MLK Day

January 20, 2020 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

 

 

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  1. SELMA – ‘Application’ Clip:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG_2ZwFhnys

    It’s 2020 and Florida’s Supreme Court Just Ruled in Favor of a Poll Tax

    “Florida cannot violate the U.S. Constitution’s protections. The right to vote cannot be contingent on the ability to pay.”

    Edit: Florida’s state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of denying convicted felons the right to vote if they do not pay fines and fees associated with their incarceration, a decision that was immediately assailed by rights activists as an unconstitutional and immoral poll tax.

    In a statement condemning the ruling (pdf), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Florida, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund said the ruling “does not—indeed, cannot—alter what the U.S. Constitution requires.”
    “A federal court has already held that the state cannot deny people the right to vote because of their inability to pay financial obligations,” the groups said in their statement. 
    The court ruled that “all terms of sentence” in the law included fines and fees because they are included in “any portion of a sentence that is contained in the four corners of the sentencing document.”
    Felons in Florida had their right to vote once restored by public ballot “upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole or probation” in 2018, but the state’s GOP-led government has worked to undermine the right.

    full article: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/16/its-2020-and-floridas-supreme-court-just-ruled-favor-poll-tax

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  2. I just wish all the white nationalists and hate groups gathering in Richmond today ostentively to prevent seizure of their many weapons by the government (any level of ) could see this quote. It just might jar a few brain cells into functioning.

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  3. Jane & PKM says:

    While we honor MLK today, we must vote in 2020 as if he, RFK and JFK are still driving the bus. Economic justice has no color, gender or religious affiliation which is why the Democratic Party should have a broad base appeal to everyone. We may not be able to appeal to those who have an in the rut habit of voting against their own interests, but we can educate and appeal to a huge swath of Americans who have given up voting or never have voted for a variety of reasons.

    As megasoid@1 has shown, we can do the education thing by donating to the ACLU, the SPLC, and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/01/15/fight-republican-voter-suppression-stacey-abrams-eric-holder-column/4466107002/

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  4. Jane & PKM says:

    maggie@2, it could devolve to a hot mess if it happens, but the only likelihood of brain activity by those morons will be if a car backfires in their midst today. Peace to them and hopes the only thing that strikes them is the ground where their cowardly carcasses fall and not hot lead they demand.

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  5. John Pavlovitz’s MLK piece is worth reading.
    We may not all agree with all of it.
    But it’s definitely worth reading.

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  6. Sam in Superior says:

    Kellyann Conway says Dr King would have wanted racist Trump acquitted? You can’t deal with people like this.

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  7. The Surly Professor says:

    Sorry to have lost the source for this, but there is one bit of potentially good news about the Florida debacle. It seems that some cities/counties are waiving or even paying off those troublesome fines that the ex-cons have, precisely so they can vote.

    Guess what flavor of county is more likely to do that, D or R? Some Republicans have belatedly realized that would mean greater voting power accruing to the Democratic strongholds, and precisely from folks more like to vote for Dems.

    In any case, this is what Bloomberg should be funding – he could just pay off all of those fines and fees statewide and not even have to remove the cushions from his couch. But for him, like for any billionaire, running for office more about his narcissm and self-aggrandizement.

    Any denizens of TWMDBS from Florida? It should be possible for the Democratic Party there to set up something like JJ’s list, but instead of paying for mail-in ballots, it would let you pay off the fines for some Florida ex-con. Rank order the list with small fines first, so that the largest number of people can be freed to vote.

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  8. The Surly Professor says:

    Off-topic, but … in Princeton a few years ago, I was with a group of crusty old professors (youngest was 61) and grad students (oldest 26) when we heard a distant bang. I took a quick survey: us antiques thought it might have been a car back-firing. The young’uns thought it was gunfire.

    Further inquiry showed that none of the students had *ever* heard a car backfire.

    I will now form a choir to sing “What a drag it is getting old”.

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