Senators to call NOW, vote MONDAY on SB 1070

This via friends in the movement, about the piece of legislation designed to trump local soverignty in the pursuit of all the racists they can get to vote for them - that appears to be the main target audience - and constituency - of some legislators. Anyway, call this weekend and do some kind of visible action in resistance to the bill.

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Please forward to your lists also...Thank you Here is a list of the Republican Senators who need to be called to vote NO on SB 1070, even if you just leave a message, please take a moment to call them! A group of us spent this morning at the State Legislature, we talked to four Republican Senators,all we need is 3 of them to vote no on SB 1070. One said she will definitely vote no, we only need 2 more... Two (Steve Pierce and Jay Tibshraeny) told us they were "undecided"....there is still time to help this bill die. Please take a moment to call, here is the list, all of them are Republicans.  Some possible talking points to these Republicans could be.... 1) The enormous cost to implement this law in a time of economic strife, cuts in education, we want taxes cut NOT increased because of this bill...   2) Public safety overall will be jeopardized with this bill as local law enforcement will be spending too much time on checking everyone's status rather than responding to emergencies.... 3) Incarceration of Parents of U.S. citizen children, will only lead to more people on the welfare system, for the rest of us to take care of.  There is actually a high number of US citizen children with undocumented parents- extracting the bread-winner from the family only puts more strain on the rest of us. THE LIST Jay Tibshraeny    602-926-4486   (told us he was undecided) Steve Pierce        602-926-5584  (told us he was undecided) Barbara Leff         602-926-4486 Linda Gray            602-926-3376 Al Melvin               602-926-4326 Ron Gould            602-926-4138 Jack Harper         602-926-4178 Sylvia Allen          602-926-5219 Jim Waring           602-926-4916 Bob Burns            602-926-5993 Chuck Gray           602-926-5288 John Huppenthal   602-926-5261 Thayer Verschoor 602-926-4136 Jonathon Paton     602-926-3235 John Nelson     602-926-5872  (I spoke with him in person, he said he knows it is not a good bill, but 70% of his constituents want him to vote yes on it - please call him and tell him you don't want it!) Please forward to your lists....!

More Desert Trespassers

FROM LOCAL 2 GLOBAL JUSTICE listserve:
Tower Vigilers Released with Trespass Charge

John Heid and Fr. Jerry Zawada, O.F.M. were released from custody in Tucson this afternoon [8/6/09], following their arrest on Arizona state charges of criminal trespass. They agreed not to return to the site of their arrest pending their arraignment in Pima County Justice Court on Monday, August 17.

The men were arrested this morning at a virtual fence communication tower west of Arivaca, in southern Arizona, where they had gone to pray out of deep concern for the deaths of migrants resulting from border walls ZAZand virtual fences.

The pair released the following statement:

"On this, the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, we call for an end to militarization in all its guises. An end to bombs, nuclear and conventional. An end to the use of Drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). An end to walls, fences and their virtual counterparts that divide us and promote fear of each other. An end to war without end.

"This morning we vigil at the gates of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, home of a Predator UAV unit which now flies missions around the clock in Iraq and Afghanistan armed with Hellfire missiles which have killed hundreds of unarmed civilians. We demand an end to the unilateral slaughter.

"This afternoon we vigil at a communication tower, "Tucson-1" (virtual fence) construction sight. Fences and walls, solid and virtual, have funneled people in migration deeper into the harsh, dangerous terrain of the Sonoran desert, resulting in more than 5,000 deaths since 1994.

"These three - bombs, drones and fences/walls - are lethal weapons directed specifically at noncombatants. Cities like Hiroshima, villages in Iraq and Afghanistan and the U.S.-Mexico borderland have been deliberately targeted and violated. These are crimes against humanity. A betrayal of civility. In spiritual terms, a sin. "Today we pray without ceasing for a world without weapons and fences. We pray for peace, for justice, for unity which makes walls and war obsolete."

Dismissed with Prejudice

So, Orlando's trespassing case was thrown out of court today because of procedural problems the Maricopa County Sheriff's office had with the evidence-gathering process. Basically, it sounds like one of their deputies (Smith) blew off the defense's deposition, and her testimony about it was directly contradicted in court by her superior officer (McIntyre). She was pretty hostile during questioning; was even told to chill out a couple of times by the judge - The day's "Minister of Justice": Armando Gandarilla. He admonished her for being "combative".

Gandarilla dismissed the case with prejudice (check this out for the last time he did this), levying sanctions against the MCSO in the process (which will also pick up the defense attorney's tab). The prosecuting attorney tried to offer up Deputy Smith as a sole sacrificial lamb, but Gandarilla wouldn't have it. I don't know what he thinks about the MCSO trying to prosecute the case in the first place, but he listened pretty extensively to the county attorney's arguments and the defense's evidence before issuing his decision. It really came down to whether Smith blew off the original defense's deposition contemptuously or missed it under a supervisor's orders or through sincere error. Clearly Smith didn't emanate sincerity.

So, dismissing the case wasn't necessarily a message that it was brought irresponsibly in the first place, but the good Judge didn't let the opportunity pass to tell the Sheriff what he thinks. Gandarilla cited his 31 years in the legal profession, which always means that someone's in trouble. He couldn't believe this case had even reached his bench, and seemed pretty annoyed with the prosecutor for trying it. He mentioned that people in the legal profession are held to higher standards, and suggested that the MCSO's lack of credibility and conduct in this case and in general has put all of law enforcement in a bad light - hence the sanctions against the department, not just the deputy. So, it wasn't so much about freedom of speech or anything as it was about the integrity of evidence - officially, anyway.

At least, I think that's what happened. Check out Stephen Lemons' blog this week, I'd guess, for the full scoop. It was really a pretty good show by the defense - sorry I didn't get his name.

The courtroom was packed, by the way, with all the usual suspects and a few I didn't know, including a whole bunch of kids. We all started to applaud and cheer but got hushed after the prosecutor gave up arguing with the judge and he issued his ruling one final time. One of the other court-watchers heard the county attorney say, on her way out the door, "I hope you all get sanctions" (presumably a reference to our collective emotional response to Orlando's victory).

Guess this won't go over well in either Arpaio's or Thomas' offices today. They probably watched it on closed-circuit TV trying to identify members of the audience to see who to go after next. Stupid white men (with guns). You're never going to win this one, guys. You can't just keep bullying people into silence or submission, be it by criminalizing their freedom of speech, or conducting those massive "crime suppression sweeps" in select neighborhoods. We outnumber you now.

Racist, Criminal Lawmakers

I'm a little slow on the draw because I've been with family these past couple of weeks, but I just came across this info about SB1175, and had to pass it on. For this you have to go to a friend of mine's blog: here. She's really on top of the immigration issues; reading her blog was how I found out about this bill.

Here's the conservative response and legislative strategy (bookmark that page - very interesting site - glad they blog too).

It should come as no surprise that Republican legislators are pushing through more racist legislation like SB 1162 was. No wonder we need so many more private prison beds. Criminalizing immigrants is big business, especially in Arizona.

The implications of SB 1175 - this latest bill Pearce got through the senate are, of course, more racial profiling, inappropriate arrests, private detention facilities, overcrowded local jails, and missing family members. Any Latino not carrying proof of citizenship would be vulnerable to arrest and detention as a "trespasser" (which would be redefined under state law to specify undocumented persons. So much for AZ tourism, I would think). Since Latinos are presumed guilty on sight (especially two or more together), I can't imagine they'd be set free once arrested unless they fought the trespassing charge and showed actual proof of their citizenship to the court.

This is what Pearce thinks should be done with law enforcement resources? Chase trespassers down public streets? Arrest people who left their identification at home?

They can't just keep criminalizing people for being brown and think we won't see it for what it is. It's racist.

Check out this article too, about halfway down - they also want to send people to prison who might "harbor" an illegal immigrant for a sentence of 5 years. This is like the 1850 fugitive slave act. This is insane. It's like accusing abolitionists of sedition and hanging them.

So, let me sum up the bigger picture. Arizona's experiencing huge budget shortfalls - partly because we have so many people in prison, and we're going to criminalize undocumented persons further, while also throwing those who help them - say, get them to a physician when they find them dying in the desert - into prison. We're going to have to build a lot more cells just for the civil disobedience that invites.

Not everyone harboring immigrants would go to prison, of course. That's where the prosecutor's "discretion" comes in. Only the "political" people will go to prison; those who know something about the immigrant activist network but won't cooperate. And they'll end up in isolation in a maximum security hellhole, justified by this law being passed around under the radar. (Community organizers are serious security threats in prisons.)

I think if these bills go through then citizens from all over the state will have to leave their ID at home, take the 5th, refuse to post bail, and start filling the jail cells - make them prove that we aren't citizens instead of offering evidence that we are. Are we not already presumed innocent? They can only hold and prosecute so many of us. It would be a citizen's nullification of the legislature's last-minute blindside.

This is such a strange state, I must say. Very mean-spirited, the politics are. I'm at a loss as to how they think they can ultimately keep so many people down. This state isn't turning Blue, like they fear - it's going to be Green and brown soon, and we're going to raise a rainbow flag over the capitol building and then throw down with the scared straight liberals about whether or not all the queers can finally get married.

Those of us not in the legislative brawl will begin bringing prisoners home.

Lucky for men like Pearce (who will likely live to see Arizona progressives in power), most of us think that even old racist, sexist pigs have the right to food, health care, shelter and other life-sustaining resources. We wouldn't just hang him out to dry because he was old and broke and did so much harm in his lifetime.

Someday maybe he'll learn a little something about mercy and grace. We will certainly have to if we really aspire to tear down prison walls.

But I'm not going to hold my breath and wait - that man and too many of his colleagues feed on hate. And I've already seen what this state does to non-citizens and prisoners - we leave them to die in the desert and criminalize those who would try to help them. I'm beginning to see where that ethic grows from - the one that turns big profits on false promises and fear; getting paid by the head for people it disappears for months and years.

Do we know anything about the good senator's investment portfolio, by the way? Maybe we should check out the whole slate of senators that voted for SB 1175. Investments and campaign contributions: Someone's got their hands in deep with the private prison industry. Or - like Sheriff Joe - has a budget that depends on the number of bodies ICE will pay to detain. Hmm.

So, again, follow Chaparral's blog for the info on immigration legislation. This is where we should put on the brakes. This guy went way too far.