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May 26, 2009

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Court Upholds Prop 8; State Continues To Recognize 18,000 Marriages

SAN FRANCISCO—Today, in a 6 to 1 decision, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, the ballot measure that eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry.  In the ruling authored by Chief Justice Ronald George, the Court stated “We emphasize only that among the various constitutional protections recognized in the Marriage Cases as available to same-sex couples, it is only the designation of marriage — albeit significant — that has been removed by this initiative measure.” At the same time, the court unanimously ruled that the more than 18,000 marriages that took place between June 16 and November 4, 2008 continue to be fully valid and recognized by the state of California. The decision reaffirmed the Court’s prior holding that sexual orientation is subject to the highest level of protection under the California Constitution.

In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Carlos Moreno stated, “The rule the majority crafts today not only allows same-sex couples to be stripped of the right to marry that this court recognized in the Marriage Cases, it places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities. It weakens the status of our state Constitution as a bulwark of fundamental rights for minorities protected from the will of the majority.”

“Today’s decision is a terrible blow to same-sex couples who share the same hopes and dreams for their families as other Californians,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who argued the case before the California Supreme Court in March. “But our path ahead is now clear. We will go back to the ballot box and we will win.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU represent Equality California, whose members include many same-sex couples who married between June 16 and November 4, 2008, and six same-sex couples. David C. Codell and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP are also counsel on the case. 

At a press conference this morning, all of the groups vowed to return to the polls to restore the right to marry for same-sex couples.

Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, said, “Same-sex couples yearn for the same dignity and respect that others enjoy. The current situation in California is fundamentally unfair, and it is deeply disappointing that the Court let this injustice stand. But we are committed to restoring equality at the ballot box.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU filed the legal challenge on November 5, after Proposition 8 was approved by just 52 percent of the voters on Election Day.

An unprecedented 43 friend-of-the-court briefs, representing hundreds of religious organizations, civil rights groups, and labor unions, and numerous California municipal governments, bar associations, and leading legal scholars, were filed in the case, urging the Court to strike down the initiative.

“Public opinion is moving in the direction of fairness and equality, and it is only a matter of time until the freedom to marry will again be secure for all Californians,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal. “Achieving equality always requires struggle, but over time people come to accept that equal treatment and equal protection of the laws is the best way to protect the rights of all.”

“By upholding Prop. 8, the Court has moved our state backward and has put all Californians at risk of losing fundamental rights at each and every election. Our Constitution must ensure that all Californians are treated equally by our government,” said Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California.  “Despite this injustice, we are prepared to return to the ballot box together with our allies to restore the freedom to marry.  As more and more states across the nation allow same-sex couples to marry, and as we continue our efforts to win the hearts and minds of Californians through real conversations in homes, in neighborhoods, online and on the air, we are confident that same-sex couples will soon enjoy the honor, dignity and protections that only marriage provides.”

The case is Strauss et al. v. Horton et al. (#S168047). For more information, go to: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/highprofile/prop8.htm

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.nclrights.org/overturn8

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. www.lambdalegal.org

The American Civil Liberties Union is America’s foremost advocate of individual rights. It fights discrimination and moves public opinion on LGBT rights through the courts, legislatures and public education. www.aclu.org

Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. www.eqca.org

http://cspanjunkie.org/

February 25, 2009 C-SPAN
Category: News & Politics
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ron paul congress congressman doctor economy bernanke hearing federal reserve banking bailout

Credit vs. Capital – On Transparency of the Fed

Last week the Federal Reserve responded to the American people’s increased concerns over our monetary policy by presenting new initiatives aimed at enhancing the Fed’s transparency and accountability. As someone who has called for more openness from the Fed for over 30 years, I was pleased to see the Fed acknowledge the legitimacy of this need.

The Federal Reserve controls the flow of money and credit in our economy because Congress has abdicated its responsibility over the nation’s currency. This process therefore occurs centrally, and almost completely outside the system of checks and balances. Because of legal tender laws, people are left with no real choice, except to build their lives and futures around this monopoly currency, vulnerable to powerful central bankers. The Founding Fathers intended only gold and silver to be used as currency, however, inch by inch over the decades, this country has backed away from this important restraint. Our money today has no link whatsoever to gold or silver. For many reasons, this is extremely dangerous, and has a lot to do with the boom and bust cycles that have resulted in the crisis in which we find ourselves today.

The Fed is now pledging to reveal to the public more about its economic predictions, and calls this greater transparency. This is little more than window-dressing, at best, utterly useless at worst. Many analysts, especially those familiar with the Austrian school of economics, saw the current economic crisis coming years ago when the Federal Reserve was still telling the American people their policies were as good as gold. So while it might be nice to know what fantasy-infused outlook the Fed has on the economy, I am much more interested in what they are doing as a result of their faulty, haphazard interpretation of data. For instance, what arrangements do they have with other foreign central banks? What the Fed does on that front could very well affect or undermine foreign policy, or even contribute to starting a war.

We also need to know the source and destination of funds provided through the Fed’s emergency funding facilities. Information such as this will provide a more accurate and complete picture of the true cost of these endless bailouts and spending packages, and could very likely affect the decisions being made in Congress. But with so much of the Fed’s business cloaked in secrecy, these latest initiatives will not even scratch the surface of the Fed’s opaque operations. People are demanding answers and explanations for our economic malaise, and we should settle for nothing less than the whole truth on monetary policy.

The first step is to pass legislation I will soon introduce requiring an audit of the Federal Reserve so we can at least get an accurate picture of what is happening with our money. If this audit reveals what I suspect, and Congress has finally had enough, they can also pass my legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve and put control of the economy’s lifeblood, the currency, back where it Constitutionally belongs. If Congress refuses to do these two things, the very least they could do is repeal legal tender laws and allow people to choose a different currency in which to operate. If the Fed refuses to open its books to an audit, and Congress refuses to demand this, the people should not be subject to the whims of this secretive and incompetent organization.

From:	thegreencross.org
Date:	Feb 12, 2009 10:31 AM
Subject:	This video will break your heart!
Body:	Hi, Have you heard that Ken Starr — and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund — filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year? The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, 2009, with a decision expected within the next 90 days. The Courage Campaign has created a video called “Fidelity,” with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law. Please watch this heartbreaking video now. If you have the same reaction that I did, you can help spread the word by sharing it with your friends ASAP — before the Valentine’s Day deadline: http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused by Prop 8 and Ken Starr’s shameful legal proceeding. After you watch the video, please join me and over 150,000 people who have signed a letter to the state Supreme Court, asking them to invalidate Prop 8 and reject Starr’s case. Thanks.

via MySpace.com.

On February 9, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called for the establishment of a “Truth Commission” to look into various unconstitutional actions by the Bush administration.  As Leahy described the commission, “such a process could involve subpoena powers and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecutions for anything accept perjury in order to get to the full truth.”

We don’t want “the truth.”  We already know the Bush administration authorized torture.  We already know they conducted warrantless wiretapping in violation of federal law.  We already know Bush administration officials defied congressional subpoenas.  What more do we need to know?

No, it is time for a criminal investigation led by the Department of Justice, with prosecutions where it is found that the laws of the United States have been violated.

So please fill in the information below and click on “Send My Message!” to tell Attorney General Holder to launch a full-scale criminal investigation of Bush administration activities.

via American Freedom Campaign- Tell Attorney General Holder to open a criminal investigation of Bush administration crimes.

Ron Paul was a very popular candidate, large base of supporters (I’m a PhD). With excellent credentials in Constitutional Law and down-to-earth common sense. His push to ABOLISH THE FEDERAL RESERVE would have helped more if it could have been implemented decades ago, when President Kennedy proposed it. But, better late than never.

read more | digg story

A Harvard Law School professor has launched a constitutional assault against a federal copyright law at the heart of the industry’s aggressive strategy, which has wrung payments from thousands of song-swappers since 2003.

read more | digg story

Airing Date November.6, 2008

Cnn: Ron Paul Interview On American Morning 10/06/08
Category: News & Politics
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New No on Prop 8 Ad Calls Upon Californians to Reject Discrimination. Narrated by Samuel Jackson.

Support the No On Prop 8 campaign by rating, commenting on, favoriting, and sharing this video with your friends. Find out more at http://noonprop8.com/ and on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/No-on-P…
Or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/noonprop8
Category: Nonprofits & Activism
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yes discrimination proposition prop california ca commercial gay lesbian marriage equality noonprop8 prop8 same sex constitution elect Samuel Jackson

constitutional.awallness, originally uploaded by freya.gefn.

this desktop has the full text of the 23rd edition of the CONSTITUTION of the United States with Index and The Declaration of Independence

The federal reserve caused the 700 billion dollar bailout. Share this video with everyone you know. The Rothschilds and the Bank of England, and the London banking houses which ultimately control the Federal Reserve Banks through their stockholdings of bank stock and their subsidiary firms in New York. The two principal Rothschild representatives in New York, J. P. Morgan Co., and Kuhn,Loeb & Co. were the firms which set up the Jekyll Island Conference The Federal Reserve was created with no constitutional authority in 1913, the Fed prints money out of thin air and loans it to the U.S. treasury at interest. This can only lead to one outcome: debt. Currently, the Federal Reserve is printing billions of dollars to bail out Wall Street while destroying the middle class and the dollar with inflation. If our country wants a sound and transparent monetary system, we need to abolish the Federal Reserve
Category: News & Politics
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political commercial news federal reserve banks bailout wall street amero new world order Alex jones ron paul obama mccain government inflation gold martial law economy