The Wrong Angle

Last month, she reemerged. And she didn't return empty-handed. No, Sharron Angle introduced a voter ID voter suppression initiative. And she definitely succeeded in stirring up a hornet's nest.

But will Angle's initiative actually succeed? That remains in doubt, especially in the wake of two law suits being filed against it.



Both law suits challenge what plaintiffs consider to be an unconstitutional usurpation of power, since it commands the Legislature to enact something that the Legislature itself is supposed to decide. And both suits declare Angle's initiative to be an unfunded mandate (as it has no funding mechanism for its voter ID program), which would also constitute a constitutional violation. The ACLU of Nevada and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights have filed one suit, while a group of private citizens and activists filed the other suit.

We're left to wonder how much thought "Our Lady of Perpetual Campaigning" put into this initiative. We already knew that it targets a nonexistent problem. We also knew that this would instead create problems for thousands of Nevada voters who are simply trying to exercise their legal right to vote. But now, we're discovering another problem with Sharron Angle's "great idea": It may very well violate the very constitution she claims to hold so near & dear to her.

But then again, we are talking about someone who's still claiming nonsensical conspiracy theories as "evidence" that somehow the 2010 NV-Sen election was "stolen" from her. She still refuses to admit that she list that election all on her own. And now, she's demanding an initiative that's unnecessary and potentially unconstitutional as well.

Funny enough, Angle and her Nevada G-O-TEA disciples have been the ones crying about "integrity". Have they ever examined the integrity of their own voter suppression proposal?

Still Far from Over

They won. The state won. The case was dismissed. So why doesn't it feel like it's over?

Last week, a federal district judge dismissed the law suit against the State of Nevada filed by James Flavy Coy Brown. Governor Brian Sandoval's (R-Denial) media spinners spokespeople quickly declared "victory" and resumed sweeping this inconvenient scandal under the rug. And ACLU Nevada (who sued alongside Brown) has yet to decide where to take this case next.

So why doesn't it seem like this case is over? Perhaps that's because it's not. Even if this specific law suit doesn't proceed further, the State of Nevada nonetheless faces more consequences for its mental health patient dumping.

But how so? San Francisco's separate federal suit against Nevada is still pending. Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital has already lost federal accreditation and is now at risk of losing federal funding. And the scandal has spread beyond Rawson-Neal & Southern Nevada as increased scrutiny of Nevada's failing mental health care system exposed overcrowding woes at Lake's Crossing Psychiatric Hospital in Sparks.

That's why it came as no surprise that the US Civil Rights Commission held a hearing on Nevada patient dumping last week. That's also why it came as no surprise that we're still seeing growing demands in California and here in Nevada (and perhaps in other states where Rawson-Neal dumped patients) to mend Nevada's tattered social safety net. This case is still far from over.

And it will remain so as long as the political powers that be in Carson City continue their attempts to sweep matters like this under the rug and the corporate powers that be in Las Vegas continue erecting straw men meant to distract us from the real problems that plague our state. Oh, and let's not forget that Las Vegas federal district judges don't have that great of a record when it comes to their rulings surviving appeal. So yes, this case is still far from over.

And by the Way, the DMV Is Finally Obeying the Law...

Sorry I couldn't get to this story earlier. I know, I know, I feel so EPIC FAIL today. Remember when we had to contact the Nevada DMV and ask them to stop their illegal discrimination against transgender persons? Well, it worked!

According to [DMV Field Services Chief Nancy] Wojcik, her agency will now provide transgendered folks with a form, to be filled out and signed by a physician, that states people asking for license changes have been living their lives with their new gender.

No longer, said Wojcik, will any Nevada transsexual have to complete genitalia surgery in order to obtain a new, official gender.

Maggie McLetchie, an attorney with the ACLU of Nevada, is thrilled at the prospect that, this time, DMV seems to have embraced real change.

"The ACLU of Nevada is very pleased to announce that we learned [on May 18] that the DMV is making the changes we requested. We understand that while the changes will not go into place immediately because they need to finalize the materials, the DMV is committed to instituting a humane policy that allows people whose gender has changed to get drivers' licenses that reflect their identity and enable them to avoid harassment and discrimination," she said.

Finally, FINALLY, the DMV is moving to comply with state law and treat transgender Nevadans with the dignity and respect they deserve. And hopefully we'll see the new policy implemented sooner rather than later, so that no one else has to endure the same kinds of horror stories described in last week's CityLife.