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The case has nothing to do with voter ID, so anyone who says otherwise is wrong. The real action comes in the next week when the Court decides Shelby v. Holder. Today’s Arizona decision was next to meaningless.

7-2 decision practically invites Arizona to try again using proper administrative procedures Most of what you have heard in the media about the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona is incomplete to the point of misleading. It is true that the Court held that Arizona’s Proposition 200 (passed in 2004) requiring documentary proof of citizenship was invalid as contrary to the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requirement that states “accept and use” the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) voter registration form which merely requires that a registrant affirm citizenship. But, this ruling essentially was...

A surge in migrant traffic across the Southwest border into Texas has resulted in a milestone: the front line of the battle against illegal crossings from Mexico has shifted for the first time in over a decade away from Arizona to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. This shift has intensified a bitter debate under way in the Senate over whether the border is secure enough now, or ever will be, to move ahead with legislation that could give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already here. On Monday, the Senate was scheduled to resume a long series...

A trio of Republicans in the so-called Gang of Eight huddled with leading figures at Fox News Channel on the bipartisan effort in the Senate to reform the nation's immigration system, according to a piece published in this week's issue of The New Yorker. The story, written by Ryan Lizza, indicated that Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had discussions with "top hosts" at the conservative cable news network, including Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto, all of whom are " now relatively sympathetic to the Gang’s proposed bill."

Something perverse happened after the Supreme CourtÂ’s decision today invalidating citizenship-verification requirements in Arizona for registrants who use the federal voter registration form. The Left knows they lost most of the battle, but are still claiming victory. ThatÂ’s what they do. Election-integrity proponents and the states are saying they lost, but donÂ’t realize they really won. The Left wins even when they lose, and conservatives are often bewildered and outfoxed in the election-process game. Earlier today, I called the decision a nothingburger. After re-reading the case and reflecting a bit more, itÂ’s clear that the decision was a disaster for...

Arizona may not require documentary proof of citizenship from prospective voters, the Supreme Court ruled in a 7-to-2 decision on Monday. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, No. 12-71, said a federal law requiring states to “accept and use” a federal form displaced an Arizona law. The federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, allows voters to register using a federal form that asks, “Are you a citizen of the United States?” Prospective voters must check a box for yes or no, and they must sign the form, swearing...

In a 7-2 vote, the court said the voter registration provision of the 2004 state law, known as Proposition 200, was trumped by a federal law, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. The state law was strongly opposed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (Maldef) and Indian tribes. They said it deterred legal voters who did not have the required paperwork from registering to vote.

Sup Ct strikes down AZ law requiring proof of US citizenship for those seeking to vote in fed election. 7-2

Once considered a conservative governor due to signing SB 1070, which toughened up illegal immigration laws, Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer has now destroyed that reputation. Last week, she called a surprise special session of the legislature, and allying with Democrats, bullied through Obamacare's massive expansion of Medicaid, known as AHCCCS in Arizona. The bullying tactics she used to coerce Republican legislators into voting for it were so appalling, they made national news and have prominent Republicans all over the state speaking out in outrage. Brewer called legislators into the State Capitol at 5 p.m. last Tuesday, and kept them there...

The White House is playing a larger role in developing the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill than its supporters publicly admit, according to a forthcoming article in The New Yorker. “‘No decisions are being made without talking to us about it,’ the official said of the Gang of Eight negotiations … ‘This does not fly if we’re not O.K. with it,’” a senior Obama official told author Ryan Lizza for the pending article. White House officials also believe the emerging bill will be a huge success for President Barack Obama.

<p>SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — When Steve Bolyard checked out a report of black paint on some of the park’s majestic saguaros — cactuses whose towering bodies and upraised arms are as emblematic of the American West as red-rock buttes and skittering tumbleweeds — he did not expect to see ganglike calligraphy covering more of them than he could easily count.</p>

SIERRA VISTA — Friday was a special day for any member of the U.S. Army, but Spc. Shinece Canady’s experience likely takes the cake. “It’s a great day. Not only is it the Army’s birthday but it’s the day that I re-enlisted,” Canady said. She also made the birthday cake served to her fellow members of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB) at the Thunderbird Dining Facility, a duty that required several early mornings of meticulous decorating for the novice cake-maker. “I really love the Army,” she said. “I get to do two of my passions at the same time,...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who helped draft the immigration reform bill currently being discussed in the Senate, says he will walk away from the negotiations if it includes a controversial amendment to provide immigration benefits for gay couples. "If this bill has in it something that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill. I'm done," said Rubio during an interview on the Andrea Tantaros Show on Thursday. "I'm off it, and I've said that repeatedly. I don't think that's going to happen and it shouldn't happen. This is already a difficult enough issue as it...

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer muscled her way to victory in her crusade for Medicaid expansion Thursday, outmaneuvering conservative opposition to push through a key piece of President Barack Obama’s agenda. She not only supported the Medicaid expansion, but took extraordinary measures to push for its passage. Brewer crisscross(ed) the state to promote expansion and shame detractors. This month she started vetoing a stream of unrelated bills to pry her top priority loose from Republicans, and she brought them back into special session. A coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats sent Brewer a bill on Thursday extending Medicaid to an estimated...

Another one bites the dust. — and largely thanks to a governor who, once upon a time, was an outspoken opponent of ObamaCare. Per Politico: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer muscled her way to victory in her crusade for Medicaid expansion Thursday, outmaneuvering conservative opposition to push through a key piece of President Barack Obama’s agenda.Over the objection of Republican legislative leaders, a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats sent Brewer a bill on Thursday extending Medicaid to an estimated 300,000 low-income uninsured Arizonans, transforming the state into the unlikeliest of Obamacare allies at a critical time for the White House.The...

The offensive language used by Senator Jeff Flake's teenage son on the Internet has resulted in a public apology from both father and son.“I’m very disappointed in my teenage son’s words, and I sincerely apologize for the insensitivity. This language is unacceptable, anywhere. Needless to say, I’ve already spoken with him about this, he has apologized, and I apologize as well,” Senator Flake said in a statement to BuzzFeed .Before Tanner Flake locked his Twitter account, his public tweets regularly contained offensive slurs, according to Buzzfeed. On his Twitter account, Flake also posted screenshots of games revealing his username, "n1ggerkiller." Flake's online...

FORT HUACHUCA — On Friday, the Army will celebrate its 238th birthday. To honor the date, the post is hosting two events on Warrior/Sentinel Field. Fort personnel will conduct a U.S. Army Birthday Run, at 6 a.m., which begins and ends on Warrior/Sentinel Field. Immediately following the run, there will be an Army birthday cake cutting ceremony on the field. Fort personnel, their family members and the local community, are welcome to join in the celebration. The 238th year of the Army is also the 60th anniversary of the Korean War and the 40th anniversary of the All-Volunteer Force. As...

To paraphrase William Shakespeare, there’s something rotten in Washington, and the odor is emanating not just from the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department. It’s also coming from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies accused of colluding with radical environmental groups to write regulations that are threatening the livelihoods of millions of Americans. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce study has found that the EPA has given green groups a seat at the table when drafting environmental regulations, but it has excluded the people and industries most likely to be affected. The Sierra Club has participated in “closed-door...

Earlier today actress Katee Sackhoff—who played the gun-toting, tough-talking gender-bent Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica—tweeted about an incident in which a 4-year-old boy accidentally shot his father. A couple of hours later, she was down about 100,000 Twitter followers

An Ohio man was charged with DUI after her was pulled over by the police, despite the fact that a breathalyzer test showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.000. 64-year-old Jessie Thornton who now lives in Surprise, Arizona said cops told him that they could tell he was drunk simply by looking at him. -snip- Surprise Police Department paperwork shows Thornton was 'pulled over for crossing the white line in his lane.' 'An officer walked up and he said ‘I can tell you’re driving DUI by looking in your eyes.’ I take my glasses off and he says, ‘You’ve...

Early Friday morning, Yuma police officers responded to a 9-1-1 call of shots fired in the 500 block of East Country Club Drive. "After searching [officers] heard of a individual who had a gunshot wound," said Officer Joe Franklin of the Yuma Police Department. Investigators say a resident shot a man after he allegedly attempted to break into the yard of the home. Less than three weeks ago, Michael Sykora, 19, died after police say he broke into a house through the doggy door. The home owner shot him. That incident left neighbors on edge... Saying they would also defend...

Lt. Mike Zullo in a weekend radio interview revealed that Barack Obama's August 4, 1961 birthday may not actually be true. Zullo stated that August 4, 1961 could have been the day the plane from Kenya landed in Hawaii and was used as Obama's birthday for the record. He made the allegation that the birth certificate that Perkins Coie lawyer Judith Corley flew to Hawaii to get and return it to Washington was not the document that was presented to the American public on April 27,2011. For more stunning information from Mike Zullo, listen to the two part interview.

PD: Boy, 4, accidentally shoots, kills father by Natalie Brand azfamily.com Posted on June 7, 2013 at 4:38 PM Updated yesterday at 9:53 PM PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. -- A 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father at a home in Prescott Valley Friday, according to a spokesman for the Prescott Valley Police Dept. Police have identified the victim as 35-year-old Justin Stanfield Thomas of Phoenix, a military veteran who served in the Army Special Forces. Detectives say he and his son were from Phoenix and they were visiting a friend at that home. The boy found a gun in...

WASHINGTON (CBS5) - An amendment that bars cities that do not fully assist with federal immigration enforcement, also known as "sanctuary cities," from funding has been approved by the House of Representatives. The amendment was added to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014. Rep. Matt Salmon of Mesa, R-Arizona 5th district, offered the amendment during a debate on the bill, and his amendment was adopted by a voice vote. Salmon emphasized the growing problem of sanctuary cities. "The reality is that sanctuary cities contribute to an ever bigger illegal immigration problem and should not benefit from federal...

The Senate will begin considering the landmark immigration reform bill next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday morning. “Even if we we’ve not completed action on the farm bill or the student loans proposals, we’re going to bring immigration to the floor next week. Immigration is broken, it needs to be fixed,” Reid said in his opening remarks Tuesday. Reid said it’s his understanding that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t oppose bringing the immigration bill to the floor, and Reid said he is “grateful” to his Republican colleague. In his opening remarks, McConnell did not mention the immigration...

INDIANAPOLIS – Common Core hasn’t been fully implemented yet, but it’s already making it easier for teachers to inject their political preferences into their lesson plans. That’s the case in Indianapolis’ Cathedral High School, where English teacher Melinda Bundy ... “I didn’t want to teach the Constitution, I didn’t want to teach the Declaration of Independence,” ... teachers who use their classrooms to promote (usually) left-wing political causes. But under Common Core, those activist teachers will be able to excuse their behavior by simply saying, “Common Core made me do it.” Indiana lawmakers have prudently hit the “pause” button on...

PHOENIX (CBS5) - Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officials say the man who owns the SUV that struck and killed a Phoenix police officer is not in the country legally.((snip)) "In March 2012, ICE placed Mr. Cabrera-Molina in removal proceedings and detained him following his incarceration in the Maricopa County Jail on a charge unrelated to this most recent arrest. Mr. Cabrera-Molina was ordered released from ICE custody in May 2012 after he posted the $5,000 bond granted by an immigration judge with the Department of Justice's Executive Office of Immigration Review. His removal proceedings remain pending at this time. In...

Video at Link WASHINGTON, D.C. –Ridiculing the idea of negotiating with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a “spectacle” that would embolden extremists, McCain jabbed Obama on Iran and Iraq before more than 7,500 members of the highly influential pro-Israel lobbyist group.“We hear talk of a meeting with the Iranian leadership offered up as if it were some sudden inspiration, a bold new idea that somehow nobody has ever thought of before,” McCain told AIPAC members, adding that Obama is engaging in a “serious misreading of history.”“It’s hard to see what such a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an...

As the Syrian civil war rages on, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Sunday on "Face the Nation," what's unfolding is "unfortunately a battlefield situation where [President] Bashar Assad now has the upper hand - and it's tragic - while we sit by and watch." Last week McCain secretly visited the war-torn country to meet with some of the rebel forces taking on Assad, and stepped up his pressure on President Obama to provide them with arms. On Sunday, he called the opposition "very tough - they're battle-hardened. They're very dedicated. They are not al Qaeda; they are not extremists." "We...

Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert has unearthed a new culprit in the Benghazi saga: fellow Republican John McCain. Conservative radio host Frank Gaffney asked Gohmert to comment on McCain’s “hobnobbing with jihadists” during his recent trip to Syria. Gohmert brought up a similar trip of McCain’s to Libya, where he feels McCain’s policy to depose Muammar Gaddafi unleashed the Muslim extremist forces that later attacked the American Consulate in Benghazi.

The Arizona Business & Education Coalition brought together business and education leaders from across the nation for its annual conference today to delve into common core standards. ABEC Executive Director Susan Carlson hosted a private reception for out-of-state business leaders at The Buttes in Tempe last night, where I got a chance to catch up with them to talk about their secrets

As if there were not already enough scandals plaguing the Obama administration, the federal “Fast and Furious” operation that armed Mexican drug cartels is back in the news after the Justice Department Inspector General released a report blasting a government leak intended to smear a key ATF whistleblower.

It was in 2011 that the Obama administration issued a regulation that required gun dealers in California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas to notify the ATF of anyone who purchased at least 2 semi-automatic weapons in a 5-day period. A gun trade group as well as 2 gun dealers in those states sued the administration over this regulation, saying that they overstepped their legal authority. The 3-judge panel ruled unanimously yesterday in favor of the ATF requirement, stating that the Gun Control Act of 1968 “unambiguously authorizes the [ATF’s] demand letter.” And to concerns by the challengers that the requirement...

After he stands with the White House on guns and immigration, McCain gets the big Biden shoutout. Sen. John McCain can be one of the White House’s toughest critics. But after backing President Obama on gun control and comprehensive immigration reform, McCain got a big shoutout from the White House Friday. In the latest installment of “Being Biden” — the White House audio series featuring the Vice President describing moments in his week — Biden describes his recent trip to the McCain Institute in Sedona, Arizona where he appeared with the Republican Senator at a policy summit. Biden heaps praise...

Jan Brewer’s eagerness to impose new taxes to help the Obama administration finance its expansion of the welfare state has gone from unwise to unseemly: The Republican governor of Arizona is attempting to force the Republican-led state legislature to expand Medicaid and is threatening to veto all legislation until she is satisfied. She is calling her gambit a “moratorium” on legislation, and she already has vetoed five unrelated bills. This is conduct unbecoming of a chief executive. Governor Brewer’s desire to expand Medicaid is predicated on a particular kind of economic illiteracy – to wit, the belief that there is...

The Sheriff Arapio Haters came up short of recall signatures. This an AP story so by FR rules I can't say more than HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-

The Arizona mother imprisoned in Mexico on a drug-smuggling charge was released from prison late Thursday, a family spokesman tells Fox News. Yanira Maldonado walked out of the jail late Thursday night, after court officials reviewed security footage that showed her and her husband boarding a bus in Mexico with only blankets, bottles of water and her purse in hand. Maldonado hugged her husband Gary and was greeted by well-wishers after she left the lockup and officials closed the jail doors behind her. Gary Maldonado said earlier Thursday he was confident the charges would be dropped after court officials reviewed...

PHOENIX (AP) — A campaign to force a recall election against the polarizing sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix failed on Thursday after recall organizers said they couldn't collect enough voter signatures to bring the lawman to the ballot again. Organizers of the recall effort against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio needed to turn in more than 335,000 valid voter signatures by 5 p.m. Thursday to force a recall election. "It is a sad day," said recall campaign manager Lilia Alvarez. "It is a disappointment." Recall organizers won't reveal the number of signatures they gathered. That said, the last update they gave...

Group trying to oust controversial sheriff face a Thursday 4pm deadline to collect 335,000 valid voter signatures Joe Arpaio rose to national prominence for his immigration crackdowns. Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP Phoenix - A group trying to oust the polarizing sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix faces a Thursday deadline for handing in voter signatures in an uphill battle to force a recall election. Organizers of the effort to recall Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio face long odds in turning in the more than 335,000 valid voter signatures required by the 4pm deadline. They have struggled to raise funds, have had to...

Special thanks to Gun Owners of Arizona, for bringing this to our attention. The Tucson City Council is expected to enact two local firearms ordinances, in violation of State firearms preemption laws, at their meeting on Wednesday, May 29. The first ordinance will create a $100 fine if a person does not report the loss or theft of their firearm within 48 hours from the time it was stolen or the owner “should have known” it was stolen. Why go after the person who stole a firearm when they can punish the owner instead? The second ordinance is an attempt...

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain’s office is pushing back against reports that while visiting Syria this week he posed in a photo with rebels who kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shi’ite pilgrims. The photo, released by McCain’s office, shows McCain with a group of rebels. Among them are two men identified in the Lebanese press as Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim, two of the kidnappers of the group from Lebanon.

Published on May 29, 2013 Sheriff Arpaio responds to a federal judges ruling on racial profiling.

An American woman who went to Mexico for a family funeral has been stuck there for nearly a week, accused of smuggling drugs and facing a potential 10-year prison sentence. But Yanira Maldonado's family says she is a victim of Mexican corruption, and is hopeful a judge may free her in the coming days. A hearing in her case that started on Tuesday concluded for the day without a decision on her freedom. Six days earlier, Maldonado and her husband, Gary, were on a bus home to Goodyear, Ariz., after going to her aunt's funeral in Mexico. The bus was...

Contrary to its claims, the City of Chicago’s red light cameras are not based on safety, according to an Inspector General (IG) audit of the program that brought in more than $71 million in revenue for the city last year. The audit, released on May 14, sought to determine if the city’s 384 red light cameras were installed based on the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) “stated primary criterion of reducing angle crashes to increase safety.” The IG found no evidence to support the city’s rationale for the program, which is to “increase safety on Chicago streets.”

Authorities have identified 19-year-old Matthew Sykora of Yuma as the teen who came across an armed homeowner in the middle of the night during a possible home invasion. Yuma County Sheriff's deputies arrived to the home in the area of S. Avenue D and County 14th at 1:22 a.m. to find the Yuma teen dead from a single gunshot wound. Sheriff deputies said the homeowner called 911 to report being woken up after hearing sounds in the home. The homeowner has not been named. Records show, this was not the teen's first time in trouble with the law; in January...

The Senate Judiciary Committee has increased the already-sizable length of the “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill to more than a thousand pages during the markup process ... The first version of the bill that was filed by the eight senators--Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ)--totaled 844 pages. An updated version, filed just before the bill went to the committee markup, stretched 867 pages in length. The new bill towers over previous versions in length, clocking in at 1,076 pages. It...

An Arizona mother of seven will be back in court on Wednesday as a judge weighs whether she will go free or remain behind bars in Mexico, her family said. It's a situation Yanira Maldonado's family said she never imagined when she boarded a bus to head back to the United States last week after attending a family funeral in Mexico. Now she's facing drug-smuggling charges after authorities said they found 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat. Her family vehemently denies the charges and accuses Mexican authorities of arresting her to get bribe money. A Mexican state official...

The president, chief financial officer and top lawyer for Chicago's red light camera company resigned this week amid an escalating corruption scandal that has cost Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. its lucrative, decadelong relationship with the city. The resignations came as Redflex said it was winding down a company-funded probe into allegations of an improper relationship between the company and the former city transportation manager who oversaw its contract until 2011, a relationship first disclosed by the Tribune in October. A longtime friend of that city manager was hired by Redflex for a high-paid consulting deal. The company recently acknowledged it...

It is a petition to end what many Tucson drivers describe as a traffic light trap. John Kromko is the man behind the petition. His group, Tucson Traffic Justice, claims the cameras are a scam. ... Ditching the cameras is not as far-fetched as it may seem. More and more cities are shutting down the system including San Diego, Los Angeles and Tempe.

A House Republican group is launching an ad campaign against four incumbent Democrats this week that aims to tie the lawmakers to the Internal Revenue Service, a government agency under scrutiny after officials admitted earlier this month to targeting conservative groups applying for nonprofit status. The National Republican Congressional Committee will dispatch thousands of trucks to drive around the districts of Democratic Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Ron Barber of Arizona, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and John Barrow of Georgia on Tuesday with versions of this billboard:...