1st Anti-Gay Ballot Measure (To Repeal SB48) Ready To Go

Bad news about SB 48, the FAIR Education Act Governor Brown signed into law on July 14, 2011. The heterosexual supremacists who brough California Proposition 8 have filed a referendum challenge to the law and received approval from Attorney General Kamala Harris to start circulating petitions in order to gather the 504,000 valid signatures to submit to Secretary of State Debra Bowen to place the question of the measure's legality on the June 2012 ballot.

Karen Ocamb of LGBTPOV has the scoop:

Referendum to Overturn Non-Discrimination Requirements for School Instruction.

Summary Date: 07/25/11 | Circulation Deadline: 10/12/11 | Signatures Required: 504,760

Proponent: Paulo E. Sibaja (909) 996-9391

If signed by the required number of registered voters and filed with the Secretary of State, this petition will place on the statewide ballot a challenge to a state law previously approved by the Legislature and Governor. The law must then be approved by a majority of voters at the next statewide election to go into effect. The law would require school instructional materials to recognize societal contributions of various groups; and would prohibit school instructional materials that reflect adversely on persons based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and other characteristics. (11-0023.) (Full Text)

By a referendum, all passage of the measure would do is take back the laws of California to the way they were prior to July 14, 2011. LGBT people and the disability community would not be required to be included in instructional materials. Previously the law mandated the teaching of many other groups, mainly racial and ethnic minorities and Equality California and Mark Leno sponsored legislation to add LGBT and people with disabilities to the list (and change American Indian to Native American and Asian Pacific to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders).

This is basically a proxy fight over gay rights the right wing is hoping to use to increase conservative turnout in the June 2012 election which will be an incredibly important election (maybe more important than the Presidential election in California) as (almost) every single district-based political office in California will be up for election for the first time in a redrawn district.

I've also heard rumors of a second anti-gay ballot measure which would attempt to divorce the 18,000 same-sex couples that got married in California prior to Proposition 8 and preempt any positive decision striking down Proposition 8 as violating the federal constitution. This second measure seems like even more folly because any measure seeking to replicate or even out do Proposition 8 in anti-gay fervor would clearly also be subject to a similar lawsuit which will probably nullify that measure.

Anthony Weiner To Resign

U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner has let it be known that he intends to resign from Congress today.

Politico reports:

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign from his seat in Congress, heeding calls from President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of other congressional Democrats, sources confirm to POLITICO.

The resignation ends nearly three weeks of tumultuous political controversy since the New York congressman sent a lewd picture of himself over Twitter on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. After spending over a week claiming that the photo was sent by someone who hacked his account, Weiner admitted last Monday that he had sent it himself, and that he had carried on online sexual relationships with at least six women in the last three years. 

Weiner is expected to make his resignation official in a statement to the press at 2 p.m. at a senior center in Brooklyn where he announced his first run for the New York City Council in 1993.

I agree with Rachel Maddow that I don't understand why a progressive Weiner has to resign over a virtual sex scandal when it took years for U.S. Senator John Ensign (R-NV) to resign after committing an adulterous affair with a subordinate's wife and then paying hush money AND U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) who repeatedly paid prostitutes to have adulterous, kinky sex refuses to resign and has been re-elected!

Why are Democrats such wimps?

Cop Serves 220 Days For Killing Unarmed Black Man

Johannes Mehserle claimed that he shot Oscar Grant by mistake,
using his gun instead of his Taser, and a jury with no Black members agreed

The former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black man while holding him restrained face down on the ground on New Years Day 2009 has been released from prison this morning after serving an astonishing (and sickening) 220 days in prison after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter (as I blogged about last fall).

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

E-mail and phone notifications made at 12:01 a.m. today said Mehserle had been released, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's online inmate locator also said he had been freed.

[...]

Mehserle, 29, was sentenced to two years for shooting Oscar Grant in the back while the 22-year-old Hayward man lay face down on the platform at Oakland's Fruitvale BART Station after being pulled from a train.

Mehserle has been imprisoned in Los Angeles County Jail since being convicted July 8. He was eligible for release with credit for time served before his trial and what is known as "good time" credit: one day for every day spent behind bars.

[...]

Mehserle testified that he had thought he was firing his Taser stun gun instead of his pistol as he was trying to arrest Grant for allegedly resisting an officer. The case drew widespread outrage, prompting the trial to be moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles. The jury there acquitted Mehserle of murder.

[Mehserle's attorney] Rains said at least eight other law-enforcement officers across the country have similarly mistaken their Tasers for their service weapons and were never criminally charged "and, in some cases, not even disciplined."

On Sunday, several hundred protesters marched peacefully from the Fruitvale BART Station to 14th Street and Broadway in downtown Oakland.

The saddest part of this case is that it must be considered progress that Mehserle was even charged with murder, since as the lawyer says, this was one of the rare times that the "peace officer" offending actions were caught on video and a public outcry finally lead to a criminal prosecution for murder.

Celebrity Friday: Goodwin Liu Withdraws Nomination

Goodwin Liu, Professor of Law at University of California, Berkeley has written President Obama, withdrawing his name from consideration for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after Republicans successfully filibustered his nomination on the floor of the United States Senate on May 19th.

The text of the letter is here:

Dear Mr. President:


I have been deeply honored to be your nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The nomination has been a tremendous source of pride for my family and community, and it would be a great privilege and responsibility to serve our country as a member of the judiciary. 


In light of last week's unsuccessful cloture vote, however, I respectfully ask that you withdraw my nomination from further consideration by the United States Senate. With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future. In addition, the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit has noted the "desperate need for judges" to fill current vacancies,  and it is now clear that continuing my nomination will not address that need any time soon.


I am profoundly indebted to you for your confidence in me and to the many people wh workd tirelessly in support of my nomination. Thank you for this great honor and opportunity


Sincerely,


Goodwin Liu

Sometimes the bad guys win. Interestingly, President Obama has now nominated a judge named Morgen Christen from Alaska put on that state's Supreme Court by Governor Sarah Palin for the 9th Circuit. It will be interesting to see what response she gets from Senate Republicans!

Senate Refuses To End Debate On Liu Nomination 52-43

The United States Senate has killed the nomination of Goodwin Liu to join the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by refusing to end debate by a vote of 52-43.

It is President Obama's first defeat on a judicial nomination.

It is the first time in more than six years the Senate has successfully filibustered a judicial nominee and culminates nearly 15 months of partisan bickering over Liu.    

Senators have shied away from blocking judicial nominees since 2005, when a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans known as the Gang of 14 stuck a deal decreeing judicial filibusters appropriate only in “extraordinary circumstances.”  

 Senate Democrats and Republicans clashed sharply Thursday over whether Liu’s nomination met that threshold.

Democrats argued Liu’s legal philosophy falls well within the mainstream and touted the nominee's impressive academic credentials.

Republicans said Liu’s writings and remarks endorse judicial activism and portray him as a liberal ideologue.

"He is unfit to serve as a United States judge," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.) "His activist views of the laws are troubling. I am left with no choice but to fight his confirmation with every tool at my disposal.”

Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he believes Republicans are attempting to block Liu in the hopes that they will win the 2012 presidential election and be able to stack the courts with their own nominees.

"For many on other side of the aisle they are guided by advisers that say, ‘Keep as many of the posts open as long as possible,’" accused Durbin. "They say help is on the way in the form of the next election.

It's a very sad day.

Blogger Ate TWO of My Restaurant Reviews!!

Wednesday night I spent about 2-3 hours on a draft of a review of my visit to the Lazy Ox Canteen restaurant in downtown Los Angeles which Blogger's now-infamous service shut down has apparently chewed up and spit out. The review was posted on Thursday May 12 (Thursdays are Review days at MadProfessah.com) but has since disappeared and not been restored. On Wednesday, I also spent another hour or more on a review of my visit to Go Burger in Hollywood. That was in draft form and has completely reverted to a version which eliminates all my lovely insights and well-written prose. *sigh*

Bush Superlawyer Paul Clement Signs On To Defend DOMA

Paul Clement was U.S. Solicitor General from 2004-2008

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner has decided on former Bush Administration Solicitor General Paul Clement to represent the Congress' interest in defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court. Clement is a well-known Supreme Court advocate (he succeeded Perry v. Brown Republican superlawyer Ted Olson in the Solicitor General position) and is rumored to make over 5 million dollars a year at  the law firm of King & Spalding and charge as much as $1,000 per hour. Clement has reportedly argued more than 50 cases before the United States Supreme Court.

Clement's defense will not be cheap, as DOMA has been declared unconstitutional in two cases before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Department of Justice has decided that the statute is unconstitutional and there are around 12 jurisdictions in which DOMA is being challenged in court.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  sent a letter to Boehner in response to the current Speaker's actions, reproduced below:

April 18, 2011

The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker of the House 
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Mr. Speaker:

Thank you for your response earlier today to my letter of March 11, 2011 concerning litigation relating to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  My letter had requested that you provide me with the cost to the House and to taxpayers resulting from the decision of the Republican members of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to hire outside counsel to represent the House in support of the DOMA.  You note that President Obama and Attorney General Holder have determined that DOMA is unconstitutional, a conclusion I share, and have declined to engage in further judicial proceedings in defense of the law.  As you may know, presidents have acted similarly in the past on at least 50 instances since 1979.  

Unfortunately, your letter did not respond to the central question in my March 11th letter: the cost to taxpayers of hiring outside legal counsel.  Again, I am requesting that you disclose the cost of hiring outside counsel for the 12 cases where DOMA is being challenged.  

Press reports indicate that the House, at your direction, will intervene today in the Windsor case, which is in a federal court in New York.  Ms. Edie Windsor spent more than 40 years with her partner, Ms. Thea Spyer, and they were married in 2007.  When Ms. Spyer passed away Ms. Windsor was unable to claim the federal estate marital tax benefit because of DOMA and the federal government imposed estate taxes of more than $360,000 on the money left to her.  This case is a prime example of the injustice perpetuated by DOMA on millions of American families.  

According to reports, a contract engaging Paul D. Clement to serve as the outside counsel reportedly was forwarded to the Committee on House Administration, although not to the Democratic members or staff of the Committee.  Mr. Clement, a former Solicitor General of the United States, is a partner in the Washington firm King & Spalding where he is in charge of the national appellate practice.  I would like to know when the contract with Mr. Clement was signed, and why a copy was not provided to Democrats on the Committee.

The House of Representatives need not enter into this lengthy and costly litigation.  Contrary to the assertion in your letter, a BLAG determination against House involvement in the litigation – which was the position of Democratic Whip Hoyer and me – would not have allowed the constitutionality of the law to “have been determined by a unilateral action of the President.”  As you know, only the courts can determine the constitutionality of a statute passed by the Congress.  

Thank you again, and I look forward to working together with you on behalf of our country.

best regards,


NANCY PELOSI
Democratic Leader

Love her!

MD Gender Identity Bill Killed By 6 Traitorous Democrats

For the second time in a few weeks, a huge priority of the LGBT community has been killed by the Maryland legislature. Previously it was HB 175, the marriage equality bill, and today it was HB 235, the gender identity non-discrimination bill.

From Equality Maryland:

 MARYLAND SENATORS WALK AWAY FROM JUSTICE - SEND GENDER IDENTITY PROTECTIONS BACK TO COMMITTEE 

Equality Maryland thanks supporters for the significant progress made in 2011 and vows to keep up the fight for full protections

Annapolis, Maryland, April 11, 2011 - Today, led by Sen. DeGrange, the Senate referred House Bill 235, the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act, back to the Judicial Proceedings Committee by a vote of 27-20, effectively ending efforts to pass vital protections in housing, employment, and credit for transgender Marylanders.

Senators Kasemeyer (D-12), Klausmeier (D-8), McFadden (D-45), Middleton (D-28), Robey (D-13) and Zirkin (D-11) were expected to support ending discrimination based on gender identity in housing, employment, and credit, but voted instead to recommit the anti-discrimination bill. 

Equality Maryland's Executive Director, Morgan Meneses-Sheets:
"Six Senators who committed to support HB 235 took a walk on justice and fairness today and turned their backs on the most vulnerable members of our community.  We are appalled that lawmakers continue to play politics with much needed protections for the transgender community.  

We must not forget all the positive strides we accomplish as a community this year overcoming significant hurdles, including getting this legislation out of the Senate Rules Committee.  Supporters of this critical legislation made hundreds of phone calls and sent thousands of emails to their legislators. Countless members of the transgender community shared their very personal stories of discrimination.  We are grateful to them for their courage and to every supporter who made their voice heard on this important bill.

Equality Maryland remains committed to fighting against discrimination and injustice targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community at every turn.  Progress takes time.  Today's result was not fair or right, but we will keep up the fight to make the Free State truly free." 

###

Equality Maryland is Maryland's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights group, with thousands of members across the entire state. Equality Maryland includes: a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization that lobbies in Annapolis and across the state to create equal protection under the law for LGBT Marylanders and their families; a 501(c)(3) educational foundation that works to eliminate prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity through outreach, education, research, community organizing, training and coalition building; and Equality Maryland PAC, which exists to influence elections. For more information, visit www.EqualityMaryland.org.

SHOCKER! Maryland Marriage Bill Recommitted; Likely Dead

It's still not clear what happened but the vote on HB 175/SB 116 in the Maryland House of Delegates has not happened today and is unlikely to happen because the bill has been sent back to the House Judiciary Committee where it nearly escaped death by a 12-10 vote last week.

A joint press release from Equality Maryland, Freedom to Marry and Human Rights Campaign was distributed:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2011

EQUALITY MARYLAND CONTACT: Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Executive Director | 202-812-9229

FREEDOM TO MARRY CONTACT: Jackie Yodashkin | Jackie@freedomtomarry.org | 646-430-3925

HRC CONTACT: Paul Guequierre | paul.guequierre@hrc.org | 202-423-2860

Statement on Developments in Maryland Marriage Debate

Groups working for freedom to marry in Maryland remain committed

ANNAPOLIS, MD. – Today a coalition of groups including Equality Maryland, the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Marry and Gill Action released the following joint statement in response to developments in the debate over ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from the freedom to marry in Maryland:

“Already this year we have made tremendous progress toward winning the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Maryland.  Successful votes in the full Senate and House committee show there is a strong and growing movement toward the freedom to marry.  Over the past several days it has become clear that additional time to continue the marriage conversation in the state will better position the Civil Marriage Protection Act for success.  By taking a bit more time, the majority of Marylanders who support the freedom to marry in the state will have the opportunity to have their voices heard by their legislators.

“We are thankful to the leadership for taking these steps to ensure that all Maryland families will be respected at the earliest possible date.  We remain optimistic that very soon all Maryland families will be treated equally under the law.  We thank Governor Martin O’Malley, House Speaker Michael Busch, Majority Leader Kumar Barve, and the Maryland LGBT Legislative Caucus for their tireless efforts.”

WATCH: ESPN Says Serena Could Be Out For A Year

Serena Williams Hospitalized For Bood Clot and Hematoma!

Serena Williams at the Vanity Fair post-Oscars
party on Sunday February 27, 2011

Oh my goodness! Serena Williams was rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles this week when it was discovered that she had a blood clot in her lung with a spokesperson releasing a statement:

"Serena did indeed suffer from a pulmonary embolism last week, and the hematoma was another unexpected scare. Thankfully everything was caught in time. With continued doctor visits to monitor her situation, she is recuperating at home under strict medical supervision."

"Says Serena, 'Thank you everyone for all of your prayers, concerns, and support. This has been extremely hard, scary, and disappointing. I am doing better, I'm at home now and working with my doctors to keep everything under control. I know I will be ok, but am praying and hoping this will all be behind me soon. While I can't make any promises now on my return, I hope to be back by early summer. That said, my main goal is to make sure I get there safely.' "

The injury does not appear to life-threatening, but will probably keep her off a tennis court for another 6-12 weeks.

Dr. Mark Adelman, chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, said that Williams' lungs should heal completely. The length of time to heal the original clot, whether it was in her leg or in her arm, could vary depending on its size and other factors. Adelman estimated that for anywhere from six to 12 weeks her doctors would not want her to play tennis at all. After that, Williams might be able to play at a high level, but because the anticoagulants will put her at additional risk of bruises and bleeding, she'll want to avoid getting hit hard during play.

Last week, Williams had told the New York Post that she was aiming her comeback for the French Open in May. From the statement released Wednesday, though, it is clear she is now hoping to be ready for Wimbledon, which opens play June 20.

Get well soon, Serena!!

Montana House Passes Anti-LGBT Civil Rights Bill 60-39

Wow. What will the impact of of the 2010 election of hundreds of Republican state legislators on the rights of LGBT people be around the country? Probably a detrimental one.

The State House of Montana just passed the most anti-gay bill in the nation by a vote of 60-39 which would prevent any local entity from enacting local civil rights ordinances which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. (Note, this is a more extreme anti-LGBT public policy position than the state of Utah and the Mormon Church.) There was only one such ordinance in the state, in the college town of Missoula, Montana. And it was only enacted last year!

From The Missoulian ("Bill to nullify Missoula's equality ordinance receives backing in House"):

Missoula's Democratic legislators were infuriated by the passage of House Bill 516, by Rep. Kristin Hansen, R-Havre. Her bill passed 60-39 and faces a final House vote before heading to the Senate.


Sixty Republicans voted for it. All 32 Democrats voted opposed it, joined by seven Republicans. One Republican was absent.


[...]


As sponsor, Hansen said HB516 would prohibit local governments from enacting ordinances or policies that seek to protect residents from real or perceived discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender as Missoula did through an ordinance and Bozeman through a policy.
She said the Missoula City Council adopted the ordinance and provided an enforcement mechanism that fell outside of that in the Montana Human Rights Act.


"It would apply retroactively to the city of Missoula's ordinance in order to keep all businesses and all entities on a level playing field," Hansen said. "All discrimination claims will have to go through the human rights procedures as designated by the Montana Human Rights (Commission)."


[...]


"Our community is filled with possibly the biggest gay and lesbian population in the state," said Rep. Ellie Hill, D-Missoula. "We are a community with the University of Montana. We have a lot of young people. We passed this ordinance because we wanted to protect our own citizens, our own people. You don't have to agree with it." 

Sands said she is proud to be part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and told the House: "There are thousands of ‘us' living in Montana. We are your neighbors, your work colleagues, we are part of your families, we sit in the pew next to you at church, and we serve in elective offices with you." 

Along with other LGBT Montanans and their families, Sands said she was claiming her constitutional right to equality and justice under Montana's constitutional provision that says: "The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws." 

"It doesn't say, except for gay people," she said.

The bill  is reminiscent of Colorado's Amendment 2 which was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans by a 6-3 vote in 1996. However, that was an anti-gay voter initiative (which overturned local gay rights ordinances in Boulder, Aspen and Denver) while this is a legislatively enacted measure which still needs to go through the upper body and be signed into law by Governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat.  The notion that the state is trying to enact a uniform enforcement procedure for discrimination is a transparent fiction. Obviously, the Montana Human Rights Act does NOT include sexual orientation and gender identity and the same Republicans voted to kill a measure which would have added those characteristics. Presumably, Schweitzer will veto the measure if it reaches his desk but has not made a public statement on the measure so far.

More U.S. Deaths By Suicide Than In Combat

This is disturbing:

For the second year in a row, more American soldiers—both enlisted men and women and veterans—committed suicide than were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Excluding accidents and illness, 462 soldiers died in combat, while 468 committed suicide. A difference of six isn't vast by any means, but the symbolism is significant and troubling. In 2009, there were 381 suicides by military personnel, a number that also exceeded the number of combat deaths.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Federal Judge Strikes Down Entire Health Care Law

Gee,  I wonder if the Republicans will be complaining about this form of judicial activism?

From The New York Times:

A second federal judge ruled on Monday that it was unconstitutional for Congress to enact a health care law that requires Americans to obtain commercial insurance, evening the score at two-to-two in the lower courts as conflicting opinions begin their path to the Supreme Court.

Like a Virginia judge in December, Judge Roger Vinson of Federal District Court in Pensacola, Fla., said he would allow the law to remain in effect while the Obama administration appeals his ruling, a process that could take two years. But unlike his Virginia counterpart, Judge Vinson ruled that the entire health care act should fall if the appellate courts join him in invalidating the insurance requirement.

“The act, like a defectively designed watch, needs to be redesigned and reconstructed by the watchmaker,” Judge Vinson wrote.

In a 78-page opinion, Judge Vinson held that the insurance requirement exceeds the regulatory powers granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Judge Vinson wrote that the provision could not be rescued by an associated clause in Article I that gives Congress broad authority to make laws “necessary and proper” to carrying out its designated responsibilities.

“If Congress can penalize a passive individual for failing to engage in commerce, the enumeration of powers in the Constitution would have been in vain,” Judge Vinson wrote.

Insanely, the entire law can be struck down because Democratic staffers forgot to include a severability clause in the legislation in the last minute scramble to pass the legislation in Spring 2010. Those staffers should be fired! Oh wait, the voters already did that in November 2010!

It is unlikely that Judge Vinson's law will survive appellate review. Even if the individual mandate is ruled unconstitutional, there are many other ways to fund the other changes that the health care law mandates.