[AMV] #974 Black voter suppression

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Former President Barack Obama on Monday called the filibuster a "tool for obstruction" and urged Republican senators not to use it to block a key vote on the For the People Act voting rights bill this week.

"Republicans in the Senate are lining up to try to use the filibuster to stop the For the People Act from even being debated," Obama said during a tele-town hall with former Attorney General Eric Holder and grassroots activists about the bill, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will put to a procedural vote Tuesday to take up the measure. That motion is not expected to receive the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and proceed to the bill.

"Think about this: In the aftermath of an insurrection, with our democracy on the line and many of the same Republican senators going along with the notion that somehow there were irregularities and problems with legitimacy in our most recent election, they're suddenly afraid to even talk about these issues and figure out a solution on the floor of the Senate," Obama said.

"That's not acceptable," he added.

Obama said the bill isn't perfect, but he touted several of its provisions, including one that would cut down on partisan gerrymandering. Allowing people in power to manipulate the boundaries of legislative districts had deepened the political divide in the country and made it "so that the incumbents can choose their voters, rather than the voters choosing their elected officials," he said.

The former president also pointed to provisions mandating early voting and increasing transparency on donations, and noted that Democratic senators have said they're open to compromises. The bill might undergo changes, but "we as a people should all say Senate, Congress, do something."

“Whatever else we may argue about, the one thing we should agree on the bedrock idea that we as Americans have been taught to take pride in, this is the fact that we’re a democracy,” Obama said.

“The issue of voting rights might not set off alarms for most of us,” but “the violence that occurred in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th should remind us we can’t take our democracy for granted,” he said.

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Op dinsdag 22 juni 2021 04:33 schreef Jabberwocky het volgende:

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Tot je laatste twee zinnen ben ik het met je eens. Niet laten vaccineren is een eigen keuze, en als je dan doodgaat aan corona (of een zware versie te pakken krijgt), ja dat is je eigen schuld. Zeker in landen waar iedereen die het wil een vaccin kan hebben, moet men het allemaal zelf maar weten.

Ik woon in Californie en ben gisteren naar een live show geweest voor het eerst. Geen vaccinbewijs voor nodig, sommige mensen hadden nog mondkapjes op maar er werd niks gechecked. Voelde wel wat onwennig in de eerste 30 minuten eerlijk gezegd, maar ook wel fijn en als een soort opluchting. Eigen verantwoordelijkheid van iedere bezoeker verder, en het gaat hier ook erg goed met weinig besmettingen.

Wel vind ik dat een eigenaar van een bedrijf zelf mag bepalen hoe ze er mee omgaan. Dat heeft immers ook gevolgen. Vragen ze om een vaccinatiebewijs? Dan beperk je toch je mogelijke klandizie, eigen keuze. Daar hoeft de overheid je niks aan op te leggen, dat is de vrije markt. Als bar A om een vaccinatiebewijs vraagt en bar B niet, staat het je vrij om bij bar B dan iets te gaan drinken en dan loopt bar A omzet mis. Kan allemaal prima zonder dat de overheid zich daarmee gaat bemoeien.

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Potential Legal Challenges to Florida’s Executive Order regarding Vaccine Passports

One potential legal challenge to Florida’s order is that DeSantis has exceeded his authority under Florida’s Emergency Management Act. Despite the governor’s broad power under this law when a state of emergency is declared, challengers may argue that the governor exceeded his authority under the act by banning private businesses from implementing vaccine passport requirements.

Challengers may argue that the ban on businesses requiring proof of vaccination is too detached from actually protecting Floridians from COVID-19, the cause of the current state of emergency. On the other hand, however, the governor has broad powers under the act, including the power to create rules to combat COVID-19.

Challengers may also assert that the order impermissibly violates Floridians’ property rights.

Indeed, if a Florida state agency were to suspend or revoke a business’ license because of the business’ noncompliance with Executive Order No. 21-81, the agency would have to provide some form of due process, e.g., notice and a hearing, prior to the revocation or suspension of the license.

Failing to comply with these procedural requirements may very well violate the business’ property rights. Additionally, businesses that entered into contracts with the state prior to the executive order being issued will likely argue that the state cannot invalidate the contract because of noncompliance with the executive order because the executive order had not been issued when the business and state entered into the contract.

At the very least, businesses should be able to argue that they should receive compensation for services they performed under the contract prior to the issuance of the Florida order.

Bron

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It also prohibits businesses, government agencies and learning institutions from requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination or post-infection recovery from COVID-19 but doesn't stop them from imposing screening protocols based on government guidelines to protect the public health.

Worse, says R. Shawn McBride, a DeLand lawyer and cofounder of the American Freedom of Information Institute, it preserves the state's right to vaccinate anyone deemed a public health risk.

"It states on the one hand that no one can be forced away from general services in the state by not having COVID-19 vaccination proof, but it also states that the government has the right to force vaccinations," he said.

Bron