Anti-Choicers in Colorado Push to Protect the Not-Yet-Conceived | Political Research Associates

Fucking Hobby Lobby ruling is rearing its ugly head once again!!

Last November, Colorado voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have defined personhood as inclusive of fetuses. This victory for reproductive rights, however, was won amid a slew of attacks on Coloradans’ reproductive freedom. Now, many of Colorado’s Republican lawmakers, armed with shoddy science, are pushing an agenda that prioritizes not only the not-yet-born, but the not-yet-conceived.

These lawmakers are working to ensure the demise of the Colorado Family Planning Initiative, a program focused on reducing rates of unintended pregnancy, particularly among teens and younger adults. The program makes long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), available at low or no cost to Colorado residents otherwise unable to afford such methods. IUDs and implants are highly effective, and because they last several years, they can be more practical for people unable to easily access a clinic to obtain short-term contraceptives such as birth control pills. However, the upfront cost of an IUD—ranging from $500 to well over $1000—is often prohibitive, and many on the Right want to keep it that way.

With help from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which furnished the state with a grant to the tune of approximately $25 million, Colorado has been able to defray the costs of more than 30,000 LARCs for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people who can become pregnant. But the pilot period funded by the grant is coming to a close, and the grant is not being renewed, leaving the program’s fate uncertain. State Representative K.C. Becker (D-Boulder) has introduced a bill that would provide $5 million in state funding for the program, but the legislation—which enjoys Republican co-sponsorship—faces strong opposition from certain Republican lawmakers. Senator Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud), for instance, erroneously claims that IUDs are abortifacients, which, under current state laws, would make them ineligible for state funding except in cases involving life endangerment, rape, or incest.

Lundberg and his allies are propelled by post-Hobby Lobby v. Burwell momentum. In January, Hobby Lobby served as precedent for a federal judge to approve requests from three Colorado companies wanting to circumvent the Affordable Care Act by offering employee health plans without coverage for sterilization or contraceptives. They also have substantial backing from right-wing organizations, including Focus on the Family (headquartered in Colorado Springs), Colorado Right to Life, and Personhood USA.

Anti-Choicers in Colorado Push to Protect the Not-Yet-Conceived | Political Research Associates

League of the South and the "Indomitables"

Following are two stories concerning the League of the South and their recent efforts in organizing what it calls the “Indomitables,” a paramilitary group with the goal of committing treason against the United States in the name of a new, whites-only, Confederacy.   The LOTS is a known theocratic, white supremacist organization headed by Michael Hill:

We are for the survival, well-being, and independence of the Southern people. And when we say ‘the Southern people,’ we mean white Southerners. We are an ethno-nationalist movement and we want a free and independent South for our people, as our homeland. That’s pretty much what we are fighting for.

Both focus on the "escalating and violent rhetoric" from LOTS with Clarkson focusing more on Hill and Lenz on the "Indomitables."

Neo-Confederate Group Forms Paramilitary Unit—While Claiming It Isn’t

But all this, he claims in his response to critics, was really just a discussion of the nature of 4th generation warfare, adding: “I’ll challenge all you bedwetting progs [sic] with this. You find proof that The League of the South is forming paramilitary “death squads” and then get back to your readership with it.”

Of course, what we had reported was that Hill had called for the formation of such groups, not that he had already done so.

However, on September 5th, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Ryan Lenz reported that the League had been organizing a secret paramilitary unit for months. They call themselves, “The Indomitables.” This, Lenz writes, follows “years of escalating and violent rhetoric from the League as well as a search for more ideologically extreme white nationalists to enliven their membership –– a pattern that has been ongoing since 2007, when the LOS national conference was titled ‘Southern Secession: Antidote to Empire and Tyranny.’”

The Indomitables unit features White supremacist military veterans, notably the League’s Florida chapter Chairman Michael Tubbs, who is a former Green Beret, demolitions expert, and convicted felon. He was released from prison in 1995, having served about four years.

Hill appointed Tubbs as his “Chief of Staff” in June of this year.

EXCLUSIVE: League of the South Forming Paramilitary Unit Called the ‘Indomitables’

After years of rhetoric threatening violence, the neo-Confederate League of the South (LOS) is training a uniformed, paramilitary unit tasked with advancing a second southern secession by any means necessary, Hatewatch has learned.
Symbol shared in League social media correspondence based on Nazi insignia.

According to anonymous sources from within the LOS, as well as leaked internal communications, the LOS secret unit has been dubbed “The Indomitables”and appears to be stacked with white supremacists, former Klan members and neo-Nazis.

Michael Hill, in a note offered to encourage his Indomitables, said, “We desire that our women and children be warm and snug while the world outside rages. And as our due for that we must face the world.”

The Indomitables were conceptualized at the LOS national meeting earlier this year and appear to be coming online quickly, with Floyd Eric Meadows, 43, of Rome, Ga., who also goes by Eric Thorvaldsson online, in charge of “training,”according to sources within the group and internal documents.

A veteran of both the U.S. Army and Navy with 12 years of service, Meadows has been an active LOS member for several years, and his personal Facebook account is filled with pagan iconography and photos of his weapons. He posts often about ‘earning’his red bootlaces––awarded in skinhead culture for drawing blood for ‘the movement’—and his desire to throw boot parties for enemies of the LOS. Meadows also has posted pictures of himself standing with assault rifles in front of a confederate flag and has frequently quoted Robert Barnwell Rhett, a South Carolina statesman who was dubbed the “Father of Secession”for his efforts leading up to the Civil War.

Supreme Court clears way for First Amendment challenge | MSNBC

Another interesting case that may have far-reaching implications. Could this be a backdoor means of attacking (or even repealing) Roe v. Wade?

If one remembers in the Hobby Lobby case one "question" not really addressed was the factual science of the 4 contraceptives at the heart of the suit. In other words, the competing claims of "abortion causing or not." This issue wasn't considered partly due to competing definitions of what "an abortion" is.

The owners of the companies involved in these cases and others who believe that life begins at conception regard these four methods as causing abortions, but federal regulations, which define pregnancy as beginning at implantation,,,do not so classify them."

What the Susan B. Anthony List has done, like the Greens et al, is embrace "a definition of “abortion” that includes contraceptives that prevent pregnancy and contend that tax breaks to help Americans purchase health insurance amount to funding abortion."

Granted this suit is a strict First Amendment issue, but with the overbearing agenda of the Reich, one never knows. Then there is the current 5-4 split of the SCOTUS to consider.
__
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that an anti-abortion group could challenge an Ohio law barring knowingly false statements in political campaigns.

“Petitioners have alleged a credible threat of enforcement,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote. “When an individual is subject to such a threat, an actual arrest, prosecution, or other enforcement action is not a prerequisite to challenging the law.”

The decision clears the way for Susan B. Anthony List, a group that opposes abortion, to preemptively challenge an Ohio law barring knowingly false speech in political campaigns. During the 2010, election, the group attempted to purchase a billboard accusing pro-life Ohio Democratic Rep. Steven Driehaus of voting for “taxpayer funded abortion” when he supported the Affordable Care Act. Federal funds for abortions have been barred since the 1970s, but conservatives have embraced a definition of “abortion” that includes contraceptives that prevent pregnancy and contend that tax breaks to help Americans purchase health insurance amount to funding abortion.

Supreme Court clears way for First Amendment challenge | MSNBC

Cops Ordered to Return Over $1 Million Seized From Innocent Woman - and Fed Gov Ordered to Pay Nearly $40k in Legal Fees | The Daily Sheeple

Here is a "positive" news story to report.

Civil Forfeiture is slowly coming into the minds of the mainstream but in a very negative and IMO abusive way. Last year (August and September) I posted about two of the more prominent cases of abuse. One has reached its conclusion.

What one needs to remember in regards to Civil Forfeiture, and the article does point this out, "Mishra’s ordeal happened because of civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow law enforcement to seize property that is suspected of being linked to criminal activity. One does not have to be charged with anything to permanently lose their cars, homes, or cash."

Cops Ordered to Return Over $1 Million Seized From Innocent Woman - and Fed Gov Ordered to Pay Nearly $40k in Legal Fees | The Daily Sheeple

Police Assault Teen So Violently During Search That His Testicles Burst | Alternet

"Later," the Inquirer wrote, Manning—a straight-A student with no criminal record—"can be seen on the ground in what [Police Commissioner Charles H.] Ramsey called a struggle with officers."

Manning's attorney Lewis Small told the Inquirer that after Manning's arrest, "a female officer grabbed the teen's genitals during a pat-down search and pulled, causing a testicle to rupture."

That a "pat-down search" could be so violent as to cause a boy's testicles to burst may seem like an anomaly. But this—and many other "frisks," which are legally allowed only on the outside of clothing—is not just a quick check for weapons. People do not hide guns beneath testicles. While we may not hear such stories very often, teenagers in areas where stop-and-frisk is common know that a penis grab is a regular part of the whole, degrading process.

Police Assault Teen So Violently During Search That His Testicles Burst | Alternet

'You Should Have Shot the Son of a Bitch': Listen to Police Joke About Murdering a Black Man | Alternet

The ease of their voices shocked me: a white district attorney and a white police officer shooting the breeze, discussing how they could have killed a black arrestee whose case was causing them trouble.

It was January 2010. Ojore Lutalo, a Black Liberation activist who had formerly spent nearly three decades in prison, was traveling on an Amtrak train back to his home in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The woman sitting in front of Lutalo, who was eavesdropping on his conversation, reported hearing alarming remarks to train staff. When the train pulled into La Junta, Colorado, Lutalo was arrested at gunpoint. He spent three days in jail. Meanwhile, town officials had realized they could not substantiate Lutalo’s purported terrorist threats, prompting the embarrassing question of whether charges would even be filed. Assistant District Attorney Barta phoned arresting Officer Mobley to confer about how to salvage the investigation and secure an indictment. (Lutalo was never charged.)

If the circumstances of Lutalo’s arrest were different—if he didn’t have a high profile or access to legal support—we’d probably never know about this incident. The recordings were disclosed during discovery after Lutalo filed suit against the city for violating his constitutional rights by making false claims to justify his arrest. The suit was ultimately settled out of court.

[,,,]
“How many people have heard on tape something like this from an assistant district attorney? It’s rare, I’ve never heard it before. We’re used to looking at the police and racial profiling, but this is the kind of thing that goes on every single day, at every single level of the justice system," she adds. "These are not shocking dialogues, these are dialogues that happen with great regularity… It’s a validation of things that me and people like me, and people [on the] inside, have been saying always.”

[,,,]
Publishing these recordings carries the risk of having their importance misconstrued, of giving credence to the suggestion that Barta and Mobley are simply bad apples and that what happened to Lutalo is extraordinary or unusual. That's why we should heed Lutalo’s words:

"That tape? People need to hear what’s been said. This is how they think, this is how they operate, behind closed doors. Again, if it could happen to me, it could happen to you. You don’t need to do anything. They kept me in isolation for 22 years just for entertaining thoughts they didn’t approve of. And they put that in writing.”

'You Should Have Shot the Son of a Bitch': Listen to Police Joke About Murdering a Black Man | Alternet

Government Attorneys Appealing Judges Order For Government To Return $1 Million To Woman

And yet again, the bullies in law enforcement trying to steal that which is not rightfully theirs. Last month I posted concerning this issue in regards to a small Texas/Louisiana border town. This case is from Nebraska,,,

In July, Nebraska police seized over $1 million dollars in cash from husband and wife during a traffic stop. At the time, officers claimed that the enormous sum of cash present in the car indicated it had been earned in the illegal drug trade.

But this wasn’t the case. The cash was actually given to the couple by exotic dancer Tara Mishra. Mishra says the money is her life savings, and that she gave the couple the money to invest in a New Jersey strip club.

The husband and wife were never charged after being pulled over, but police retained the money seized during the stop. The money is being retained under civil forfeiture laws which allow law enforcement to seize the money and property of people involved in crimes.

Police say they found drug residue on the money. But as U.S. District Judge Joseph Batallion points out, it is believed that almost all money in circulation is tainted with drug residue.

Mishra filed a claim to reclaim her money from the government, but her request was denied. Officials ruled that since Mishra had given money to the couple she no longer had a claim to it.

Government Attorneys Appealing Judges Order For Government To Return $1 Million To Woman

Sarah Stillman: The Use and Abuse of Civil Forfeiture : The New Yorker

On a bright Thursday afternoon in 2007, Jennifer Boatright, a waitress at a Houston bar-and-grill, drove with her two young sons and her boyfriend, Ron Henderson, on U.S. 59 toward Linden, Henderson’s home town, near the Texas-Louisiana border. They made the trip every April, at the first signs of spring, to walk the local wildflower trails and spend time with Henderson’s father. This year, they’d decided to buy a used car in Linden, which had plenty for sale, and so they bundled their cash savings in their car’s center console. Just after dusk, they passed a sign that read “Welcome to Tenaha: A little town with BIG Potential!”

They pulled into a mini-mart for snacks. When they returned to the highway ten minutes later, Boatright, a honey-blond “Texas redneck from Lubbock,” by her own reckoning, and Henderson, who is Latino, noticed something strange. The same police car that their eleven-year-old had admired in the mini-mart parking lot was trailing them. Near the city limits, a tall, bull-shouldered officer named Barry Washington pulled them over.

He asked if Henderson knew that he’d been driving in the left lane for more than half a mile without passing.

No, Henderson replied. He said he’d moved into the left lane so that the police car could make its way onto the highway.

Were there any drugs in the car? When Henderson and Boatright said no, the officer asked if he and his partner could search the car.

The officers found the couple’s cash and a marbled-glass pipe that Boatright said was a gift for her sister-in-law, and escorted them across town to the police station. In a corner there, two tables were heaped with jewelry, DVD players, cell phones, and the like. According to the police report, Boatright and Henderson fit the profile of drug couriers: they were driving from Houston, “a known point for distribution of illegal narcotics,” to Linden, “a known place to receive illegal narcotics.” The report describes their children as possible decoys, meant to distract police as the couple breezed down the road, smoking marijuana. (None was found in the car, although Washington claimed to have smelled it.)

The county’s district attorney, a fifty-seven-year-old woman with feathered Charlie’s Angels hair named Lynda K. Russell, arrived an hour later. Russell, who moonlighted locally as a country singer, told Henderson and Boatright that they had two options. They could face felony charges for “money laundering” and “child endangerment,” in which case they would go to jail and their children would be handed over to foster care. Or they could sign over their cash to the city of Tenaha, and get back on the road. “No criminal charges shall be filed,” a waiver she drafted read, “and our children shall not be turned over to CPS,” or Child Protective Services.

“Where are we?” Boatright remembers thinking. “Is this some kind of foreign country, where they’re selling people’s kids off?” Holding her sixteen-month-old on her hip, she broke down in tears.

Later, she learned that cash-for-freedom deals had become a point of pride for Tenaha, and that versions of the tactic were used across the country. “Be safe and keep up the good work,” the city marshal wrote to Washington, following a raft of complaints from out-of-town drivers who claimed that they had been stopped in Tenaha and stripped of cash, valuables, and, in at least one case, an infant child, without clear evidence of contraband.

Sarah Stillman: The Use and Abuse of Civil Forfeiture : The New Yorker