I’ll be doing a follow up on Radio Active tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9) for the Legislative Midterms. I believe Curtis Haring and Glen Brown will be there, as well. Listen in to KRCL 90.9, call in with questions or comments, or volunteer for the Radiothon! My friend Deb Henry, the volunteer coordinator at KRCL, tells me they really need help with answering phones!
Tags: KRCL, RadioActive
Tomorrow morning (Wednesday 3/3/10) at 7:30 am, the Senate Education Committee will consider HB 150. That’s the one where the 4th Amendment goes flying out the window, and the Attorney General can skip getting a warrant from a judge in order to get your ISP or cell phone provider to hand over protected information about you.
Please consider writing to the members of the committee listed below ASAP about why this is wrong. It would be easiest to stop if we can keep it from getting out of committee. If you need a review about why this is so bad, check out Pete Ashdown’s flier against HB 150.
Sen. Curtis S. Bramble, Chair
cbramble@utahsenate.org
Home: (801) 226-3663
Fax: (801) 812-8297
Cell: (801) 361-5802
Sen. Margaret Dayton
mdayton@utahsenate.org
Home: (801) 221-0623
Fax: (801) 221-2513
Sen. Brent H. Goodfellow
bgoodfellow@utahsenate.org
Home: (801) 968-0626
Cell: (801) 556-4871
Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard
lhillyard@utahsenate.org
Home: (435) 753-0043
Office: (435) 752-2610
Fax: (435) 753-8895
Sen. Scott K. Jenkins
sjenkins@utahsenate.org
Home: (801) 731-5120
Office: (801) 621-5412
Sen. Karen W. Morgan
kmorgan@utahsenate.org
Home: (801) 943-0067
Fax: (801) 943-9614
Office: (801) 538-1406
Sen. Howard A. Stephenson
hstephenson@utahsenate.org
Home: (801) 576-1022
Office: (801) 972-8814
Tags: HB 150, Senate Education Committee
HB 12 is bill that is supposed to allow a women to be charged with criminal homicide for obtaining an illegal abortion or inducing a miscarriage, whether intentionally or through “reckless” behavior. It was introduced in response to a young woman in Utah who got someone to beat her up, so she would have a miscarriage. But, the motivations behind it may not be as pure.
But, what is “reckless” behavior? Is it not wearing a seatbelt, and getting into an accident? Is it drinking alcohol, and the baby is stillborn? Is it staying with an abusive partner and having miscarriage after getting the crap beat out of her? Is it going mountain climbing, and taking a fall that results in a miscarriage?
I’ve heard some argue that “no one is going to do that”. But, the fact that it could happen is a scary thing. If this bill is signed into law, and some one in a position to decide makes a claim that a woman who has suffered a miscarriage is guilty of criminal homicide, it doesn’t matter whether a judge and jury find her not guilty. Any woman who has gone through a miscarriage knows the pain.
I had a miscarriage long ago. The pain is long gone. It was before having my two beautiful sons, and it was so many years ago that it feels like a different lifetime. But, when a friend recently went through the trauma, I thought back to what I had felt. And I was mixed up, confused, scared, hurt, and even though it was early in the unplanned pregnancy – I mourned the loss. I cannot comprehend the feelings that a woman who is further into a pregnancy might go through. But, I know that they are devastating.
And if even once, this law were abused, it would be a horrendous thing.
Yes, the woman who had someone beat her up in order to try to cause a miscarriage did a horrible thing. But, do you think that a law against it would have changed anything? I don’t.
This bill creates a law that is ripe for abuse. That alone makes it wrong, but even more, the idea of women’s lives potentially being torn apart for something that is already such a tragedy is something we should not tolerate as a society.
I hope that you’ll write or call Governor Herbert, and ask him not to criminalize miscarriages. You can also sign the Petition at Change.org.
Tags: abortion, Governor Herbert, miscarriage
It’s that time of year, again. Time to vote for your favorite picks for City Weekly’s “Best of Utah”.
I think this year was my most complete ballot, with 48 responses. These are my two favorite picks:
Best Utah Politician: Peter Corroon
Best Utahn: Sister Dottie S. Dixon
And if you’re stuck on any of the other categories, here are a few of my other choices:
Best Local to Follow on Twitter: @WWJDinSLC (Though, that one was hard!)
Piper Down and Club Jam got a few votes each from me in the Nightlife category
Best Burgers: SmashBurger (of course!)
Best Local Beer: Latter Day Stout – Desert Edge Brewery
And my write ins:
Best Book: Revolutions for Fun and Profit! | Best TV Hair: Ben Winslow
Does anyone else have any favorite responses they’d like to plug?
HB 150 is the Utah House Bill that attempts to ignore the 4th amendment. It was defeated in the House yesterday, but Pete Ashdown writes that Rep. Daw wants to bring it back from the dead as a slimmed down version covering kidnapping and cyberstalking.
This is NOT okay! There is a reason we have a legal system that uses warrants. Yes, kidnapping and cyberstalking are bad things. But, a warrant isn’t some kind of undue hardship. It’s a process we have in place for a reason.
So, take a look again at Pete Ashdown’s flier against HB 150, and then call/write your Representatives and ask them to vote no.
Update 2/26/10: This bill made it through the House, and it’s now in the Senate’s hands. Please, please contact your Senator!
So, last year a bill passed into law that gave prosecutors power to get your contact information from your ISP and/or cell phone companies without a judge when they suspect a child sex crime. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, in the time since going into effect,” more than 200 such subpoenas have been issued, or slightly more than one a day.”
This year, the Utah Legislature is considering a bill (HB 150) that would extend that to include suspected felonies, as well as cyber-stalking and cyber-harassment (misdemeanors).
This bill has passed through committee, and will be voted on in the House. Rep. Brian King was the lone vote against HB 150 in committee. He asked Pete Ashdown to help him in pointing out the problems with this bill. Of course, number one was that it’s unconstitutional. The one I wouldn’t have thought of though was that it is anti-business:
It is anti-business. Burdensome regulation against Internet Service Providers, making them a wholesale detective arm of law-enforcement is punitive against small ISPs and favors large ISPs with more resources. There are no nationwide ISPs headquartered in Utah and this law will help drive the already struggling small Utah-based ISPs under. Yahoo has already published their price list for violating your personal privacy. Smaller ISPs are more likely to protect your privacy as long as the law stands with them, they don’t have the money to fight a court battle in your favor.
Pete Ashdown’s blog is definitely worth a read, and I’ll just add this as my rant:
What the hell is it with the GOP being so gung ho to violate basic rights all the time? There’s NO REASON that the Attorney General would need to avoid getting a warrant signed by a judge in order to get information like this. And last year’s bill is proof that it’s not needed. We tend to hear about it when there’s a child porn case in Utah. And I certainly haven’t heard of anywhere near 1 new case per day in the last 6 months, which tells me that it’s either being over used (and abused), or isn’t effective. And with no accountability, all I can think is: “Who will watch the watchmen?”
Contact your Representative and make sure they Vote No on HB 150. (Check your county clerk’s site if the state site doesn’t clearly show your Rep)
Update 2/25/2010: This Bill failed in the House today. Yay!
Update 2/26/2010: Rep. Daw is trying to bring this back from the dead.
Tonight I was on KRCL’s RadioActive program with Curtis Haring and Glen Brown. I’m hoping to post about that soon, but I’ve only got one more blog in me tonight before I give out. One of the topics that came up was the compromise reached at the legislature, where it was agreed that sponsors of all pro-LGBT and all anti-LGBT legislation would back off for the year.
This was a surprising move, because I expected that we would have a fighting chance (and possibly the LDS Church endorsement again) for LGBT Housing Protections, like we had in Salt Lake City. Of course, there were plenty of other bills that would be coming up, too. But, this was one that I really thought needed to happen this year – it’s the perfect time for it, and also the most likely.
I hadn’t seen this video when I was on the air earlier, but I wish that I had. Rep. Christine Johnson explains why the truce was called for this year, including backstory that we may have only guessed at without her telling us.
Now, what I argued on the air was that I thought that this would allow for both sides to work together and possibly come to a compromise, and hopefully that the Republicans might gain more understanding for LGBT issues. I said that I thought it was a good idea.
What I didn’t say was that I was really conflicted, too. I can see the other side – I can see people wondering why we didn’t go for the housing bill while we had the best chance, and thinking we’d given in to the other side.
I didn’t say that because, although I can understand it, my gut instinct says it was the right thing to do. And that was before watching Rep. Johnson’s explanation.
One more thing I want to add – more of our Senators and Representatives need to do this. Hearing directly from her on this issue really calmed any doubts that I had. So, thank you, Rep. Johnson. I hope others follow your lead.
(h/t to Eric at PrideInUtah for the video)
Ok, people. You know you want to sign the Fair Boundaries petition, but you just haven’t gotten around to it, right? Well, go sign Fair Boundaries right now!
As of now, you can sign this petition online – thanks to new Utah laws! This just went up, and I’m so proud to see it happening! Seriously, whatever you’re doing, drop it (quit reading this blog!) and go sign! Then get all your friends and family to, as well!
Do you know why you should? Because I’ve heard lots of you bitch that your vote doesn’t count. And you know what – when your legislators pick you, instead of you picking them – you’re right. But, it’s up to you to fix that. Sign this petition, let’s get it on the ballot, and let everyone in Utah vote on the issue. And then we can go back to voting for our legislators, instead of the other way around.
Also, in case you’re still reading, instead of signing, do you realize what a great thing this is? Fair Boundaries is the first legal online initiative that you can sign your name to, and have it count. This is going to pave the way to make our voices heard in a way they’ve never been before. Remember how much energy and money went into getting the voucher bill defeated through an initiative and then the ballot a few years ago? Not anymore.
Your voice just got louder.
Tags: Fair Boundaries
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to call into the KVNU For the People show and talk about Peter Corroon’s entry into the Gubernatorial race.
Disclaimer: I don’t, and never have, worked for the Corroon campaign. I’m just an activist that wanted to see him run, and plan to volunteer as much as I can to make this happen.
Anyway, my comments on KNVU made it into the Cache Valley Daily.
“It was kind of funny that the day the news started breaking that he was going to announce, one of the papers called me to get my input on it,” Fowler says. “I said, ‘you know the difference between Peter Corroon and Gary Herbert is that Gary Herbert is out there pushing this water deal through where nobody wants it.’
“It’s not needed. Even if it should have gone through it definitely shouldn’t just be rushed through. That’s not something Peter Corroon ever in a million years would do.”
Well, that was fine and dandy. But, what really made my evening was the first comment:
5:38 PM TJ Anderson wrote …
Why is the Daily reporting on what Misty Fowler thinks? She’s so far out there, not even the Democrats listen to her. Compared to her, Joseph Stalin is moderate. That said, I do support Corroon’s bid. Maybe Herbert can regain some traction with me, but as it stands, I think it’s time for a change.
I think this guy would be surprised to learn a few things about me: I like guns. A lot. I eat meat sometimes and very much dislike PETA. I drive a Jeep and not a hybrid or a bicycle. And almost every online test I take to determine what my “real” political affiliation is tells me I’m actually a Libertarian (although I can’t stand Ron Paul enough to ever call myself that). But, it’s always nice to know what other people think!
I just love that he said I make Joseph Stalin look moderate. I wonder how much he really knows about Stalin? Anyway, this was too funny to pass up. Thanks to Tyler and Jason for having me on!
It’s official. Mayor Peter Corroon will be making an important announcement this Tuesday at 9:30 am at the South City Campus.
According to my information, there was a press release already sent out that stated it would be Monday. However, shortly after that, the Mayor decided to change it to Tuesday. I will post the press release here as soon as I get it. I hope that we can make the crowd of supporters as big as possible! Please join us!
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Jean-Claude Vampire Ducky (to add to my ducky collection)
