Court upholds ruling against state prisons for poor inmate health care
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court upheld a contempt order and a $1.44 million fine against the Arizona Department of Corrections this week, saying the agency has been "deliberately indifferent" to health care for inmates.
Bill would expand anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ community statewide
PHOENIX – Phoenix and other cities protect residents and visitors based on race, disability and ”gender identity or expression,” but several lawmakers and community leaders say it’s time for a statewide law. SB 1321 would ban discrimination in housing, jobs and other areas based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Critics call proposed ban on ‘birth tourism’ misdirected, unenforceable
WASHINGTON - Critics are calling a Trump administration plan to curb so-called "birth tourism" unenforceable at best and "rooted in misogyny, xenophobia and racism" at worst, and say it is targeting the wrong people.
Help for the homeless: Point-in-Time Count to reveal scope of problem, resources
PHOENIX – Volunteers and workers conduct the annual Point-in-Time Count of people who are living in shelters or outside of shelters to determine the scope of needs for those who are homeless.This year, for the first time, data was collected on a smartphone app. The information will be analyzed and sent to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Supreme Court says ‘public charge’ rule can take effect – for now
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Monday that the Trump administration can enforce its proposed new "public charge" rule that will require immigrants show they will not need public assistance before they can gain admission to the U.S.
Court voids state ‘ballot harvesting’ ban, out-of-precinct voting rule
WASHINGTON - A divided federal appeals court Monday overturned Arizona's ban on ballot-harvesting and its policy of rejecting ballots accidentally cast in the wrong precinct, calling both reflections of the state's "long and unhappy history of official discrimination" in elections.
Arizonans join thousands – and, in a first, a president – at March for Life
WASHINGTON - Tempe resident Katie Forbes was at the 47th March for Life because she finds the national event's "magnitude and scale" encouraging for anti-abortion groups at the event, which this year drew a first-ever personal appearance by a sitting president.
Gallego discusses challenge of affordable housing in booming Phoenix
WASHINGTON - Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told an audience of elected officials in Washington Thursday that while cities across the country are forced to be creative in the fight to provide affordable housing, it's a particular challenge in her city.
Despite distracted-driving law, Arizona still ranks low on highway safety
WASHINGTON - Arizona enacted a ban on texting while driving last year, after 10 years of trying, but it still wasn't enough to pull the state from the bottom of a national report card on traffic safety laws.
‘A clean slate is needed’: Arizona lawmakers urged to reform criminal justice system
PHOENIX – Criminal reform advocates are asking Arizona legislators to change laws that keep hundreds of formerly incarcerated people from voting or getting jobs.
Arizonans join smaller, calmer, but still impassioned Women’s March
WASHINGTON - Snow and near-freezing temperatures were not about to keep Sierra Maughan of Arizona from joining thousands of others who marched in Washington Saturday in the fourth annual Women's March, an event repeated in marches around the country.
New rules on school prayer, religious groups, hailed and assailed
WASHINGTON - Arizona religious groups said the Trump administration's release this week of regulations aimed at protecting religious expression "rights a serious wrong," but others expect the moves will have little practical impact.
