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 >>

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 >>

Amoeba's Vinyl Vault: Treasure Trove or Legal Sticky Wicket

By Brett Koshkin While the corpses of corporate music retail chains litter strip malls where outlets like Tower Records and Blockbuster Music once stood, Amoeba Music is an independent juggernaut with three California-based stores the size of supermarkets. They've been a celebrated shopping destina ... More >>

Chad Campbell's "Safer Schools, Safer Communities Plan": Yay or Nay?

Arizona House Minority Leader, Democrat Chad Campbell, has offered up some legislative proposals that are supposed to target gun violence -- one of the few plans we've heard of around here that doesn't include more guns.As a whole, his plan's chance of becoming law is zero percent, but let's get an ... More >>

Chad Campbell, House Democrat, Releases Plan for Schools, Guns, and Mentally Ill

To the credit of the Arizona House Minority Leader, Democrat Chad Campbell, he unveiled a pretty wide-ranging plan to change laws related to school safety, mental health, and guns.Unfortunately for Campbell, he's in the blood-red legislature in Arizona, so let's just say it's the thought that counts ... 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 Quiz: "Spot the Immigrant," Courtesy of Congressman Luis Gutierrez

Let's all play Sand Land's new favorite game... Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez is freaking cool. A passionate pro-immigrant advocate and enemy of nativist goobers everywhere, the guy also has a sense of humor, as evidenced by his appearance on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this ... 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 >>

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 >>

Grinding Justice: Operation Streamline Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesn't Work

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 >>

Suicide at the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections

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 >>

From Brewer to Arpaio, No One's Listening to the Experts About How to Save Money or Protect Civil Rights and Public Safety When It Comes to Juvenile Corrections

Google Vs. Music Bloggers: Blogger Service Annihilating Copyright Infringers

This Google-owned logo is used for a newsgathering purpose with the tacit understanding that Google allows such use. Please alert me by e-mail if you wish to see it removed.​Google's vast stretch of the blogosphere is going silent. The search giant, who owns the popular Blogger service and blogspo ... More >>

County Attorney's Office Should be Disqualified from Trying Cases, Defense Attorneys Say

Will Andrew Thomas be stopped from handling criminal cases, too? Some defense lawyers are working on it.​Earlier this year, the county took away the Maricopa County Attorney's Office ability to represent the board of supervisors -- setting up a separate "civil litigation" department that ans ... More >>

Hendershott on Computer Seizure: "We Felt Intrusion ... Was Imminent;" Wilcox Calls Raid a "Power Grab"

Image: Pool picture taken by Repub photographer​ The chief deputy for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office told a judge yesterday he believed intrusion into a law enforcement computer system "was imminent," the Arizona Republic reported this morning. Apparently, that's the reason the chief de ... 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 >>

"Appearance of Evil" Requires Personal Sanctions Against County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Say County Supervisors

A conflict of interest between Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and the county Board of Supervisors over the investigation of a planned court tower creates the "appearance of evil," a judge has ruled.  Judge Gary Donahoe The background: In the midst of a feud with the County Superv ... 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 >>

Can Maricopa County’s Juvenile-Justice System Fix Troubled Teens? Rarely, One Judge Laments

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

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.

Power Play

County law enforcement's attack on the judiciary didn't work, but the war's far from over

New Times Sues County and Special Prosecutor

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

Danny Carbajal TKO'd

The big brother of a Phoenix boxing champ pleads guilty to ripping off his late wife. He remains the chief suspect in her unsolved murder

Rock the Vote

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

Sue Me, Sue You

The game of the name

Teenage Wasteland

It's up to Governor Janet Napolitano to make sure history doesn't repeat itself — that is, boldly reform juvenile corrections. Or at least make sure someone's watching

Judicial Blacklash

The County Attorney's Office declared war on a respected judge after he called a prosecutor's actions racist

Locked Up

Despite promises of true reform, legislators appear bent on shelling out more money to private prison companies

Clink!

Arizona's prisons are packed. Building more would cost millions. Governor Janet Napolitano wants to lockup even more people. But others say it may be time to let a few out.

Arpaio, Artists and Assorted Grievances

Letters from the week of November 21, 2002

Tax Broke

Why is the state budget in crisis? Ask your legislators.

See You in October

Federal investigation into juvenile corrections broad but slow

Federal Inquiry

Justice Department examines conditions at state youth facilities

The Kids Are Still Not Alright

Despite public scrutiny, abuse continues at the state's juvenile corrections facilities