tagged w/ Human Rights Campaign
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/21/justice/georgia-execution/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
CNN...
Troy Davis put to death in Georgia
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 11:56 PM EST, Wed September 21, 2011
Davis case to become global 'scandal'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Inmate tells victim's family he was not guilty
Troy Davis put to death late Wednesday
U.S. Supreme Court denied stay of execution
The original prosecutor says the facts support Troy Davis' sentence
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PART ONE...
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Jackson, Georgia (CNN) -- Troy Davis, whose case drew international attention, was put to death by lethal injection for the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Georgia, prison officials announced Wednesday night.
Davis was defiant to the very end. After he was strapped to the death gurney, he lifted his head to address the family of the slain officer.
He told the family of Mark MacPhail that he was not responsible for the officer's death and did not have a gun at the time, according to execution witnesses.
Davis said the case merited further investigation, talking fast as officials prepared to give him the lethal cocktail.
The execution followed the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of a stay, allowing the state to proceed. Davis was declared dead at 11:08 p.m. ET.
Throughout the day, Davis' lawyers and high-profile supporters had asked the state and various courts to intervene, arguing he did not murder MacPhail in 1989.
Davis initially had been scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. ET. But the proceeding was delayed more than three hours as the justices pondered a plea filed by his attorney.
Several hundred people, most of them opposing the proceeding, gathered outside the state prison in Jackson where Davis, 42, awaited his fate. Others held a vigil in a nearby church.
The inmate's sister, Martina Davis-Correia, was among those who held a vigil outside the prison. Before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, she said officials needed to take more time to examine the case. "When you are looking at someone's life, you can't press rewind."
More than 100 officers, many in riot gear, stood guard over the largely-quiet gathering, which featured candles, occasional prayers and songs. At least three people who crossed the street had been taken away in handcuffs.
"Tonight the state of Georgia legally lynched an innocent man," Davis' lawyer Thomas Ruffin Jr. said. "Tonight I witnessed something tragic."
Davis' supporters, who also rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court building, argued that his conviction was based on the testimony of numerous witnesses who had recanted, including a jailhouse informer who claimed Davis had confessed.
"There's a genuine feeling among people here and across the nation that we're about to do the unthinkable," said Isaac Newton Farris Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
But prosecutors have stood by the conviction, and every appeal -- including the last-minute petitions filed Wednesday -- has failed.
Davis's supporters cheered and hugged each other when news of the earlier delay reached them. But it did not sit well with McPhail's mother, who remained at home.
CONTINUED...
.http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/21/justice/georgia-execution/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
CNN...... more
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HRC Jams MN Senate Computers with 100,000 marriage equality emails
hrc-jams-mn-senate-computers-with-100000-marriage-equality-emails
By Kevin Nix
May 23rd, 2011 at 5:40 pm
From star reporter Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Independent.
Sen. Scott Dibble told Minnesota Public Radio that 100,000 emails sent to legislators by gay marriage supporters were clogging the servers and that the Senate IT department was set to delete them Monday morning. The emails, sent through the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT rights group, chided Republicans and a handful of DFLers who voted Saturday night to put a constitutional ban on gay marriage on the ballot in 2012. Secretary of the Senate Cal Ludeman said the emails were being help in a spam filter and that his office was workign to get them back into the system.
“Hundreds of thousands of emails have come in the aftermath, so many so that the Republican caucus is deleting them before their members even get to see them,” Dibble told MPR.
Sen. Warren Limmer, the chief author of the anti-gay marriage amendment, said, “Not true. Not true. We aren’t wiping off comments of our constituents. That’s just simply not true.”
Sen. Dibble answered back, “That absolutely is true, and that’s exactly what the secretary of the Senate has told us.”
Secretary of the Senate Cal Ludeman tells the Minnesota Independent that the sheer volume of email coming into the system had caused it to crash on Sunday. By early Monday morning 230,000 emails had flooded in, he said, adding that he ordered the IT department to send a large number to a spam filter.
He said that those emails coming in would not be deleted and that they were working to “filter them back in.”
He wasn’t aware which emails were coming in or which ones needed to be sent to a spam filter.
“We are managing the traffic and they’ll be flowed back into the system,” he said.
Already the flood of emails has rankled some legislators. Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, responded to the emails over the weekend in a manner some thought rude.
[snip]
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About NOM
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is a highly secretive organization believed to be largely funded by the Mormon and Catholic churches. During the country’s greatest economic decline in decades, NOM has amassed huge resources to stop marriage equality, whether at the ballot box or in court. NOM publicly projects rationality and tolerance, yet keeps company with zealots and long-time LGBT antagonists.HRC Jams MN Senate Computers with 100,000 marriage equality emails... more
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Are you ready to select your Delegates? They are the ones the represent their district for both the 2011 and 2012 State Conventions, Network with other Democrats, Represent your constituency, Elect Party officers, Promote the California Democratic Party agenda, Endorse candidates for statewide, legislative and congressional office and Vote to endorse resolutions and ballot measures.
http://diversitynewspublications.com/2011/01/ca-46th-assembly-district-delegate-elections-saturday-january-8-2011/Are you ready to select your Delegates? They are the ones the represent their district... more
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Minnesota businesses move quickly to put profits into politics, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Labor groups now may up the ante.
Minnesota businesses aren't wasting time flexing new political muscles to throw considerable financial support into statewide and even legislative races.
Thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January that allows corporations to get more involved in politics, 13 companies, including Target, Best Buy and Pentair, have contributed more than $1 million to a pro-business conduit, MN Forward, in little more than a month. It has emerged as a leading fundraiser, supporting GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer with $195,000 in ads. This week, it plans to roll out a campaign in six legislative districts.
The move, which flared into controversy and customer backlash last week involving Target's $150,000 donation, also could stir uncharted waters in local races.
For example, St. Paul-based Securian Financial Group gave $100,000 to MN Forward on July 12. Two Securian lawyers are legislators seeking reelection. A former CEO of a Securian affiliate is running for a House seat.
Labor unions, which have long been allowed to spend money supporting or opposing candidates, haven't been shy in the governor's race, either. A leading group, Alliance for a Better Minnesota, has already spent $685,000 on ads critical of Emmer.
Experts say the Supreme Court ruling, which lets businesses for the first time steer profits into politics, could generate even more labor spending in response.
Securian's contribution to MN Forward bothers Steve Elkins, a DFLer who is running against incumbent state Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, who works as a Securian attorney.
"You've got a corporation that has contributed $100,000 ... and I can't help wonder how much of that is going directly or indirectly back to Senate and House races" involving employees, Elkins said.
MN Forward's chair, David Olson, said the group is focusing on the governor's race, "but we will be doing some House and Senate work, as well." He wouldn't identify legislative races that will be targeted.
The law doesn't bar groups like MN Forward, created by the state Chamber of Commerce and Business Partnership, from spending money to ... support the employees of donors. Olson said MN Forward will probably stay away from spending money on the races involving Michel or state Sen. Charles Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, another Securian attorney running for re-election.
"There is no conflict as long as MN Forward would not give money on behalf of Michel or Wiger," Olson said.
Target's donation last month caught flak from gay activists for indirectly supporting Emmer, an opponent of same-sex marriage. Target responded last week that its gay-rights support is "unwavering."
On Friday afternoon, the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization, criticized Target and Best Buy, which also contributed $100,000 to MN Forward. Best Buy told employees last week that it "does not support candidates or campaigns based on party affiliation,'' but on issues important to the company and the retail industry.
Will local races be influenced?
The spending approved by the Supreme Court must be independent of a candidate's campaign. Companies don't have to abide by the contribution limits that apply to individuals, which has some observers fearful of a flood of corporate money tilting typically low-spending legislative races.
"Even $20,000 of direct mail in a legislative seat, that's a lot," said Hamline University Prof. David Schultz. The new rules raise the possibility that a corporation "could get a whole bunch of employees to run for office" and spend money to indirectly help them.
"At that point, you have completely transformed the race," Schultz said. "It is now not a $30,000 race, you've upped the ante and gotten so close to the line of a corporation directly supporting a candidate that it becomes indistinguishable. That's buying a seat."
Securian is one of the nation's biggest financial services providers. Its donation to MN Forward was matched by Best Buy, Davisco Foods International, which provides cheese to Kraft Foods, Polaris Industries, Hubbard Broadcasting, Regis beauty products, Federated Insurance and Target, which also offered brand consulting worth $50,000. Pentair, which provides swimming pool equipment, gave $125,000.
Red Wing Shoes, Cold Spring Granite, the Insurance Federation of Minnesota and Holiday Companies gave lesser amounts.
Two other pro-business conduits created in recent weeks, Freedom Club Victory Committee and Minnesotans for Personal Choice and Competition in Health Care, have raised little or no money so far. Freedom Club Victory recently terminated its efforts.
Securian Chairman and CEO Bob Senkler said in a statement that the company donated to MN Forward because "we like its focus on job growth and economic development."
Michel and Wiger "bring great pride to our company because of the time and effort they put into their roles as public servants," Senkler wrote. "Securian has no influence over MN Forward's decisions about supporting specific candidates and makes no attempt to guide those decisions."
On the labor side, Alliance for a Better Minnesota spent $2.5 million in the 2006 election. It has already raised $1.7 million for 2010 races.
It gets money from two pro-labor fundraising groups, one focusing exclusively on the governor's race. Those groups draw from the teachers union Education Minnesota and other public employee and trade unions. Major individual contributors include Democratic donors Alida Messinger, Vance Opperman and James Deal.
Michel said he learned of Securian's contribution after it was publicly disclosed and did not participate in any discussions leading to the decision.
"I'm thankful that the company encourages people to get involved and that the company is involved, as well," he said.
He said his opponent was "trying to make more of this than there is" and that fear of companies buying legislative seats is overblown.
Wiger said he knew nothing about his company's contribution. He doubts that heavy corporate spending would be effective in legislative races.
"If it had the scent of outside attack, that generally doesn't work and I think it would backfire, not only for that race but for the organization as well," Wiger said.
Pat Mazorol, a Republican, is running for a House seat in the same legislative district as Michel's seat. Mazorol was a CEO of Securian Trust before he resigned on June 30 to take a job with Bethel University.
Mazorol said he was unaware of the donation until he read about it in the newspaper.
Some Republican-leaning groups have sued to overturn state requirements for reporting corporate spending and to allow corporate profits to go directly to candidates.Minnesota businesses move quickly to put profits into politics, thanks to a U.S.... more
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Via Washington Post
"President Obama on Thursday signed a memorandum requiring hospitals to allow gays and lesbians to have non-family visitors and to grant their partners medical power of attorney. The president ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation. The memo is scheduled to be made public Friday morning, according to an administration official and another source familiar with the White House decision. An official said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding."
In the memo the President said "Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay."
UPDATE:
On Anderson Cooper 360, Janice Langbehn discussed how her story inspired the White House to make this order. Langbehn received a call from President Obama today, who apologized for the ordeal that she had gone through at a Jackson, Florida hospital. She was denied access to her partner her, despite having power of attorney and other legal documents that should have granted her medical access. Langbehn's was not allowed to see her partner until just moments before her death.
Langbehn says that Lisa, her partner's death, "was not in vain." She appreciates the apology from President Obama despite not having received an apology from the hospital, which announced this week that they have changed their access policy to include LGBT families.
The Human Rights Campaign, a lobby group that specializes in LGBT issues has stated that they have been "working on the request––" with the White House "for months."
Full Body of the Memorandum:
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBJECT: Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies
There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean -- a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.
Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides -- whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.
For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real consequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients' medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients' needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.
Many States have taken steps to try to put an end to these problems. North Carolina recently amended its Patients' Bill of Rights to give each patient "the right to designate visitors who shall receive the same visitation privileges as the patient's immediate family members, regardless of whether the visitors are legally related to the patient" -- a right that applies in every hospital in the State. Delaware, Nebraska, and Minnesota have adopted similar laws.
My Administration can expand on these important steps to ensure that patients can receive compassionate care and equal treatment during their hospital stays. By this memorandum, I request that you take the following steps:
1. Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient's care or treatment.
2. Ensure that all hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid are in full compliance with regulations, codified at 42 CFR 482.13 and 42 CFR 489.102(a), promulgated to guarantee that all patients' advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected, and that patients' representatives otherwise have the right to make informed decisions regarding patients' care. Additionally, I request that you issue new guidelines, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395cc and other relevant provisions of law, and provide technical assistance on how hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid can best comply with the regulations and take any additional appropriate measures to fully enforce the regulations.
3. Provide additional recommendations to me, within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, on actions the Department of Health and Human Services can take to address hospital visitation, medical decisionmaking, or other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/04/obama-orders-hospitals-to-grant-samesex-couples-visitation-rights-and-medical-power-of-attorney.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041505502.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/15/hospital.gay.visitation/index.html?hpt=T1Via Washington Post
"President Obama on Thursday signed a memorandum requiring... more
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FolkSense.com was begun in 2007 to make the DARAJA Case public, because no one else would. --
We discovered that US news media (NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times) and groups such as Human Rights Watch and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would not report human rights abuses by the US government, unless the information was already public - such as the torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. --
The only way to bring our case to public attention was to tell the story ourselves. -- And once we started, it seemed right to talk about other human rights issues as well. That's what we do: discussion of human rights, social justice and international law. -
FolkSense.com is a contemporary "Diary of Anne Frank". It is a public record of our experiences before and after we were forced to seek Refugee Status to escape persecution by the government of the United States. --
There is a blackout of our case in the US. No one will investigate or report our story. Ours is one of the "invisible" human rights cases in the US. It has been eight full years since we were forced to leave our home. --
We remain even now "excluded" from the protections of civil law.FolkSense.com was begun in 2007 to make the DARAJA Case public, because no one else... more
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The hit of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival - 8: The Mormon Proposition. Watch this video to hear more about the film and the issue.
Order of Appearance:
Fred Karger
Joe Solmonese. President. Human Rights Campaign
City Attorney Dennis Herrera
State Sen. Scott McCoy
Gavin Newsom - Mayor of San Francisco
Spencer Jones & Tyler Barrick
Linda Stay
Bruce Bastian - Executive Producer - 8: The Mormon Proposition
Chris Volz
Steven Greenstreet - Co-Director - 8: The Mormon Proposition
Video by: Chris Morrow & Fred Karger
Follow more stories like this on Twitter: www.twitter.com/morrowchris
More about Fred Karger: http://www.fiveforfred.com/The hit of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival - 8: The Mormon Proposition. Watch this... more
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"I will end 'don't ask, don't tell,'" President Obama said at the Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner for the nation's largest gay advocacy group."I will end 'don't ask, don't tell,'" President Obama... more
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Tonight at a dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, President Obama said his administration is "moving forward" with the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I for one would like to hear him say, "I'm Commander-in-Chief, I'm repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell today and gay and lesbian Americans can serve openly in the United States military just as straight Americans do." Then let the Republicans explain why they're so hell-bent on rescinding the rights of good Americans to serve the country they love.
If you have a problem with homosexuality, fine. Then don't practice it. If it's against your religion, fine. No one is forcing you to have gay friends or accept a gay couple into your church. But denying someone their basic rights as a citizen just because you don't like them or their lifestyle is wrong.
The bottom line is, the US government should be in the business of safeguarding peoples rights, not denying them.Tonight at a dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, President Obama said his... more
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International Rivers - a California based non-profit working around the globe to protect rivers and defend the rights of communities that depend on them - comes up with a hilarious take on Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues"International Rivers - a California based non-profit working around the globe to... more
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International Rivers - a California based environmental/human rights organization working globally to protect rivers and defend the rights of communities that depend on them - put out this great slideshow explaining why they do what they do.International Rivers - a California based environmental/human rights organization... more
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China is getting ready for the Olympics and Amnesty International is launching this ad campaign to highlight China's human rights violations in preparation for the games. China is getting ready for the Olympics and Amnesty International is launching this ad... more
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dalan
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4 years ago
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