Tag: law

Categories
Abortion Politics Texas

A Federal Judge Strikes Down Parts of Texas’ Restrictive Abortion Law

The “small government” Republicans in the great state of Texas are not going to take this one laying down. They have already indicated they are going to fight this decision and are prepared to take their fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

A federal judge late Friday struck down two provisions of a Texas law that has already forced the closure of half the state’s abortion clinics, granting at least a temporary reprieve to nearly a dozen more facilities that would have otherwise gone out of business Monday.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, in a 21-page decision, concluded that when the two provisions in question “are considered together, they create a scheme that effects the closing of almost all abortion clinics in Texas that were operating legally in the fall of 2013.”

As a result, Yeakel said, “the overall effect of the provisions is to create an impermissible obstacle as applied to all women” seeking an abortion. If the provisions were allowed to stand, women in Texas would shoulder an “unconstitutional undue burden,” he wrote, because the Texas law restricts access to previously available legal facilities.

These “small government” Republicans who believe that “government should stay out of our lives,” need to be in charge of the most personal, private decision a woman can make over her own body.

Categories
Domestic Policies News

Pants on the Ground Ban

As an employee in an educational facility, one of the biggest eye-sores I encounter on a daily basis is saggy pants. We actually have a school policy against the so-called ‘fashion trend’, yet it doesn’t seem to stop some young and older men from having their pants sag down to their knees and exposing us all to their underwear.

I’m sorry, but if every time you go to stand up you have to pull your pants up, there’s a problem here and a nice belt is a great, easy solution to the problem.

Well, it should come to no surprise that some towns are saying enough is enough and that is what’s happening in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.

The Terrebonne Parish Town Council is hoping to put a ban into effect against saggy pants. The following penalties will ensue if pants are caught below the buttocks:

  • $50 for first-time violators
  • $100 for second offenses
  • $100 and 16 hours of public service for each following offense

The ordinance which the town council has already voted 8-1 to pass and sign into law states:

Appearing in public view while exposing one’s skin or undergarments below the waist is contrary to safety, health, peace and good order of the parish and the general welfare

The American Civil Liberty Union of Louisiana opposes this ban because they feel it violates constitutional rights. They claim:

To ban a particular clothing style would violate a liberty interest guaranteed under the 14th Amendment…The government does not belong in the business of telling people what to wear. Nor does it have the right to use clothing as a pretext to engage in otherwise unlawful stops of innocent people

And while the American Civil Liberty Union has a valid point here, I personally feel that my civil liberties are violated on the daily as I am constantly being exposed to someone’s dirty drawers and subsequent butt views. To me, that is indecent exposure at it’s best, or shall I say, at it’s worst.

It’ll be interesting to see how this develops, but in the meantime…

PULL YOUR PANTS UP!!

Categories
Arizona Featured

Arizona Declares Women Pregnant Two Weeks Before Sex

A measure that passed Arizona’s Senate claims that it would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but experts say that the bill is far more restrictive, effectively banning abortions after 18 weeks and declaring that a woman could be pregnant 2 weeks before she even had sex.

Arizona’s HB 2036 takes Nebraska’s 20-week abortion ban one step further by starting the clock on pregnancies at the woman’s last last menstrual period, which could be two weeks before fertilization.

Specifically, the bill would “[p]rohibit abortions at or after twenty weeks of gestation, except in cases of a medical emergency, based on the documented risks to women’s health and the strong medical evidence that unborn children feel pain during an abortion at that gestational age,” where gestational age is defined as “age of the unborn child as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman.”

Source: Mother Jones

Categories
Barack Obama Politics

A Younger Version, Same Ole Barack – Video

Republicans have corralled around this video like scavengers zeroing in on a dead prey. The video taken in 1991 shows a young Harvard Law President named Barack Obama giving a speech. This video, Republicans claim, shows “how radical” young Barack was because he spoke in favor of more diversity among the faculty.

This blast from the past, featuring Obama speaking on behalf of prominent Harvard Professor Derrick Bell at a protest calling for greater faculty diversity, was provided to BuzzFeed from WGBH Boston, and uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday.

Categories
Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Rick Santorum

Judge Rules Against Rick Perry And Other Republican Candidates In Virginia Lawsuit

Judge John Gibney heard the case brought by Rick Perry and the other Republican candidates who joined the law suit, and he made the decision. Perry and the other candidates will not compete in Virginia. They knew the rules and did not do what was necessary to get their names on the ballot in a timely fashion.

“They knew the rules in Virginia many months ago; the limitations on circulators affected them as soon as they began to circulate petitions,” he writes. “The plaintiffs could have challenged the Virginia law at that time. Instead, they waited until after the time to gather petitions had ended and they had lost the political battle to be on the ballot; then, on the eve of the printing of absentee ballots, they decided to challenge Virginia’s laws. In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair.”

The decision means Perry, as well as Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman, will not appear on the ballot in the state’s March 6 primary.

Categories
Newt Gingrich Politics Republican

Before Being Elected, Gingrich Already Breaking The Law

He spent his whole life in Politics, you will figure that Newt Gingrich know what he can and cannot do before being elected to office.

According to the Washington Times, Newt Gingrich, the new flavor of the month and present leader among the few trying to beat President Obama in 2012, “promised conservatives on Tuesday he would ask former U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton to be his secretary of state if he’s elected president next year.”

But is that legal? Can Gingrich make such a promise even before the elections happen?

Apparently not!

 Here’s Title 18, Part I, Chapter 29, Section 599 of the U.S. Code:

“Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”

Categories
Politics Rick Scott United States

Granny Dumping Now Legal In Florida

Republican governor Rick Scott signed a new Medicaid Reform Law in Florida that contains a provision making “granny dumping” legal, according to Florida elder law attorney Ellen Morris.  “Granny dumping” is the term used to force seniors out of nursing homes.

This policy could result in a practice known as “granny dumping,” and force Florida seniors out of nursing homes, elder law advocates told members of the Agency for Health Care Administration at a hearing Tuesday night in West Palm Beach, FL, according to The Palm Beach Post.

The law aims to move three million Medicaid recipients into a managed care program after July 1, 2012, and transition thousands of nursing home residents back into home or community settings. Individuals who are developmentally disabled, or those in the juvenile justice and mental health institutions are exempt from the privatization program, while nursing home residents are not.

Wherever there’s a Republican governor, the people of that state will be under attack.

Categories
Republican Wisconsin Wisconsin Union Bashing

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Scott Walker

The victory in the lower court was short-lived. Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Scott Walker’s union busting bill did not break any laws, in essence, voiding a previous ruling by a lower court. The ruling claims;

The court ruled that Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi’s ruling, which had held up implementation of the collective bargaining law, was void ab initio, or invalid from the outset.

In its decision, the state’s high court concluded that “choices about what laws represent wise public policy for the state of Wisconsin are not within the constitutional purview of the courts.”

The court concluded that Sumi exceeded her jurisdiction, “invaded” the Legislature’s constitutional powers and erred in halting the publication and implementation of the collective bargaining law.

The court added that its role is limited to determining whether the Legislature employed a “constitutionally violative process in the enactment of the act. We conclude that the Legislature did not violate the Wisconsin Constitution by the process it used.”

And with that, Scott Walker’s wish to bust the unions of Wisconsin and take away the collective bargaining of public workers is back in effect. The newly controversially re-elected Justice – Republican David Prosser – also found in favor of Scott Walker and his Republican allys.

Categories
Barack Obama Politics Terrorism United States USA PATRIOT Act

Bush’s Patriot Act Pt 2 – Boiling Frogs

As an easily distracted and soundbite sized attention span nation, we are prime fodder for what is called the “boiling frog syndrome”. ‘If you put a frog into a boiling pot of water he would quickly jump out. However a frog in a cool pot of water that is gradually heated would not perceive the danger and would slowly cook to death’.

The premise of this syndrome, that is used here metaphorically, is actually quite a clear illustration of what happens with our acceptance of inflation, the use of our taxes for things that we, in an informed state of mind, would never agree to, etc. But for this particular text the boiling frog syndrome is a clear analogy for the siege on our civil liberties and, indeed, our very constitutional rights.

In October 2001, then President George W. Bush signed into law the congressional act called the “Patriot Act”. Pretty name, it conceals any potential threat to you and I personally… see? THAT’S THE COOL WATER MR & MRS. FROG.

But lets take a closer look at this craftily labeled roll back of civil rights;

This so called Patriot Act law which we are told is a law to ‘counter terrorism’ never clearly defines exactly what is terrorism. This vague definition of terrorism leaves much open to interpretation of  ‘law enforcement agencies’ and agents who are subject to human emotion and racial and ideological influences.

The first amendment says that “Congress shall make no law abridging the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances”. Dear reader, what’s YOUR grievance with the government? On any particular day you may be considered a ‘terrorist’, a potential threat and detained indefinitely. Maybe as an immigrant some law enforcement officer or agency decides you’re a ‘threat’. Keep current on the expanded deportation laws under the so called Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act clearly violates fourth amendment rights as well, which states that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures SHALL NOT BE VIOLATED”. Many would say “as long as I’m safe” or ” I have nothing to hide”…those are legitimate reasonings, but be very aware that evil goes in like a needle… and spreads.

Be aware that civil rights roll backs are happening ‘in stages’… the water is getting hot…slowly. The constant bombardment of terror threats makes our disappearing civil liberties more acceptable… getting hotter. The fact that it’s Barack Obama that just signed into law a continuance of the Patriot Act makes it more palatable…and look around, it’s getting steamy–but;  “I ignored it”, “The basketball playoffs are on plus I got the new iPhone”, “I heard about that Patriot Act years ago and I knew it didn’t feel right but I was scared so I didn’t open my eyes”, “Recently I saw on the news that the Patriot Act was extended but Trump said something stupid so I forgot…”

Anybody notice how warm it is in here?

SON OF MAN

Categories
Politics Republican Wisconsin

A Victory For Democracy In Wisconsin – Walker’s Bill Voided

The fight officially began on Thursday when Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi froze Scott Walker’s union busting law, calling it a violation of Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law. The legislation, if enacted, would take away the collective bargaining rights for all public employees, except firefighters and police officers. The 34 page decision voided Walker’s power grab, saying that it “has no force or effect.”

The judge explains the reason for the decision;

An Open Meetings Law is not necessary to ensure openness in easy, noncontroversial matters where no one cares whether the meeting is open or not. Like the First Amendment which exists to protect unfavored speech, the Open Meetings Law exists to ensure open government in controversial matters.

The Open Meetings Law functions to ensure that these difficult matters are decided without bias or regard for issues such as race, gender or economic status, and with regard for the interests of the community. This requires, with very few exceptions, that government meetings be held in full view of the community.

In their rush to push through this piece of legislation, Republicans openly violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law, which requires that all meetings proceed after at least a 24 hour notice and be held in an open forum. You may recall that even during the meeting, Republicans were constantly warned by Democratic Representative Peter Barca, that they were violating the law, but they continued anyway:

BARCA: The opening meetings laws must be construed in favor of the fullness and –

REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN: Mr. Barca– Representative Barca.

REPUBLICAN: Call roll.

BARCA: No, no, listen. If there’s any doubt as to whether good cause exists, the governmental body should provide 24 hours’ notice. This is clearly a violation of the open meetings law. Now, if you shut the people down, it is improper to move forward with the open meetings law. You’re not allowing it. And that is why. Mr. chairman, this is a violation of law. This is not just a rule, it is the law. There must be –

REPUBLICAN CHARIMAN: You’re wrong.

BARCA: No, Mr. Chairman, this is a violation of the open meetings law. It requires 24 — at least 24 hours’ notice. Excuse me.

On March 18th, Judge Sumi placed a temporary hold on the implementation of Walker’s rushed bill. On Thursday, the bill was struck down. Walker is promising to take the case all the way to the Supreme court.

Republican Steven Means, executive assistant to the state’s Attorney General said, “Obviously, we’re disappointed in the ruling. We do think it reflects a number of legal errors, but it’s for the appellate courts at this point.”

Democrats on the other hand, are happy with the decision.”It’s what we were looking for,” said Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne.

Until the next round is played out in the higher courts, Americans and the middle class workers in Wisconsin can exhale. Democracy has won this round.

Categories
Arizona Georgia Illegal immigration Immigration Immigration Reform Politics United States

Arizona Immigration-Type Bill Signed Into Law In Georgia

By the Associated Press

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill that cracks down on illegal immigration by increasing some enforcement powers and requiring many employers to check the immigration status of new hires.

Deal on Friday signed the bill that has some similarities to a controversial bill enacted last year in Arizona.

Most parts of the Georgia law are set to enter into effect July 1. But opponents have said they plan to file lawsuits seeking to block it.

A requirement for private employers to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires is set to be phased in.

The new law also authorizes law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of certain suspects and to detain those who are in the country illegally.

Categories
Democratic Featured MSNBC Republican United States

Eric Cantor Shows Ignorance On How To Do His Job – Video

Eric Cantor doesn’t know how laws are made. The number 2 Republican in the House of Representative held a news conference yesterday and allowed the following words to come out his mouth;

“…the Senate’s got to act, prior to the expiration of the CR.  If it does not act, HR 1 becomes the law of the land.”

Cantor was talking about a House Resolution to fund the government for this budget. So far, the House and Senate congressional members have agreed to two temporary Continued Resolutions (CR), because an agreement could not be reached on specific budgetary issues like spending cuts. Republicans want to cut over $61 billion from the budget. So what Cantor was saying here, is that if the Senate cannot submit their bill for the next budget, then the HR1 bill passed by the House of Representatives automatically becomes “the law of the land.”

What the statement from Mr. Cantor demonstrated, was that the Republican Majority Leader was not aware of how laws are made, or he tried unsuccessfully to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people. Anyone and everyone knows that in order for a bill to become law, both House and Senate must agree on the bill and the President must sign it into law.

In the video below, Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC tore into Mr. Cantor and his ill-informed comments.

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