ACLU to Co-Sponsor Centennial Discussion on Civil Rights, Liberties in Arizona Over the Past 100 Years (press release)

TUCSON – Former judges, academic historians and elected officials from the City of Tucson will gather on February 12th to engage in an interactive discussion about the expansion of civil rights and liberties in Arizona over the past 100 years.

“When the ACLU was founded in Arizona in 1959, there were laws prohibiting people of different races from marrying and banning the distribution of birth control information,” said Tod Zelickson, president of the ACLU of Arizona’s Southern Chapter. “But the ACLU has led the fight to expand civil rights and liberties throughout much of Arizona’s history and since those early days, the principles of due process of law, equal protection and separation of church and state have permeated our society and become enshrined in our state Constitution and laws.”

The public forum, which is hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona’s Southern Chapter in cooperation with the Second Saturday and Centennial Committees in Tucson, will be from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 12th at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 160 S. Scott, Tucson, Arizona.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Paul Barby at 520-299-3778.

Panelists are:

University of Arizona Law School Dean Emeritus Charles E. Ares, who represented the ACLU of Arizona’s first client, Henry Oyama, a native Tucson resident of Japanese descent who, along with his Caucasian fiancée Mary Ann Jordan, was refused a marriage license by the Pima County Clerk. Ares was instrumental in challenging Arizona’s discriminatory miscegenation law and securing an injunction requiring the Pima County Clerk to issue the marriage license;

Retired Arizona Chief Justice Stanley Feldman, who volunteered to handle cases on behalf of the ACLU in Arizona;

Former Tucson Mayor George Miller, who previously served on the board of ACLU of Arizona’s Southern Chapter; and

ACLU of Arizona Founding Board Member Cornelius Steelink, who served as a volunteer during the 1960s and 1970s who lobbied the Arizona Legislature to repeal the miscegenation law, create public defender offices in Maricopa and Pima Counties and ratify the constitutional amendment abolishing the poll tax.

The mission of the ACLU of Arizona is to protect the civil liberties contained in the state and federal constitutions through litigation, legislative and public education. The ACLU is funded primarily through private donations and offers its services at no cost to the public. The ACLU does not accept any government funds. Nearly 3,000 ACLU members live in Southern Arizona. They’re represented by volunteers who serve on the board of the Southern Chapter of the ACLU of Arizona. The ACLU of Arizona is an affiliate of the national ACLU, which boasts a membership of 550,000 with approximately 7,000 members and supporters in Arizona. For more on ACLU’s accomplishments over the past five decades, visit: http://www.acluaz.org/about-us/accomplishments.

Contact:

Tucson: Paul Barby, ACLU of Arizona Southern Chapter, at 520 299-3778 or pmbarby@earthlink.net; or

Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, at 602-773-6006 (office) or 602-301-3705 (cell) or ameetze@acluaz.org

INFO: www.acluaz.org.

Justice Feldman and Dean Ares were interviewed on KUAT Channel 6 (click here) about the Arizona Constitution.

If you’re wondering what happened to Prop. 203 after its passage last November, 2010 and its implementation, here’s your chance to learn more.

Panelists will be:

Tom Salow, Manager of the Office of Administrative Counsel and Rules, Arizona Department of Health Services;

Mike Rankin, Tucson City Attorney;

Amelia Craig Cramer, Pima County Attorney’s office;

District 5 Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias;

Andrew Myers, Arizona Medical Marijuana Project.

For more info, contact Addy Bareiss at ACLU of Arizona: abareiss@acluaz.org or call 602-773-6015. Tucson contact is Paul Barby, ACLU-AZ Southern Chapter Board Member, at pmbarby@earthlink.net.

Proposition 203 passed by a margin of 4340 votes in the AZ general election. See results from Sec. of State’s website:
Yes 50.13% 841,348
No 49.87% 837,008

Arizona is the 15th state to approve medical marijuana for people with chronic and debilitating diseases. For more information, including FAQs and current legislative updates on medical marijuana issues, visit: http://stoparrestingpatients.org/home/

http://www.azdhs.gov/medicalmarijuana/

“Two nationally known leaders will bring the same-gender marriage discussion to Tucson in hopes to find common ground. Maggie Gallagher, president and founder of National Organization for Marriage and the Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, president of Interfaith Alliance, will meet in Tucson to discuss their views on same-gender marriage and religious freedom.”

Television reporter Lupita Murillo of KVOA Channel 4, Tucson, will moderate the conversation. The event is free and open to the public.

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Same-Gender Marriage Conversation
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Berger Performing Arts Center
1200 West Speedway Blvd.
Contact: Organizer Paul Barby, pmbarby@earthlink.net

“The national conversation about same-gender marriage is most often played out in sound bites and protest signs. We hope to have a deeper discussion in Tucson,” said local organizer Paul Barby. “This is an important conversation to have because what is really at stake when we talk about same-gender marriage is religious freedom and the nature of democracy.”

From the press release:
“The Washington Post has described Gallagher’s National Organization for Marriage, as “the preeminent organization dedicated to preventing the legalization of same-sex marriage.” Gallagher and her organization played a key role in getting Prop 8 on the ballot in California. She also helped orchestrate the rollback of gay marriage via referendum in Maine, and block gay marriage bills in the New York and New Jersey State Senates.”

“As President of Interfaith Alliance, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, promotes the idea that marriage is a civil issue, not a religious issue in the United States and that discussions about same-gender marriage should begin from the perspective of religious liberty. Gaddy serves as a pastor at Northminster Baptist Church in Monroe, Louisiana, in addition to leading Interfaith Alliance, a national grassroots organization of more than 150,000 individuals and 75 different religious traditions.” He is also the author of a Green Paper entitled “Same-Gender Marriage & Religious Freedom”.

Sounds like a fair & balanced discussion on same-gender marriage, not legal in Arizona.
Can this issue find common ground? Why shouldn’t gays/lesbians be allowed to marry? Attend this conversation/discussion & find out.

Note: I wrote a blog entitled “Why marriage?” earlier this year (click here), where this issue came up in the comment section.

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