Migration Category: National Old Site

Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. The bill, drafted by the so-called “Gang of Eight,” includes a path to citizenship for the 11 million people currently in the United States who do not have legal status. It also includes measures to strengthen boarder security, and new programs for highly skilled workers.

President Obama issued a statement supporting the advancement, saying the bill was “largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.” He continued, “None of the committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I, but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line. I encourage the full Senate to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor at the at the earliest possible opportunity and remain hopeful that the amendment process will lead to further improvements.”

Despite wide support, many LGBT advocacy groups are outraged after an amendment to extend protections to same-sex couples was dropped by Democrats. The amendment would give same-sex partners the ability to sponsor their significant other for citizenship, however conservative members of the Committee and the Gang of Eight threatened to pull their support for the bill if the amendment was included. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) told the committee “So, with a heavy heart, and as a result of my conclusion that Republicans will kill this vital legislation if this anti-discrimination amendment is added, I will withhold calling for a vote on it at this time. But I will continue to fight for equality.”

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement “It is deplorable that a small number of Senators have been able to stand in the way of progress for lesbian and gay couples torn apart by discriminatory laws. We are extremely disappointed that our allies did not put their anti-LGBT colleagues on the spot and force a vote on the measure that remains popular with the American people.”

On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.

Roberts was suspended following allegations of “adultery and a physical altercation.” Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters “We don’t have any evidence of any sexual assault. The allegations we have indicate a breach of order and discipline.” Adultery is punishable under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice when a member of the Army who is married has sexual intercourse with another person, and the circumstances are determined to potentially discredit the military.

Though the case does not involve sexual assault, Roberts’ suspension is the latest scandal of sexual misconduct in the military. Last week an Army Sergeant 1st Class Sexual Harassment/Assault Result Prevention (SHARP) Coordinator and Equal Opportunity Advisor at Fort Hood in Texas who is being investigated for sexual assault. According to a statement released by the Department of Defense (DoD) the service member in question is being investigated for allegations of “pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates.” Two weeks earlier, an Air Force chief of sexual assault prevention and response was arrested on charges of sexual battery. Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking lot. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and immediately alerted the police. An anonymous spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed that Krusinski had been dismissed from his post in response to the allegations.

In addition, the Department of Defense issued an annual report in the beginning of May that showed that sexual assault in the military rose by 35% from 2010 to 2012. The report found that 26,000 members of the military experienced “unwanted sexual contact” in 2012 when answering an anonymous survey – a rate of approximately 70 assaults a day. The report also found only 3,374 reports of sexual assault were filed, according to the Pentagon. Of those cases filed, fewer than one in 10 ended with a court-martial conviction of sexual assault. In the majority of cases, the alleged attacker faced small administrative punishments or the case was dismissed.

On Friday, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced legislation that would allow the government to investigate crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) that falsely advertise abortion services. The “Stop Deceptive Advertising For Women’s Services Act,” introduced in both the House and the Senate, would allow the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports of CPCs advertising as providing abortion care without offering any such services just as any other consumer complaint. The bill would not affect CPCs that accurately advertise as not providing abortion services.

Maloney and Menendez were joined by cosponsors Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in announcing the bill. In a released statement, Maloney said, “Deception has no place when a woman is seeking information about her health or a pregnancy. Women shouldn’t be deliberately misled or coerced when they seek legitimate medical services… While I will defend crisis centers’ First Amendment rights even though I disagree with their view of abortion, those that practice bait-and-switch should be held accountable so that pregnant women are not deceived at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives.” Menendez echoed her sentiments, “We have worked too hard to expand the availability of women’s health care services to have any confusion created by those who would deliberately deceive a woman to suit their own purposes. I am proud to be an original sponsor of this legislation that is aimed at reducing the risk of women encountering unnecessary worry, anxiety and interference with getting the health care they need.”

Crisis Pregnancy Centers, or CPCs, are often owned and operated by churches or anti-abortion groups that pose as legitimate health centers in an attempt to trick pregnant women seeking abortion care. CPCs will provide medically inaccurate information and convey religious beliefs in an attempt to convince women to carry their pregnancies to term. To learn more about CPCs visit the Choices Campus Leadership Program’s Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics.

On Wednesday night the manager of the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention program for Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was arrested for stalking.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Darin Haas was arrested around 6:30 pm Wednesday night when his ex-wife called the authorities after receiving threatening text messages that violated her order of protection against Haas. Later that night Haas turned himself in and was charged with stalking and violating an order of protection. Haas was responsible for Fort Campbell’s Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention and Equal Opportunity programs and has since been removed from his position. Haas was set to retire from the army and his replacement will take over his role immediately.

According to the Leaf Chronicle, Army officials are waiting to see the result of the civilian case before determining if any further action is needed.

Haas’ arrest comes a few days after the Department of Defense announced an investigation of an Army Sergeant 1st class who served as the Sexual Harassment/Assault Result Prevention (SHARP) Coordinator and Equal Opportunity Advisor at Fort Hood in Texas on charges of “pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates.” Last week, an Air Force official responsible for sexual assault prevention and response was arrested for sexual battery. According to the Arlington Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and immediately alerted the police. An anonymous spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed that Krusinski had been dismissed from his post in response to the allegations.

Today, lawmakers in Congress introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act in the US House of Representatives and Senate. The Military Justice Improvement Act seeks to reform the current system of prosecution in the United States military.

17 members of Congress joined together in a press conference today to reveal the bipartisan legislation to reform the military justice system, including for cases involving allegations of sexual assault. The Military Justice Improvement Act would take any offense punishable by one or more years in confinement out of the chain of command except for charges directly related to the military (Absent Without Leave and disobeying orders). Instead, experienced military prosecutors would determine if the case required special or general court-martial. The bill would also prohibit convening authority from being used to overturn a guilty conviction or change a conviction to a lesser offense and requires written justification for any changes.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the bill’s chief sponsor, said “America is home to the world’s best and brightest, brave men and women who join the armed services for all the right reasons – to serve our country, defend all that we hold sacred, and make America’s military the best the world has ever known. But too often, these brave men and women find themselves in the fight of their lives not off on some far-away battlefield, but right here on our own soil, within their own ranks and commanding officers, as victims of horrific acts of sexual violence. Our bipartisan bill takes this issue head on by removing decision-making from the chain of command, and giving that discretion to experienced trial counsel with prosecutorial experience where it belongs. That’s how we will achieve accountability, justice and fairness.”

Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) reintroduced legislation last month specifically focused on reforming the military sexual assault response program. The Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act) would take sexual assault cases out of the hands of chains of command and place it under the jurisdiction of an autonomous Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office which will be comprised of civilian and military personnel. The STOP Act would also limit convening authority in cases of sexual assault.

This new legislation follows the case of an Army Sergeant 1st Class Sexual Harassment/Assault Result Prevention (SHARP) Coordinator and Equal Opportunity Advisor at Fort Hood in Texas who is being investigated for sexual assault. US Army Criminal Investigation Command is handling the investigation and the sergeant has been removed from all duties. According to a statement released by the Department of Defense (DoD) the service member in question is being investigated for allegations of “pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates.”

Two weeks earlier, an Air Force chief of sexual assault prevention and response was arrested on charges of sexual battery. Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking lot. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and immediately alerted the police. An anonymous spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed that Krusinski had been dismissed from his post in response to the allegations. Later that week, the Department of Defense issued an annual report that showed that sexual assault in the military rose by 35% from 2010 to 2012. The report found that 26,000 members of the military experienced “unwanted sexual contact” in 2012 when answering an anonymous survey – a rate of approximately 70 assaults a day.

On Monday, the federal government appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the unregulated sale of emergency contraception, commonly called Plan B, after a federal judge refused to delay the enforcement of his decision to make Plan B available over the counter for women and girls of all ages.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn refused a request by government lawyers to delay the implementation of his decision while the federal government has a pending appeal. He responded harshly, “If a stay is granted, it will allow the bad-faith, politically motivated decision of Secretary Sebelius, who lacks any medical or scientific expertise, to prevail – thus justifiably undermining the public’s confidence in the drug approval process.” He also argued that the appeal of his decision was an effort to “vindicate the improper conduct of the secretary.”

Lawyers for the administration argued that if the pills were made available with no restrictions during the pending appeal it could cause market confusion if the restrictions are upheld as a result of the appeal. Judge Korman responded that such an argument was “largely an insult to the intelligence of women.”

Late May 1, the Obama Administration filed an appeal in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a federal judge’s decision that emergency contraception must be made available over the counter with no age restrictions. The announcement came a day after the FDA approved new guidelines for the sale of emergency contraception. Under the approved guidelines, anyone purchasing Plan B must have proof that they are 15 years of age, either a driver’s license, passport, or birth certificate. Anyone who cannot prove their age will be denied the medication. U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled in early April that the morning-after-pill must be made available over the counter for any girl, regardless of her age. He ordered the FDA to lift any age and sales restrictions on Plan B within 30 days.

Yesterday the Minnesota state Senate approved a bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry in the state beginning August 1, 2013. The Minnesota Senate voted in favor of marriage equality 37 to 30, after the state House approved the bill on Thursday in a vote of 75 to 59. Governor Mark Dayton (D) is scheduled to sign the bill into law tomorrow.

Senator Roger Reinert (DFL-District 07) spoke to members of the Senate about his sister’s choice to marry and about his own future dreams of marriage: “Fifty years ago, it would be about the color of her skin. One hundred years ago, it would be about her gender. Each time our country reached this decision point it has come out on the right side of history… Expanding rights does nothing to diminish mine. I vote today to give something that is not mine to give. I vote today to recognize for all, the very same desires I have for myself.”

Senator Vicki Jensen (DFL-District 24) said, “I could never and I would never deny the kind of recognition and all the other positive things I get out of my marriage with my husband, to anyone else.”

Senator Scott Dibble (DFL-District 61), the bill’s sponsor, argued before the Senate, “Here in Minnesota, Richard [my husband] and I are legal strangers to each other. How can that be OK?… Vote yes for freedom, vote yes for family, for commitment, for responsibility, for dignity. Vote yes for love.”

Once the governor signs the bill into law, Minnesota will join Rhode Island, Delaware and nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing same-sex couples to marry. Delaware and Rhode Island approved similar measures last week.

Today, Angelina Jolie published an op-ed in the New York Times detailing her decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy. Jolie explains that her risk of developing breast cancer before the surgery was 87% due to a “faulty” gene BRCA1, and describes the procedure that she went through to remove her breasts. In the op-ed, Jolie writes:

I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer [like I lost my mother]. It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.

She continues:

I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options. Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have created 14 days of in-person early voting in New Jersey.

Governor Christie argued that the bill was too expensive and that the current early voting system in New Jersey is satisfactory. Currently residents may request, complete, and return a “vote-by-mail” ballot 45 days before election day by either sending it through the postal service or by completing it in person. Under the legislature-approved bill, up to seven polling locations in each county would be designated where residents could vote in person using traditional ballot machines.

In his veto, Christie wrote [PDF], “Taxpayers should not have to foot a more than $25 million bill to pay for a hasty, counterproductive, and less reliable system, especially when New Jersey’s current early voting process is reliable and cost effective.” MSNBC points out that in order to pay for this new system, the New Jersey budget of $32.9 billion would only have had to increase by less than one tenth of one percent. In addition, ThinkProgress states that vote-by-mail ballots are less likely to be counted and twice as likely to be rejected by election officials than in-person ballots.

State Senator Nia Gill (D), who sponsored the bill, told reporters “The governor now joins other Republican governors who have sought to stifle the vote and limit access to the polls… Once again he is catering to his national base at the expense of New Jersey residents.”

On Friday, hundreds of fast food workers in Detroit walked off the job in a one day strike to raise the minimum wage. The Detroit protest comes after similar protests in St. Louis, Chicago, and New York.

An estimated 400 workers at 60 different restaurants in Detroit walked off their jobs to join protests calling for a livable wage and the right to unionize, making it the largest fast food strike in history. Currently fast food workers in Detroit make the minimum wage of $7.40 an hour. Protesters demanded that the minimum wage be raised to $15.00 an hour. Multiple locations in the city were shut down as a result. Reportedly one McDonald’s called in workers to replace the strikers, but the replacements then joined the strike as well.

McDonald’s worker Keith Bullard told the Huffington Post, “This morning, I walked off my job at McDonald’s. I’m a 29-year-old husband and a father of two. My wife can’t work because of health problems-and the $7.50 an hour I make at McDonald’s just isn’t enough to cover my family’s basic needs.” In a statement to the Huffington Post Pastor Charles Williams II, a leader in the protest, said “Can anybody really feed children and take care of a family on the current minimum wage of $7.40 an hour? If we truly want to stimulate the economy then we must stimulate the wages of those who collectively have the buying power to strengthen the economy. It’s simple. I support the workers today because, raising their wage, raises our economy.”

Michigan is the first “right-to-work” state that has seen a strike by fast food workers. Detroit is also under emergency management by Governor Rick Snyder’s administration, meaning that emergency managers have the ability to overrule local authorities on any financial matter. This has resulted in civil service employees being laid off, local industries being privatized and union wages being slashed. Protests have spread from New York in early April to Chicago, central Pennsylvania, and St. Louis in addition to Detroit.

Yesterday, the Minnesota state House approved a law that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state by a vote of 75 to 59. The bill is expected to be voted on by the Senate on Monday and could be signed by the governor as early as Tuesday.

Representative Tim Faust (D FL-District 11B) spoke about the vote “Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, the people that are opposed to gay marriage, at some point in their discussion, they always say, ‘My Bible says.’ The question that keeps going through my mind over and over again is, do we as a society have the right to impose our religious beliefs on somebody else?”

“If you support equality today, I think you’ll be proud of it for the rest of your life,” Representative Joe Mullery (DLF-District 59A) said to his colleagues before voting in favor of the bill.

If the bill is approved by the Senate, Minnesota will be the 12th state in addition to the District of Columbia that allows same-sex marriage. Earlier this week Delaware approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, and the week before Rhode Island also approved same-sex marriage.

Last week, more than a dozen farmworkers at the Crisalida Farm’s strawberry fields in California were fired when they left the field to take refuge from the smoke and ash from a nearby wildfire.

Workers said on May 2 ashes were falling on them and they were having difficulty breathing from the smoke from a wildfire 11 miles to the north. They were warned by the foreman that if they left because of the conditions, they would no longer have a job. Fifteen workers decided to leave because of the deplorable conditions. When they returned to work the next day, they discovered they had been fired.

The workers were not part of a union, but reached out to the United Farm Workers (UFW) for help. UFW negotiated with the upper management of Crisalida Farms on behalf of the workers, citing the union rule “No worker shall work under conditions where they feel his life or health is in danger.” As a result of the negotiations, all 15 workers have been offered their positions back. So far only one worker has accepted the offer while the others have found work elsewhere.

The North Carolina Senate Health Committee passed a bill yesterday that would require that students are told that having an abortion is a significant risk factor for later pre-term births. The measure now heads to the floor of the state Senate.

Senate Bill 132 [PDF] requires that seventh grade students be taught that abortion is one of the significant risk factors that could cause a woman to have pre-mature deliveries later in life as part of the state’s sex ed program. Much of the debate surrounding the bill centers around the validity of scientific studies that suggest a connection. UNC School of Medicine Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Dr. David Grimes questioned the committee, “The World Health Organization, the CDC, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatricians and the American Public Health Association all have uniformly concluded that abortion does not cause prematurity. How did they all get it wrong?”

Senator Gladys Robinson (D-Guilford) proposed an amendment that would remove the provision about abortion. “The information is out there,” she said. “We can use whatever we want to justify why we want to do these things, but I think that we need to make sure the teachers teach what they are able to teach and educated to teach, and not go into other areas that they are not professionally educated to do.” The chairman Senator Ralph Hise (R-Spruce Pine) declared that the amendment failed after a voice vote. In a final voice vote on the bill, Senator Hise declared that the measure passed and did not call for a hand vote requested by Democrats, citing time constraints.

This comes the day after the North Carolina House of Representatives rejected a bill that would require minors to get parental consent for STI treatment, including HIV/AIDS care, and pregnancy care, including abortion, prenatal care, or even in clinic pregnancy testing. This bill was referred back to committee for revisions.

On Tuesday, the state of Arkansas asked a federal judge to dismiss a court case that challenges the state’s abortion ban after 12 weeks.

Attorneys for the state of Arkansas filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of two abortion providers in Little Rock, Arkansas. In the motion, Arkansas argues that the measure “regulates certain pre-viability abortions without placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking a pre-viability abortion.” The attorneys go on to state that the law furthers “the state’s legitimate interests in protecting the life and health of the pregnant woman, protecting the life of the fetus that may become a child and protecting the ethics and integrity of the medical profession.”

The lawsuit, Edwards v. Beck, was filed on April 16 and argues that doctors who violate the 12 week ban will lose their medical license and as a result are forced to turn away women in need of abortion care. The lawsuit also goes on to argue that the measure denies “patients their constitutionally-guaranteed right to decide to end a pre-viability pregnancy.”

In March, the Arkansas state legislature voted to override Governor Beebe’s veto of the Human Heartbeat Protection Act, which bans abortion after a heartbeat can be detected with a standard ultrasound (usually 12 weeks). While the bill does include exemptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormality, and to save the life of the mother, the bill is still one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States.

Yesterday the Department of Defense issued an annual report that showed that sexual assault in the military rose by 35% from 2010 to 2012.

The report found that 26,000 members of the military experienced “unwanted sexual contact” in 2012 when answering an anonymous survey – a rate of approximately 70 assaults a day. That number is almost 7,000 instances higher than in 2010. In addition the report found only 3,374 reports of sexual assault were filed, according to the Pentagon. Of those cases filed, fewer than one in 10 ended with a court-martial conviction of sexual assault. In the majority of cases, the alleged attacker faced small administrative punishments or the case was dismissed.

The report has garnered outrage from many political leaders. President Obama told reporters, “The bottom line is, I have no tolerance for this… If we find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged – period.” Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement “If we needed any more evidence that the military justice system needs to change to hold sexual predators accountable and protect survivors of assault, this report has provided it. These crimes are a dark stain on our armed forces that poison morale and readiness, and that must be confronted.” Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) told the Huffington Post “When our best and our brightest put on a uniform and join the United States Armed Forces, they do so with the understanding that they will sacrifice much in the name of defending our country and its people… However, it’s unconscionable to think that entertaining unwanted sexual contact from within the ranks is now part of that equation.”

The Department of Defense report comes one day after news broke that the chief of the Air Force’s branch on sexual assault prevention and response was arrested on charges of sexual battery over the weekend. According to the Arlington Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking lot early Sunday morning. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and immediately alerted the police. An anonymous spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed that Krusinski had been dismissed from his post in response to the allegations.

Yesterday, the Delaware state legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage and the bill was signed into law by the governor moments afterwards.

The bill passed in the state House two weeks ago on a vote of 23 to 18. It was approved by the Senate yesterday on a vote of 12 to 9. Governor Jack Markell (D) signed the bill into law on the stairs of the main lobby of Legislative Hall minutes after it was approved by the Senate. Markell told activists and reporters, “It’s a great day in Delaware… I am signing this bill now because I do not intend to make any of you wait one moment longer.” Same-sex couples will be able to officially get married starting July 1st.

The vote comes less than a week after Rhode Island became the tenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. In a vote of 56 to 15, the Rhode Island state House approved changes in a bill approved by the state Senate. That evening Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) signed the bill into law.

The chief of the Air Force’s branch on sexual assault prevention and response was arrested over the weekend on charges of sexual battery.

According to the Arlington Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking lot early Sunday morning. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and immediately alerted the police. The police department confirmed that he is being held under $5,000 bail. An anonymous spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed that Krusinski had been dismissed from his post in response to the allegations.

Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA), who recently reintroduced the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act) to address sexual assault in the military, told the Stars and Stripes that the news made her physically ill. She questioned, “How many more reasons do we need to take cases of rape and sexual assault out of the chain of command?”

The Air Force has come under particular scrutiny after a Lieutenant General overturned a sexual assault conviction by jury of an Air Force service member. The Air Force fighter pilot was convicted in November for aggravated sexual assault by a jury of four colonels and a lieutenant colonel. He was dismissed from the Air Force and sentenced to one year in prison. Lieutenant General Craig Franklin overturned the jury conviction using “convening authority” – an absolute power of a single military supervisor to dismiss a jury decision as granted by Article 60 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

On Thursday, Rhode Island became the tenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. In a vote of 56 to 15, the Rhode Island state House approved changes in a bill approved by the state Senate. That evening Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) signed the bill into law. Governor Chafee, who has been pushing for marriage equality since he was elected Governor position in 2010, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times explaining why he supported the bill. He said:

“A historic realignment is happening all around us, as Americans from all walks of life realize that this is the right thing to do. It is occurring both inside and outside of politics, through conversations at the office and over kitchen tables, and at different speeds in different parts of the country. But once the people have spoken, politics should do its part to make the change efficient and constructive… I have been heartened in recent months to see members of my old party coming around on marriage equality… That reflects sound political judgment, and some values that are at least as Republican as they are Democratic, including a belief in marriage as an institution and a desire to keep government out of our personal lives.”

Rhode Island’s decision on marriage equality has triggered outrage from some of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archibishop Salvatore Cordileone from San Francisco wrote a statement calling marriage equality a “serious injustice.” He said, “Therefore, regardless of what law is enacted, marriage remains the union of one man and one woman – by the very design of nature, it cannot be otherwise.” Nine other states as well as the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. The Delaware state Senate is scheduled to consider a bill that would legalize same sex marriage in the state on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the Colorado state legislature approved a bill that will expand voter rights in the state. The bill would provide every voter a mail-in ballot, allow same-day voter registration, create a statewide voter database, and replace assigned precincts with general “voter centers.”

The bill which passed in the state Senate with a vote of 20 to 15 and in the state House with a vote 36 to 26, received no votes from Republican lawmakers in either chamber. The bill, called the “Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act,” was drafted with help from the bi-partisan Colorado County Clerk Association, which supports it. The Conservatives argued that the bill would allow voter fraud, and a ploy to get more Democratic votes. Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R) called the bill a “partisan power play.”

State Senator Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) argued in the Senate, “It’s a technical bill that was written by the county clerks…They’re the ones who know, and they’re the ones who are going to be held accountable every day when people come in to register and vote in county elections. I trust that.”

Now, the bill will go back to the House to approve minor changes made by the Senate. If the changes are approved, the bill will be sent to Governor John Hickenlooper.