REFORM MIRANDA NOW!

The Miranda Warnings need to be reformed in light of the recent US Supreme Court decision that Justice Sotomayor says "turns Miranda upside down." On May 31, 2010, the Supreme Court decided Berghuis v. Thompkins, holding that a suspect must clearly invoke his or her right to remain silent in order to be protected against compelled self-incrimination. But that's at odds with what the current Miranda Warnings generally state, e.g. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." etc. If police read a suspect this sort of Miranda warning, then a suspect who does not know about the recent ruling will naturally believe that saying "I'm going to remain silent" would be admissible against him in court.

Write your state legislatures and other local politicians and tell them that the Miranda Warnings in your city or state need to be revamped. The Miranda Warnings need to say something like:

"You have the right to remain silent. If you choose to invoke this right, you must clearly inform us that you wish to remain silent. If you chose to waive this right, then anything you say can and will be used against you in court..."

Please tell you friends and please speak up. We cannot make the Supreme Court come to any particular decision, but we CAN influence our political leaders to revise state and local laws!

In Arizona, go HERE to find your legislators: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp!

AZ SB 1070 and “Texas v. Certain Named and Unnamed Alien Children” (Plyler v. Doe)

The State of Arizona has made a law that the State itself cannot lawfully follow, even before any suits get to a court of law.

In 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public school districts cannot deny education to children who are in the U.S. illegally. The Supreme Court based this decision, in Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), on the fact that the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause provides certain rights to unlawful immigrants as well as lawful immigrants and U.S. citizens.

In 2010, Arizona passed SB 1070, which makes it a crime in the state of Arizona to transport an “illegal alien” or to harbor an “illegal alien” in any building.

The contradiction is clear. Under the Supreme Court’s ruling, a public school district must allow a child who is an unlawful immigrant to attend school. This presumably includes busing the child to the school. But under SB 1070, any school which does allow an unlawful immigrant into its buildings or on its buses is breaking State law.

The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides that federal laws and U.S. Supreme Court holdings are the “Supreme Law of the Land,” and any state law that it not in accordance with federal laws is unconstitutional and void. Therefore, for the reasons shown above, this provision of SB 1070 is patently unconstitutional.

Arizona Legislature: Gov't Gone Wild

Arizonans, we need to rein-in our legislature. Do you know what they’re doing up there in Phoenix? They’re going crazy!

The Arizona legislature just cut AHCCCS, saying the state can’t afford it. Lawmakers have voted to cut 310,000 adults from AHCCCS by rolling eligibility requirements back to those in place in the year 2000.

Last week state lawmakers eliminated Kids-Care, which serves nearly 39,000 children through age 18, through budget-balancing measures. The program cost the state $18 million a year, and federal funds covered $56 million. According to the article, the federal funds more than cover the cost of Kids-Care (but I think the article is incorrect; I think the federal funds only cover 75% of the program). So what is the real reason behind that program being cut? One possibility is that state Republicans have argued that “Kids-Care” is socialized medicine.

Hours after she signed the budget, Brewer appeared at a news conference to urge opposition to federal health-care reform. Asked by reporters what the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans set to lose coverage this year should do, Brewer said they should use community health clinics and emergency rooms.

But does this make sense???

An Arizona State University study estimates that cuts to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System would result in the elimination of about 42,000 jobs in 2011, cutting more than $1.7 billion in disposable income among all Arizonans. Health-care leaders warn that even those who have insurance will absorb the state cuts through higher insurance premiums for hospitals, doctors and others.

On top of that, the state legislature is renewing efforts to opt out of the federal health reform bill. That means that they will give up $770 million dollars of federal health-care funding.

Are they even using calculators up there in the Capitol building?

Instead of focusing on practical ways to enrich our state, legislators are working on fanatical bills. One is an anti-immigration bill that would require law enforcement to stop and question any person who looks like they could be an undocumented immigrant (read: Hispanic and other ethnic persons) and charge them with trespassing. Another is a bill from the “Birther” movement that would require all candidates running for president to present a valid US birth certificate to the State in order to be printed on the ballot here.

They must be drinking kool-aid made with CAP water up there in Phoenix, and adding a lot of whiskey to it too.

Jim Nintzel wrote a great article that highlights the lunacy of our state legislature’s recent actions and points out that there is still hope yet, in the hands of the voters: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2010/03/16/farley-report-arizonas-future-is-now-at-great-risk

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