Judge strikes down Arkansas law banning same-sex couples from adopting.
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on April 18th, 2010 4:38 am by HL
Judge strikes down Arkansas law banning same-sex couples from adopting.
Yesterday, a Circuit judge struck down a state law banning unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents. The measure amounted to a ban on adoption and foster parenting by same-sex couples, who are banned from legally marrying in Arkansas. “Due process and equal protection are not hollow words without substance,” said Judge […]
Yesterday, a Circuit judge struck down a state law banning unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents. The measure amounted to a ban on adoption and foster parenting by same-sex couples, who are banned from legally marrying in Arkansas. “Due process and equal protection are not hollow words without substance,” said Judge Chris Piazza of Pulaski County Circuit Court. The Arkansas News reports:
Act 1, passed by voters in 2008, unconstitutionally burdens non-marital relationships and acts of sexual intimacy between adults by forcing them to choose between becoming a parent and having any meaningful type of intimate relationship outside of marriage, Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled in a lawsuit challenging the law.
“It infringes upon the fundamental right to privacy guaranteed to all citizens of Arkansas,” the judge ruled in the lawsuit filed by the ACLU.
Piazza also “sided with the ACLU in its argument that the ban reduced the pool of potential adoptive and foster parents to the point where many children could go without homes.”
Delirious Right Wing Bloggers Claim ?Proud Racist? Tea Party Attendee Was A ?Leftist Plant?
At Thursday’s tea party rally in St. Louis, conservative blogger-activist Adam Sharp confronted a racist, Nazi-sympathizer who attended the event. Sharp approached the unidentified racist who was wearing a black shirt with a swastika on the back of it, and told him that shirt “doesn’t represent tea party values” and asked him to leave. The […]
At Thursday’s tea party rally in St. Louis, conservative blogger-activist Adam Sharp confronted a racist, Nazi-sympathizer who attended the event. Sharp approached the unidentified racist who was wearing a black shirt with a swastika on the back of it, and told him that shirt “doesn’t represent tea party values” and asked him to leave. The white racist man responded, “I’m with the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. We are a white unit.”
After Sharp accused the unidentified man of not belonging to the tea party, the racist responded, “Do you belong to the Council of Conservative Citizens? … I do.” Sharp continued to hound the man, asking him to leave and demanding to know whether he was a racist. “I’m not a Nazi, I’m a proud racist. I’m white,” the man said.
Sharp then loudly declared, “He’s here representing –” but then cut himself off. He’s “trying to pretend that we’re racist,” Sharp clarified. “No, I’m not,” the racist said, later telling Sharp more people need to stand up for their “white rights.” “Race has nothing to do with this, sir,” Sharp answered. “We’re here protesting policy, sir, I don’t care what race anybody is.” Eventually, Sharp’s persistent hounding of the racist man caused him to leave the rally. Watch Sharp’s report:
In a blog post promoting his video, Sharp titled the post, “Dem Shill Wears Nazi Gear to TEA Party, Gets Called Out.” There is no evidence on the tape to suggest the racist man was a “Dem shill.” And in fact, Sharp never accuses the man of being a liberal in his encounter with him. Rather, the tape shows the racist man explicitly touting his conservative bona fides.
Another conservative blog, Gateway Pundit, picked up Sharp’s post and titled their own: “Racist Leftist Infiltrators Driven From Tea Party Rallies.” Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft, who cross-posted on Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government site, argued that the racist was a “leftist plant.” Hoft implored his readers to contact him if they could identify him as such.
Powerline, another leading conservative blog, joined in the spectacle, telling their readers: “Jim is asking for help identifying the infiltrator depicted below.” Fortunately, there’s at least one conservative blog that isn’t buying the spin. Writing on HotAir.com, blogger Allahpundit reviews the racist man in Sharp’s video and concludes, “[I]n fairness to lefties, he may be the real deal.”
It’s one thing for conservative tea party activists to courageously confront their own racist sympathizers. That is to be respected. But it’s quite another for them to baselessly and shamefully smear “leftists” for being Nazi racist infiltrators.
