Tag Archives: State: Arizona

The Salt Lake Tribune: A bill advancing in the Arizona Legislature would abolish the police department in Colorado City, a northern Arizona community where state Attorney General Tom Horne says officers who are followers of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs flout the law.

MP3 audio 1 min.

The letter form Bishop Thomas Olmstead, dated Jan. 25, 2012 is here.

KTAR.com: Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Hurwitz was subjected to only a few light questions Thursday as the Senate Judiciary Committee considered his nomination to a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

East Valley Tribune: Education: Arneson contacted the Alliance Defense Fund after hearing about the organization through a friend, Scruggs said.
The Alliance Defense Fund is a “legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family,” according to ADF’s website. It is based out of Scottsdale. “These types of regulations on First Amendment rights are popping up on college campuses more and more often,” Scruggs said. “These places are devoted to the marketplace of ideas.”

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears at the TellADF Blog: Our Christian brother Ray Arneson finds his mission fields close to home. For two years, for instance, he made regular visits to the campus of South Mountain Community College, in his home town of Mesa, Arizona, to peacefully share the Good News with any students and other passers-by who showed an interest in hearing more about Jesus.

AP on Your West Valley News: Surprise: A group of Christian attorneys have filed a lawsuit against the Dysart Unified School District in federal court for prohibiting fliers for a Christian club. The suit was filed Thursday by the Alliance Defense Fund.

OneNewsNow.com: ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco says courts around the country have ruled such policies to be unconstitutional. “[Courts have ruled] that when the school district opens up a forum for outside groups to promote their events and activities to students and their parents, they have to grant equal access to religious organizations so they can promote their religious events and activities on equal terms,” the attorney explains.

The Republic: As long as the course is objective, it’s constitutional, said David Cortman, a lawyer with Phoenix-based Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group that supports the Bible classes.
“I believe it’s an extremely important type of course to provide just because our culture is so saturated with biblical reference and biblical allusions,” Cortman said.

AP on KTAR.com: The Arizona Republic says the suit was filed Thursday by the Alliance Defense Fund.

Tucson Citizen – News from The Arizona Republic: “The fliers of Christian groups shouldn’t be banned while other groups can freely invite students to their meetings and activities,” said Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, in a statement. “That’s the position of numerous federal court rulings, and Dysart’s flier policies fit the mold of those that have been declared unconstitutional.” [more . . . ]

Phoenix New Times: Other school districts have been sued successfully for doing the same thing, notes Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is providing legal services for the CEF along with the Center for Arizona Policy. He’s right: The Scottsdale Unified School District used to have such a policy, but a 2003 lawsuit brought with the help of the ADF reversed it.

News from The Associated Press: The race to replace Rep. Gabrielle Giffords begins in earnest Monday as the Arizona congresswoman’s planned resignation sets up a free-for-all in a competitive district.

ADF files suit for censoring Christian club’s flier as too ‘religious’

Center for AZ Policy Foundations Blog: Moments ago, two school choice bills were passed by the Arizona State Senate by a vote of 19-9-1.

KRGV.com: Three beheadings in two different states and they happened here in the United States, not Mexico.

Are school vouchers OK in Arizona?: Andrew F. Morrill, President of the Arizona Education Association, says S.B. 1553 violates our state constitution by diverting public funds to private schools.

Education News: A federal judge’s order has opened the door for more students in Tucson Unified School District to sue the state and challenge the constitutionality of the law that bans racially divisive courses in Arizona schools.

AZ Daily Star: The TUSD Governing Board voted to dismantle the contentious Mexican American Studies program in an effort to avoid losing millions in state funding.

AZCentral.com: Judge John Roll would never have allowed anything like this: a hall filled with his fellow judges and lawyers, friends and family, praising him in a special session of court until the superlatives echoed through the hall.

LifeNews.com: Now, an Arizona college student who is an employee of the Girl Scouts has quit her job after scouting leaders informed her she would have to turn her pro-life T-shirt inside out. Renise Rodriguez, a 21-year-old religious studies major at the University of Arizona, worked as a Girl Experience Associate for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona in Tucson.

FFRF.org: The Freedom From Religion Foundation, its Valley of the Sun chapter, and several FFRF members and Maricopa County citizens brought suit today against Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, challenging her annual Arizona Day of Prayer.

An Arizona federal court judge on Friday issued a temporary injunction to halt a new abortion law from going into effect on Jan. 1. The law restricts which groups Arizona taxpayers can donate to if they want to receive a tax credit.

CBS 5 – KPHO: Sheriff Joe Arpaio had his first run-in with a group of suspected illegal immigrants since things heated up with the Department of Justice.

LifeNews.com: A 21-year-old man has awaken from a coma just hours before doctors were ready to shut off life support and take his organs for donation purposes.

News from The Associated Press: Dozens of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jail officers lined up at a news conference in Phoenix Wednesday to ceremoniously hand in their federal credentials a week after they were stripped of the ability to verify the immigration status of inmates.

OneNewsNow.com: “President Obama and the band of his merry men might as well erect their own pink neon sign at the Arizona-Mexico border saying, ‘Welcome all illegals to your United States. Our home is your home,’” the sheriff responded.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s press release announcing its intentions is here. “FFRF is filing papers showing intent to appeal the decision to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and is also considering filing a similar case in state court.”

LaTimes.com: “Don’t come here and use me as a whipping boy for a national and international problem,” he said. “We are proud of the work we have done to fight illegal immigration.”

Rasmussen Reports: Voters continue to believe strongly that the federal government’s actions are encouraging illegal immigration even as the Obama administration announces bias charges against a popular Arizona sheriff for his anti-immigration efforts.

AZCentral.com: Planned Parenthood of Arizona will resume abortion services at its north Phoenix and Chandler clinics by the end of the month.

AZ Republic: The U.S. Department of Justice this morning accused the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office of racial profiling in traffic stops and immigration operations and discriminating against Spanish speakers in the county jails.

A federal judge has thrown out efforts to block Gov. Jan Brewer from declaring an official “day of prayer.”

Washington Times: n its notice, the court said Justice Elena Kagan had recused herself from the decision to take the case.

KOLD.com: The summary of the initiative argues that allowing only Indian tribes to run casinos in Arizona has created an unacceptable monopoly.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to to hear Arizona v. United States involving a challenging to SB 1070. The SCOTUS Blog case information page for that case is here. Today’s complete order list is here.

Fox News Radio 550 KFYI: Goldwater Institute wants to ban any government employee from working for a union while earning a government paycheck.

Latimes.com: People entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico are believed responsible for more than one-third of human-ignited wildfires in Arizona over a five-year period, according to a government report that could stoke congressional debate over illegal immigration.

ADF Attorney Steven Aden appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this. | MP3 audio 12 mins

A federal judge indicated Wednesday she may block the state from cutting off tax credits available to those who donate to organizations that tell their clients about abortions.

OneNewsNow.com: Steven H. Aden is an attorney with the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, one of the groups that defended the law. “A woman’s right to make a fully informed choice is more important than Planned Parenthood’s desire to profit from abortions,” says Aden. “Without this legal roadblock, women will now be better protected — and so will pro-life medical professionals whom the law protects from being coerced into participating in abortions.”

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund together with the Center for Arizona Policy, the Bioethics Defense Fund, and the Life Legal Defense Foundation defended the law.

The Washington Post: Most coverage of Tuesday’s night’s recall of state Senate President Russell Pearce (R) in Mesa, Arizona has focused on the fact that Russell authored the state’s controversial immigration legislation.

The Hill: Lawmakers in Arizona’s Republican-controlled Senate voted Tuesday night to oust the head of Arizona’s bipartisan redistricting commission, leaving the state’s congressional map uncertain and prompting Democrats to turn to the courts for relief.

A lawsuit has been filed seeking to block a new state law that would bar tax breaks for those who donate to groups involved with abortion providers.

Religion Clause:: In Salman v. City of Phoenix, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122387 (D AZ, Oct. 20, 2011), an Arizona federal district court dismissed on Younger v. Harris abstention grounds a challenge to the building code and zoning laws that prevented plaintiffs from using their home and a building on their property for weekly Bible study and prayer sessions with 40 to 50 family and friends.

ADF Attorney Steven H. Aden at the TellADF Blog: There was a precipitous drop in abortions over the last two months – just after the August 11 decision of the Arizona Court of Appeals affirming the constitutionality of the Abortion Consent Act in a case argued by the Alliance Defense Fund along with the state attorney general and the Speaker of the House, and Planned Parenthood’s ensuing August 18 announcement that it was ceasing chemical (“RU-486”) abortion services in seven clinics statewide.

J.D. Long-Garcia and Joyce Coronel at »The Catholic Review Online: The battle over conscience rights has been ongoing, said Nik Nikas, president and general counsel of the Bioethics Defense Fund. “When you stand for conscience,” Nikas said, “you are indicting others.” He told a story of a Catholic medical student who was mocked by his professor for stepping out during a sterilization procedure. Alan Sears, CEO of the Alliance Defense Fund, lauded legislation recently passed in Arizona that limits and restricts the right to abortion. Religious communities are an essential part of the fabric of America, he said, and their rights of conscience must be protected. “Those who are treated in Catholic hospitals and by people like you … receive better care,” Sears said.

This September, 729 abortions – that’s 324 fewer abortions – a 30% decrease,” Herrod explained.

The Republic: The number of abortions performed in Arizona dropped by about a third in September after new state laws tightened restrictions and requirements.

The Blog of Legal Times: Senators moved with relative speed to confirm Judge Jennifer Zipps after President Barack Obama nominated her in June.

Brewer seeks to deny gay workers’ partner benefits: Gov. Jan Brewer is asking the full 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to let it deny benefits to the domestic partners of the state’s gay employees.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman appeared on the Mike Siegel Show to discuss this. | MP3 audio 38:03 mins

News: Special Interests Sue to Remove Arizona Children with Special Needs From Private Schools: The Arizona Education Association (AEA) and the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) today filed yet another lawsuit to remove children with special needs from the private schools of their parents’ choice.

Arizona’s Abortion Consent Act upheld | Oregon Faith Report: Georgene Rice interviews Deborah Sheasby, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, regarding a recent decision by the Arizona Court of Appeals . . .

ADF Attorney Jim Campbell appeared on Koinonea with Tom Brown. | MP3 audio 11:19 mins | Related post and link to the opinion.

ADF Attorney Steve Aden at the TellADF Blog: On Thursday, August 11, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Horne, finding Arizona’s Abortion Consent Act constitutional. This meant major changes were going to take place in the way abortion mills provided services to women seeking to end the lives of their preborn children. | Also posted at RedCounty.com

WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is challenging Brewer over two proclamations.

East Valley Tribune: New restrictions on abortion are set to take Tuesday after Planned Parenthood Arizona announced Monday it would not appeal a ruling declaring them legal. But a court fight remains.

Center for Arizona Policy: Arizona’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, announced today that they would not appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court the Court of Appeals ruling which upheld the 2009 Abortion Consent Act.

Arizona cannot cancel the insurance benefits for the domestic partners of state and university workers who are gay, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

SCOTUSblog: Clement’s petition on S.B. 1070 reaches the Court.

LifeNews.com: After a new pro-life law going into effect caused Planned Parenthood to close or scale back at several locations throughout Arizona, the abortion business is announcing it is expanding its hours in Tucson to make up for it.

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears at the TellADF Blog: “Planned Parenthood has chosen to end their services rather than raise that standard of care to the same level as other medical care in the state,” says Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, a member of the ADF alliance which helped author the 2009 law.

Baptist Press: “If Planned Parenthood truly cared about what’s best for women, they wouldn’t be repeatedly going to court around the nation to stop laws that allow women to make fully informed choices,” said Steven Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which helped defend the law before the appeals court. “The court ruled rightly in this case in rejecting the arguments of the nation’s largest purveyor of abortion,” Aden said. “The protection of women is not unconstitutional.”

NewsMax: Republicans are attacking President Barack Obama for acting like a “king that is above the law” in deciding to pick and choose which illegal aliens to deport.

Kristina Bui at the Arizona Daily Wildcat: In a statement, Steven H. Aden, of the Alliance Defense Fund, said Planned Parenthood wouldn’t challenge laws that allow women to make informed decisions if it truly cared about the interests of women. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian nonprofit organization, was part of the legal team defending the act, and Aden argued the case in the Court of Appeals. “The court ruled rightly in this case in rejecting the arguments of the nation’s largest purveyor of abortion,” Aden said. “The protection of women is not unconstitutional.” It’s like women can’t be trusted to do anything right outside of the kitchen, including make their own decisions about their bodies.

WorldNetDaily: At the request of tea party leaders in Arizona, famed Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has promised to investigate the validity of Barack Obama’s purported long-form birth certificate in a determination of the president’s eligibility for the county’s 2012 election ballot.

LifeNews.com: “If Planned Parenthood truly cared about what’s best for women, they wouldn’t be repeatedly going to court around the nation to stop laws that allow women to make fully informed choices,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden, who argued before the Court of Appeals on June 14. “The court ruled rightly in this case in rejecting the arguments of the nation’s largest purveyor of abortion. The protection of women is not unconstitutional.” . . . “Everyone deserves full and accurate information before undergoing any medical procedure,” said Center for Arizona Policy Legal Counsel Deborah Sheasby, co-counsel and one of more than 2,000 attorneys in the ADF alliance. [more]

KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona: Planned Parenthood says it’s ending abortion services in three Arizona cities to comply with state laws that placed restrictions on abortions.

ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence (AzCADV) have filed a First Amendment challenge to an Arizona law that would exclude any nonprofit organization that provides abortion referrals or counseling from receiving donations through the state’s Working Poor Tax Credit Program. This law is part of a larger trend nationwide to punish those organizations that support women’s reproductive decisionmaking. | Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence vs. Arizona Department of Revenue (complaint)

he Arizona Court of Appeals Thursday found Arizona’s Abortion Consent Act constitutional and lifted a judge’s order that had stalled its implementation after Planned Parenthood filed suit.

LifeNews.com: “The Court acknowledged the Legislature’s right to pass legislation to protect the health and safety of women considering abortion,” said Deborah Sheasby, Center for Arizona Policy’s Legal Counsel. “This is a major victory for Arizona women.”
“If Planned Parenthood truly cared about what’s best for women, they wouldn’t be repeatedly going to court around the nation to stop laws that allow women to make fully informed choices,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden, who argued before the Court of Appeals on June 14. “The court ruled rightly in this case in rejecting the arguments of the nation’s largest purveyor of abortion. The protection of women is not unconstitutional.”

Religion Clause: In Salman v. City of Phoenix, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86984 (D AZ, Aug. 5, 2011), an Arizona federal district court dismissed a suit that had been brought by a couple who were born-again Christians who alleged that the city of Phoenix and certain city officials and employees had conspired to deprive them of their rights to the free exercise of religion . . .

Religion Clause:: The owners of a Tempe, Arizona apartment complex have paid Soha Abdelrahman and her husband, Hany Ibrahim, $197,500 to settle claims that Villatree Apartments discriminated against the couple because they were Arab, Egyptian and Muslim.