Barry Seward Presents: Civil Liberties

December 14, 2017 Press Release for ACLU PHOENIX –Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery has decided not to challenge the most recent ruling upholding Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act, as the deadline of December 11 to seek review by the United States Supreme Court has passed. In 2016, the Arizona Court of Appeals found in favor of a Sun City medical marijuana dispensary, ruling that federal law prohibiting marijuana does not void Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act and that the county and state should therefore allow the dispensary to continue operating. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona represented the White Mountain Health Center on this issue of federal preemption. Emma Andersson, the ACLU’s lead attorney on White Mountain Medical Center v. Maricopa County and staff attorney with the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, had this response: “From the beginning, Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery was clear about his int...

December 14, 2017 ACLU Press Release WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted today to implement Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to end net neutrality. Net neutrality prevents internet service providers from prioritizing data for businesses and other organizations that they favor or that pay more. The rules keep the internet open, free, and unrestricted, preventing ISPs from becoming gatekeepers that can control and manipulate what people access on the internet. Jay Stanley, American Civil Liberties Union senior policy analyst, said: “Since the end of the dial-up era, the FCC has enforced network neutrality principles and helped create the internet as we know it. Today’s misguided FCC action represents a radical departure that risks erosion of the biggest free speech platform the world has ever known. “Today’s loss means that telecommunications companies will start intruding more on how people use the internet. Internet service providers will become m...

Photo Courtesy of WLBT/AP Photo Are some Southern Baptists in Mississippi living back in the 1800's?  Apparently so. Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson are now happily married no thanks to some of the congregants of the First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. The couple, attendees of the First Baptist Church for over a year, were told just two days before they were to be married that members of the church had persuaded Pastor Stan Weatherford to not marry them in the church that they attended. Although not official members they were planning to join after the wedding in part because Te'Andrea Wilson's uncle is an employee of the church, and her father is a member. What possible reason would a church turn away these soon to be members just days before they were to celebrate one of the happiest days of their lives? Was it because they were not compatible. No. Was it because they could not afford to rent the space? Absolutely not. I'll tell you why ...

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Canadian citizen who is a legal resident of Missouri , challenging that state's statutory prohibition on the carrying of concealed firearms by non-citizens. The case seeks to overturn the state's non-citizen concealed carry ban on constitutional grounds, specifically the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and the 14 th Amendment's equal protection clause. The plaintiff is Edward F. Plastino , a Canadian citizen and Status Indian, based on his partial Chippewa heritage. He has lived primarily in this country since 1995, and in Missouri since 2006. SAF and Plastino are represented by attorneys Matthew Singer of St. Louis and David Sigale of Glen Ellyn, Ill. "This is a case similar to our successful lawsuits against the City of Omaha and Washington State , and our current action in New Mexico , challenging local gun laws that discriminate against legal resident alie...

Blair Urling Accused of Using Diploma Mill Photo Courtesy of  Recordnet.com This has been a weird week here in Spokane WA where I live. Our Mayor, David Condon, who is doing a great job in his first couple hundred of days in office has had a few setbacks recently in his search for a new Police Chief.  Last week the search team narrowed down their search to four candidates and it is now down to three because Blair Urling,  the former Police Chief of  Stockton California,  submitted a resume that stated he graduated from La Salle University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Administration of Justice in 1997 and a Master of Science in Law Enforcement Management in 2002. His resume states that he graduated Summa cum Laude. Unfortunately for Urling, the "real" La Salle University (the Catholic University in Philadelphia) doesn't offer those degrees and diploma mill experts believe it's a fake and could have been purchased for as little as a two thou...

 DOMA Cases are being reviewed Edith “Edie” Windsor, who sued the government for failing to recognize her marriage to her late spouse, Thea Spyer, asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to hear her challenge to the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). The petition for certiorari was filed on Windsor’s behalf by her attorneys at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. In June, a federal district judge in New York ruled in Windsor’s favor that section three of DOMA unconstitutionally discriminates against married same-sex couples. The Justice Department and the leadership of the House of Representatives recently asked the Supreme Court to hear DOMA challenges in two other cases, including a case, like Windsor’s, that is still pending in a federal appeals court. “With Edie’s case and the two others, the high court ha...

Sunday Funnies Hello friends. Today is the fun day at Barry Seward Presents. I love sharing funny Tweets, Facebook and Google plus pics! If you have funny pics that are all ages appropriate please send them to me to post or add your jokes in the comment section! As they said in the 20's...see you in the funny papers. Twitter: Doctor Dementia ‏ @ Demented_Jokes The wife and I decided to flip a coin to see what our newborn son should be called. He's called Tails. Stewie Griffin ‏ @ FamilyGuyTweets The good thing about having a bad memory is that jokes can be funny more than once.   Sweet Innocence ‏ @ PrachiRai My mom "Send me some jokes ." me"I'm studying at the moment,I will send you one later." she replied,"That was fantastic,send me another one" Hudson Taylor ‏ @ hudsonism Tellin...