SCOTT Watch: DOJ Needs to CRIPA Mississippi ASAP.

Called the warden's and governor's offices this weekend, then yesterday put together a packet of info to send off to the Department of Justice, requesting a CRIPA (Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons) investigation complaining about health care, using both Jamie's and a few other documented examples of neglect/extreme indifference to prisoner health and welfare. It seems I did that once already. 

So, here's how to request a CRIPA, as far as I know. The more people who do this and the more sources of information we have about conditions, the more likely it is that the DOJ will follow up and clean house at the MDOC.

Send the Free The Scott Sisters campaign emails with copies of letters you write on Jamie's behalf for their records.

---------------------------------------------------------

Margaret J. Plews Arizona Prison Watch 1809 East Willetta Street Phoenix, AZ  850o6 arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com  480-580-6807

April 20, 2010

Judy Preston, Chief

US Department of Justice

Special Litigation Section

950 Pennsylvania Ave NW  PHB

Washington, DC 20530

Dear Chief Preston;

Enclosed is some documentation regarding health care in Mississippi’s state prison system. The dramatic change in inmate mortality alone should have alerted your office and triggered an investigation – please don’t delay starting one any longer. The conditions are horrendous, people are dying for lack of adequate medical care, and patients seem to be completely left in the dark about their own illnesses, treatment, prognosis, etc. I believe their civil rights are being violated routinely with grave consequence. The enclosed account of retaliatory behavior on the part of the prison for Mrs. Rasco’s activism troubles me, too. We need you folks in there ASAP or her daughter, Jamie, is going to die before she’s exonerated.

A wealth of additional documentation about the medical services in the CMCF can be found at http://mississippiprisonwatch.blogspot.com , or http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com . The welfare of Mississippi’s most vulnerable population – their prisoners, including Mrs. Rasco’s girls – is in your hands. Please at least read up on the blogs and see what we’re seeing; I don’t know how you all could not know what’s going on there. I’m getting mail from other women complaining about medical services in that particular facility, too, and expect more within the next couple of weeks. They are resisting their shoddy treatment, and writing and talking about it – there’s no better time than now to go in there…

Please let me know if your office will be following up on this complaint with a CRIPA investigation, or referring it to a more appropriate department for follow-up. Without question, though, we need some kind of federal intervention in Mississippi now. I may be asking for help in Arizona, next, but first things first.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Margaret J. Plews

Prison Abolitionist

The Quality of Mercy: Compassionate Release in America

National Prison Hospice Association

Medical Parole: Politics vs. Compassion

By Nina Quinn

Dostoevsky reminds us that society can be measured by how it treats its prisoners. And part of that measure must surely be the degree of compassion we show toward the dying. Yet compassionate release, or medical parole, is an under-used and too rarely granted option for terminally ill inmates in our U.S. prisons. 




While some form of medical parole legislation is in place in federal and state jurisdictions, it is often overly restrictive, narrowly interpreted, and muddied by political interests. Unfortunately, a lack of political will affects bureaucratic will and ultimately the number of dying released from prison.

Barry Holman of the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives sardonically states, "There is not much of a constituency for criminals in the United States." With overtones of Dostoevsky, he adds, "There is a lack of political and bureaucratic will to see dying in prison as a negative marker for what a prison system should be and society as a whole,"

Jack Beck; who has done a careful study of medical parole in New York State reports that not only are few people getting out, there is a downward trend. Both applications and releases are dropping. In 2000, out of 170 New York state prison deaths – most from medical reasons – 81 applied for compassionate release and only 12 were granted.

In New York, the current administration is against parole generally and this spills over to medical parole. This negative influence in not confined to New York. California and other states are facing the same antagonism and similar low release numbers.

Apart from negative political influence, there are other related obstacles. The eligibility criteria can be overly restrictive eliminating, people who are clearly terminally ill. The process can be convoluted and delayed resulting in many inmates dying in prison before their review is completed. In New York, the 2000 statistics show more than twice as many inmates died during the review process than were granted release.

When these three barriers of politics, criteria and process come together they virtually guarantee a fourth: lack of incentive to initiate applications.

While there can be various factors contributing to this, Beck points to a common theme of frustration and futility. The paper burden on the medical providers can be both excessive and judged a waste of medical time when so few are granted parole. Similarly, many prison staff with compassion for the dying, do not want to raise the inmates hopes and put them through the stress of a long waiting period only to have them die in the process or be refused.

Also, the establishing of Regional Medical Units (RMUs) and hospice programs make for a simpler alternative – transfer the inmate. The RMUs run on a fixed DOC's budget and there is incentive to keep the beds full. Plus it is quicker, less complicated, and does not require the additional work involved in a discharge plan.

Another obstacle Beck articulates is the failure to educate the staff and inmates about the program and the process. This is particularly important in states like New York where correctional staff can initiate but the prime responsibility is placed on the inmate. Beck notes that there are prisons and infirmaries within the state that do not, for whatever reasons; file any applications for their terminally ill inmates.

Other than holding our politicians to a higher standard, what else is required for effective compassionate release policy?

A first requirement is clear legislation that is free from murky political bias, compromise, and overly restrictive criteria. A clearly defined medical prognosis is required. One that includes all terminally ill inmates. It should be clear and factual enough that inmates and their doctors know if they meet the criteria. And it should be fair. 

In New York, where an incapacitation standard is used, some terminally ill are excluded because they can walk-they may die tomorrow but they are excluded because of the legislative restriction on self-ambulation.

Rather than an incapacitation model where the prime emphasis is on risk, Beck makes the case for a terminal illness diagnosis with a one-year life expectancy. Studies show that when a six months diagnosis is used, the median length of stay in hospice is roughly 30 days. One year would increase the possibility of the review process being completed before the applicant dies. Also, it would allow time for the patient to adjust and relate to his family or new surroundings.

Another requirement is that there be a clear separation between the medical prognosis and the assessment of risk upon, release. Medical staff should not be asked to assess risk but solely address the medical status and prognosis of the inmate. Risk assessment is the pervue of the criminal justice system.

It is at this stage that the process generally gets cumbersome and protracted. So many arms and voices within the criminal justice system are included that the inmate may be dead before a decision is reached. The political temptation to spread the risk and decision-making as broadly as possible needs to be reined in and the process streamlined. Maryland has a process that appears to run smoothly. What makes it particularly efficient is not only that they have kept steps to the necessary minimum, they have also mandated short timelines at each stage of the process. Any inmate applying for compassionate release knows that he or she will receive a decision no later than 30 days from the start of the process. In urgent cases, decisions have been made as quickly as one day.

Maryland also meets another requirement by mandating discharge planning as soon as the inmate is given a terminal diagnosis. This ensures that when the decision is made, everything is in place for the inmate's release.

Communication is also important. The system could benefit from staff being well educated on all aspects of the process and this information should be made available to inmates and their families, including language translation when necessary.

Finally, a key and critical requirement, is that when a doctor makes a terminal diagnosis a mandatory application for release is submitted and the process is started including discharge planning. This standardized application should be as simple and straightforward as possible.

http://www.npha.org/articles/Quinn7-1.html

accessed january 29, 2010

ARPAIO's Jail Health Care Crisis Continues.

In Arpaio's Jails, the Most Basic Healthcare is No Better Despite Years of Lawsuits and Investigations

by Lauren Gilger  

Phoenix New Times

Thursday, Apr 15 2010

 

When Bertha Oropeza was arrested last summer for marijuana possession, she didn't expect it to nearly cost her life.

But after 10 hours in Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue jail, Oropeza was unconscious, in cardiogenic shock with acute kidney failure at Good Samaritan Hospital. Meanwhile, no one at the jail could tell her family where she was. "She's been released" was their refrain.

Oropeza, 45, had been straightforward with jail personnel about needing medication, which is reflected in jail and hospital records, as well as in Oropeza's recollection.

When she was arrested, she tells New Times, she clearly remembers telling the officer who took her purse that she would need to take her pills again in an hour.

He told her to wait until she got to the jail.

As Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's guards took her through the intake process "they asked me when I last took it, and I told them," Oropeza says. "I'm thinking, 'Okay, they're gonna give me my medication.'"

They didn't, so she tried again, telling the guard checking her into the jail that she needed her pills.
"Well, you don't need them right now," he told her. "It's your own fault. What do you think this is, a hospital?"

Oropeza's medical history is summarized in Good Samaritan Hospital records, released by Oropeza to New Times: She was in a car accident in west Phoenix in 2005 that left her disabled and with chronic back and leg pain.

Oropeza says she spent a month in a coma and five months in the hospital after she was thrown from the passenger's side of a car. Her hip "came completely out of socket," she says, and she suffered extensive head trauma after hitting the pavement.

She regularly takes the painkillers morphine and oxycodone as well as the muscle relaxant carisoprodal, according to hospital records.

Jail employees definitely knew about her condition, county records show. At 9:49 a.m. — about the time Oropeza was booked into the jail — a note was entered in her file recording that she was on medication for chronic pain in her legs and back due to a car accident.

Still, she didn't get help.

Oropeza knew what would happen next: The pain in her legs would come back, her stomach would reject anything in it, her muscles would seize up, and her lungs would tighten.

"If I don't take my medication, then I get a withdrawal right away," she says.

She had no power to stop it from coming. It did.

In the first holding cell, waiting to be fingerprinted, Oropeza asked for a bag to throw up in. A guard handed her one.

She sat on the concrete floor in the corner of the cell, vomiting into the bag until it was full, unable to move as the pain in her legs crept back and the painkillers wore off.

When she asked for a second bag, a guard told her to use the trash can on the other side of the cell. But she couldn't get up to walk over to it.

"Just don't throw up on the floor," he told her.

She was struggling to breathe and still throwing up when another woman in the cell began to kick the door to get the guard's attention. Oropeza, afraid of angering the guard, begged her not to.
"No," the woman said. "You need help. You need help now."

When the guard finally came, he walked Oropeza down a long hall and told another guard on duty there to "take her down to medical," Oropeza remembers.

Standing at the end of the hall with the new guard, Oropeza felt increasingly dizzy. She grabbed a nearby chair because she felt like she was going to faint.

"Don't touch that chair," the guard yelled.

"You don't need nothing to hold on to. You just stand there," Oropeza remembers him saying.
She asked him whether she could hold onto the wall. He told her no.

"All you're doing is putting on a show to get out of here. We get it all the time," he said.

When he took her out of the hallway, it was to yet another cell — this one right outside the medical unit, where she could see the nurses through a window.

Oropeza begged the nurses for help, miming that she couldn't breathe. She says Arpaio's guard just laughed at her. The nurses didn't come.

By about 1:30 p.m., after at least three hours of vomiting and dry heaving in a cement jail cell, Arpaio's guards finally turned her over to Correctional Health Services, the medical unit of the jail, according to records.

She was handcuffed to a gurney. When she complained of being cold, "they threw paper over me," she says.

At a few minutes before 7 p.m. on June 2, CHS staff called an ambulance to come for Bertha Oropeza. It arrived at 7:30 p.m., according to records, a full six hours after she had entered the medical unit...

--------------------------finish article at PNT: worth it -----------------------

AZ Most Racist, Fascist in Nation?

One of several postcards that went out to the Governor today - I know it won't change her mind, but I thought she should know how we felt, anyway. I asked her to save us from the fascists taking over the Republican party. She may be our only hope.


Did everyone hear that Russ Pearce would like to be Sheriff if Arpaio steps down?

Thank god for the young people of this state. Sooner or later they're going to get those kinds of people out of power and set things here straight.

Romley appointed new Maricopa County Attorney

Congratulations, Mr. Romley. We will be in touch, and look forward to working with you.


Peggy Plews

--------------------------

Phoenix New Times: County Craziness

Rick Romley to Replace Andrew Thomas as New Maricopa County Attorney

By Sarah Fenske, Friday, Apr. 16 2010 @ 2:38PM

 

Rick Romley, the old (and now new) county attorney.

We called that one.

As New Times' Paul Rubin predicted last week, former County Attorney Rick Romley got the nod from the Board of Supervisors today to replace Andrew Thomas in his old job. Thomas, of course, resigned earlier this month to run for attorney general; Romley, who held the post for 16 years before retiring in 2004, was the odds-on favorite to replace him.

And, as Rubin had predicted, the vote was 4-1, with Fulton Brock the only "no."

We heard this morning that Sheriff Joe Arpaio is threatening a lawsuit over the Romley appointment. To that, we say "Bring it on!" And, perhaps, also, "Go f*&% yourself, Joe." (Really, does anyone see any legal grounds for a lawsuit here?)
 

(Check out Romley's first act after he was named county attorney here. Check out Arpaio's and Thomas' reactions here and here.)
 

Romley is a Marine who lost both legs above the knee in the Vietnam War. A longtime Republican, he endorsed Thomas to be his successor in 2004, but quickly grew to regret that choice.

In 2008, he endorsed Thomas' opponent, Democrat Tim Nelson, saying, "I can no longer stay silent." He's worked part-time for Attorney General Terry Goddard and as a legal consultant to the Board of Supervisors during its conflicts with Thomas.

Romley was one of four finalists for the job, culled down from 11 contenders by a four-man committee. He's agreed to run for reelection in November, after which (if successful) he'll serve the remaining two years on Thomas' term.

But he'll probably face a challenger in the Republican primary. Thomas' people really wanted a prosecutor named Bill Montgomery to be chosen for the job instead; Montgomery threw his hat in the ring but wasn't recommended by the four-man advisory panel.

Montgomery already has filed papers to begin his campaign for the job. And believe us when we say Sheriff Arpaio won't be threatening any lawsuits over his candidacy.

SCOTT Watch: Cruel and Unusual. Hospitalize Jamie Now.

This is really disturbing. If you land on this page, contact someone below for help for Jamie - don't just leave it to others. We need everyone on this.

----------------------------------freethescottsisters.blogspot.com-----------------

Jamie is still on the regular prison unit, she is not in the infirmary, nor has she been moved to the hospital. She is tired, weak, and ill. She has been vomiting at least twice a day and yesterday she vomited four times and has not been able to keep anything down. A possible cause mentioned involves phosphates, but the prison refuses to carry out the necessary blood test nor provide her with the proper nutrition indicated for dialysis patients as their care is notoriously cut-rate!

Her left arm, where the shunt is placed, is painful with lack of mobility and she has not been followed up by a doctor regarding that surgery as of this time. She received dialysis yesterday via the catheter in her groin and was given Heparin to insure that the catheter would not clog, however no mention has been made of the green pus or prior bleeding. She also is restarting insulin today and is on blood pressure medicine. It has been Jamie's past experience that mismanagement of her medications has contributed to her illnesses many times.

Jamie needs to be released so that her family can follow-up with proper care for her. We have a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the prison medical system and believe that she will die in there if she is not released! She's in end stage kidney failure and is being housed in a unit where there is mold and leaking water whenever it rains and is a breeding ground for infection. Jamie should be in the Medical Bldg. where her sister, Gladys, can care for her or better yet be hospitalized until she is completely stable. In fact, Jamie and Gladys have no business in that prison to begin with!

Many have asked about Gladys, as you can well imagine her prior depression has taken a downturn in her constant distress about her sister's rapidly declining condition. She has also lost considerable weight in  worrying about Jamie's issues as well as her own unjust incarceration and all that entails.

She definitely could use a card or a letter, as could Jamie, although Jamie's address fluctuates:

Gladys Scott, #19142
CMCF/B-Bldg.
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8550

Jamie Scott, #19197
CMCF/2A-B-Zone
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8550

We need everyone to use your contacts and networks to make something happen for these women. Please stretch out and send the press release, case summary, and flyer links out to everyone you know, post them to websites, blogs, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, everywhere there
is an audience to view it. Please sign, help distribute and mail-in the letter at the website to Chokwe Lumumba's office in the 10,000 letters campaign. We really you all to do whatever you can do to help us get the word out and to take initiatives on behalf of these women. We need to pump this up like never before. Let's try our very best to make sure that everyone we can think of is aware of this case.

Thank you all! Keep the pressure on!
------------------

More updates will be sent out as soon as they come available.

Christopher Epps, Commissioner of Prisons for the State of Mississippi
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Emmitt Sparkman, Deputy Commissioner
(601) 359-5610
esparkman@mdoc.state.ms.us

Margaret Bingham, Superintendent of Central Mississippi Corrections Facility
(601) 932-2880
mbingham@mdoc.state.ms.us
FAX: (601) 664-0782
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, Mississippi 39208

Dr. Gloria Perry, Medical Department (601) 359-5155
gperry@mdoc.state.ms.us

Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
HOTLINE: 202-353-1555
PHONE: 202-514-2000
202-307-6777 fax

PLEASE CONTACT POLITICIANS AND MEDIA

A complete list of politicians to send Scott Sisters info to is at:
http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4860375

A complete list of the media that we have listed (feel free to send to any others that
you wish to!) is at http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/2010/01/119-emergency-update.html

--
http://nancylockhart.blogspot.com

MLK Memorial Needs Your Support!

 Note how easy it is to help - and free. Just go to the bottom and check out the toolbar...

-------------------------------------------A Memorial to a Hero Needs Your Support!------------------------

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial will be the first on the National Mall to recognize a person of color and a man of peace, not a president or a veteran of war. In 1996 Congress authorized the Memorial Foundation to raise funds to establish a national memorial to honor the legacy of Dr. King on the National Mall. The memorial’s very existence signifies that we as a people believe Dr. King and his legacy deserve this esteemed placement in what can be considered America’s “Hall of Fame.”


We want to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by leading a collaborative funding, design, and construction process in the creation of a memorial to honor his national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change..

The vision of a memorial in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. is one that captures the essence of his message, a message in which he so eloquently affirms the commanding tenants of the American Dream — Freedom, Democracy and Opportunity for All; a noble quest that gained him the Nobel Peace Prize and one that continues to influence people and societies throughout the world. Upon reflection, we are reminded that Dr. King's lifelong dedication to the idea of achieving human dignity through global relationships of well being has served to instill a broader and deeper sense of duty within each of us— a duty to be both responsible citizens and conscientious stewards of freedom and democracy.

Mission:

Dr. King championed a movement that draws fully from the deep well of America's potential for freedom, opportunity, and justice. His vision of America is captured in his message of hope and possibility for a future anchored in dignity, sensitivity, and mutual respect; a message that challenges each of us to recognize that America's true strength lies in its diversity of talents. The vision of a memorial in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. is one that captures the essence of his message, a message in which he so eloquently affirms the commanding tenants of the American Dream — Freedom, Democracy and Opportunity for All; a noble quest that gained him the Nobel Peace Prize and one that continues to influence people and societies throughout the world. Upon reflection, we are reminded that Dr. King's lifelong dedication to the idea of achieving human dignity through global relationships of well being has served to instill a broader and deeper sense of duty within each of us— a duty to be both responsible citizens and conscientious stewards of freedom and democracy.


Location: National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Landscape: Natural elements – water, stone, trees – are used to underscore the themes of justice, democracy and hope, and love.

Composition and Space: This memorial is not designed to be experienced in a single way with one single message, but rather it is to have a broad accessibility, appealing to all of the senses with diverse, repetitive and overlapping themes.


1. Why build a Memorial to Dr. King?

More than a monument to a great humanitarian, the National Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be a place for visitors from all over the world to be energized by its extraordinary power; the power that illuminated the faith of our founders and now impels us toward our destiny as a nation; the power flowing from the uniquely American spirit of brotherly love, freedom, justice, and the priceless blessing they endure...peace.

2. Why build the Memorial now?

Dr. King once reminded the nation of “the fierce urgency of now” while warning against “the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” The time is now a historical perspective. Many young people have heard of Dr. King, but are unaware of the significance of his contributions to America and the world. The design has been established; the site is secured; the fundraising teams are already at work; and more than $106 million of the campaign goal has been raised. The time is now.

3. What will the Memorial look like?

The Memorial is conceived as an engaging landscape experience to convey four fundamental and recurring themes throughout Dr. King’s life – democracy, justice, hope, and love. Natural elements such as the crescent-shaped-stone wall inscribed with excerpts of his sermons, and public addresses will serve as the living testaments of his vision of America. The centerpiece of the Memorial, the “Stone of Hope”, will feature a 30-foot likeness of Dr. King.

4. When will the Memorial be completed?

The Ceremonial Groundbreaking occurred on November 13, 2006. The Dedication of the Memorial is tentatively scheduled for the Fall of 2011.

5. How much will the Memorial cost?

It is estimated that the total cost of the project will be $120 million. Of that amount, more than $106 million has been raised.

6. What can I do to help?

Individuals as well as corporations can add their financial support to this effort. Contributions, large and small, are needed to attain our goal of $120 million. Spread the word to your friends, neighbors and acquaintances that their donations are urgently needed.Most major employers match employee donations, so if you donate to the Memorial Foundation your employer may double that amount.

Dr. Martin Luther King is remembered as a great orator whose impact on the nation came from the eloquence and inspirational quality of his words. His speeches, sermons and public addresses melded themes of democracy deeply embedded in the American conscience, and reinvigorated these messages with clear and insightful reflections on the true meaning of justice and equality.

Within the memorial, quotes from Dr. King's sermons and speeches, arranged chronologically according to his life, are to be inscribed at a large scale on the glistening smooth surfaces of the water wall. These passages will be reinforced through the referential use of water, stone and light as metaphorical elements that heighten an awareness of his message.

Visit the A Memorial to a Hero Needs Your Support! website and while there, take a minute to download the MLK toolbar - For every search your perform using the toolbar $.05 will be donated to the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. You can also find out how to donate via text, or have your kids log on and enter the Kids for King Education Initiative. It’s easy to enter. Children can write an essay, create a piece of art, or produce a short video expressing what they have learned about Dr. King’s ideals of Democracy, Justice, Love and Hope as well as how they plan to carry the legacy forward.

Free Tim Benjamin.

Lovers in a Dangerous Time.

Bach Open School Playground. 

Ann Arbor, Michigan. Winter, 1993.

Chomsky on Fascism; VETO SB 1070.

I will have more on yesterday's Capitol protest later; this seemed relevant, though. Chomsky describes the Tea Party contingent well. They were there yesterday - indistinguishable from JD supporters, hundreds of ranchers, and rabid anti-immigrant forces. Hundreds of them, all told. And maybe 25 of us, mostly youth of color. Our opposition has no foundation for their claims, so they just called us names ("losers", "idiots") and told us to "go back to Mexico" (I'm a direct descendant of the first Pilgrim Governor, actually, and carry Brigham Young's genes in my blood). 

Actually, I'm surprised I wasn't assaulted by one of the anti-immigrant  people, because they were so agitated that a few of the women chased after me screaming when I went by them with DREAM Act fliers ("how about the 'Go Home Act'?"). Terrified people are easily exploited by men like Pearce and Thomas, and they turn into vicious, vindictive, brutal, entitled, racist, fascist beings. 


Just watch what they do to us next - to both the migrants and their sympathizers. After yesterday's event, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Arpaio was elected as a Human Rights commissioner or something by AZ voters. As for us - I think we'll see lynching come back soon - or at least a surge in vigilantism/hate crime, police harassment, and abusive prosecutions against racial and political minorities in this state.


Boy, was there a lot of hate and fear on the State House lawns yesterday, and it wasn't coming from us. We know the arc of the universe bends towards justice - our kind, not theirs. We will work with her timeline. The Pearce/JD/Tea Party/White Supremacist crowd are the ones who are so afraid of the world out here that they have to carry guns everywhere - even though we're really the ones (the poor) who get gunned down the most.

SB 1070 passed the House and goes to the governor now, by the way.


This will be a dark era in Arizona's history. We might as well have segregated bathrooms and Jim Crow laws...


Actually, I guess we do. 


We are already the most fascist state in the country, and the lemmings here - all caught up in their own self-interest and privilege and fear - have no idea what has just been done to democracy...having forfeited the rights of others, we have forfeited our own.

All out of fear.

More people - US veterans, even - have been killed by the lack of health insurance this year than those killed by every single possible nuance of illegal immigration that can be milked from crime statistics. So, this has nothing to do with public safety or welfare, or Russ Pearce would have led the charge for health care reform and other things that really could save a lot of American lives. He's destroying the fabric of our Constitution instead - and the Republican Party is bending over backwards to help the likes of him. 

They're doing it because they know that under a true democracy they would have to share power. These people are convinced that not only do they not have to share anything, but that asking them to share any kind of resource, even in a  recession, is a direct assault on their liberty, livelihood, and even family. Thus the violent reaction to health care reform from this small segment of the community. They have intimidated their own party members into bowing down to fascism in the legislature.


That's pretty troubling, because that means that people like my grandpa and my dad, who are anti-racist at heart, despite being Republican white men, are being taken in by the flag-waving rhetoric and exploited to support things they would give their lives to fight against if they had even a clue of where we are heading. Hell, Dad already spent his life fighting this.

But even good people led astray can be capable of horrible things...there is nothing my dad wouldn't do to protect his family if we were under attack. We have to somehow make it harder for Pearce et al to turn our resistance to them into attacks on our neighbors, or we are all doomed.

--------------

Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America

By Matthew Rothschild, 

The Progressive 

April 12, 2010 

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States.

“I’m just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler’s speeches on the radio,” he said, “and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering” here at home.

Chomsky was speaking to more than 1,000 people at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, where he received the University of Wisconsin’s A.E. Havens Center’s award for lifetime contribution to critical scholarship.

“The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime,” he said.

He cited a statistic from a recent poll showing that half the unaffiliated voters say the average tea party member is closer to them than anyone else.

“Ridiculing the tea party shenanigans is a serious error,” Chomsky said.

Their attitudes “are understandable,” he said. “For over 30 years, real incomes have stagnated or declined. This is in large part the consequence of the decision in the 1970s to financialize the economy.”

There is class resentment, he noted. “The bankers, who are primarily responsible for the crisis, are now reveling in record bonuses while official unemployment is around 10 percent and unemployment in the manufacturing sector is at Depression-era levels,” he said.

And Obama is linked to the bankers, Chomsky explained.

“The financial industry preferred Obama to McCain,” he said. “They expected to be rewarded and they were. Then Obama began to criticize greedy bankers and proposed measures to regulate them.

And the punishment for this was very swift: They were going to shift their money to the Republicans. So Obama said bankers are “fine guys” and assured the business world: ‘I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.’

People see that and are not happy about it.”

He said “the colossal toll of the institutional crimes of state capitalism” is what is fueling “the indignation and rage of those cast aside.”

“People want some answers,” Chomsky said. “They are hearing answers from only one place: Fox, talk radio, and Sarah Palin.”

Chomsky invoked Germany during the Weimar Republic, and drew a parallel between it and the United States. “The Weimar Republic was the peak of Western civilization and was regarded as a model of democracy,” he said.

And he stressed how quickly things deteriorated there.

“In 1928 the Nazis had less than 2 percent of the vote,” he said. “Two years later, millions supported them. The public got tired of the incessant wrangling, and the service to the powerful, and the failure of those in power to deal with their grievances.”

He said the German people were susceptible to appeals about “the greatness of the nation, and defending it against threats, and carrying out the will of eternal providence.”

When farmers, the petit bourgeoisie, and Christian organizations joined forces with the Nazis, “the center very quickly collapsed,” Chomsky said.

No analogy is perfect, he said, but the echoes of fascism are “reverberating” today, he said.
“These are lessons to keep in mind.”

Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine.

Tax Day Tea Party with Sheriff Joe!

TAX DAY TEA Party At Freestone Park 
March 31, 2010 By: Freedom 
The East Valley TEA Party presents:
http://evtpp.com/

TAX DAY T.E.A. Party With Sheriff Joe!

On Tax Day Thursday April 15, 2010
At Freestone Park in Gilbert, AZ
From 11AM – 1PM

Freestone Park,1045 E Juniper Rd, Gilbert
(At the corner of Lindsey and Juniper Roads-between Guadalupe and Elliot Rd)

Don’t miss this dynamic event!

• The T.E.A. Party Story! The inspiring journey of the T.E.A. Party movement: How far we’ve come, where we stand today and where we will be going in 2010 and beyond!

• Meet the groups! The various conservative groups that will be at the event will introduce themselves and invite YOU to join them in the fight to take back our country!

• Meet the candidates! There won’t be any stump speeches at this event. Conservative candidates will be on hand to LISTEN to YOU one on one!

• Take the pledge! Rudi  K of  Mainstreet Outloud will lead us in the pledge to defend our constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic!

• Guest Speaker! SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO

• Get Involved! Peruse the various tents and tables of T.E.A Party and other conservative organizations in the East Valley. Join the group of your choice and join the fight to take back America!

• Sign planting! Visit the “Sign Planting Table” to get your street corner assignment. Your homemade tax day protest sign will join forces with other anti-tax signs (No On Prop. 406 and No On Prop. 100) on street corners throughout the East Valley because we are Taxed Enough Already!

• Sound Off! Citizens will take turns telling us why they are Taxed Enough Already!

• Food! The Gilbert Kiwanis Club will sell hamburgers, hotdogs, nachos and candy for the whole family!

• Music and more! T-Shirts will be sold by Artcraft Sports Apparel/ Patriotic buttons sold by East Valley Tea Party Patriots. Staging provided by Y-NOT Party Rental / Sound system provided by the Harry Mathews Show

• FREE! It doesn’t get any better than that! This event is the product of lots of hard work by countless volunteers.

Special thanks to everyone who stepped up!

SCOTT WATCH: Urgent Hospitalization Needed.

Called Commissioner Epps, Dr. Perry, and the US Department of Justice, leaving messages for all. Specifically asked the DOJ to initiate a CRIPA Investigation of the MDOC immediately re: women's health care.


More people need to do that - call the DOJ and ask for a CRIPA investigation, telling them why. CRIPA is the "Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act", the DOJ HAS to investigate if given good cause to believe that  a pattern of violating civil rights is occurring (cruel and unusual health care is a constitutional violation that they are responsible for), and the pressure of an investigation may help to save Jamie's life right now- as well as the other women suffering like her behind those walls.


So, call them, fax the DOJ copies of documents we can pull off line about Jamie's health care crises, etc. - then they have paper copy in hand, with paper trails leading right to them, which no one can deny. All of us are witnesses, from wherever we are in the world. It's astonishing to think that the DOJ could claim to be so blind to Mississippi in 2010.


Too bad Holder's up for the new Supreme Court position. That makes it all the less likely, ironically, that he'll exhibit courage and liberate or protect anyone right now. So, we need to put the pressure on.


In solidarity with the women in Mississippi's prisons, from your free friends and radicals in Phoenix. Rock on.


Let's get Jamie through this, and be sure not to leave any of the other women fighting with her behind. 

Peg

---------------------- http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com-------------------------

4/13 URGENT JAMIE SCOTT MEDICAL UPDATE!
 

Jamie Scott is again in medical crisis and we are asking everyone reading these words to push the prison to hospitalize her!

Jamie woke up last night in a puddle of blood from the painful catheter in her groin area. The catheter had green liquid, showing signs of infection. The guard called the doctor and was told to clean her up, change her bandage, give her a Tylenol, and send her back to her unit without anyone examining her at all! When she arrived back at the building she began vomiting uncontrollably and is still unable to keep anything down as far as we know. The most recent update today is that she is in the prison clinic and not in the hospital.

We need the prison to know that we are on top of what's going on and that Jamie Scott needs to be hospitalized now.

More updates will be sent out as soon as they come available.

Christopher Epps, Commissioner of Prisons for the State of Mississippi
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Emmitt Sparkman, Deputy Commissioner
(601) 359-5610
esparkman@mdoc.state.ms.us

Margaret Bingham, Superintendent of Central Mississippi Corrections Facility
(601) 932-2880
mbingham@mdoc.state.ms.us
FAX: (601) 664-0782
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, Mississippi 39208
Dr. Gloria Perry, Medical Department (601) 359-5155
gperry@mdoc.state.ms.us
Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
HOTLINE: 202-353-1555
PHONE: 202-514-2000
202-307-6777 fax
PLEASE CONTACT POLITICIANS AND MEDIA

A complete list of politicians to send Scott Sisters info to is at:
http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4860375

A complete list of the media that we have listed (feel free to send to any others that
you wish to!) is at http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/2010/01/119-emergency-update.html

Border Action Network on SB 1070.

From the Border Action Network:

----------------

Urgent State Action Alert!

The KEY VOTE on Russell Pearce's SB1070 will be this Tuesday!

For the last seven weeks we have been fighting what would become the nation's toughest, most far-reaching anti-immigrant law in the nation. Your emails, phones calls, faxes and postcards have slowed the bill down.  In fact, we were told over a month ago that this bill was a done-deal! But it's not over yet. 

 
On Tuesday, April 13th the House Committee of the Whole will vote on SB1070. This is the last vote in which debate will actually happen.  We must defeat this bill and we must defeat Russell Pearce!  

Click Here to Take Action

If you have any doubts about Pearce's irrational, single-minded focus on pushing immigrant families and everyone in the state further down the path of backwards policies, watch an interview with the Senator on the Sunday Square Off:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid65110967001?bclid=65043824001&bctid=77039865001

 

Note: not a single statistic he tosses out is true. We'll get to that another day…

 

Here's what is happening:

A bill needs 31 affirmative votes to pass the Arizona House of Representatives. The Democrats assure us that they are voting against the bill. There are 35 Republicans in the House. There are 3 who have said they are opposed to bill and will vote against it.  There are a half dozen others in the fence because they have concerns - from churches being potentially charged criminally for "harboring," to no protections for victims or witnesses of crime, to the hidden costs this bill could mean to Arizona, to everyone, regardless of their immigration status, having to carry identification or else risk arrest. 

But some of these concerns could be placated by amendments that will be introduced on the floor on Tuesday. Russell Pearce swears he has the votes…let's make even more of a liar out of him!

Here's what you can do

1. Forward this action to everyone in your address book (you will be shown how after you send your email).

2. Send an email and call your two representatives TODAY and TOMORROW. Their phone numbers will be listed after you submit your Zip Code and before you send your email.

3. If the bill passes on Tuesday, we will return to the Governor's office on Wednesday, April 14th to deliver thousands more postcards at 12:00pm. Please join us!

Senator Pearce responds to critics.

Senator Pearce's response to my weekend email volley. All the fonts, colors, etc. below are his, directly from the email. The content is intact and unaltered.

I respect him enough to let his comments speak for themselves, and not editorialize further on this post - I appreciate that he took the time to reply to my concerns, even though we deeply disagree.

----------------------

From: Russell K. Pearce <rpearce@azleg.gov>
Date: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Subject: RE: [Prison Abolitionist] Racist, Fascist SB 1070 "Illegal is not a race..."
To: Margaret Plews <mplews@asu.edu>

Illegal is not a race, it is a crime.  What disrespect you have for the law and for the damage to Americans.  This legislation simply takes the handcuffs off from law enforcement.   50% of homicides in Phoenix involve illegal aliens.  Enough is enough. 

“If it be asked, what is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be an inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws” — Alexander Hamilton.

A Congressional report indicates that 9,000 Americans are killed every year by illegal aliens.  25 per day, 12 by stabbings and shootings and 13 by DUI and related crimes.  That is just collateral damage to the deceptive, treasonous, open border crowd.  Enough is enough. 

Today the only reasons our immigration laws are not enforced are Political, not a lack of Authority.

The last four (4) Propositions I placed on the ballot in '06 passed by an average of 75% of our citizens. 

In accordance with the Unanimous endorsement of a Resolution by the State Republican Party and the Maricopa County Republican Party at their annual organizational meetings with over 1400 PC's present in support of our citizens Constitutional right to have our laws enforced and recognizing the damage in cost in crime and dollars to Arizona citizens and taxpayers.  No more Catch & Release.  We the legal and lawful citizens demand the enforcement of our laws. 

"SUPPORT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD ACT" 

1. Illegal Sanctuary Policies: Eliminates ALL sanctuary cities in this state and allows legal citizens the right to sue their government for violating this law. 

2. Trespass: Makes entering or remaining in Arizona in violation of federal law a state crime and "allows" law enforcement to arrest them on trespass violation or just call ICE to take them and deport them. (law enforcement's choice).  This allows them to hold those that are being investigated for serious crimes and not have deported before the investigation is completed.

3. Day Laborer Enforcement:  Makes it illegal for an illegal alien to solicit work (day laborers) and makes a misdemeanor for anyone with a license to do business in Arizona to pick up any day laborer without filling out a employment application.  Combined while committing a criminal act, makes it a state crime to aid, harbor, conceal transport or attempt to aid, harbor, conceal or transport an illegal alien for work with a mandatory impoundment of their vehicle under 28-3511 for 30 days.  With a mandatory $1000 fine per illegal alien being transported.

Closing our borders is a must; however it must be coupled with interior enforcement. 

Attrition by enforcement. 

Strict enforcement.  It is time to renew our efforts to end ALL sanctuary policies in our states and our nation: Require officials to fully enforce federal immigration laws of the United States. NO MORE TAXPAYER BENEFITS OF ANY KIND, No Amnesty, No retreat, No surrender.  We will take back America one state at a time.   It starts here!!!!! 

 My personal background in law enforcement has given me a unique and in-touch perspective with the needs and hazards experienced by rank-and-file police officers and the threats to our citizens. www.russellpearce.com

In this effort I am proud and delighted to have the support of: 

 (9 of 15 Arizona Sheriffs have endorsed   this legislation) 

ENDORSED BY:  Polls show 75/80% of Arizonans 

Arizona State Republican Party (by Resolution) 

Maricopa County Republican Party ( unanimous with over 1400 PC's present ) 

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe 

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas 

Pinal Co. Sheriff Babeu 

Mohave Sheriff Sheahan 

Yavapai Sheriff Waugh 

Cochise Sheriff Dever 

Gila Sheriff Armer 

Navajo Sheriff Clark 

Graham Sheriff Allred 

Greenlee Sheriff Tucker 

Az FOP 

Arizona Police Association 

Phoenix Law Enforcement Association 

Glendale Police Association (87% of officers in support)

Chandler Police Association

Scottsdale Police Association

Tempe Police Association

Mesa Police Association

Maricopa Deputy's Law Enforcement Association 

Border Patrol Officers Association 

Arizona Highway Patrol Association 

Col. Albert Rodriguez - You Don't Speak for Me 

Arizona African American Republican Club 

Arizona Republican Assembly 

The Pachyderms 

Anna Gaines - American Citizens United 

Arizona's Liberty Caucus 

NAILEM, American Citizens United 

NumbersUSA 

F.A.I.R., Team America 

9-11 Families For a Secure America 

ALIPAC, Sheet Metal Workers Union 

Cement & Plasters Unio 

Sheet Metal Union

and many more.

I cannot stand by and be a spectator to the death, maiming or damage to another police officer, citizen or taxpayer by an illegal alien because we refuse to enforce our laws and fail to put America and Americans First.

Simply enforce our laws and you will see less crime, lower taxes, smaller class sizes, shorter lines in our emergency rooms and reduce deaths, murders, maimings, drugs, home invasions, car jackings, kidnappings, jobs taken from Americans, reduced wages, an ultimately save the taxpayer billions of dollars. We cannot afford to "NOT" enforce our laws. Attrition by Enforcement.

This is the “only” law we allow our elected officials to put conditions on before our police officers can do their job. The only criminals that get conditional protection from our elected and appointed officials that dictate under what circumstances an officer may ask.  In many cities it requires another crime and another victim before action can be taken.

Citizens have a constitutional right to expect the protection of federal laws which prohibit unauthorized activities by non-citizens and are denied equal protection by law enforcement, police departments or magistrates when they fail to enforce those laws.

I PLEDGE TO CONTINUE TO WORK TO ELIMINATE ALL SANCTUARY POLICIES IN THIS STATE, SECURE OUR BORDER, STOP ALL PUBLIC BENEFITS TO THOSE HERE ILLEGALLY, PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORHOODS THE BOTTOM LINE IS: THE RESULT WILL BE LESS CRIME, LOWER TAXES, SMALLER CLASSROOMS, SHORTER EMERGENCYROOM LINES, SAFER NEIGHBORHOODS, AND JOBS FOR AMERICANS AND A RESPECT FOR THE RULE OF LAW.

Many of our Politicians and Police Chiefs are in complete violation of their Oaths of Office while citizens and taxpayers pay the price.

As former Chief Deputy of Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, former Judge and now a lawmaker, I witnessed a day that I couldn’t imagine: Police chiefs throughout the Valley stood together and proclaimed their opposition to enforcing the law in complete Violation of their Oath of Office, just days after Phoenix Officer Erfle was murdered by an illegal alien.

 I sat ashen as I watched the news reports.  The chiefs of police, including Phoenix’s Harris, former Mesa’s Gascon, stood at a Press Conference and publicly refused to enforce the law. Less than a month after the brutal murder of officer Erfle at the hands of an illegal alien, they snub the opportunity to make necessary changes, all for the sake of political correctness.

 Death and maimings of police officers & citizens by illegal aliens:
 Rob Krentz,  Officer’s Figueroa, Erfle, Atkinson, Sitek, Eggle, Collins, Epling, Deputy’s Pearce & Argetsinger, Sgt. Tapia, Martin, Fass, Kirpnick, Schechterle, Gilbert mother killed, Jason Iraq veteran, Mother a "legal immigrant" killed, triple homicide, 3 illegals beat pregnant woman, 5 illegals kill principal, Feds arrest 2,100 violent criminal aliens, deputy in hit and run, Trooper Shot to Death, Day laborer killed girlfriend's baby, Muslim from Bosnia - Killed 5 in crowded shopping mall, Sniper, John Lee Malvo, required by law to be immediately deported. Instead, released Malvo and his cohort killed 10 people, two disabled teenage daughters raped Salvadoran street gang, Dep. March killed, Tricia Taylor lost both her legs, 10 year old Walter Valenzuela murdered, Kimberley Hope murdered, 5 year old Ana Cerna murdered, Joseph Crummy murdered, Amber Merkle only 8, killed, Vinessa, 23, brutally raped & murdered, and the list goes on.
9,000 Americans killed each year, 25 each day, 12 by stabbings and shootings, 13 by DUI and related crimes (Congressional Report; Drawing a Line in the Sand).
Study: 1 million sex crimes by illegals; More than 100 sex offenders crossing border daily Deborah Schurman-Kauflin: Based on a one-year in-depth study, a researcher estimates there are about 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States who have had an average of four victims each.

 Police officers have the inherent authority to uphold city, state and federal law (the law is clear and the courts have codified that authority and the Constitutional authority is clear). These officers witness the harm done to innocent Arizonans on a daily basis while their superiors instruct them to ignore their oath of office. Officers on the street have the legal authority, will and desire to enforce the law but the hierarchy stands against them, more interested in PC and harboring illegal aliens, rather than doing their job of protecting lawful citizens and that of “Public Safety”.

 The more than 800,000 state and local law enforcement officers in the United States constitute a vital force multiplier. Most importantly, state and local police officers represent a critical line of defense in the war against terrorism. In the six months before 9/11, there were four tragic missed opportunities to arrest the leaders and pilots of the 9/11 terrorists. Had the federal government acquired & disseminated information about basic civil immigration violations to local law enforcement through the NCIC system, several terrorists might have been arrested, and the 9/11 plot might have unraveled. The 4 ring leaders all had been stopped by law enforcement just prior to 9/11 and all in violation of immigration law. As George Santayana reminded us: “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. . . . Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

 While “We the People” debate the action or lack thereof from the federal government, our cities, neighborhoods, our streets have turned into war zones. Legions of illegal alien gangs fight for the right to smuggle drugs and people. An illegal alien pulled over by police for a traffic offense has no worries about facing anything more than a small fine, many of our Chiefs prefer to wait until they kill someone of commit a serious felony. A congressional Homeland Security Committee report estimates that illegals kill over 9,000 Americans a year; annually they kill twice the number of Americans than the brave soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq to date.

Many of these have prior contacts or arrests and still remain in the U.S. Enough is enough. Had our laws been enforced 9-11 probably would have been averted.  4 of the 5 pilots and main conspirators in the 9-11 terrorist attack had contact with law enforcement and were released, all in violation of our immigration laws.

After years of witnessing the increase in crime, it is inexcusable for our Valley’s police chiefs to maintain their sanctuary policies. We can not stand by and tolerate them putting the rights of non-citizens above citizens.

 Every day the cost of ignoring the border increases tax fraud, identity theft, and property crimes, a burden on Arizona residents; billions to educate, medicate and incarcerate; but the irreversible cost of violent crimes can not be endured any more.

 Police chiefs in this state are more interested in putting handcuffs on their officers than illegal aliens.

Arizonans have spoken loudly and yet they refuse to listen:

 In '04 I put a Citizens Initiative on the ballot, requiring proof of citizenship & ID at the polls to vote (a terrible blow to ACORN in their registration drives), and denying public benefits to illegal aliens; in '06 I put 4 Referendums on the ballot, and in Nov. by a 75% average citizens passed Propositions 100, denying bail to illegals who commit serious felonies; 102, denying punitive damages to illegals; 103, making English Arizona's Official Language; and 300, denying public benefits to those in our country illegally.

We also passed at the legislature the toughest Worksite Enforcement bill in the nation, "The Fair and Legal Employment Act".

I am not sure what part of "illegal" they don't understand, but finally the citizens are standing up and demanding we tackle the problem of illegal immigration. Let's take the handcuffs off from our police officers; Arizona will finally be able to give away its title as a crime capital of the United States.

By allowing our cops on the beat to do their jobs, they could be responsible for the one of the largest crime reduction programs in state history.

Those that refuse to follow their constitutional duty or live up to their oath of office should be forced to step aside and make way for honest, hard-working law enforcement officers that know their job and cost of not doing it. Your Mayor and City Council would have to do their job first.

 If we must, let’s take it to the voters by initiative in states that have a citizen’s initiative process. I trust the voters to have the final say.

Resolution to Enforce Our Immigration laws and Secure Our Border:

Whereas, The Arizona Republican Party recognizes, “If it be asked, what is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be an inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws” — Alexander Hamilton.

Therefore, be it resolved by the Arizona Republican Party of the State of Arizona:

1. Establishes that there is a significant public interest in the effective enforcement of immigration law & the states are bound by the Supremacy Clause of the United ‘States Constitution to enforce violations of the federal immigration laws:

2. The illegal alien invasion has a corresponding increase in violent crimes, gangs, threat to public health, billions in cost to the taxpayer, jobs taken from Americans; and

3. Demands the elimination of all sanctuary policies in the state of Arizona and require the enforcement of our immigration laws & require law enforcement to turn over to federal authorities for removal from the United States all illegal aliens & where necessary tried and punished for criminal activity before removal.

4. Require state officials to take action that would secure the Arizona – Mexico border including putting the National Guard in a primary role on the border.

5. That all agencies and employers ensure compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations related to the immigration status of all employees.

Opposed to these rationalizations are the facts: (Gilbert Office after arresting an illegal alien on a traffic stop found him to be wanted on a homicide warrant, yet he had his Matricular card)

•     We spend about $1 billion annually in K-12 on illegal aliens
•     Arizona #2 in the World in kidnappings

·         Illegal alien abuse of our medical facilities has forced many to close

·         Illegal aliens use our deserts to dump their non-degradable garbage

·         Through increases in taxation, our representatives are stealing our property in order to redistribute our wealth to illegal aliens.

·         In the U.S., 26 citizens a day are killed by the actions of illegal aliens

·         Services we are required to provide to illegals are bankrupting our states and lowering our quality of life and quality of education

·         Tucson public schools use race based ethnic study courses to denigrate the U.S., inculcating loyalty to Mexico

·         Abetting illegals enables the culture of corruption they bring to grow: Kidnapping, ID theft, drug wars, murder, vehicular manslaughter, gangs, graffiti, drop houses, hostage taking, blackmail, rape and death during transport of illegals, home invasions

·         voting for sanctuary cities allows potential terrorists, who are illegals, to walk our streets with impunity (4 of the 5 leaders and pilots of the 9-11 terrorist were stopped by law enforcement and released and were in violation of our immigration laws.  Had they been arrested 9-11 would have been averted.