HLR Media
2 | february 3, 2014 - february 9, 2014
Historic Constitutional Resolution passes California State Assembly Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) AJR 1, a measure to begin the process to amend the United States Constitution to address the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, took a major step forward today, passing the California State Assembly by a vote of 51-20. In Citizens United, a deeply divided Supreme Court held that corporations are due the same free-speech rights enjoyed by natural persons. The decision spawned “Super PACs,” which have flooded unlimited and largely anonymous corporate money into federal elections. According to the Federal Election Commission, Super PAC spending in 2012 federal elections totaled more than $567 million. “Most Americans are fed up with the notion that money is speech and that moneyed interests can therefore drown out the speech of average citizens,” said Gatto. Historically, all amendments to the U.S. Constitution have started in Congress, and been ratified later by 3/4 of the states. AJR 1 takes advantage of the rarely-used Article
V process for amending the federal Constitution, which allows states to demand that Congress act. If 2/3 of the states make such a demand, Congress must call a constitutional convention on the topic. Several states and municipalities have already passed informal resolutions condemning the Citizens United decision, but Gatto’s AJR 1 is the first to utilize the Article V process which could compel Congress to act. The state-initiated process in Article V has been tried several times, with limited success. Although the process has never resulted in a constitutional convention, it has spurred Congress to take action several times. According to a 2007 article in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, at least four different amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been proposed by Congress in part because of Article V actions. For example, the amendments that repealed prohibition and allowed for the direct election of Senators were first demanded by state legislatures under Article V. AJR 1 calls for a convention that would be expressly
limited to campaign-finance and corporate-personhood issues. Now that it has passed the State Assembly, the resolution will next go to the California State Senate, after which other states could similarly act, triggering the convention. Its passage is further significant because it is the first time in recent memory that a Democratic-controlled legislature has passed an Article V demand. Several Republican-controlled statehouses have recently passed Article V resolutions for the Balanced Budget Amendment or simply to establish rules for a future Article V convention. Today’s passage of AJR 1 signifies broad, nationwide, bipartisan action, by the legislators closest to the people, to demand action on Congress on big issues. “I doubt our Founding Fathers had the free-speech rights of multi-national and foreign corporations in mind when they drafted the First Amendment,” said Gatto. “But the Founding Fathers did anticipate that every once in a while, the states would need to prod Congress to act to amend the Constitution. That’s what we are doing.”
Fine Arts Club celebrates Gregg Ross At the February 3 meeting of The Fine Arts Club of Pasadena, Ms Hiroko Masuda will perform on the Koto following dinner. The Koto is a Japanese stringed instrument that resembles a harp. It has 13 strings and is known to have been played as long ago as the the 16th century. The event will be held at CalTech’s Athenaeum at Hill and California in Pasadena. The dinner will be preceded by a reception, beginning at 6:00 p.m., where there will be a visual arts exhibit featuring oil paintings by artist Gregg Ross. After mastering representational painting through direct observation in an impressionistic style, covering such genres as landscape, seascape, still life and figures, Mr. Ross began to paint these same subjects from his imagination. His present work consists of his exploration into the world of abstraction. Cost for the dinner,
including the performance and visual art exhibit, is $60.00. For additional information, see The Fine Arts Club of Pasadena website: www.fineartsclubofpasadena.org. Last year The Fine Arts Club of Pasadena celebrated it’s Centennial with a formal dinner at the Athenaeum in October. It is one of the oldest philanthropic organizations in the west. The club is dedicated to encouraging the creation, execution and appreciation of work in all branches of the fine arts. The organization’s mission is grounded in the belief that the arts enrich the cultural life of the community and artists should be supported. The Fine Arts Club provides a venue for artists to exhibit and perform, and it grants awards to deserving visual and performing artists. The Annual Awards dinner will be held at the Athenaeum on Monday, April 7.
Detective and Deputy DA assaulted in courtroom Continued from page 1
A new California Appellate case just published August 8, 2013, “Glaski v. Bank of America”, holds that a homeowner can challenge his lender’s right to foreclose by showing that the Deed of Trust never made it into the securitized trust until after the trust’s closing date. This is the case in most loans made in the last 12 years. If the bank foreclosed we should be able to get the homeowner money damages and/or the house back. Or a lawsuit could be filed and a court ruling obtained preventing the court from foreclosing. Recently enacted Sections 2924(a)(6) and 2924.19 of California Civil Code provide the same relief to homeowners. It is highly suggested that homeowners take this window of opportunity to get relief before the banks get Congress to close this door with national legislation. Contact us so we can help you.
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and so as not to prejudice the jury during his trail, the defendant was escorted to his seat in civilian clothing and without handcuffs. He had not previously shown hostility during court proceedings. As defendant Mendez was being seated in the courtroom, he got up, picked up a chair and threw it at a Los Angeles Police Department detective who was seated next to a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney. The chair hit the LAPD detective and the deputy district attorney. The detective sustained injuries to the back of her head and shoulder area, and she was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. She is in good condition. The Deputy District Attorney was hit in the upper torso. She was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The sheriff’s deputy in the courtroom restrained the defendant by taking him to the floor and holding
him until additional deputies arrived. The defendant was restrained, removed from the courtroom, and returned to Men’s Central Jail. He was treated for a minor injury. No deputies were injured. At the time of the incident, the judge was present; however, the jury was still in the jury room and did not witness the assault. Other people were in the courtroom and they witnessed the assault. The suspect faces additional charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detectives at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
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