On Monday, the Senate approved legislation protecting the First Amendment rights of homeowners in the face of attempted restrictions from condominium unit owner’s associations (COA) or homeowner’s associations (HOA).
HB2158 protects a homeowner’s ability to display association-specific political signage, assemble peaceably in common areas, post notices about assemblies, and invite a political candidate or guest to speak at an assembly. The bill now heads to the governor for final approval.
The Senate passed the bill without any remarks, done so unanimously as did the House last month.
Specifically, HB2158 would bar COAs and HOAs from prohibiting or limiting association-specific political signage during distribution of ballots until three days after the election, as well as regulating the manufacture of the signage.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Monday, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) announced that he would vote to approve Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the vacant Supreme Court (SCOTUS) seat. Kelly said that he supported all of Jackson’s record on case rulings, which likely included the slew of controversial criminal judgments that gave lenient sentencing to violent criminals.
“After speaking with Judge Jackson and reviewing her record and approach to deciding cases, I believe her to be very well qualified and having demonstrated a commitment to fairly interpret and uphold the Constitution on our nation’s highest court,” said Kelly.
After meeting with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, it is clear that she has achieved incredible success throughout her legal career while demonstrating a commitment to ensuring all Americans have a fair shot at justice.
On Sunday, a day before Kelly’s announcement, the New York Post reported that one of the convicted child rapists who’d received lowered sentencing twice from Jackson had been arrested for assault. Sex offender Leo Weekes received one year in prison with credit for time served for failing to register as a sex offender, a classification he earned for raping his 13-year-old niece four years earlier. Jackson’s sentence allowed Weekes to be released five months later. The federal guideline minimum for Weekes’ crime would have been two years in prison. A year later, Weekes was arrested for the attempted sexual assault of his sister-in-law, though she dropped the charges; prosecutors claimed that Weekes paid her off. Several years later, Weekes was back in court for failing to register as a sex offender and violating multiple stipulations of his probation, again coming before Jackson. Again, Jackson gave Weekes a punishment lower than what the guidelines suggested: a 24-month sentence overlapping with his punishment for the previous assault conviction.
As the New York Post report noted, the Weekes case was not included among the seven cases given to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration. The requested cases were to clarify Jackson’s habit of sentencing below federal guidelines and the requests of prosecutors.
A day prior, the New York Post also broke the story that Jackson gave lenient sentencing to those convicted of multiple counts of child torture during hearings on eight child porn cases. For those cases, Jackson argued against applying recommended sentencing because she disagreed with the relevance, severity, and logic of child pornography law. Like with Weekes, Jackson reduced one defendant’s original sentence of 60 months, the mandatory minimum that fell under the average sentence of 81 months for similar cases, by giving him credit for time served, thereby reducing his sentence to 38 months.
To another defendant last year charged with child porn distribution, Jackson expressed sympathy and called family members’ letters portraying the defendant in a positive light, “mitigating factors.” Jackson said she wasn’t persuaded by the prosecution’s display of the more “egregious or extreme” child porn distributed by the defendant.
Jackson also advocated for the release of all those imprisoned in Washington, D.C., at the start of the pandemic. She managed to grant several releases to those charged with or convicted of major crimes, such as the member of a fentanyl trafficking ring and a serial bank robber.
Despite this track record, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats portrayed Jackson as tough on crime.
Republican Senators confirmed Judge Thapar, who told a child pornography offender "There [are] much more heinous criminals." But some won't confirm Judge Jackson, who told an offender "your crimes [are] among the most serious criminal offenses that this Court has ever sentenced."
— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) April 4, 2022
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials across the southwestern U.S. border are preparing for an unprecedented number of non-U.S. citizens crossing into the country in May, thanks to a recent White House announcement about Title 42.
One of those officials is Chris T. Clem who took over in late 2020 as chief of the USBP’s Yuma Sector, a 181,670 square mile area along the 126 miles of U.S. / Mexico border between California’s Imperial Sand Dunes and the Yuma – Pima county line.
Clem brought 25 years of agency experience with him, including time with the El Paso Sector. But nothing could prepare him for the challenges he and his team would experience just one year later.
In early December 2021, Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls declared a state of emergency after USBP Yuma Sector agents apprehended 6,000 people in five days. It was the same number of apprehensions the Sector made in an average month, and many others were able to get past the overwhelmed agents.
On one weekend in mid-December, Clem announced more than 2,600 undocumented non-U.S. citizens (UNCs) had been encountered . There have also been multiple water rescues the last few months from the Salinity Canal, which has a swift current and steep banks putting agents at great risk.
While the current apprehensions in Yuma Sector are no longer breaking records, Clem’s agents have continued to stop UNCs from getting into the country. Many have been violent criminals, such as Omar Martinez-Gomez, a Mexican national arrested in March after it was determined he had been convicted of aggravated assault domestic violence for strangling his pregnant girlfriend.
Also apprehended last month was Carlos Enrique Naranjo Angel for illegally entering the U.S. after agents discovered Angel, 48, was previously convicted of sexual conduct with a child age three or under.
But come May 23, all bets could be off if the Biden Administration follows through on threats to lift Title 42 authority at the border. Title 42 of the U.S. Code has, since the 1890s, given federal public health officials power to take extraordinary measures during a pandemic to limit the introduction of communicable diseases.
Former President Donald Trump, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, invoked the authority in March 2020 as a way to slow COVID-19 at the U.S.-Mexico border by permitting border officials to deny entrance to anyone trying to enter the country. Reports show that more than 1.7 million people have been turned away under Title 42 authority.
The recent decision to forgo Title 42 was made after “considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics,” the CDC stated. Now, federal, state, and local officials fear the number of UNCs trying to get into the U.S. along the entire southwestern border will jump from about 7,000 per week to that many or more per day.
U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema has called on President Joe Biden to not end the Title 42 directive until a “firm, workable plan” is in place. Doing so without a comprehensive plan will put Arizonans as well as immigrants at risk, the Senator said.
Last month, the Chief and Sinema took part in a virtual roundtable with federal and non-governmental organizations to discuss solutions to the border crisis. Clem also spoke with Sinema about the resources which will be needed to manage the flow of immigrants.
“I’m grateful for Chief Clem’s work in keeping Arizona communities safe, and I will continue working with him and all of our partners on the ground on identifying solutions to strengthen our border security and ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” said Sinema, Chair of the Senate Border Management Subcommittee.
USBP is part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is now headed by former Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus. In turn, Magnus reports to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Private companies are free to discriminate against a business which is connected in some way to the firearms industry, but they should not be able to contract with the State of Arizona or other public entities if they do so.
That is the gist of House Bill 2473, which would cut off government contracts to any company that will not certify it does not currently discriminate against a firearm manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler, supplier, or distributor, as well as a shooting range or firearm trade association. The company must also promise to not undertake such discrimination during the duration of the contract.
The intent is to prevent companies from using revenues procured from taxpayers to undermine the 2nd Amendment rights of those who paid for those contracts, according to HB2473’s sponsor, Rep. Frank Carroll.
HB2473 cleared the State House back in February and is now making its way through the Senate. Last week, Sen. David Gowan of the Senate Appropriations Committee welcomed testimony from people whose businesses have been impacted by discrimination against the firearms industry.
Among those who spoke was Tim Lowney, the vice president of operations for Sturm, Ruger & Company, which employees more than 400 Arizonans. Lowney told the committee that a few years ago Bank of America announced it would no longer do business with Ruger because it was part of the firearms industry.
“It was not based on any banking risks,” Lowney said, “We have a very strong balance sheet. We have virtually zero debt.”
Ruger, one of the top-rated gun manufacturers, was able to find another financial institution that wanted the company’s business, “but now that bank is starting to say the same thing,” Lowney said.
Carroll also addressed the committee, telling senators HB2473 “ensures corporations cannot benefit from contracts and subcontracts funded by taxpayers only to use their financial strength to unfairly discriminate against the firearm industry.”
His bill would apply to contracts valued at $100,000 or more offered by the State, a political subdivision of the state, or an agency, board, commission or department of the state or a political subdivision of the state.
The legislation stems in part from the Obama-era Operation Chokepoint to discourage -and in some cases, prevent- financial institutions such as banks and credit unions from providing services to a firearms manufacturer or even a neighborhood gun shop.
“Due to this deliberate action on the part of the Obama administration, some banks have ended relationships with legal and legitimate companies solely based on social and political views,” according to National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) which serves as the firearms industry trade association.
The position of NSSF is that corporations are “free to hold anti-Second Amendment policies if they choose” but should then forfeit their ability to compete in Arizona for public contracts which are funded by taxpayers.
HB2473 passed the Appropriations Committee and now awaits Senate President Karen Fann’s scheduling of a Third Reading to the full Senate.
The attention to attacks by private companies such as banks against the firearms industry comes as the NSSF recently released its 2022 Firearms and Ammunition Industry Economic Report.
According to the report, the industry generated more than $70.5 billion in revenue in 2021, driven by nearly 5.4 million new gun owners in 2021. And then there are the 375,000 jobs which support the industry and generated nearly $21.4 billion in wages at a time many industries were still reeling from the pandemic.
The NSSF reported about 169,000 of those workers are employed by gun and ammunition makers, wholesalers, and dealers. The other 206,000 or so are employed by suppliers and ancillary industries.
Nearly 12,000 of the jobs, along with $778,635 in wages, were based in Arizona, the report noted. That put Arizona in the top ten of total industry related jobs. The state is also in the top 10 states for federal excise taxes generated.
“The economic contributions of our industry are indisputably contributing to every state and every community,” NSSF CEO Joe Bartozzi said in a statement. “This is the hallmark of the hard-working men and women who prove that the American firearm and ammunition industry is strong.”
This past week, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) declared opposition to parental consent laws concerning abortions for minors. In remarks given to National Review, Kelly said he wouldn’t be an “arbiter of age,” insisting no age limit exists for when a minor should receive an abortion without parental consent.
“As a parent myself, somebody who has raised two daughters who are now in their mid-20s, I take this very seriously. But ultimately, I feel that young women at a certain age should have the right to make these kinds of decisions with their doctor,” said Kelly. “I’m not going to be the arbiter of an age and a timeline and red line [….] You know, people ask, ‘Is there a red line here?’ No. But I think it’s important for women to be able to make these decisions on their own, and not a bunch of folks in Washington making them for them.”
Kelly also admitted that he didn’t know or believe to be his concern the potential implications of a bill he’d voted for, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), on parental rights enshrined in Arizona’s parental consent law concerning abortions received by minors. Kelly suggested that concerned individuals such as the National Review reporter pose that question to Capitol Hill researchers.
“I think that’s something that you could, you know, reach out to the Congressional Research [Service] folks and figure out,” said Kelly.
Although Kelly argued that no age limit exists for when a minor no longer needs parental consent to receive an abortion, he’s argued that abortion on demand at any time in gestation, or “reproductive rights,” should be codified, effectively nullifying all state laws on abortion.
For almost 50 years, Roe v. Wade has guaranteed abortion access — and that can't change now.
I've co-sponsored the Women's Health Protection Act because we need to codify reproductive rights into law.
According to OpenSecrets, Planned Parenthood endorsed Kelly and donated nearly $10,000 to his campaign — the most they offered candidates’ campaigns. After his election, the Arizona political action arm of the national organization celebrated him.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich requested Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre to investigate the two-week suspension of the secretary of state’s signature-gathering system for candidates, E-Qual. The March 17 suspension lasted until Wednesday, five days before the April 4 deadline, disabling sections of the system for legislative and congressional candidates to submit their ballot-qualifying signatures.
Yesterday, our office referred a matter to the Cochise County Attorney to investigate and take any appropriate actions (civil and criminal) regarding the Arizona Secretary of State taking down the online E-Qual system. pic.twitter.com/izJsLPYbMf
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs warned candidates in January that she would suspend the system up until the signature-gathering deadline once the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) certified the new district maps. The forewarned shutdown not only caused backlash due to its impact on candidates’ signature-gathering efforts to qualify for the ballot — Attorney General Mark Brnovich warned Hobbs that such a shutdown would be illegal. In a letter, Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright warned Hobbs that she could face a class 3 misdemeanor — up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine — for not fulfilling her lawful duties, or even a felony with up to a year in prison for taking down E-Qual.
Upon receipt of the letter, Hobbs sued to prevent any prosecution. The courts didn’t take her side. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joan Sinclair ruled that Wright’s letter wasn’t legal action, but rather a notification of Hobbs’ legal duties.
“The letter itself notifies the Secretary that in the [attorney general’s] opinion, taking E-Qual offline during the candidate filing period would be ‘contrary to law.’ It further informs the Secretary that when a duty is imposed by Title 16 on a public officer, knowingly failing or refusing to perform that duty can be either a class 6 felony or a class 3 misdemeanor,” wrote Sinclair. “While the Secretary clearly viewed this as a threat, the letter did not promise or guarantee prosecution and thus does not create a controversy properly before the court.”
Despite warnings from the attorney general’s office, the sections of E-Qual for legislative and congressional candidates were suspended on March 17. Two weeks passed. Then on Wednesday, just five days before the signature-gathering deadline, Hobbs announced that the legislative and congressional candidates’ sections of the system were back online. She conceded that the shutdown had to do with necessary redistricting updates.
Thanks to a colossal effort by #SOS staff & county officials, E-Qual is back up ahead of schedule after necessary redistricting updates for Congressional & Legislative candidates. Voters can sign E-qual petitions for Statewide, Legislative, Congressional, & some local candidates. pic.twitter.com/irEOsn1rWq
— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) March 31, 2022
Just the day before, the entire E-Qual system experienced an outage anticipated to last past the April 4 deadline. Hobbs communicated that the outage was caused by a hardware malfunction. However, that unplanned outage was fixed within several hours.
Secretary of State Alert: the agency is experiencing a system-wide outage. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available. pic.twitter.com/uyUh0NivOv
— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) March 29, 2022
The anticipated outage would’ve most heavily impacted Maricopa County attorney candidates; the former attorney, Allister Adel, resigned last Friday, giving candidates just two weeks’ notice to gather enough signatures to qualify for the election.
NEW: In an emergency public meeting today, the Board of Supervisors accepted the resignation of County Attorney Allister Adel and called for an election to fill the upcoming vacancy. Read the full statement below: https://t.co/4lroRe7F7rpic.twitter.com/615FjQBOUB
Hobbs didn’t respond on social media to Brnovich’s requested investigation. Instead, the secretary of state opted to post about the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Today is International Day of Transgender Visibility. Let's stand with the trans community, whose rights are currently under attack. The two bills signed by Gov. Ducey do nothing but limit their ability to live their lives as they so choose. #TransDayofVisibilitypic.twitter.com/ZFpXehnAgU
— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) March 31, 2022
In a statement to the Arizona Daily Star, Hobbs called Brnovich’s request to investigate her for not doing her job “ridiculous.”
“The attorney general’s continued attacks on election officials across the state for doing our jobs is ridiculous,” said Hobbs.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
