Constitutional Law

Jan Brewer: Ignorant, Irrational, Prevaricating, Self-Serving Bigot

They don't call her "GED Jan" for nothin.' Following U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell's ruling this week in Arizona Dream Act Coalition v. Jan Brewer, Brewer was quick to gloat and mischaracterize Campbell's decision, painting it as a vindication of her prejudiced policy. See also: -Jan B ... More >>

Voting Rights Under Siege by Republicans in The Third Reconstruction

A brilliant little gem from the makers of 9500 Liberty Believe it or not, once upon a time, Republicans were the ones fighting for the expansion of voting rights. Okay, so that was more than a century ago, following the Civil War. Still, it's interesting to watch this short video by Annabel Park ... More >>

Inspired By A True Story

Jan Brewer's Bigoted Policy Denying Driver's Licenses to DREAMers in Federal Judge's Hands

Few public acts by Governor Jan Brewer have been so odious, so hateful and so obviously unfair as her executive order denying driver's licenses to those young men and women, brought here as children, who benefit from President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. See also: -Jan Brewer No ... More >>

Using Feet-Eating Fish to Perform Pedicures Isn't a Constitutional Right, Judge Rules

A Maricopa County judge has ruled that there's no constitutional right to running a pedicure business that utilized feet-sucking fish, in a legal battle between a salon owner and the state cosmetology board that's been going on since 2009.The Goldwater Institute's lawsuit claimed that salon owner Ci ... More >>

Harry Reid Barks at the Moon, Asks Arizona Officials to Count Votes Quickly and Accurately

Attention elections officials across the state: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is asking that you all count the votes "promptly, accurately and equally."We weren't aware that everyone was just lollygagging and kind of just eyeballing the amount of votes for any given candidate, but now that the t ... More >>

Justice Department Monitoring Election in Maricopa County to Keep the Racists at Bay

The Justice Department is stopping by Maricopa County during tomorrow's elections just to make sure no one's being racist to an illegal degree.The agency announced this morning that it's sending federal observers to three cities in Alabama, as well as Maricopa County to make sure everyone's complyin ... More >>

SB 1070: Supreme Court Upholds "Papers Please" Section, Invalidates Others

SCOTUSBlog.com is reporting that Section 2(b) of Arizona's immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as not pre-empted by federal immigration law.Of the court's decision, SCOTISBlog writes, "It was improper for the lower courts to enjoin section 2(b), which require ... More >>

Are Joe Arpaio's Alleged Discriminations Against Spanish Speakers Civil-Rights Violations?

Yesterday, we told you about the response from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's lawyers to the Justice Department lawsuit alleging racial-discrimination practices.Points made by Arpaio's laywers in an attempt to throw out a couple of the claims in the lawsuit contend discrimination against peopl ... More >>

Joe Arpaio on Blast by Tom Perez, Courtesy of Dennis Gilman

Tom Perez blasts Sheriff Joe in Phoenix yesterday Hey, did you hear that the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Sheriff Joe Arpaio?Well, in case you were hibernating beneath a saguaro yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tom Perez was in town to blast everyone's least-favorite sheriff for his ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 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 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 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 >>

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

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 >>

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 >>

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

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

RFK: The Journey to Justice

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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

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

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

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

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

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

Word Play

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

Flashes 08-31-00

Dispatches From Uranus...

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

Pay Ball!

Stadium-tax foes strike out again in Superior Court

WHO KILLED KING?

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

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

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