Abortionist Gosnell,72, sentenced: Life isn’t long enough

Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist responsible for cutting the spines of babies born alive after botched late term abortions was convicted Monday of three counts of first-degree murder.  A 41-year-old mother also died. Today he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Not nearly long enough.

A high living multi-millionaire, Gosnell was convicted of infanticide, racketeering and more than 200 counts of violating Pennsylvania’s abortion laws by performing third-term abortions.

ABC 6 Action News in Philadelphia has the report and video.

Seeing Red AZ’s previous posts about this murderous butcher are linked here, as is the horrific Grand Jury Report where the gruesome details were originally filed in January 2011 by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

Jodi Arias: “Death is the ultimate freedom” & Update

Dramatic murderess waxes eloquent

Convicted murderess Jodi Arias, 32, says in a post conviction interview that she prefers the death penalty to life in prison. In a statement worthy of a theatrical presentation, she grabbed the spotlight — hopefully for the final time – with,“I believe death is the ultimate freedom.”

Arias confessed to the grisly June 4, 2008 killing of her former boyfriend Travis Alexander, 30, in the bathroom of his Mesa, Arizona home. He was found five days later, having been shot in the forehead and stabbed 27 times, with his throat slit from ear to ear.

She was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday afternoon in a sensational, sordid trial that has continued over four months, during which she and her legal team besmirched the reputation of the murder victim.

Arias admitted lying repeatedly before and after her arrest. She initially denied involvement in the brutal murder. She then blamed the killing on masked intruders. Ultimately, she claimed to have killed Alexander in self-defense. The jury, which unanimously agreed the crime was premeditated, will reconvene today to decide on the sentence — life in prison or the death penalty.

Troy Hayden of Phoenix’ Fox News KSAZ 10 conducted this interview with Jodi Arias 20 minutes after her conviction in the four month trial.  Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has placed her on suicide watch in the jail.

Thursday, May 9, 2013:  

The penalty phase of the Jodi Arias murder trial scheduled to take place in the courtroom of Judge Sherry Stephens was canceled today. It will resume May 15.  No reason was given for the delay.

When the proceedings resume, Arias’ sentencing can be viewed as it takes place here courtesy of HLN TV. The decision to impose the death penalty must be unanimous.

AZ AG Tom Horne clarifies Bisbee issue

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne provides clarification of what actually occurred in the Arizona city of Bisbee regarding the city ordinance related to same-sex unions. Take time to read his statement, “Bisbee – What Really Happened.”

Flores v. AZ: Tim Hogan’s never ending case

Back in 2009, in a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court took a major step toward ending what was then a 17-year legal battle in the Flores v. Arizona case. In their opinion, the justices wrote that lower courts erred by placing extraordinary focus on forcing Arizona to spend more money to assist English Language-Learner (ELL) students.

At the time, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote, the Court of Appeals “improperly substituted its own policy judgments for those of the state and local officials entrusted with the decision.”

Flores was sent back to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with instructions to consider whether Arizona had complied with civil-rights law by improving both English-learner programs and K-12 education policies.

The case was argued by Arizona’s then-Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne. He served in that capacity from 2003 – 2011. Horne was elected Arizona Attorney General in 2010. He and Jim Weiers, then-Speaker of the Arizona House were listed as petitioners.

The majority opinion was issued by Justice Alito and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Justice Stephen Breyer filed the 47-page dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and David Souter. If you’re so inclined, the Supreme Court’s 89-page opinion can be read here.

Fast forward to 2013. The lawsuit has reached the ripe old age of 21. And whad’ya know? A federal court decision last month upholding the state’s English Language Learner programs is being appealed by Tim Hogan of the left-of-center Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. The case is now renamed Flores v. Huppenthal. Associate Justices Souter (replaced by Sonia Sotomayor) and John Paul Stevens (replaced by Elena Kagan) have retired.

Today the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is fomer state senator John Huppenthal. He contends ELL students are making progress in the English program. Most test out of the program within three years. He believes the state will prevail in the lawsuit.

Tim Hogan remains, still representing the plaintiffs. Of his career-long case, Hogan has this to say. “We just think the district court judge has gotten the law wrong.”

The Center for Law in the Public Interest refers to itself as a “non-profit.” Obviously Hogan has been making a living from this long-in-the-tooth case.  What’s the funding source?

The daily’s coverage of this ongoing bonanza can be read here.

Obama finds time to pick best looking AG

It’s all a matter of political perspective

Taking time from his vacations, global apology tours and teeing up with Tiger Woods, Barack Obama has determined that “by far the best looking Attorney General” is Kamala Harris.

During a speech at a DNC fundraising luncheon on Thursday, Obama broke from the heavy topic of climate change to give a “shout-out” to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, noting a couple of times that she is “easy on the eyes.”

“She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough,” Obama raved. “She also happens to be, by far, the best-looking Attorney General … It’s true! C’mon.”

Harris, 48, campaigned strenuously for Obama in 2012. Her name has been mentioned as a potential Supreme Court replacement when 80-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires.

Florida’s Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi, an award-winning former prosecutor, doesn’t need a “shout out.”  She’s a steady intellectual who charms without the extravagant accolades. Bondi is the lead attorney general in the lawsuit seeking to overturn ObamaCare.  In the lawsuit the State of Florida and 26 other states have argued that the individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates the Constitution.

Bondi addressed the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa. During her first campaign in 2010, she handily defeated her Democrat opponent to become the Attorney General of the State of Florida by a 55% to 41% margin.

Regardless of what Obama says, keep your eye on Bondi.

AZ Medicaid expansion takes a major blow

Abortion funding assured under Gov. Brewer’s surrender to ObamaCare

In addition to the continually mounting grassroots opposition of Republican activists in counties and districts across Arizona to Gov. Jan Brewer’s reckless Medicaid expansion, we now have this letter from M. Casey Mattox, Senior Counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Mattox’s letter is in response to a request for clarity from State Rep. Justin Olson (R-LD 25). In it, Mattox unequivocally defines the impact of the proposed expansion on funding for abortion providers, stating, “In our judgment, expanding Medicaid pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would necessarily result in increased funding of abortion providers in Arizona and would subsidize abortions.”

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. The facts contained in his legal response also raise some key questions:

Why would Gov. Brewer, regarded as one of the most pro-life governors in the country, be pushing this agenda that will result in death to countless pre-born Arizona babies?  Will this news cause the Arizona Conference of Catholic Bishops to rethink their support of the expansion?

We also include this letter to Gov. Brewer and AZ House and Senate leadership from Cathi Herrod, President of pro-life, pro-family Center for Arizona Policy. Oddly the organization “remains neutral” on the massive and costly federal intrusion into our personal health care delivery system, although offering alternative language to the Medicaid legislation, to guarantee “no increased funding to abortion providers results” from the implementation of the health care scheme.

We applaud all pro-life efforts, on either end of the life cycle. But taking a resolute stand against the encroachment of socialism in no way diminishes the importance of honoring the sanctity of life.

And although Obama vowed the new law will bring costs down, a startling  new study released by the Society of Actuaries says claims cost, the most important driver of health care premiums, will jump an average 32 percent, with the costs to many soaring much higher. (Read paragraph four in the link).

SCOTUS: Read AG Horne’s Prop. 200 oral arguments

Monday Arizona’s Attorney General Tom Horne brought the issue of our state’s Voting Rights Act — requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote — to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he argued on its behalf. Our earlier post and additional background can be viewed here.

The genesis of this issue goes back to 2004, when Arizona voters passed — by an overwhelming vote of 1,041,741 to 830,467 – the Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, on the ballot as Proposition 200.  The intent of the sound measure was to insure that only valid citizens participated in elections. On the heels of its passage, a lawsuit challenging the law was filed by liberal activist groups.

The complete 75-page transcript of the oral argument in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz. Inc. can be read here.

Audio recordings of all oral arguments heard by the U.S. Supreme Court are available to the public at the end of each argument week. The audio recordings are posted on Fridays after conference. We intend to post the audio when it becomes available.

AZ AG Horne argues Voting Rights Act to SCOTUS

Protecting the integrity of elections

Today is the day that Arizona’s argument supporting voter integrity will be heard, as Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne takes the case State of Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona before the justices of the United States Supreme Court at 10 a.m.  He will be allotted thirty minutes to make his presentation.

As a review: In 2004, Arizona voters passed — by an overwhelming vote of 1,041,741 – 830,467 –  the Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, on the ballot as Proposition 200 — a commonsense measure intended to prevent non-citizens from illegally voting in elections. On the heels of its passage, a lawsuit challenging the law was filed by liberal activist groups.

After Arizona citizens passed the referendum, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled that the first part of the referendum was pre-empted by Federal law. This ruling came in tandem with an intentionally misleading brief from the Civil Rights Division of Eric Holder’s Justice Department. Hans A. von Spakovsky writing for National Review provides excellent background.

Sandra O’Connor — the left-of-center “cowgirl from Arizona,” who duped conservative Ronald Reagan in 1981 when he appointed her to the U.S. Supreme Court — sat on the Ninth Circuit panel that gutted the law.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne requested an “en banc rehearing” of the matter, in which an 11-judge panel reconsiders the ruling issued by the three-judge panel. He personally argued the case. The Court ruled that requiring voter I.D. on Election Day is permissible, but that Arizona could not ask for evidence of citizenship when people register to vote. Instead, the Court ruled that Arizona would have to trust the signature on the form affirming they are citizens.

This March 4, 2013 commentary by Attorney General Tom Horne was originally printed as a “My Turn“ piece in the daily. Titled “Preclearance of voting laws now irrational,” it provides key information regarding the Arizona’s voting rights issue.

Yesterday, that same newspaper ran “High court should help Arizona protect elections,” by Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett — whose office oversees elections — in which he writes, “…citizenship is the foundation from which eligibility is derived. Proposition 200 protects election integrity by ensuring voter eligibility. Requiring evidence of citizenship at the time of registration is an important safeguard against non-citizen voter fraud. Otherwise, the only protection would be the applicant’s sworn statement that they are a citizen. Do we believe that someone who would falsely claim citizenship on the federal voter-registration form would also commit voter fraud in an election? Is that fair to the voters who legally cast a ballot? Don’t they have a right to a fair and fraud-free election?

Our political process depends on a system of elections that empowers citizens with the ability to exercise their most fundamental of rights: the right to vote. It is the role of government to provide voters with a sense of confidence in the voting system.”

Secretary of State Bennett is correct. Godspeed Attorney General Horne.  Arizona’s citizens are fortune to have these two principled men serving in state office.

Debra Milke conviction overturned: Latest 9th Circus travesty & UPDATE

 Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announces intention to appeal

In what has to rank as one of the most outrageous rulings from the 9th Circus Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel on Thursday threw out the murder conviction of a woman sentenced to death in the notorious and vicious plot that took the life of her own 4-year-old son.

In 1989, Debra Milke, whose live-in boyfriend James Styers was not interested in dealing with the child, arranged for Styers and his friend Roger Scott to take little Christopher to the desert outside Phoenix, where he was shot three times in the back of the head. Milke had told the little boy, dressed in his favorite outfit, he was going to the mall to see Santa Claus.

During the trial, prosecutors described a plot by Milke and the two other defendants to collect a $50,000 life insurance policy taken out on the child.

German-born Milke, 48, is one of three women on Arizona’s death row. The two men are both on death row in Arizona State Prison in Florence. Scott confessed during a police interrogation, later leading detectives to the boy’s body in a desert wash.

The three-judge panel was comprised of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski — who wrote the opinion, and Circuit Judges Jerome Farris and Carlos T. Bea. The 60-page opinion can be read here.

Kozinski was nominated by Ronald Reagan. Farris, by Jimmy Carter, and Carlos Bea by George W. Bush.

Debra Milke’s prison data base can be viewed here. James Styers’ can be viewed here. Roger Scott’s is here.

The ruling reversed a U.S. District Court judge’s previous ruling and ordered the lower court to require Arizona authorities to turn over all relevant personnel records for former Detective Armando Saldate Jr., accused of violating the suspects’ Miranda rights during interrogations. Once the material is produced and defense attorneys have reviewed it, prosecutors will have 30 days to decide whether to retry Milke. In the event they don‘t, she will be released from prison.

Maricopa County prosecutors had not read the ruling and had no immediate comment on the decision, according to a spokesman. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is reviewing the case gauging the possibility of filing an appeal.

We’ve previously written about the antics of this most overturned court in the nation. Here, here, here, and here.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne released the following statement today regarding the decision of a three-member Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel to throw out the death sentence and murder conviction of Debra Milke:

“We will be appealing this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the Court takes the appeal, I will argue it personally as I have done in two previous cases over the past five months. In my last case, the Supreme Court accepted my argument and overruled the Ninth Circuit’s decision unanimously.

In this case, Ms. Milke was found to have arranged the killing of her own son, a four-year-old toddler, because he was too much of a burden and interfering with her life. After dressing him up and telling him he was going to the mall to see Santa Claus, Milke was convicted of sending her young son off to be shot, execution style, in a desert wash.

This is a horrible crime. The Ninth Circuit’s decision needs to be reversed, and justice for Christopher needs to be served.”

9th Circus Appeals Court supports illegal day laborers’ free speech

In his 35-page opinion, published Monday, Judge Raymond C. Fisher, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling against a section of SB 1070, concluding that the law infringed on the constitutionally guaranteed right to commercial speech accorded illegal alien day laborers congregating on Arizona streets soliciting work.

The daily newspaper doesn’t disappoint. In the single initial sentence in the República’s report, Arizona’s nationally copied immigration law is described using the word “controversial” that is stuck on the keyboards of the reporters and always accompanies any mention of SB1070 or its requirements.

Here is the conclusion in the case Valle Del Sol v. Whiting: “Laws that limit commercial speech must not be more extensive than necessary to serve a substantial government interest. The district court correctly determined that, though Arizona has a significant government interest in promoting traffic safety, the day labor provisions fail Central Hudson’s requirement that restrictions on commercial speech be no more extensive than necessary to serve that interest. The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits and that the other requirements for a preliminary injunction are satisfied. We therefore affirm the preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the day labor provisions.”

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s spokesman Matthew Benson said the governor is conferring with her legal team to decide whether to appeal. “The governor thinks this is an important tool to give law enforcement,” Benson said.

The injunction was first imposed in February 2012 when Phoenix-based U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton ruled that statutes prohibiting potential employers from stopping their cars to hire and pick up day laborers soliciting work are unconstitutional.

Judge Fisher and Judge Bolton are both Clinton appointees.

Last December Gateway Pundit reported that the Mexican government filed court documents against Arizona’s SB1070, claiming the law punishes those who harbor illegal aliens and urging the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block part of the Arizona immigration law.  In the most arrogant of legal filings, attorneys for Mexico claimed the provision of SB1070 “poses a real threat to Mexico-U.S. bilateral relations.”

Here is Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne responding to Mexico’s outrageous attempts to block our law. Horne says, “If a federal court can invalidate an otherwise valid state law on the grounds that a foreign country disagrees with it, and therefore we’re interfering with the federal monopoly on foreign relations, state sovereignty is suffering a terrible damage and this is a very dangerous kind of argument.”