The Red Queen and Her Star Chamber are ‘Going Rogue’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Something the Red Queen's court jester, Lisa Hauser, said in court on Thursday was prophetic:

Hauser told the justices that they were powerless to do anything, even if there actually was evidence that the facts cited by the governor in firing a commissioner turned out to be false.

"Even if the governor were to be a rogue sort of individual who might do something that would be very off the wall, we have to assume that the Senate will function correctly," Hauser said.

The Red Queen, like her gal pal the halfling governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is Going Rogue. The court jester's laughable assertion that "we have to assume that the Senate will function correctly," has been demonstrated false. The Arizona Senate Star Chamber is once again conspiring with the Red Queen to remove the chair of the AIRC and even to repeal the citizens initiative that created the AIRC. Our lawless legislature is also "going rogue."

The Red Queen doesn't think she can afford to wait for the Arizona Supreme Court's formal opinion — which could be weeks away — out of fear the commission will finish its work before then. So Brewer, lawmakers eyeing special session following Mathis reinstatement – Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required):

GOP lawmakers don’t want the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling reinstating Colleen Mathis to be the last word on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

Gov. Jan Brewer and the Legislature have a couple options if they want to call another special session – use the court’s ruling as a guide to remove Mathis, the commission’s independent chairwoman, in way that will withstand judicial scrutiny; or refer Proposition 106, the 2000 ballot initiative that created the AIRC, back to the ballot.

Senate President Steve Pierce said the Legislature and governor can use the court's ruling to craft a “better” letter. Not without the Court's formal opinion:

Even if Brewer were to draft another letter and seek Mathis’ removal again, she and the Senate can only guess as to what they might have to do to pass muster with the Supreme Court. The court likely won’t have a full opinion on the case for six to eight weeks, which will deprive Brewer and Senate Republicans of a road map they could use to ensure that they don’t once again run afoul of the judiciary.

* * *

Sen. John McComish, R-Phoenix, said … “We don’t know exactly what the court meant so we don’t have the guidelines. None of the options is very appealing right now,” he said. “It’s hard to see when you’re going through a thick fog.”

The Red Queen also said she hadn’t decided yet whether to seek a temporary restraining order from the courts to prevent the AIRC from approving its final maps. On what grounds? The Arizona Supreme Court found that it was the governor and our lawless legislature that acted illegally, not the Commission. The Court expressly rejected the Red Queen's justifications for removing the AIRC Chair. If anyone is to be restrained, it is the Red Queen and her Star Chamber, not the Commission.

Other Republican lawmakers are pushing for a special session so they can refer Prop. 106 to the ballot on Feb. 28, the day of Arizona’s Republican Presidential Preference Primary. The nefarious timing would likely ensure a higher turnout among Republicans than Democrats and other voters who do not have a presidential primary, and give the referral a better chance of passing. This is called "election rigging." Hello, U.S. Department of Justice?

Baja Arizona's Tea-Publican WATBs are the chief proponents of this evil proposal:

Sen. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, also said he wants to move forward with another removal.

“We’re waiting on the governor to step up and eat some ‘scorpions for breakfast.’ We’re ready to do this whenever she is,” said Antenori, referring to the title of Brewer’s new book.

* * *

Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, said he wants a special session as soon as possible so the Legislature can call a special session for Feb. 28.

“Maybe some people have (another removal) as a possible strategy. The people I’ve talked to think we just have to cut to the chase and put it on the ballot and be done with it and stop nibbling around the edges,” Melvin said.

Melvin acknowledged that he didn’t know how the actual mapping process would play out if the voters overturned Prop. 106 or whether the Legislature would be able to draw new maps of its own. By the time of the special election, the AIRC almost certainly would have held a final vote on its maps and submitted them to the U.S. Department of Justice for approval.

He also said he would support an idea pushed recently by some lawmakers, including Antenori, to have the Legislature draw maps of its own and put them on the ballot on Feb. 28 as well.

* * *

Rep. Terry Proud, R-Tucson, said she wants a special legislative session to put the issue on the ballot in the next few months. Then, if voters go along, it would let lawmakers themselves draw the maps for their own legislative districts as well as the congressional districts in time for the 2012 election. (h/t Capitol Media Services).

Some lawmakers are skeptical that voters would be willing to put the redistricting process back in the hands of the Legislature. You know how far off the deep-end you have gone when Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, is the voice of reason. He predicted that "the voters would reject the proposal, even if the election were held on the day of the [GOP] presidential primary."

If the Legislature pursues a ballot referral, the timing could be a serious problem for those who are eyeing a Feb. 28 special election. State and county election officials need 90 days to prepare and a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said the Legislature must approve the special election by Nov. 30 in order to hold it that soon.

AIRC attorney Mary O’Grady noted that the overturning of Prop. 106 or the implementation of any maps drawn by the Legislature would require approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. Arizona is one of a handful of states that requires DOJ pre-clearance for any changes to election or voting laws under the Voting Rights Act.

“That would be interesting. They’d certainly need (preclearance) to use it for the next election,” O’Grady said.

Which brings me to a plea to the U.S. Department of Justice: Our governor and lawless legislature have "gone rogue." They are acting in open defiance of the Arizona Constitution, the rule of law, and the state's highest court. It is time for the U.S. Justice Department to intervene and to restore the rule of law in Arizona.

Arizona has gone down the rabbit hole.