FYI: Appeal Has Been Filed
If you're following the situation involving the referendum to reverse the gender-identity nondiscrimination law, you will be interested to know that attorney Jonathan Shurberg did file a motion for appeal yesterday.
A circuit court judge ruled last week that the petitions that were submitted for the referendum did not have a sufficient number of signatures on them, but that didn't matter because the complaint was filed too late. There is a ten-day deadline for filing, but the law is not clear about when the ten-day timer starts ticking. Judge Robert Greenberg decided that the complaint should have been filed before or by February 20th. I haven't read the appeal documents, but assume that Shurberg will argue in support of a different deadline for the complaint; previously he has argued that the deadline should occur ten days after a March 6th announcement by the Board of Elections to the County Council stating that signatures have been verified. The complaint was filed on March 14th, and so would have fallen within the 10-day period.
A circuit court judge ruled last week that the petitions that were submitted for the referendum did not have a sufficient number of signatures on them, but that didn't matter because the complaint was filed too late. There is a ten-day deadline for filing, but the law is not clear about when the ten-day timer starts ticking. Judge Robert Greenberg decided that the complaint should have been filed before or by February 20th. I haven't read the appeal documents, but assume that Shurberg will argue in support of a different deadline for the complaint; previously he has argued that the deadline should occur ten days after a March 6th announcement by the Board of Elections to the County Council stating that signatures have been verified. The complaint was filed on March 14th, and so would have fallen within the 10-day period.
posted by JimK at 12:58 PM
31 Comments:
The problem with this complaint is that it is inconsistent.
When the question is what signatures to accept, you want the law to be exacting and precise because the BOE supposedly told CRG the wrong baseline of registered v. active voters and, thus, the letter of the law seems to favor the gay agenda.
When the question is when the 10-day period starts, TTF thinks the law should be loose and favor the gay agenda.
When you can only win by being inconsistent, you're in trouble.
Anon-
Don't you have a job? GET TO WORK!
the question is when the 10-day period starts
The 10-day period starts when the BOE makes its determination that enough petition signatures of registered voters were turned in by the petitioners to put their referendum on the ballot.
Motto for the Board of Elections: "Mums the word"
Diogenes
Which was March 6, not "Feb 20 or before."
Given the judge’s rulings in the BOE case, it appears that the “Montgomery code dating back to the early 1950s prohibits collecting cash for predicting the future” should be rescinded. This would provide several benefits. The CRG potentially would have been able to get a better guess at the number of signatures they needed to collect in the first place, and EqMD would have been able to get a guess as to when the BOE was going to validate the signatures – of course this would have meant filing the claim that the BOE had not properly validated the signatures before they announced that the signatures had indeed been validated, but that’s just the kind of useful thing you can do if you have a good fortune teller on your side.
If things get slow for the guy, I suspect the BOE would find his supernatural abilities useful when it comes to validating signatures as well.
I don’t know if Nick Nefedro (the guy suing) is the best Gypsy for the job though. If he was REALLY good, he would have predicted our dire need for his services well over a year ago – in time for his suit to go through and set up shop so that we could take advantage of his services.
Peace,
Cynthia
If you purchase an election turnout report from the BOE, or indeed even follow the election results which are posted on-line, they all say about 500,000 voters in MC.
Consistently.
One would have to make the leap that a reasonable person would question that that number was inaccurate.
A reasonable person is not going to question those numbers.
A "reasonable" person might not question the numbers, but anyone engaged in a legal electoral challenge is expected to hire an attorney to make sure they get it right. There is no basis legally upon which you can claim dependence on the words of a state agency and cry foul when you've been misled or disappointed.
"There is no basis legally upon which you can claim dependence on the words of a state agency and cry foul when you've been misled or disappointed."
Your logic may work if you're talking about calling the IRS and speaking with an agent who gives you incorrect information. However, in this case, it is ludicrous to think that the CRG, or Equality Maryland, could have known that the BOE gave CRG the wrong number. I don't think that either side (except the person who wrote the above) truly thinks that it was incumbent upon the CRG to know about "active" vs. "inactive" databases. Of course 20/20 hindsight is wonderful, and if another referendum took place today, of course everyone would check the number. But don't rewrite history.
It's true that no one could have expected either of the two sides to know about active vs. inactive, but ignorance is simply no excuse. The BoE had an obligation to get it right, they failed, and it impacted the outcome. It's a bummer, but there are no do-overs.
Obama opposes drilling in Alaska because he thinks it's a political ploy. Obama says the benefits of drilling may not be realized for five years or more.
Well, I guess politicians aren't allowed to think that far ahead, are they? Incidentally Clinton made the same argument, and that was more than 10 years ago. If we had started drilling then, we would currently be enjoying the benefits of home-produced oil, prices would be lower, and we would be that much less dependent on Middle Eastern oil.
Oil is now the fuel that drives the engine of Islamic radicalism. Remove the revenues of oil and the Muslim world would join sub-Saharan Africa as the least important part of the planet. Of course if America stops buying from them the Muslims would still sell to other countries. But who can deny that new sources of supply would reduce the global price of oil? And this would naturally reduce the surplus that is available to fund Islamic terrorism.
Currently about 40 percent of America's oil comes from domestic production, and the rest is imported. Approximately 20 percent of our oil imports are from Canada, and another 20 percent come from Mexico and South America. Africa--mainly Nigeria--accounts for another 20 percent. Remarkably, only about 15 percent of America's oil imports are from the Middle East.
What this means is that eliminating American reliance on the Muslim countries is an entirely reasonable objective. The problem is that America's oil needs are increasing, and domestic production is not keeping up. So we are becoming more dependent on imports.
McCain intends to reverse this. He's not insensitive to environmental concerns, and so rather than drill in the Alaskan wildlife reserve he intends only to drill offshore. Even so, he is being opposed by the Obama Democrats and some fanatical environmentalists. These naysayers are trying to convincing America that more oil from Alaska means no more glaciers and caribou.
This is a wild exaggeration and a false choice. And if Americans are forced to choose between lower gas prices and a few more caribou, is there any doubt how the vote would go? I think I am in the majority in saying that I don't mind caribou, but I really like my car. Caribou are nice to see but we need gas to drive out and see them.
Let's by all means drill off the coast of Alaska. At the same time, let's drill some sense into the liberal Democrats.
He hates conservatives:
"PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Manitoba (July 31) - A traveler aboard a Greyhound bus repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated his seat mate, pausing during the savage attack in central Canada to display the head to passengers who had fled in horror, witnesses and officials said Thursday.
A 40-year-old man was arrested after the grisly slaying late Wednesday night aboard a bus en route from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Steve Colwell told reporters."
That's right, there are no do-overs. The BOE and CRG got it wrong, the referendum did not receive support from 5% of Montgomery County registered voters. The BOE certified the petitions on March 6 and the plaintiffs filed suit on March 14, clearly within the 10 day rule. The Appeals Court will overrule Greenberg's uncertain and arbitrary ("a judicial challenge to the fixing of the denominator should have been filed on or before February 20, 2008, and perhaps earlier.") decision and not allow MC to spend taxpayer money putting this referendum on the ballot since the 5% threshold of registered county voters was not met.
Phil Gramm had a point.
Based on yesterday's report of a modest second quarter growth bounce, the former McCain adviser was right when he said last month that we aren't in a recession. He was impolitic but the news is that the U.S. economy is stronger than the wails of Great Depression II on Wall Street and Capitol Hill would have us believe.
Let's see, the war in Iraq has become a important victory for the U.S. in the war on terror. If the country had listened to Obama a year and a half ago, Iraq would be an al qaeda training center now.
Now, the economy, stupid, is showing surprising strengths. And Obama wants to go back where Jimmy Carter left off and raise the incremental tax rate to above 60%. Maybe he thinks we're stupid!
And there's the energy crisis, a problem we probably wouldn't have if Democrats had not driven nuclear energy out of business and refused to allow drilling to retrieve our vast oil reserves.
Oh, yeah:
In June, Obama said "They're going to try to make you afraid of me. 'He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?'"
This week, he said "So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me....'He doesn't look like all those other Presidents on the dollar bills.'"
It's sad. Win or lose, Obama's candidacy is an historic moment for our country. That he is trying to ruin it by playing the race card is a shame. He is ahead in the polls, why did he think he had to stoop to this level?
So, we have the most inexperienced candidate for President in history who was wrong about Iraq, wrong about the economy, wrong about energy and now has tried to racially polarize the electorate.
I think the American people will know what they have to do in November.
U.S. casualties in July were at the lowest level of the Iraq war.
Gas prices have fallen 14% in the last few weeks- in the middle of the vacation season.
The country has the opportunity to elect a genuine war hero for President.
When will all this good news seep down?
After years of torture in Hanoi prison camp, the N Vietnamese discovered McCain was the son of a four-star general and decided to release him for PR purposes. He refused to go without his buddies.
This week, David Letterman related the story on his show and then said, "And here's a punk like me, sitting here every night making fun of a true hero. What kind of country is this?"
A very fortunate one.
Let's hope we realize it.
Congress (you know the one with lower approval ratings than Bush), left for vacation today.
More good news!
See you
in September
See you
when the summer sun is gone
Have a good time
but remember
November
is election time
Let's give them a permanent vacation with Obama in November!
Stupid said...we aren't in a recession...the economy, stupid, is showing surprising strengths
With strengths like these, stupid, continuing Bush's policies with McBush in the White House would be the stupidest thing we could do.
Which sector do you think is showing the most strength?
Employment?
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise to Five-Year High
Housing?
-Fannie, Freddie seen boosting loss estimates, again
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2008 (Reuters) — U.S. mortgage market giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , may report further downgrades to their forecasts for credit losses in their upcoming second-quarter results, starting next week.
The auto industry?
-Car industry gloom descends on GM, BMW, Nissan
FRANKFURT/DETROIT, Aug. 1, 2008 (Reuters) — The meltdown in the global car industry claimed more victims on Friday as General Motors lost another $15.5 billion, BMW warned on profits and Nissan earnings missed expectations by a wide margin.
Technology manufacturing?
-Sun Microsystems profit falls, expands buyback
BOSTON, Aug. 1, 2008 (Reuters) — Sun Microsystems Inc , the world's No 4 business computer maker, reported lower quarterly profit on Friday, as it took restructuring charges in the face of a weak U.S. economy.
Investment?
-Carlyle liquidating Blue-Wave hedge fund
NEW YORK, July 31, 2008 (Reuters) — Carlyle Group , the big private equity firm, said on Thursday it is liquidating its only hedge fund, Carlyle-Blue Wave Partners Management LP, after the fund failed to achieve "critical mass."
Oh, maybe you are referring to the oil industry's record breaking profits.
-Chevron, Statoil, Total join earnings boom
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2008 (Reuters) — Chevron Corp said on Friday record oil prices drove second-quarter earnings up 11 percent to its highest-ever profit, but weak margins from gasoline production led to a big loss at its refining operations.
-Oil company profits soar, but Exxon disappoints
LONDON/NEW YORK, July 31, 2008 (Reuters) — Exxon Mobil Corp broke its own record for the highest-ever quarterly profit for a U.S. company on Thursday, but it was lower than Wall Street expected largely due to lost output from Venezuela and Nigeria and lower yields from some oil fields.
Americans remember which party takes care of business, the Democrats: Based on Congressional accounting rules, at the end of his presidency Clinton reported a surplus of $559 billion.
Americans see what 8 years of Junior's unchecked voodoo economics has done to our economy, stupid. They see it every time they fill up their gas tanks, and every time they buy milk and eggs. That's why Americans will vote to elect Democrats all up and down their ballots so America can once again have a healthy economy.
You may remember that, before Barack left to see his fans in Germany, the NY Times printed a article by Obama on foreign policy and, then a few days later, refused to print a response from McCain, saying it was not "newsworthy". The latest:
"WASHINGTON (Aug. 2) -- It is a tradition at many kitchen tables to yell at the newspaper. At John McCain's kitchen table, it is becoming a tradition to yell at one paper in particular: The New York Times.
The latest dustup between the Republican presidential candidate and the "All the News that's fit to Print" big-name newspaper centered on the editorial board's back-to-back criticisms of McCain, one dispatch accusing him of taking the low road and another contending that he was playing politics with race.
The second editorial, which appeared on the Times Web site, said McCain's ads conjured up loaded racial images and raised the specter of O.J. Simpson.
"The presumptive Republican nominee has embarked on a bare-knuckled barrage of negative advertising aimed at belittling Mr. Obama," the editorial board wrote.
The response from the McCain campaign was equally cutting.
"If the shareholders of The New York Times ever wonder why the paper's ad revenue is plummeting and its share price tanking, they need look no further than the hysterical reaction of the paper's editors to any slight, real or imagined, against their preferred candidate," said McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb.
Goldfarb compared the editors to a blogger "sitting at home in his mother's basement and ranting into the ether between games of Dungeons & Dragons.""
Must've heard about emslob.
"Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis declined to comment on Friday.
The relationship between McCain -- a frequent reader of the newspaper -- and the Times has been rocky. Yet such a grudge could pay political dividends for the presidential candidate, as criticizing the liberal media often improves a candidate's standing with Republican Party conservatives. That's critical for McCain, who has never been their favorite."
I can't comment on the rest, but Sun is not a good one to use as proving that the technology sector is failing.
Linux on PCs, which sell for 1 fraction of a SUN server, is killing SUN's marketshare.
It is has nothing to do with the economy....
They are simply losing out to a competitor.
theresa
“Goldfarb compared the editors to a blogger "sitting at home in his mother's basement and ranting into the ether between games of Dungeons & Dragons.""
Must've heard about emslob.”
I don’t think so, or I'm sure they would have included the "prancing around all day in his underwear eating Cheetos" part.
I'm impressed, em. Good sport, you've become. Maybe there's hope for you.
Guys, more evidence is in about the high incidence of random promiscuity among gays:
"ATLANTA (Aug. 2) - The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported Sunday, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the epidemic.
The country had roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 -- a dramatic increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the last dozen years. The new figure is due to a better blood test and new statistical methods, and not a worsening of the epidemic, officials said.
Since AIDS first surfaced in 1981, health officials have struggled to estimate how many people are infected each year. It can take a decade or more for an infection to cause symptoms and illness.
One expert likened the new estimate to adding a good speedometer to a car. Scientists had a good general idea of where the epidemic was going; this provides a better understanding of how fast it's moving right now.
"This puts a key part of the dashboard in place," said the expert, David Holtgrave of Johns Hopkins University.
Based on the new calculations, officials believe annual HIV infections have been hovering around 55,000 for several years.
"This is the most reliable estimate we've had since the beginning of the epidemic," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC's director. She said other countries may adopt the agency's methodology.
According to current estimates, around 1.1 million Americans are living with the AIDS virus. Officials plan to update that number with the new calculations, but don't think it will change dramatically, a CDC spokeswoman said.
The new infection estimate is based on a blood test that for the first time can tell how recently an HIV infection occurred.
Past tests could only detect the presence of HIV, so determining which year an infection took place was guesswork _ guesswork upon which the old 40,000 estimate was based.
The new estimate relies on blood tests from 22 states where health officials have been using a new HIV testing method that can distinguish infections that occurred within the last five months from those that were older.
The improved science will allow more real-time monitoring of HIV infections. Now, CDC officials say, the estimate will likely be updated every year.
Yearly estimates allow better recognition of trends in the U.S. epidemic. For example, the new report found that infections are falling among heterosexuals and injection drug users.
Some experts celebrated that finding, saying it's a tribute to prevention efforts, including nearly 200 syringe exchange programs now operating in 36 states despite a federal ban on funding for such projects.
But they also lamented the CDC's finding that infections continue to increase in gay and bisexual men, who accounted for more than half of HIV infections in 2006. Also, more than a third of those with HIV are younger than 30."
Let's think about this.
Infections rates are dropping in heterosexuals and drug users- and yet the overall fate stays the same. Where's the excess shifting to?
Gay advocates say it's a historic accident that gays have a much higher rate of AIDS infection than the general population in non-Third World nations. If so, why is this situation not only persisting but becoming worse?
Or is evidence only valid when it reinforces the gay agenda?
Hypocrisy alert:
Obama urged President Bush to boycott the Olympics.
He has purchased five million dollars in advertising during the Olympics.
It's the season for flip-flops, alrighty!
“Let's think about this.
Infections rates are dropping in heterosexuals and drug users- and yet the overall fate stays the same. Where's the excess shifting to?
Gay advocates say it's a historic accident that gays have a much higher rate of AIDS infection than the general population in non-Third World nations. If so, why is this situation not only persisting but becoming worse?
Or is evidence only valid when it reinforces the gay agenda?”
Except your concern is not with any increased knowledge of the prevalence of HIV.
You’re just trying to link male-unprotected-anal-receptive-sex-with-someone-who-is-HIV+ -- WITH -- same-sex attraction itself.
Since when have “gay advocates,” or the “gay agenda” for that matter, ever argued that males who have unprotected anal receptive sex with someone who is HIV+, are not at an increased risk of contracting the AIDS virus?
AIDS Prevention Having an Effect
New Cases Have Stabilized Since 1998, CDC Reports in Update on Epidemic
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 3, 2008; A02
Updated federal estimates of the annual number of new HIV infections in the United States, released yesterday, reveal that although the AIDS epidemic here is worse than previously thought, prevention efforts appear to be having some effect.
Even though the number of Americans living with HIV has risen by more than a quarter-million people since 1998 -- largely because of life-extending antiretroviral drugs -- the number of new cases each year has declined slightly over that period. That suggests that a person's likelihood of transmitting the virus to someone else is substantially lower now than it was a decade ago.
The new, if indirect, evidence that prevention programs are paying off was one of the few encouraging findings in an update on the American AIDS epidemic released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the eve of the 17th International AIDS Conference, in Mexico City.
"Over 95 percent of people living with HIV are not transmitting to someone else in a given year," said David R. Holtgrave, an expert on AIDS prevention at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. "What that says is the transmission rate has been kept very low by prevention efforts."
Those include targeting public health messages to high-risk groups, promoting widespread AIDS testing, and getting quick medical care for newly diagnosed cases, which in most cases lowers the person's infectiousness.
The CDC spends about $750 million a year on AIDS prevention. The main finding of its report is that HIV incidence in 2006 -- the latest year for which data are available -- was 56,300 new cases of infection. That is 40 percent higher than the previous government estimate of 40,000, but statistical back calculation suggests that HIV incidence has been unchanged since about 2000.
The more accurate estimate was possible for two reasons. A new testing method lets researchers detect infections that are less than six months old -- which is more quickly than before. New federal regulations also are pushing states to collect data on new HIV infections and not just new AIDS diagnoses.
Read the rest of the article here.
At John McCain's kitchen table, it is becoming a tradition to yell at one paper in particular: The New York Times.
McSame is biting a hand that has fed him seven times already. What an ingrate!
"In a statement released Monday, The New York Times said it is "standard procedure on our Op-Ed page, and that of other newspapers, to go back and forth with an author on his or her submission."
"We look forward to publishing Senator McCain's views in our paper just as we have in the past. We have published at least seven Op-Ed pieces by Senator McCain since 1996. The New York Times endorsed Senator McCain as the Republican candidate in the presidential primaries. We take his views very seriously," the statement said."
The poorly written McShame editorial has been published by many outlets now, from the NYTimes.com to the Sludge, Drudge Report. McSame has received SEVEN free passes to the NY Times readership and he's complaining they didn't just hand him number eight. Next time McCryBaby wants space in the NYTimes, he and his rich lobbyist campaigners can buy it!
But all the press in the world won't make one bit of difference for the McLame campaign because he's the nominee of the party in power while the economy is tanking. He's going to lose because, it's the economy, stupid.
"WASHINGTON (Aug. 1) - It really is the economy, stupid! Economic models that have correctly predicted the winner of almost all post-war U.S. presidential elections say recession fears will secure a victory for Barack Obama in November.
Three separate studies showed the Democratic presidential hopeful winning between 52 and 55 percent of the popular vote on November 4, based on current gloomy economic estimates."
""These data corroborate what many of us suspected -- that the epidemic is worse than we thought. However, it doesn't seem to be getting worse,""
What a bizarre way to spin data!
No, it's not getting worse overall. That's because straights at risk are adjusting their behavior and their rates are going down.
The overall rate stays the same, however, because out-of-control gays, incapable of moderation for the most part, are taking up the slack.
Anonymous, you might as well face the obvious conclusion. The epidemic continues to exist because of black people. How do you interpret that? Is it their happy-go-lucky nature? Their inherent addiction to promiscuity? Their overpowering hunger for white women? Is it their insatiable need to sex, any kind of sex, even down-low same-sex-sex?
Look at the data and explain this to us. The trend is obvious, what is its explanation?
Our anonymous Rose is misunderstanding the articles she reads. New HIV infection rates have not increased this over last (at least according to the CDC); rather, they are calculating the rate differently.
I think your right, emproph. Rose isn't concerned about the epidemic, or people who are or are not infected. She rather sees this as another shell in one-person artillery battle against lgbt people: yet another reason not to like queers.
It is well worth noting that in current dollars the amount the CDC spends on HIV prevention in this country has dropped significantly over the last decade, and in real dollars has declined about 50%. Our government seems to be less concerned (less than 1 billion per year) about whether people become infected. Is this perhaps because gay men and people of color are not really its voting constituency?
rrjr
"New HIV infection rates have not increased this over last"
No, it isn't, and anon never said it was. He said it was increasing among gays.
Homosexuality is a public health threat.
Stop lying, Robert.
"It is well worth noting that in current dollars the amount the CDC spends on HIV prevention in this country has dropped significantly over the last decade, and in real dollars has declined about 50%. Our government seems to be less concerned (less than 1 billion per year) about whether people become infected. Is this perhaps because gay men and people of color are not really its voting constituency?"
It's kind of pathetic how gays constantly try to hide behind a group with legitimate grievances in order to produce sympathy for their pathetic cause. Racial minorities are right to expect to not be judged by the color of their skin. Homosexuality is a character issue and people are entitled to consider it when determining what kind of endeavours they wish to pursue with a certain individual.
This country has spent more internationally on AIDS than domestically because private funds are very active in this area. In addition, there is little evidence the billions the government has spent over the last three decades has had any effect. Gays, especially young ones, are rebels against conventional society and don't take the warnings of the government seriously.
Anonymous said:
“Homosexuality is a character issue and people are entitled to consider it when determining what kind of endeavours (sic) they wish to pursue with a certain individual.”
As a group, homosexuals are great characters. After all, as a group, they are highly unlikely to request abortions. Not only that, in thousands of cases across the country, they have stepped up to the plate to adopt children that heterosexual couples have chosen to abandon.
Peace,
Cynthia
"Stop lying, Robert."
Disagreeing with you is not lying, Oswald.
I rarely lie, and never in public statements.
Regina, on the other hand....
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