Press Release: Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, May 4, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2008
Contact: Tim Asher Executive Director Missouri Civil Rights Initiative
Phone: 816.868.3933
“Statewide support for initiative prompts return in 2010”
(Grain Valley)—Today, the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) announced it is concluding its petition gathering effort to end government race and gender preference policies in public employment, education and contracting. After collecting more than 170,000 signatures from Missouri voters in less than 4 months, the clock ran out on a MoCRI organization that had obtained overwhelming support from around the state.
While disappointed with the final outcome, MoCRI executive director Tim Asher is encouraged by the effort overall. “Today’s developments are certainly not what the many volunteers and supporters of the MoCRI had anticipated. It is particularly disheartening when you consider our elected officials played such a prominent role in derailing our effort,” stated Asher.
Asher’s comment is a reference to the six month legal challenge that delayed the commencement of signature gathering. While initiatives may enjoy more than a year to obtain the necessary signatures to qualify for the ballot, MoCRI’s time was consumed by a lengthy court proceeding to win a fair ballot title. The court battle was necessitated by ballot language submitted by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office that misrepresented the intent of the proposed constitutional amendment. That ballot title summary was ultimately determined insufficient and biased by the circuit court of Cole County.
While satisfied with the court outcome, at the time of the decision only 113 days remained to make the ballot. But that was just one of many obstacles that stood in the way of the initiative making the November ballot.
“First, the Secretary of State quickly filed an appeal of the lower court’s ruling,” Asher recalls. “With the May 4th deadline looming, our only options were to abandon the effort, begin at once, or wait for the court of appeals to render a decision.” The campaign decided to move forward in anticipation that the judgment would be upheld. The Western District Court of Appeals has yet to review the case.
The next hurdle encountered was that of government officials and business owners who would not allow signature gatherers to petition on public property. This form of constitutionally protected free speech should not be curtailed, especially by public officials.
With the arrival of spring, signature collectors encountered harassment from mobs who sought to limit their first amendment right to engage in core political speech. Special interest groups including the ACLU, ACORN, Jobs for Justice, and the NAACP, together with union organizers and minority contractors, aggressively fought to preserve the many race-based programs that advantage them financially under our current system.
“They have a vested interest in maintaining the status-quo,” Asher said. “The system serves them well and they are putting those tax dollars to use by paying people to discourage the democratic process. We will soon release a video documentary detailing the effort of union bosses, elected officials and minority contractors to stymie the will of Missouri voters.”
Asher is encouraging the legislature to take a close look at these intimidation tactics. Other states have dealt with those who seek to rob others of their right to core political speech. There are a variety of issues that need to be addressed in order to protect the initiative process. Overall, it takes tremendous resources to see an initiative make it on the ballot. It should not be easy, but it also should not be impossible. With legislators currently seeking to burden the process further, the right of the people to participate in direct democracy in Missouri is in serious jeopardy.
In spite of the many hindrances, tens of thousands of Missourians—from all walks of life, political affiliation and religious persuasion—exercised their right to sign the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative.
“I owe a great debt of gratitude to the good people of Missouri for their overwhelming support of this initiative,” commented Asher. “And on behalf of all who seek an end to preferential treatment in our state, I want to thank Ward Connerly and the American Civil Rights Coalition for responding to our request for help. Their assistance was invaluable throughout the campaign and we anticipate their support and direction yet again in 2010.
In 2004, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative was held up in court and similarly delayed their effort until 2006. The Missouri Civil Rights Initiative expects similar success and will soon realize the same benefits Michigan has enjoyed since 2006; restoring fairness and equality in public employment, public education and public contracting.
The Missouri Civil Rights Initiative Committee (MoCRI), a Missouri-based ballot initiative committee, is dedicated to providing the people of Missouri the opportunity to end discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin by state or local governments. MoCRI will make Missouri a place of equal opportunity for all, not a state that uses discrimination as a tool to create “diversity.” Achieving “diversity” should never be an excuse to discriminate!
# # #
Paid for by the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative Committee
PO Box 545 Grain Valley, MO 64029 · www.missouricri.org
Missouri Civil Rights Initiative | 655 R.D. Mize Road | Grain Valley | MO | 64029
Original article
(Posted on May 7, 2008)
Comments
Go go go! I’m so proud of people who actually get out and Do something for our cause.
Posted by at 6:10 PM on May 7
Once again the hypocrisy of the racial left is exposed for all to see. The right of the people to petition for a redress of grievances is obstructed by the very same groups which claim to represent people who are “victims of injustice” and “discrimination.” It all depends on whose ox is being gored, doesn’t it? Reminds me of the thugs who always try to prevent American Renaissance conventions from being held.
Nevertheless, I believe that when the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative re-emerges in 2010 — as it certainly will — the people of Missouri will vote as they have in other states, to end government race and gender preferences. The handwriting is on the wall, but the racial left is still refusing to read it.
Posted by Wayne Engle at 6:52 PM on May 7
“Our” elected officials are whores with no conscience and no sense of patriotism whatsoever. They couldn’t care less if our society goes down the tube; so long as they can get fat off the public teet. Get used to getting discriminated against because there’s a whole lot of females and minorities our there who are insatiable, entitlement animals. the new aristocracy, getting by on lesser talent while always being first in line. They will dog the system until it breaks, and then and only then does whitey get to step in.
Posted by AvgDude at 8:02 PM on May 7
Speaking as someone who signed the petition and solicited signatures, Missouri’s init/pet provisions were recently made more difficult. The amount of time one has to gather signatures has been reduced by three months, in that you can’t start until a month later than you used to, and you have to turn them in two months before you used to.
Also, you have to have a certain percentage of registered voters from at least two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts. Meaning six of nine. The Connerly organization didn’t bother trying in the 1st and the 5th, for obvious reasons and ironic reasons, ironic considering Connerly is black. Meaning that, essentially, they had to make about 20,000 signatures per district in six of seven districts that they tried.
Not only that, the Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan (yes, those Carnahans), would have done everything to make sure it wouldn’t have made the ballot.
And most of the Connerly org’s signature gatherers made a HUGE mistake by trying to cast this measure in terms of “civil rights.” I bet a lot of white people didn’t sign this because they thought “civil rights” meant giving more preferences to blacks instead of just the opposite.
The left-wing in this state made a big issue of that, complaining about how people were being tricked. I bet a lot of them signed it, knowing full well what they were doing, just to be able to complain about how they were “fooled,” so that they could try to shop it to a Carnahan/Holden judicial appointee to knock it down.
The Connerly org has already said it will try again in 2010. Then again, if we had a state legislature that cared, they would pass MCRI as a matter of legislation. No signatures needed.
Posted by Question Diversity at 8:15 PM on May 7
So who exactly are the enemies of equal justice under the law?
The state government, business groups, the judiciary and the usual suspects (ACLU, etc); Any business groups involved should be boycotted. Any state official involved should be tossed out of office and it should be made perfectly clear that the same will happen to any future office holders who support the racial spoils system. Judges who can be voted out should be and those that have life tenure should be impeached. Groups like the ACLU, NAACP et al should all have their tax exempt status immediately revoked and should be shown up for what they really are in a public campaign.
Posted by at 9:40 PM on May 7
Much of what I learned of the 11th-hour efforts of Mr. Asher and Ward Connerly’s dedicated team was on the excellent website/blog “Discriminations.com”
I’m not surprised to see that the intentionally too-stringent, deceptive, sleazy, and bullying tactics of the oppostion worked to stop their efforts THIS time.
God bless and Godspeed Ward Connerly. He is the example of true leadership(along with Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby, et. el.) that the minority community should be celebrating—that standard of character being valued, instead of skin color—rather than the adulation that the significant and boisterous black demographic pours onto horrible people like Belafonte, Glover, Wright, Sharpton, and Jackson.
Posted by VigilantAmerican at 9:51 PM on May 7
The next hurdle encountered was that of government officials and business owners who would not allow signature gatherers to petition on public property. This form of constitutionally protected free speech should not be curtailed, especially by public officials.
Not allow signature gathering on public property?
Let me ask the slightly less obvious question: why the hell do they have to bother with gathering signatures mano a mano anyway? Why should they have to stand on street corners?
The government doesn’t at all seem to mind absentee balloting. So if I want to sign a petition by going to a website, downloading a form, then mailing it into the state election’s office why shouldn’t I be able to? (If anyone knows, clarify if this is possible).
Something tells me our state legislatures want to make it as hard as possible to put referendums and initiatives on the ballot.
Posted by Alan at 12:58 AM on May 8
Anonymous at 9:40 wrote “Any business groups involved should be boycotted.”
Yes - except that we can’t because they get their business from us via the State. If you refuse to do business with the State, the State will shoot you.
Posted by jewamongyou at 1:01 AM on May 8
“The court battle was necessitated by ballot language submitted by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office that misrepresented the intent of the proposed constitutional amendment. That ballot title summary was ultimately determined insufficient and biased by the circuit court of Cole County.”
That’s pretty rich coming from those who practice affirmative-action by way of Equal Opportunity Office pronouncements.
Posted by at 2:16 PM on May 8
Hatred for Whites is strong. Fear of being called racist is stronger. So much so that the politicians are willing to break the law and defy the principles of the Constitution.
Posted by at 3:50 PM on May 8
I have been reading Dr. Ron Paul’s new book. In it, he shows what we have devolved to in our government. Our government, local, state,and federal no longer represents the people being governed. We all know what the solution will have to be in order to save our country. Do we have the pride and instinct for self preservation still in us? Or do we just keep complaining amongst ourselves? We have reached a point of critical mass, a place that I have been dreading for a long time. But, it is upon us right now, stand up now, or lose.
Posted by at 3:50 PM on May 8
to jewamongyou —you are correct in large part, but not all businesses cater primarily to the state. At least we know, if we didn’t before, just who are enemies are. The more Americans who finally realize that it is their own state that is their most mortal enemy, the better.
We currently live in a police state—that much Mr. Bush and his minions have spelled out quite clearly—legalized torture, suspension of habeus corpus, trashing of the bill of rights—all in the name of “protecting the homeland”—and notice how none of the so-called opposition party, the Democrats, fought any of Bush’s expansions of federal power; indeed, most supported them. Perhaps that is because they share the same vision, a vision of the country which involves the construction of massive “detention facilities” across the land along with the complete militarization of the domestic police(in New Orleans it was the federalized national guard troops with the M16’s, confiscating private firearms) with the suspension of posse commitatus.
It doesn’t take much imagination to guess just who will be housed in these modern day concentration camps—-anyone who is perceived as a threat to the imperial state. Soon elections will become superfluous and signatures on petitions will just go into the central database of “subversives”.
Posted by at 5:02 PM on May 8
I’m a Missouri resident. Robin Carnahan has to go. I heard her on a local radio station trying to defend her oppostion to voter photo ID. She is a pandering leftist who will continue this nonsense until voted out of office. Vote her out!
Posted by at 9:17 PM on May 8
I rue the day I voted for a carnahan, damn this group of people.
Posted by Lars at 7:19 PM on May 9
