would let gun owners sue city council members or county supervisors personally if those governments pass or try to enforce gun laws that are stricter than state law.
Under the bill, HB 2517 (.pdf), courts could hit individual elected officials with civil penalties of up to $5,000 for passing an ordinance out of compliance with state law.
Anyone who enforces an illegal ordinance would be subject to penalties as well.
That could include the chief of police, zoning officials, the Tucson Convention Center director or anyone else involved with upholding a law.
The bill would also prohibit a city from spending taxpayer money defending an official in court. It would allow residents or organizations to sue a city or county for up to $100,000 in damages.
These assholes already have the same cause of action that every other citizen in this state possesses when a governmental entity does something that violates the law or the Constitution. They can sue for a writ of mandamus and injunction relief to overturn the law if they can prove their case in court. If they win, they can recover their attorneys fees and costs.
These assholes want a cause of action to allow them to file vexatious litigation for the purpose of harassment against elected officials in their personal capacity (to attack their personal assets). This is not how things are done here in America, or how the American justice system works.
Then there is the "Kochtopus" Death Star, the Goldwater Institute, that is suing the City of Tucson to overturn our local ordinance for hiring local companies so that the residents of Tucson who actually live here have a job. The "Kochtopus" Death Star wants their corporate benefactors to get those contracts, and to use employees from outside of the City of Tucson or even the state of Arizona. Tucson sued over preference for local, not lowest, bidders:
The Goldwater Institute, on behalf of Tucsonans Bruce Ash, Karl Hirshman and Richard Rodgers, filed a suit in Pima County Superior Court earlier this week seeking an end to Tucson’s local bid preference.
Under the ordinance, the city can award contracts to local companies even if their asking price is higher than an out-of-town competitor.
Goldwater contends the ordinance drives up prices for taxpayers and violates state law and Tucson’s charter.
“The public procurement process is supposed to be about fairness, openness and predictability,” Goldwater attorney Jon Riches said. “It’s our view that Tucson’s bid preference ordinance casts off these principles.”
Tucson’s local preference ordinance was passed in June 2012.
Even though the city’s charter and state law require contracts be awarded to the lowest bidder, the ordinance allows the city get around them by granting local companies extra percentage points during the bidding process.
Tucson businesses get an extra 5 percent. And Arizona firms outside the Tucson metro area get a 3 percent preference over national competitors. National franchises that have local owners receive 1.5 percent.
The preference policy applies to city contracts for goods and services ranging from $50,000 to $1 million, which is roughly 60 percent of all city contracts.
Tucson's ordinance is the same as numerous local preference ordinances across the country. There is nothing unusual about this practice. Other Arizona municipalities, including the City of Phoenix, have local preference ordinances on the books.
So this is really all about our colonial overlords from the state of Maricopa wanting to punish the rebellious blue colony of the City of Tucson again. We know this because the lead litigant is Arizona Republican Party National Committeeman Bruce Ash, who frequently expresses invective hatred for the City of Tucson. Tell you what Bruce, pack up your shit and move! As the Tucson Weekly told you to do back in 2011, Get Out Of Town!