Constitutional Law

Psychic TV's Genesis P-Orridge drops PR bomb on Tom Anderson.

AZ ACLU honors New Times founders Jim Larkin and Mike Lacey as Civil Libertarians of the Year.

Say goodbye to separate-but-unequal at the Phoenix Country Club

Hispanic News' Jon Garrido disses gays (including Gov. Janet Napolitano), claims "98% of Hispanics" think likewise.

WHO KILLED KING?

THE VALLEY'S HOTTEST POLITICAL STRATEGISTS TEAMED UP TO PUSH MLK DAY. NO WONDER IT FAILED.

Pay Ball!

Stadium-tax foes strike out again in Superior Court

Closed Door Policy

A Chilean national's struggle against deportation raises fundamental questions about the constitutional rights of immigrants

Flashes 08-31-00

Dispatches From Uranus...

Hart v. Arpaio civil rights class-action suit awaits verdict

Dispatches From Uranus...

Walloping Janet Napolitano for Her Prop 102 Stance, The Word-Wrangling Wren Looks to Harvey Milk for Inspiration

Dispatches From Uranus...

Arizona Felons Should Be Able to Vote More, Say ACLU

Okay, it's not the problems of the world are going to get solved if more convicted felons get out and vote. There are other reasons why Arizona should consider changing the way it disenfranchises ex-cons from the electoral process, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union&nbs ... More >>

E.J. Montini, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's New Best Bud

Maybe E.J. Montini should ask Maria del Carmen Garcia Martinez (left) if she feels the MCSO violated her civil rights?Why do I bother with a middlebrow muttonhead like the Republic's E.J. Montini? After all, this smug little scribbler is known for his milquetoasty opinions, his aversion to rocking t ... More >>

ACLU Demands Peoria School District Allow Kid to Wear "Rainbows are Gay" Wristband

The American Civil Liberties Board of Arizona is threatening action against the Peoria Unified School District after an eighth-grade student was prohibited from wearing a "Rainbows are Gay" wristband. The 14-year-old gay student was told to wear the wristband inside out or quit w ... More >>

Al Sharpton to Denounce Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Tuesday Press Conference

photo by David Shankbone Look out Joe, Rev. Al's comin' for ya... The left's finally bringin' out the big dogs to take on our racial-profilin' Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Tomorrow in Harlem, Rev. Al Sharpton will denounce Maricopa County's corrupt, tin-pot tyrant in a national press conference with B ... More >>

Al Sharpton, Mary Rose Wilcox, ACORN's Bertha Lewis, and Others Blast Joe Arpaio on Media Conference Call

photo by Juda EngelmayerRev. Al's got his eye on Sheriff Joe...As I promised in a previous blog post, I participated in a national conference call this morning, which featured the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, ... More >>

Inmates' Rights Lawsuit Languishes

The unresolved Hart vs. Hill suit was filed 30 years ago in federal court. It brings up the same jailhouse abuses that occur today

New Times Sues County and Special Prosecutor

The unresolved Hart vs. Hill suit was filed 30 years ago in federal court. It brings up the same jailhouse abuses that occur today

Word Play

It’s easy, m’kay

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, April 19, 2007

It’s easy, m’kay

Rock the Vote

A Phoenix man may serve five years in prison for — get this — voting

Cause Celeb

After years of wildly blasting the Chandler power structure, self-proclaimed civil rights advocate Ramon Gomez now finds himself under attack

Habla Di, Habla Da, Strife Goes On

Federal ruling in bilingual-education lawsuit goes unheeded by state officials

When Photo Was King

Images from the Deep South take viewers on a walk through the civil rights era

Fed Up

The Justice Department investigates the county sheriff's officeagain

FEDS PROBE ALLEGED ABUSE IN COUNTY JAILJOE ARPAIO'S FAMOUS JAIL IS NOW THE SUBJECT OF A JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

The Justice Department investigates the county sheriff's officeagain

JUDICIAL INDESCRETIONSCONSERVATIVES PROPOSING NEW LAWS TO STEM FLOOD OF LAWSUITS BY INMATES

The Justice Department investigates the county sheriff's officeagain

OBSTRUCTION IN THE MAINSTREAMHANDICAPPED KIDS CAN PROSPER IN REGULAR SCHOOL CLASSES--SOMETIMES AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER STUDENTS

The Justice Department investigates the county sheriff's officeagain

LAND OF THE FREE-FOR-ALL

WITH PROPOSITION 300--THE PRIVATE-PROPERTY-RIGHTS MEASURE--ARIZONA ONCE AGAIN BECOMES A BATTLEGROUND FOR A NATIONAL RIGHT-WING CRUSADE

Free the Fonz! Fronzo West Jailed for Telling Authorities "Fuck the Police" (w/Update)

Why are cops afraid of The Fonz? A combination of camcorder and freedom of speech. Phoenix civil liberties activist Fronzo West is currently doing time in the Maricopa County jail for exercising his freedom of speech rights as enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fo ... More >>

ACLU to Host Forum on "Constitution-Free" Zone Near Border That Allows Checkpoints

Border Patrol checkpoints and their impact on civil rights will be discussed at a forum next week in Green Valley hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The topic is a hot one in the southern Arizona community, where some residents have fought plans to install a permanent checkpoint on Inte ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Apparently in Violation of ICE Agreement; New MOA Still Unsigned by ICE, Goes Before Supes Wednesday

Would you buy a used car from this guy, or a played out Memorandum of Agreement? By kvetching to the Arizona Republic and KTAR 92.3 FM's Jay Lawrence over the weekend about his brand-spanking new, 287(g) jails contract with ICE, has Arpaio thereby violated his agreements with ICE, bo ... More >>

The Pink Negro: As an Ivy League Lawyer, is President Barack Obama Hard Enough to Confront the Evil Personified by Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

Would you buy a used car from this guy, or a played out Memorandum of Agreement? By kvetching to the Arizona Republic and KTAR 92.3 FM's Jay Lawrence over the weekend about his brand-spanking new, 287(g) jails contract with ICE, has Arpaio thereby violated his agreements with ICE, bo ... More >>

Le Templar Hawks Gun Rights for the Goldwater Institute, and Why I Just Purchased My First Minuteman Missile

I'm not pointing it at you, I'm brandishing. I've always dreamed of riding a nuclear payload right into enemy territory a la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove (whatever "enemy territory" is these days), and I'm a step closer due to the efforts of former East Valley Tribune columnist Le Temp ... More >>

RFK: The Journey to Justice

I'm not pointing it at you, I'm brandishing. I've always dreamed of riding a nuclear payload right into enemy territory a la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove (whatever "enemy territory" is these days), and I'm a step closer due to the efforts of former East Valley Tribune columnist Le Temp ... More >>

Barack Obama's Bald-Faced Hypocrisy on Immigration, and the Puente Crew Protests Eric Holder Monday Morning

Start raising hell and keep raising hell, because otherwise Obama won't do diddlyToday, President Barack Obama buffaloed tens of thousands of activists demanding immigration reform in Washington, D.C., appearing via video on jumbo screens, and telling the masses, according to the New York Times that ... More >>

Russell Pearce's SB1070: Welfare for Anti-Immigration Lawyers, Says Attorney David Selden

Attorney David Selden on Russell Pearce's SB 1070As I previously blogged, state Senator Russell Pearce's police state bill SB 1070 is going to the floor of the House today for COW and a possible third read. Pearce's arguments for it are filled with half-truths and racist shibboleths, as he demonstra ... More >>

Joe Arpaio in Non-Compliance, U.S. Department of Justice Threatens To Sue MCSO

The feds are nippin' at Arpaio's heels, finallyAssistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez has sent a letter to Sheriff Joe's legal counsel, threatening to sue the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office if it does not comply with the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into allegations of civil ri ... More >>

Regarding Birthright Citizenship, What Is It About the U.S. Constitution That Nativists Don't Understand?

The feds are nippin' at Arpaio's heels, finallyAssistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez has sent a letter to Sheriff Joe's legal counsel, threatening to sue the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office if it does not comply with the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into allegations of civil ri ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Unconstitutional, Un-American Attack on U.S. Citizen Children

Russell Pearce, defiling Old Glory in this picture, and spitting on the U.S. Constitution in generalSo was anyone surprised by neo-Nazi-hugging state Senator Russell Pearce's press conference yesterday announcing that he'll be targeting U.S. citizen children in a racist attempt to undermine the U.S. ... More >>

Russell Pearce, Enemy of the U.S. Constitution

Pearce regurgitates a nativist whopper on the "original intent" of the 14th Amendment during an October presser Of all the grotesque lies spewed by the nativist right in its effort to undo birthright citizenship as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the most odious is ... More >>

Cloaked Brutality: The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants, But What's Been Unearthed Reveals a Culture of Cruelty

Pearce regurgitates a nativist whopper on the "original intent" of the 14th Amendment during an October presser Of all the grotesque lies spewed by the nativist right in its effort to undo birthright citizenship as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the most odious is ... More >>

Russell Pearce and the Neo-Confederate Cause

democraticunderground The new Republican "neo-Cons," are neo-Confederates, led by Russell Pearce Having recently returned from spending Christmas in my native North Carolina, an obviously older state than the almost-but-not-yet-100-year-old state of Arizona, I was struck by a sense of history ... More >>

Russell Pearce Buffaloes CNN with Nativist Bull on 14th Amendment

I wish that when CNN news anchors have on a practiced prevaricator like state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce to discuss something as specific as the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship, they would at least read up on the subject. Or failing that, have a Constitutional expert ... More >>

Russell Pearce Wimps Out on D.C. Trip, and Paul Begala Wipes the Floor With Him on CNN

Check out this killer debate, first aired in August on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 between state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, Paul Begala, on the subject of changing the 14th Amendment's birthright citizenship provision.The video was recently re-p ... More >>

Fourteenth Amendment Challenged by Racist Wackjobs in D.C.

Pity poor state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce.He couldn't be there for all the fun today in D.C. as a passel of his moonhowlin' racist buds -- including nativist poster-boy Kris Kobach, now Secretary of State from Kansas, Pearce's primary flunky Arizona Representative John Kavanagh, and fell ... More >>

Russell Pearce, Baby-Basher, on Blast Monday with "Thousand Baby Chain"

Does this man hate your baby? Um, only if it's not white...State Senate President Russell Pearce's baby-bashin', anti-14th Amendment legislation will get a hearing Monday, February 7, in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Pearce's ally, state Senator Ron Gould. Fortunately, the pro-immigrant ... More >>

Russell Pearce's "Anchor Baby" Bills, John Eastman's Homophobia, Adam Driggs' Political Courage

Pearce, foiled, but only for the moment, on his two 14th Amendment bigot bills...As you likely know by now, state Senate President Russell Pearce's unconstitutional, un-American, immoral, and illegal effort to undermine the birthright citizenship provision of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitut ... More >>

SB 1070 Boycott Over? NCLR Says, "Yes," Sal Reza Says, "Hell, No!"

irregulartimes.comBoycott over? Depends whom you ask. Sand Land's nativism, however, persists.Friday evening, I received the letter below signed by Janet Murguria of the National Council of La Raza, essentially declaring that the boycott of Arizona over Senate Bill 1070 is finito.Granted, the letter ... More >>

Findings of Racial-Profiling, Civil-Rights Investigation Into Sheriff Arpaio's Office to be Announced by Feds

​ The findings of a three-year probe into allegations of racial profiling and other civil rights allegations against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office will be revealed this morning by the U.S. Justice Department.The Civil Rights Division has run a wide-ranging investigation into the "patterns and pr ... More >>

Findings of Racial-Profiling, Civil-Rights Investigation Into Sheriff Arpaio's Office to be Announced by Feds

​ The findings of a three-year probe into allegations of racial profiling and other civil rights allegations against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office will be revealed this morning by the U.S. Justice Department.The Civil Rights Division has run a wide-ranging investigation into the "patterns and pr ... More >>