Mediaboss Marketing

Ever since President Trump started nominating new Supreme Court justices, reproductive health activists and court observers have sounded the alarm that Roe v. Wade was in jeopardy. Conservative legislators also took notepassing laws that would contradict Roe in case it did fall.

On September 1, in the middle of the night, the five most conservative Supreme Court justices issued an unsigned order denying an injunction against a new Texas law that bans most abortions and deputizes the citizenry to enforce the ban.

There is no silver lining, but there may be a layer of defense that hasnt been fully explored by activists and reproductive justice organizers to explore: the new progressive prosecutor movement.

Prosecutors are granted a high level of discretion under US law, and they have the authority to simply not criminally charge people using laws they know to be unjust or unconstitutional. Progressive prosecutors have mostly focused on non-enforcement efforts on low-level drug charges. However, in 2019, four Atlanta-area prosecutors promised they would not use a new Georgia law criminalizing abortions to prosecute people for obtaining them, regardless of whether there was a legal challenge to that law.

Such promises are not legally binding. The consequences of going back on their word would essentially amount to some of their left-leaning constituency remembering the betrayal in the next election cycle. But this use of prosecutorial discretionto not charge abortion patients or providerscould play a prominent role in our post-Roe society.

A starting place is to establish where your county DA stands on abortion.

The inverse is also true. Enterprising right-wing prosecutors can turn to new interpretations of old laws to criminalize abortion, even without a specific statute. In the 1990s, former Pinellas County, Florida, State Attorney Bernie McCabe attempted to prosecute a young girl under homicide statutes for getting an abortion.

Prosecutorial discretion is also probably why conservative donors who oppose mass incarceration, such as Charles Koch, never got involved in bankrolling pro-reform candidates in prosecutor elections. A decarceral Republican candidate for district attorney is essentially a libertarian, and many libertarians adamantly support the right to abortion without governmental inference. But funding candidates who might not prosecute people for abortion would alienate GOP allies needed for other parts of conservative donors political agenda. Relatively few Republicans think abortion should be legal.

Traveling from an abortion-ban state to get a legal abortion in a different state is still legal, because Congress never passed a federal law criminalizing abortion. Some Texas residents will be able to procure safe and legal abortions elsewhere; others who dont have the resources will not.

Groups like the ACLU and Color of Change have already been educating the public on the importance of district attorney races and knowing what ones DA stands for as a strategic lever for racial justice. Reproductive justice organizations might now consider doing the same.

A starting place is to establish where a county DA stands on abortion. Rarely have top prosecutors been asked to weigh in on the issue, and whether they run as Democrats or Republicans is not enough to know whether they support or oppose criminalization. Reproductive justice advocates should seek this information from as many DA offices as possible.

If the DAs refuse to not prosecute abortion, or glibly state that the law is the lawnot just downplaying, but outright ignoring, their own power of discretionthat information should be advertised where it will be seen by constituents who might not otherwise be aware. And if any DAs promise outright that they will not prosecute abortion-related charges, that promise should be publicly platformed, too.

In 2020, multiple plaintiffs sued in Tennessee to block a new law that would force abortion providers to tell patients it may be possible to reverse a medication-induced abortion in the middle of the procedure, under the threat of felony charges, fines and incarceration. To guide his decision, US District Judge William Campbell invited the four DAs named in the suitMemphis DA Amy Weirich, Davidson County (Nashville) DA Glenn R. Funk, Knox County DA Charme P. Allen and recently retired 15th District DA Tom Thompsonto state on-record that they would not prosecute providers for giving the required recitation but then stating they disagreed with it.

All of them filed the requested declaration except Nashville DA Funk, who filed a declaration that he would not enforce the new law because of his legal opinion that it is unconstitutional.

An October 2020 open letter from Fair and Just Prosecution also collected the signatures of dozens of locally elected prosecutors across the US who promised to not prosecute anyone who obtain abortions and health care professionals who provide themeven if the protections of Roe v. Wade were to be eroded or overturned.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 2.0

Originally posted here:
District Attorneys Could Be Key to the post-Roe v. Wade Abortion Battle - Filter

Joe Rogan isnt really a Democrat or a Republican. He did support Bernie Sanders in the 2020 nomination race. That endorsement, though, was met with outrage by Sanders supporters who considered Rogan to be racist and anti-LGBTQ.

The popular podcast host is more of a Libertarian that anything else. And that way of seeing things has become clear in how Rogan has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. After being diagnosed with the disease, the host said he was taking multiple medications including Ivermectin, a horse de-wormer.

During his how today, Rogan ranted about the way his treatment was covered by the media. He was especially angry with Jim Acosta and CNN.

The podcaster began, Theyre making shit up! They keep saying Im taking horse dewormer. I literally got it from a doctor. Its an American company. They won the Nobel Prize in 2015 for use in human beings and CNN is saying Im taking horse dewormer. They must know thats a lie.

Rogan continued, CNN was saying I am a distributor of misinformation. I dont know whats going on, man. You know, there is a lot of speculation. One of the speculations involves the emergency use authorization for the vaccines. That, in order for there to be an emergency use authorization, there has to be no treatment for a disease.

The host closed his comments, The grand conspiracy is that the pharmaceutical companies are in cahoots to try and make anybody who takes this stuff look crazy. But whats crazy is look how better I got [sic]! I got better pretty quick, bitch.

In addition to taken Ivermectin, Rogan also took drugs that are proven to work against COVID-19 including monoclonal antibodies.

See the rest here:
WATCH: Enraged Ivermectin Taking Joe Rogan Threatens to Sue Jim Acosta, CNN - HillReporter.com

With campaigning for next years elections underway, the countys redistricting commission will soon start drawing maps proposing new County Council districts.

The commission met last week and expects to have final data compiled from the U.S. census by Monday, allowing members to begin drawing maps.

Nicholas Holdzkom, a research planner for the county, said he and colleagues are working to collect and import the data, so the process can begin next week.

By the meeting of [Sept. 23], our big hope is that people will be able to show up with maps, Holdzkom said.

Pamela Dunn, a senior legislative analyst for the County Council who is assisting the commission, said a map-drawing tool should be available to the public by Sept. 16.

The commission is tasked with drawing a map dividing the county into seven County Council districts. Last November, voters approved a charter amendment that increased the number of council members from nine to 11.

Seven members will represent districts, up from the current five. Four at-large members will continue to represent the entire county.

For the proposed districts, the commissioners will focus on:

Their draft maps will be finalized and available for public comment in October.

The commission will submit its report with one or more recommended maps, and present them to the County Council by Nov. 15. The council decides what the final map will be.

Commission members agreed that it would be beneficial to split into smaller groups of about four or five people, preferably of differing party affiliations, to start drawing maps. They then would reconvene to compare maps and eventually agree on a final map to present to the County Council, but also provide back-up maps, in case a full consensus cant be reached.

Commissioner Valerie Ervin, a former County Council member, told her colleagues last week that the commissions work is important, but reminded them they have limited time before the final Nov. 15 deadline.

The calendar is not our friend right now, Ervin said.

Ervin predicted that the County Council public hearing on the final proposal will be well attended, and that the community will be heard then.

It will be important to give council members one preferred map, but also provide alternatives, so the council has a choice, commissioners said.

Commissioner Sam Statland said he hopes the County Council follows the commissions recommendations in its final report. He added that it would be smart to do so, because the commission consists of Democrats, Republicans, a Libertarian and registered independents.

I think that gives us a lot of firm ground to stand on, in what our selections are, Statland said.

Steve Bohnel can be reached at steve.bohnel@bethesdamagazine.com

Read the original:
Montgomery County redistricting commission will soon begin map drawings - BethesdaMagazine.com

Dan Reale serves as chairman of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut, a statewide third party that seeks to elect candidates to local, state, and national office.

The Connecticut Examiner spoke with Reale about the identity of the Libertarian Party, and how he sees the partys prospects for this falls municipal elections.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

How do you see your role as chair of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut?

The main responsibility I have as chair of the party is obviously growing the party, which has been accomplished despite COVID.

As a matter of fact, if anything, the government response to COVID has helped us grow and actually start to raise serious money. The COVID response may have initially been well-intentioned, but it went well beyond 15 days to flatten the curve and started to amount to moving goalposts. It was represented as, if I wear a mask and get the vaccine, I will get my life back, and unfortunately 18 months in, its pretty clear that no, these things will not get your life back, and there are no plans to end the restrictions.

Why has frustration with COVID restrictions been a boon for Libertarians?

People just see the writing on the wall, and realize that theyd better elect somebody other than Democrats or Republicans or they will be in a world of trouble. A lot of people are switching to the Libertarian Party after having gone back and forth between the Republican Party and Democratic Party forever.

Weve easily seen a more than 10 percent increase in registrations, and a real increase in participation in events like rallies. Last year was the first year we had affiliates in all areas of Connecticut.

I can see why that would lead to frustration with Democrats enacting restrictions, but why wouldnt that just lead to people supporting Republicans, who are making the same arguments against restrictions?

Republicans arent going to stand up and fight for your rights, theyre never going to take action. Thats when you need a Libertarian, because Libertarians have always said that there are lines you dont cross, and this is one of those bright lines. Republicans have pretended to respect your rights, but when it comes down to it, theyre not actually taking any action. A lot of Republicans claim to be against this stuff, but why arent they actually doing anything? Were filing lawsuits and making Freedom of Information Act requests for complaints about mask mandates. The Republicans are just sitting around and saying oh, well, if we had more of us in Connecticut, maybe we could do something.

I like to call us Libertarians a second party, rather than a third party, because the Democrats and the Republicans are one party pretending to be two.

What are some of the municipal races youre focusing on this fall?

In Meriden, we have two candidates, and in Plainfield, we have three people running for Board of Education, including me. If all three of us get elected, we would have a very big policy say, because the remainder of the Board of Education would be Democrats and Republicans. At a local level, were focused on the same things Democrats and Republicans are, or should be, like making it so local governments actually live within their means.

What about for next years races for state legislature and the governorship?

Were going to do everything we can for next year. Were holding our nominating convention on January 23 for next years races, which is early, but we want to get a head start on petitioning, because ballot access is a huge problem.

For example, take Sterling. We dont have ballot access there, so if I go to Sterling and I want to run for First Selectman of Sterling, I cannot form a town committee because we have no ballot access, so the town committee cannot raise or spend over $1,000. Thats a major impediment.

Still, the growth in our state party does mean that I think next year is going to be great for us. If youre trying to build an institution, you need to retain institutional knowledge, which were finally starting to be able to do.

Next year, I plan on just stepping down so I can focus on being a candidate, because in the past, I have had that dual role as candidate and chair. Now, the party is big enough and things are in a place such that somebody else can handle it. If we got hit by a truck tomorrow, wed be good, and its taken a lot of work to get big enough to do that.

I know the Unmask Our Kids campaign has been a major priority for the Libertarian Party of Connecticut. Tell me about that effort, and why stopping mask requirements in schools is such a policy priority for you.

The government took a year of our kids education for no practical, sound reason at all. It ended up crippling our children psychologically and intellectually by completely removing a year of their childhood. Children are going without their friends, without student-teacher interaction and emotional development.

If you pull any superintendent aside and ask if distance learning worked, theyll admit, and everyone agrees, that no, none of this works. The people that have been pushing these ideas have gotten their way for the past 18 months, and the results have not been as theyve stated they would be. They want you to isolate forever, wear a mask forever, and impair learning outcomes for children forever.

Why would anyone want that?

They want federal and state money. School districts are far more concerned about getting federal and state money than they are about the actual well-being of children, and the towns are afraid of the Governor.

Were starting to see a lot of pushback at the school board level, and thats the opening where the Libertarian party is going to make its presence heard. The Libertarian Party doesnt believe in ideas that are so good that they need to be mandatory. We believe that anyone who wants to wear a mask can wear one, but the Governors policy is to let school districts force everyone to wear a mask, and then ask people for personal health records to show they are exempt from these orders.

The rest is here:
Dan Reale Talks Growth, 'Unmask Our Kids,' and the Libertarian Party of Connecticut - CT Examiner

Larry Elder. Campaign photo

The Sage from South Central. Even more extreme than Trump. The recall candidate to beat.

Larry Eldergoes by a lot of labels these days. If hes tough to pin down, thats because hes such an unlikely politician: A Black man who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, went to an Ivy League college and became a conservative provocateur.

In a state dominated by Democrats for 15 years, hed make an even more unlikely governor. As millions of Californains suss out what theyre supposed to think about him as they vote in theSept. 14 recall election, Elder sat down with CalMatters reporters and editors for an hour-long interview.

This conversation took place beforePolitico reported on allegations from Elders ex-fiancee that he brandished a gun at her while high on marijuana.Elder denied that he waved a weapon, but did not respond to other allegations: I am not going to dignify this with a response its beneath me.

CalMatters has invited Gov. Gavin Newsom and his major challengers to sit down and chat. Here are five highlights from the discussion with Elder:

Elder is especially clear on this point: He thinks hes gotten a raw deal from the left-wing media since he announced his campaign last month.

I dont have a tail, I dont have horns, he said, before noting that he also doesnt club baby seals and eat their heads. While his views onlabor policy,gender equalityandracehave been characterized by the Newsom camp and even somefellow Republicansas extreme, Elder says theyre rooted in common sense and Economics 101.

In the latest in a string of stories unearthing past controversial comments, bothCNNand theSan Francisco Chroniclepublished articles documenting what he has said about women.

He also mentioned that hes written books and made documentaries. Despite their commercial success, he claims, theyve been skimmed over by the arbiters of merit and taste newspaper book reviewers and the Oscars.

Its just surprising that Ive been shut out like this, he said. Im from the hood. I ought to be a success story.

Not that depicting himself as a media target and picking fights with fault-finding reporters doesnt have its political upside. Just ask Donald Trump. For Elders supporters and many recall voters, the disapproval of the chattering classes may serve as its own endorsement.

Thats the term Elder uses to describe his policy platform. Its a consistent line and one that hes been repeating for as long as hes been a public figure.

The biggest challenge in California in general is the intrusiveness of government, he said. I believe that a government that governs less governs best.

Hence his views on the minimum wage (there shouldnt be one), pregnancy discrimination prohibitions in the workplace (leave it to the market), public welfare programs (it encourages women to marry the government), public schools (he prefers school vouchers), state-funded health insurance programs (you need to have competition) and recreational drugs (he supports legalization).

Longtime conservative talk radio listeners and Fox News aficionados will know Elder by his more than 20 years of public opinionating. But for many California voters, he remains relatively unknown.

Thats in part Elders doing. Hes skipped three campaign debates so far,a strategy thats frustrated some GOP insiders. Elder insists its because hes not running against the Republican rivals, but against Newsom.

But debating also runs the risk of making a gaffe or coming under sustained attack a risk that Elder apparently doesnt believe he needs to make.

I have a substantial lead over my Republican rivals, thats one of the reasons why they want to debate me, he said. If I were sitting at 2% in the polls, Id want to debate me as well.

Elders years in the media world have given him a knack for talking politics in a way to draw an audience, but also sometimes to inflame.

So, yes, he opposes the Californiasrecent expansion of Medi-Cal, the public health insurance program for low-income people, to undocumented immigrants. And no, hes not going to use the term undocumented immigrant.

Likewise, climate change activists and conservationists are environmental extremists, the reformist district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco are soft on crime and safety net programs pushed by Democrats represent an attack on the nuclear family.

One of a governors most powerful policy levers is his ability to appoint to the judicial bench, to vacated constitutional offices and to the states many regulatory commissions.

While Elder doesnt have a short list of names for any of those possible appointments, he takes inspiration from Washington, DC. When selecting a judge or justice, he would model his selection on self-described originalists like Clarence Thomas and the late-Antonin Scalia.

And for the state Board of Education? Somebody who has the same philosophy as the former Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, he said.

But there was one former DC bigwig Elder was not inclined to talk about: Stephen Miller, the former Trump advisor, whoseearly start as a right-wing provocateurbegan on Elders show.

Why would you bring up Stephen Miller? Elder asked, repeatedly. Im just wondering what the agenda here is. Whats the point? Am I somehow what a Nazi? A fascist?

CalMattersis a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias Capitol works and why itmatters.

Show comments

See more here:
Recall Front-Runner Larry Elder Says Hes a Libertarian and I Dont Have Horns - Times of San Diego