City News addresses this issue: Criminal Justice: Terror in the courts in this week’s edition.

Donald Rehkopf, a Rochester criminal defense attorney, says the push for trying people like Mohammed in military courts is being driven by fear-baiting political forces.

“The federal criminal courts not only can handle these cases efficiently and effectively, they have a long history of doing so,” he says. “We’ve successfully prosecuted hundreds of quote-unquote terrorists.”

Coincidentally, Rehkopf is a panelist for next week’s panel discussion which has been posted in turning points for the last week.  It promises to be an interesting talk for those on both sides of the issue.  Although I can see the two sides, I agree with Rehkopf when he states:

“The Constitution applies to everyone, good, bad, and indifferent,” Rehkopf says. “Sometimes you have to protect the rights of the worst person in order to protect the rights of everyone.”

None of us is protected until all of us are protected.  That’s just the way it is.

Civil Trials, Military Tribunals and Terrorism

Should suspected terrorists be tried in criminal or military courts?
Join the Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties
Union and the Rochester Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society for a panel discussion on this important topic.

5 p.m. Tuesday, March 16
Downtown Presbyterian Church,
121 N. Fitzhugh St., Rochester
New York Civil Liberties Union
Genesee Valley Chapter
(585) 454-4334
www.nyclu.org

For years, when arguing politics to my less engaged friends and acquaintances, I have consistently heard the argument, “They’re all the same.  There’s no difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.  They’re all a bunch of crooks.”

Being the “pie in the sky” optimist that I am, I would talk up the values of the Democrats truly believing that this was the party of the people.  Then came Barack Obama and the Health Care Reform debate, the Climate Change debate, the War in the Middle East debate, the Financial debate and the Civil Liberties debate.

Chris Hedges wrote yesterday:

Obama lies as cravenly, if not as crudely, as George W. Bush. He promised us that the transfer of $12.8 trillion in taxpayer money to Wall Street would open up credit and lending to the average consumer. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), however, admitted last week that banks have reduced lending at the sharpest pace since 1942. As a senator, Obama promised he would filibuster amendments to the FISA Reform Act that retroactively made legal the wiretapping and monitoring of millions of American citizens without warrant; instead he supported passage of the loathsome legislation. He told us he would withdraw American troops from Iraq, close the detention facility at Guantánamo, end torture, restore civil liberties such as habeas corpus and create new jobs. None of this has happened.

He is shoving a health care bill down our throats that would give hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to the private health insurance industry in the form of subsidies, and force millions of uninsured Americans to buy insurers’ defective products. These policies would come with ever-rising co-pays, deductibles and premiums and see most of the seriously ill left bankrupt and unable to afford medical care. Obama did nothing to halt the collapse of the Copenhagen climate conference, after promising meaningful environmental reform, and has left us at the mercy of corporations such as ExxonMobil. He empowers Israel’s brutal apartheid state. He has expanded the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where hundreds of civilians, including entire families, have been slaughtered by sophisticated weapons systems such as the Hellfire missile, which sucks the air out of victims’ lungs. And he is delivering war and death to Yemen, Somalia and perhaps Iran.

Time after time after time I have applied “hope” to my expectation of presidential, senate or house leadership.  It’s incredible the number of times that my heart has been broken since this Democratic majority has come into power. (I wear my heart on my sleeve, by the way.  Due to the number of breaks, it is no longer identifiable as such.  Looks more like particulate matter, the result of an especially productive sneeze which I forgot to wipe off)

So, the Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to us.  Where do we go from here?  Hedges suggests a different party altogether-

“Here in the United States, at the beginning of the twentieth century, before there was a Soviet Union to spoil it, you see, socialism had a good name,” the late historian and activist Howard Zinn said in a lecture a year ago at Binghamton University. “Millions of people in the United States read socialist newspapers. They elected socialist members of Congress and socialist members of state legislatures. You know, there were like fourteen socialist chapters in Oklahoma. Really. I mean, you know, socialism—who stood for socialism? Eugene Debs, Helen Keller, Emma Goldman, Clarence Darrow, Jack London, Upton Sinclair. Yeah, socialism had a good name. It needs to be restored.”

[snip]

The hypocrisy and ineptitude of the Democrats become, in the eyes of
the wider public, the hypocrisy and ineptitude of the liberal class. We
can continue to tie our own hands and bind our own feet or we can break
free, endure the inevitable opprobrium, and fight back. This means
refusing to support the Democrats. It means undertaking the laborious
work of building a viable socialist movement. It is the only
alternative left to save our embattled open society. We can begin by
sending a message to the Green Party, McKinney and Nader. Let them know
they are no longer alone.

How about that Green Party?

The 10 Key Values of the Green Party

* Grassroots Democracy
* Social and Economic Justice
* Ecological Wisdom
* Nonviolence
* Decentralization
* Community-Based Economics
* Feminism
* Respect for Diversity
* Personal and Global Responsibility
* Future Focus and Sustainability

That’s sounding more like it. You coming, Howard?

I really wish I could coin the phrase, but found this cleverness at FDL written by Jim White.  Meaning to write about the Democrat’s bold stance with the extension of the Patriot Act, it was a timely find:

Here is Reuters describing the Patriot Act extension:

Legislation to extend expiring provisions of the anti-terror USA Patriot Act won final congressional approval on Thursday, with Democrats unable to add additional civil liberties protections.

On vote of 315-97, the House of Representatives approved the bill, a day after it cleared the Senate. It now heads to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

Pity the poor Democrats. They control the White House and huge majorities in both chambers, but they just can’t manage to restore civil liberties taken away by the Republicans under Bush. Those mean Republicans will just say no.

And, from Electronic Frontier:

Despite months of vigorous debate, when PATRIOT renewal bills providing for greater oversight and accountability were approved by the Judiciary Committees of both the House and the Senate, Democratic leaders’ push for reform fizzled in the face of staunch Republican opposition buoyed by recent hot-button events such as the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day and the shooting at Fort Hood.

But, from a friend at the ACLU, I received this note on Friday, with a list of those who voted in favor of it’s unamended passage:

FYI the House followed the Senate last night voting to extend the Patriot Act unamended for a little over a year (Feb. 28th, 2011). The vote was 315-97.

As you can see with the vote being far from close, this wasn’t really a Republican event.  In fact, some of our very closest representatives gave a thumbs up to this bill.  Yea votes included:

Louise Slaughter

Eric Massa

Brian Higgins

Chris Lee

Surprised?  So am I.   Well, not about Chris Lee, but certainly about Eric and Louise. Are the Republicans threatening them with exploding underwear, or something?

Whatever they’re doing, it seems to be working.  Years of practice and tireless repetition seem to have payed off.

So far, their score is a perfect 10.

Any anyone been following the debate over the proposed “Katies law?”   If you are arrested for a certain class crime you will be required to give a DNA sample.  The current process now is that if you are convicted of a crime (probably a certain class of crime) you are forced to give a DNA sample.  Heck, why not pass a law that upon birth a DNA sample is drawn and entered in a national database in case you ever commit a crime?

City News has a good write up.

If you’re arrested for a crime in New York, you’ll get fingerprinted and photographed. Soon, in some instances, you could be required to submit a DNA sample, too.

Assembly member Joe Morelle and Senator Jeffrey Klein have introduced legislation that would require those arrested and charged with certain felonies to submit DNA samples at the time of their booking.

At the time of your arrest. Meaning, before due process, before a trial and most importantly before you are potentially found guilty.

Currently, state law requires people convicted of certain felonies and misdemeanors to submit samples which will be profiled and entered into the state DNA database.

Why do we “need” such a thing?

The Morelle-Klein bill is named after Katie Sepich, a 22-year-old from New Mexico who was attacked outside of her home in August 2003. She was raped, strangled, and then her body was set on fire and abandoned at an old dump site.

Law enforcement officials found skin and blood scrapings under Sepich’s fingernails, which provided a link to her attacker. But law enforcement officials couldn’t find a match in DNA databases.

The attacker had been arrested several times, but it took three-and-a-half years for him to be convicted in another state, which then compelled a DNA sample. After that, law enforcement officials “hit the match,” Morelle says. Convicted felon Gabriel Adrian Avila confessed to the crime.

A tragic story to be sure.   And per DA Green

“The larger the database we have, the more crimes we’re going to solve,” Green says.

Green favors expanding the database to include anyone convicted of a crime and anyone arrested for a crime - he points out that Laster was also charged with misdemeanor drug possession in 1996. If a DNA sample had been taken then, Green says, a 1997 rape could have been avoided.

Our Public Defender?

Law enforcement agencies currently must get a court order to compel a DNA sample from a suspect. That means the request is subject to review by a judge, who can determine whether there is probable cause - that’s not the same as innocence or guilt - that the suspect committed the crime for which he or she has been arrested. The judge would also determine whether there’s a clear indication that the suspect’s DNA will be somehow relevant to the case.

“The problem with this legislation is that there’s no judicial determination,” Donaher says.

One thing about the law and constitution - it applies to everyone  equally (well it is supposed to) independent of the person or the act.   Our Country gives rights to someone like Timothy McVey who murdered a lot of people in Oklahoma City as an act of rebellion against the United State Government or names them after a rapist with the last name of Miranda.

Our national population has some wonderful people and some that are simply dregs of the earth.   The beauty and strength of our nation is that everyone is supposed to equally protected under the law and our nation actually survives and thrives.

Arrest is not the same a conviction.

Where do we draw the line?

With Job Creation and Health Care Reform dominating our political discourse, immigration has been relegated to the back burner.  The NYCLU has brought to my attention, again, the issue of comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation:

* Immigrant homes are routinely raided
* Hundreds of thousands of people are imprisoned, some indefinitely and without access to medical care
* Thousands are deported away from their families without a fair day in court
* And now New York Senator Charles Schumer is proposing that all U.S. workers carry a biometric identity card as a way to clamp down on undocumented immigration

By clicking on this, you can take action.

Whatsoever you do…

Pat Martinez, local activist and spokesperson for our LGBT community was interviewed today by Liz Medhin at Channel 13 News on the potential repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  Pat, who served in the military for 24 years, had this to say:

“Because being gay was considered to be a blackmailable (sic) offense, and also you could get a dishonorable discharge at the time, you have a tendency to kind of stay low and kind of hang with the people that you know are ‘like-minded,’” she explains of her time in the Army.

“When you are in the military and you have to deny who you are, you have no sense of value.  You have no sense of self-worth and I think that there’s a guilt that kind of washes over you when you are going through training classes on leadership and lead by example and set an example and there’s always that inner thought that you have about, you know, ‘I’m living a lie.’”

Martinez says that everyday that something happens to negate discrimination is a day to celebrate, so she is happy about the decision. Still, she has some reservations about what it truly will mean in the long run.

“I don’t think a lot is going to change, at least not immediately… I don’t think it is just something that you can flip a switch and make happen.”

No, things are not going to happen immediately, but it’s nice to see the administration finally throwing a bone the the LGBT Community.  We’ll have to wait and see if there’s any meat on it.

I love how you can discover a new progressive blog everyday on these Interwebs.  Glenn W. Smith at dogcanyon.org has written a powerful essay about yesterday’s supreme court decision.  Not being one who wishes to re-invent the wheel, I will let Glenn inspire us (hopefully, even the most jaded among us) to grasp the magnitude of yesterday’s decision.

… today it is more obvious than ever that the real danger to freedom in America comes from the unaccountable, irresponsible and infinitely powerful authority that is the big, global corporation. Empowered now by a Supreme Court that’s handed them super-human rights and privileges, corporations can now trample individual initiative, take what they want from entrepreneurs, eliminate competition, and erase the adjective “popular” from in front of democracy — forever.

They can legally swamp our political sphere with their money. They can advertise at will to advance their candidates. Don’t fall for the idle thought that you are not persuaded by ads. You are. Everyone is. Follow the money. There’s a reason billions is spent on advertising. It changes our minds. Now corporations can change our minds whenever they want.

[snip]

You are already sick of special interest corruption of politics. Well, that corruption has now been made legal by the court. Corporations are free to buy, to own, our government. You’ve heard it’s just a matter of free speech? Well, do you think you have the same power of speech as a corporation? No one does. The President doesn’t. Corporations can outspend and outshout a politician at any level, no matter how much that politician raises.

The Court’s ruling is the ultimate attack on free speech. It says money equals speech. And that means those with the most money have the most speech. In fact, big corporations have so much money that we have, relatively, none. Which means we have no speech, free or otherwise.

[snip]

The corporatists are no champions of what we think of as capitalism. We think of it as an open and transparent market in which all comers have a fair shot. The corporatist eliminates the fair shot, stomps on individual enterprise, and destroys entrepreneurship. Soon, empowered by the Court, corporatists will, if left unchallenged, destroy what remains of popular democracy.

Our vote is, ultimately, our voice.

We have been silenced.

From Manhattan Young Democrats, a list of the 8 Democrats who voted against Marriage Equality:

10. Shirley Huntley, D-NYC (Jamaica)
12. George Onorato, D-NYC (Astoria)
13. Hiram Monserrate, D-NYC (Jackson Heights)
15. Joseph Addabbo, Jr., D-NYC (Ozone Park)
27. Carl Kruger, D-NYC (Brooklyn)
32. Rubén Díaz, D-NYC (Soundview)
48. Darrel Aubertine, D-Upstate (Cape Vincent)
58. William Stachowski, D-Upstate (Hamburg)

The second name on the list, George Onorato will retire, rather than be primaried:

82-year old State Senator George Onorato will not run for re-election this year. Onorato voted against marriage equality last year, and part of the reason for his stepping aside is equality advocates threatening to field a primary candidate against him.

That leaves 7 other Democratic State Senators who voted against equality last year.

Looks like there’s one candidate already thinking of running in his place — Assemblyman Michael Gianaris.

One Senator at a time.   A threat of a primary is the way to go.

Senate Democrats were anxious to prevent a primary between Onorato and Gianaris, but just as interested in harnessing the assemblyman’s prodigious fund-raising skills for their upcoming battle with the GOP for control of the chamber.

Gianaris, 39, was elected to the Assembly in 2000. He raised more than $2 million for a short-lived state attorney general run in 2006 and was the state Democratic Party’s finance chairman in 2006.

Gianaris is someone who can bring the money in and a supporter of marriage equality.  Way to go, Queens!  (How can you be from a place called, “Queens” and not support gay marriage?)

(H/T to Andrea-thanks for the heads-up)

Today, New Jersey has proven that it can be just as repressive as New York.  Gay marriage was voted down by the New Jersey State Senate:

The bill needed 21 votes to pass; only 14 senators approved the measure Thursday.

Gay rights advocates had pushed hard to get the bill passed before Jan. 19, when Republican Chris Christie becomes governor. Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine promised to sign the bill if approved by the Legislature but Christie has said he would veto it.

Way to go,  New Jersey!  Denying people their rights seems to be the current wave.  Glad you didn’t break that streak of ignorance that has become the dominating force of our political agendas in this country.

Maybe your state and our state can get together and have a giant ole’ tea party to celebrate.

Update: From Adam Bink at Open Left:

The good news is that I spoke today to Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, who told me Lambda Legal will announce it is going back to courts in New Jersey. As you may know, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in 2006, 7-0, that legislators must either amend marriage laws to give same-sex couples full equality, or create a “parallel structure”, which led to the New Jersey legislature legalizing civil unions. As has been demonstrated by the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission set up to study how the new law was working, civil unions do not work.

Last week, the New York State Senate, in all it’s glory, voted to validate discrimination against gays. In what could be considered a bit of a blow-out, the senate voted down marriage equality.

This week, the Pride Agenda, led by Alan Van Capelle, has endosed Jose Peralta as a primary challenger to Hiram Monserrate.  From the New York Observer:

Gay advocates are targeting senators who voted against the measure, and this is likely the first of several targeted endorsements. Monserrate is an easy target; Queens’ party leaders have said he needs to go and other elected Democrats have coalesced behind Peralta’s candidacy.

This is how it was done in Iowa.  Progressive candidates who supported equal rights for all were infused into the Iowa legislature with some help from the LGBT community and, voila, marriage equality became a reality in Iowa.  It would seem that NYS would be progressive enough already, but last week’s vote, by the senate indicates that we are not there yet.

5:30 today, in front of the Bachelor Forum, University and Atlantic, in a show of solidarity following the shameful vote of our NYS Senate.  Sponsored by GAGV, Pride Agenda and others.  From the NYT:

The bill was defeated by a decisive margin of 38 to 24. The Democrats, who have a bare, one-seat majority, did not have enough votes to pass the bill without some Republican support, but not a single Republican senator voted for the measure. Still, several key Democrats who were considered swing votes also opposed the bill.

The Upstate Senators all voted in favor of discrimination.  Let’s rally to throw the bastards out.  We need a new senate.

(Thanks for the heads-up, Christine.)

Adam Bink over at Openleft has the rundown but the count was  24-38

Looks like we need a new Senate.

Oh, why I like Jeremy Moule over at City News who writes

Civil rights? Not here, not now: Senate overwhelming rejects marriage equality

You suck, New York

The State Senate has killed marriage-equality legislation, with 38 no votes and 24 yes votes. Only Democrats voted in favor.

…

No Republicans spoke on the floor during debate, and though leadership left it up to each senator to vote according to his or her conscience, none broke from GOP ranks. All of Rochester’s senators: Jim Alesi, George Maziarz, Mike Nozzolio, and Joe Robach voted no.

With our recent problems regarding peaceful demonstrations in the city of Rochester, maybe it’s time to learn the dos and don’ts of public activism.

Repeal of DOMA and DADT are the driving issues and the Local LGBT community has put together an evening workshop to help us sort it all out:

Rallies, Marches, Protests or Civil Disobedience: Are you delivering the message you want?

Seasoned activists and the New York Civil Liberties Union combine to offer reliable information to help you run effective events, maximize your message and avoid unintended problems. This is good information for anyone who demonstrates. Joining us are Gary Pudup from NYCLU New York Civil Liberties Union and Rebecca Newberry, formerly of CampusOut, Direct Action Trainer.

Co-sponsors of this community informational seminar include: Civil Rights Front, Gay Alliance, Pride at Work AFL-CIO, Out & Equal NY Finger Lakes, Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) - and EqualityROC.

Event: Taking it to the Streets
What: Workshop
Start Time: Tuesday, December 8 at 7:00pm
End Time: Tuesday, December 8 at 9:00pm
Where: 875 East Main Street - Gay Alliance - Rochester NY

Seems like this workshop should be able to increase our effectiveness while keeping us within the parameters of our civil liberties.

Today, we can make our representative democracy work.  Adam Bink from Openleft has put out a request for all of us in New York State who believe that the constitution provides equal protection for all, under the law to call our state senators and let them know:

I can’t get married.

You read that right, I can’t.

No really, I can’t. I’m a regular guy from Buffalo and I can’t get married. Why?

Because I’m gay.

Today, all that can change. But I need your help.

In our home state of New York, the New York State Senate will go into special session today, and we have an opportunity to win a vote on legislation to enact marriage equality for same-sex couples. This vote could happen as early as TODAY.

Can you take a minute to call your State Senator and demand that he/she vote on, and support, marriage equality?

The Assembly has already voted in favor of marriage equality and Gov. Paterson has repeatedly stated he will sign the bill. We have an opportunity to make New York the fifth state in the union to legislatively enact full marriage equality. New York does not allow for ballot referenda to enact or overturn a law like in Maine and California, so there is little chance that this law will be taken away at the ballot box.

All we need to do is get it to the Governor’s desk. Empire State Pride Agenda has set up a tool to easily connect you with your State Senator.

Click here to help send marriage equality legislation to Gov. Paterson’s desk.

When I was on the No On 1 campaign in Maine, I saw couples heartbroken as their right to marry was denied. I don’t want to be one of those couples anymore. As we took a step backward in Maine, we can take a step forward in New York, and make history.

And I can finally get married. But I still need your help.

Call your State Senator and ask him/her to support a vote on marriage equality, and to vote yes.

I promise the wedding photos will be great.

With gratitude,

Adam Bink

OpenLeft.com

I called Senator Alesi’s office yesterday.  As always, when I have called that office, I have spoken with someone polite and knowledgeable.  I suspect you will receive the same treatment at Robach’s office.  Maziarz, well, let me know how that goes, will you?b