Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Re/Source: The Center For Constitutional Rights

What they do:
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. We do that by combining cutting-edge litigation, advocacy and strategic communications in work on a broad range of civil and human rights issues, listed below. 
Issues We Fight
Abusive Immigration Practices
The U.S. government has a long history of violating the civil and human rights of immigrants, who often lack political power and access to justice. From our early support of the Sanctuary Movement and our representation of HIV-positive Haitians held in Guantánamo to our legal challenges to...
Our cases and advocacy work
Corporate Human Rights Abuses
Since our founding in 1966, the Center has pioneered legal strategies to ensure that courtroom doors remain open to those with the least access to justice. In few instances is this more difficult than when our clients are seeking justice for human rights violations committed or facilitated by a...
Our cases and advocacy work
Criminalizing Dissent
CCR was born out of dissent. Growing directly out of Civil Rights struggles in the South, we have consistently worked to protect the right to dissent, not simply as an individual liberty but as the starting point for social change. Historically, CCR established the right to challenge the...
Our cases and advocacy work
Discriminatory Policing
CCR has tenaciously challenged discriminatory policing for decades, recognizing that discrimination and police violence do not arise as isolated incidents but are deeply embedded within our criminal justice system. We have challenged both local law enforcement (most notably the NYPD) and federal...
Our cases and advocacy work
Drone Killings
Since 2002, the United States has operated a secretive killing program using armed drones and other weapons in multiple countries, far removed from any legitimate battlefields. These so-called targeted killings have left thousands of people dead and injured, including hundreds of children. Three...
Our cases and advocacy work
Government Surveillance
From the stunning revelations of the FBI's COINTELPRO program just a few years after CCR was founded to the broad-ranging surveillance of the post-9/11 era, CCR has consistently sought to expose and oppose government surveillance. We have worked to protect individuals and communities from...
Our cases and advocacy work
Guantanamo
Since the prison opened in 2002, CCR has been at the forefront of the legal battle against indefinite detention and torture at Guantánamo, representing many current and former detainees. We sent one of the first civilian lawyers to the base; organized a network of hundreds of lawyers (the “GITMO...
Our cases and advocacy work
LGBTQI Persecution
CCR has long had a deep commitment to protecting members of LGBTQI communities from discrimination, censorship, violence, and persecution. Throughout the 1990s, the Center fought for the rights of gays and lesbians to serve in the Peace Corps, march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, receive...
Our cases and advocacy work
Mass Incarceration
CCR works hard to empower those who have been imprisoned, supporting movements begun by prisoners and foregrounding their stories and voices in our work. With the National Lawyers Guild, we provide our Jailhouse Lawyers...
Our cases and advocacy work
Muslim Profiling
CCR fights tirelessly to obtain justice for those who have fallen victim to domestic government abuses perpetuated in the name of the so-called “war on terror.” Our challenges to discriminatory profiling, torture, and illegal detentions of Muslims in the U.S. began in the days immediately after...
Our cases and advocacy work
Palestinian Solidarity
CCR has long challenged impunity for the Israeli government’s violations of international law related to its illegal occupation of Palestine, U.S. support that enables Israel’s violations, and efforts to punish activists for speaking out in solidarity with Palestine. We have sought transparency...
Our cases and advocacy work
Racial Injustice
CCR has been fighting for racial justice since our first day. We organized legal support for and defended marchers who were arrested on the historic Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965; litigated scores of Voting Rights Act cases; led challenges to de facto segregation that held states responsible...
Our cases and advocacy work
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
Since the 1970s, combating sexual and gender-based violence has been an integral part of CCR’s mission. We fought for recognition of the right to self-defense for victims of domestic violence, winning the first ever appeal of a murder conviction on these grounds, and helped to strike down New...
Our cases and advocacy work
Torture, War Crimes, & Militarism
CCR has a long history of challenging U.S. war-making and conflict-related human rights violations, both before and since the creation of the war-on-terror narrative. In the 1970s, we pioneered the use of the...
Our cases and advocacy work 
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GO DEEPER > https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do
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City Creek Center in Salt Lake City Under Scruting by The Feds In An IRS Tax Fraud Filing Case

An investigation in The Washington Post
Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges
By Jon Swaine ,  Douglas MacMillan and Michelle Boorstein
 "A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post. "
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"The confidential document, received by the IRS on Nov. 21, accuses church leaders of misleading members — and possibly breaching federal tax rules — by stockpiling their surplus donations instead of using them for charitable works. It also accuses church leaders of using the tax-exempt donations to prop up a pair of businesses..."
The complaint provides a window into the closely held finances of one of the nation’s most visible religious organizations, based in Salt Lake City.

It details a church fortune far exceeding past estimates and encompassing stocks, bonds and cash.
Based on internal accounting documents from February 2018, the complaint estimates the portfolio has grown in value from $12 billion in 1997, when Ensign was formed, to about $100 billion today.
---------------------------------------PAUSE: City Creek is on this board-game
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RELATED CONTENT ON THIS BLOG:
1 30 September 2018
Real Estate & For-Profit Religion: The Massive Mormon Make-Over of Downtown Mesa
Redevelopment Plans Announced for Area Near Mesa Arizona Temple
We are so blessed!
Just another one of those 'Revelations', published today by  East Valley Tribune staff writer Jim Walsh who's getting ahead of his stories published by The Times Media Group for local consumption, framing them with a battle between "historic preservation can't beat progress" and "revitalizing" downtown Mesa.
Now he's revealing Phase 2 in the Mesa LDS Temple-area, where for-profit investment affiliates own more than 70 properties - they essentially "own the neighborhood" so we won't see any neighbors objecting. . . 
Blogger Note1: Writer Jim Walsh provides no links to the statement by CCRI Spokesman Dale Bills that he uses in the reporting and he doesn't name the CCRI 'affiliates' who own the land increasing the original Phase 1 of 4.6 acres to the 8.2 acres in Phase 2.
Blogger Note 2: Scroll down below in related content to see the sources of the announcements and revelations about earlier plans - Question: Is this really what Mesa needs? 

TIME FOR A REACTION?
Or cross your fingers behind your back and hope no one notices?
Blogger Note: It's very clear from statements made by Matt Baldwin, real estate development director for City Creek Reserve (CCRI)), an investment affiliate of the Church.
We’ve been planning this project for years, . .We’ve talked with city and county government leaders, city planning staff and other local developers. 
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2 > Source: The Mormon News Room
"We’ve been planning this project for years,” said Matt Baldwin, real estate development director for City Creek Reserve (CCRI), an investment affiliate of the Church. “We’ve talked with city and county government leaders, city planning staff and other local developers. We want to enhance and beautify this block, but we also want to make sure what we’re proposing is what downtown Mesa needs,”
The revitalization, located between Mesa Drive and LeSueur Street, will include 240 apartments, 12 townhomes, 70,000 square feet of landscaped open space, ground floor retail space and 450 spaces for underground parking. Retail tenants will be accommodated in up to 12,500 square feet of ground floor space

Mike Hutchinson



“What CCRI has envisioned is exactly right for downtown Mesa right now,” observed Mike Hutchinson, executive vice president of the East Valley Partnership and former Mesa city manager.
 “They’ve done their homework. This project will bring renewed vitality to this key block on Main Street.”
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Pending rezoning and permit approvals, City Creek expects to begin construction in September of this year, with completion projected in 24–30 months in late 2020 or early 2021.
City Creek Reserve, Inc. (CCRI) is a real estate investment affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. CCRI is the master developer of City Creek, a sustainably-designed, 23-acre, walkable urban community of residences, offices and retail stores in downtown Salt Lake City, which has renewed and revitalized the heart of the city
 
 
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BACK TO INFORMATION TAKEN FROM The Washington Post:

An extract:
"Nielsen’s complaint further alleges that between 2009 and 2014, Ensign pumped $1.4 billion in several installments into the City Creek Center, a shopping mall in downtown Salt Lake City. . . partly owned by the church, had also been hit by the financial crisis.
Amid complaints from members about the church venturing into retail, church leaders have repeatedly made assurances over several years that no money from tithes would be spent on developing the mall, a joint venture with the Taubman real estate group.
. . .
On Monday, the church told The Post that through its involvement in the City Creek mall, it had “increased local economic activity during a financial downturn and attracted visitors and residents to Salt Lake City’s historic downtown.”A Taubman spokeswoman declined to comment.
Hackney, the University of Pittsburgh tax law expert, said the payments would raise red flags if they were indeed made to for-profit entities that were separate from Ensign and not recorded as investments.
While the church may argue Ensign contributes to a broader religious and charitable mission, as a separate corporate entity, it must show that “it furthers a charitable purpose exclusively on its own,” Hackney said. . .

IRS rules state that nonprofits “must not provide a substantial benefit to private interests” and that the earnings of registered religious organizations must not benefit “any private individual or shareholder” to avoid jeopardizing tax-exempt status.__________________________________________________________________________________
Former Latter-day Saint Church investment portfolio manager alleges billions in unpaid taxes, Washington Post reports

Spencer Burt fox13now.com
BLOGGER NOTE: Interesting that Church spokesman Eric Hawkins responded to FOX 13’s request for comment with the following statement, including links:
Thanks for your inquiry. We receive these types of questions from time to time, and have therefore prepared a rather extensive description of the Church’s financial processes and procedures (including a Q&A section) for journalists.
Here are a few links to the resources I’ve described above:
The Church does not provide information about specific transactions or financial decisions. However, I’ve tried to gather a few important principles from within those materials
(See the links provided in FOX13 Utah site for more complete information):Principles of Church Finances
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a singular purpose: to invite all people to come unto Christ. The Church is not a financial or profit-making institution; it uses resources to carry out its divinely appointed mission. The Church is a steward of the tithes and generous donations provided by its members, and it practices the principles it teaches — avoiding debt, living within a budget and preparing for the future.
Following sound financial principles over an extended period of time, the Church has grown from meager beginnings into a worldwide organization able to support its divine mission.
Church Financial Reserves“Church members are taught to “gradually build a financial reserve by regularly saving [a portion of their income]” (Providing in the Lord’s Way: Summary of a Leader’s Guide to Welfare [booklet, 2009], 2). The Church applies this same principle in its own savings and investments. In addition to food and emergency supplies, the Church also sets aside funds each year for future needs. These funds are added to Church reserves, which include stocks and bonds, taxable businesses, agricultural interests and commercial and residential property. Investments can be accessed in times of hardship or to meet the emerging needs of a growing, global faith in its mission to preach the gospel to all nations and prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (see Gérald Caussé, “In the Lord’s Way: The Spiritual Foundations of Church Financial Self-Reliance,” Church Newsroom, Mar. 2, 2018).
Some investments serve a dual purpose. For example, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that “we have felt that good farms, over a long period, represent a safe investment where the assets of the Church may be preserved and enhanced, while at the same time they are available as an agricultural resource to feed people should there come a time of need” (“The State of the Church,” Ensign, May 1991, 54). Another example is the Church’s participation in the development of downtown Salt Lake City. With its investment in City Creek (a mixed-use development that includes retail space, residential units, office space and parking), the Church enhanced the environs of Temple Square and underscored a commitment to Salt Lake City, Utah, where it is headquartered. The investment increased local economic activity during a financial downturn and attracted visitors and residents to Salt Lake City’s historic downtown.
The Church’s reserves are overseen by Church leaders and managed by professional advisers, consistent with wise and prudent stewardship and modern investment management principles. Ultimately, all funds earned by the Church’s investments go back to supporting its mission to invite souls to come unto Christ.”
The Tax Status of the Church
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pays all taxes that are required by law. Latter-day Saints believe in “obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (Articles of Faith 1:12). Worldwide, the Church and its affiliated entities pay applicable taxes and other governmental levies. In the United States, where churches and other nonprofit organizations are generally exempt from federal and state income tax, the Church pays taxes on any income it derives from revenue-producing activities that are regularly carried on and are not substantially related to its tax-exempt purposes. Church-affiliated entities that are organized as for-profit corporations pay regular federal and state corporate income taxes on their net income. The Church and its affiliated entities also pay property taxes on property that is not used for religious, educational or charitable purposes, including taxes on undeveloped land and properties held for investment or commercial purposes. Government fees, levies and assessments are paid in connection with the development of Church property. The Church also pays federal and state employer taxes and withholds and remits employee payroll taxes. Where applicable, the Church and its affiliated entities pay state and local sales and use taxes.”
 
 
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Tuesday, December 17, 2019

From May 2016: What Has Mesa Learned From Incompetent School Administrators??

In the scattering of the still-smoldering ashes from the abrupt leave-of-absence and forced resignation of MPS Superintendent Ember Conley that follows the resignation of previous Mesa public schools Super Michael Cowan over more "financial irregularities" where his public reputation got redeemed receiving 'a calling' to go on an LDS mission to an undetermined location, there's above all the entrenched generations-old PATRONAGE SYSTEM that connects both education and politics.
Former AZ Politician/Educator Mesa resident Richard Crandall Gets The Boot in Colorado
Dear readers, this will take some time to get through, so let's start with the most recent and most clear reporting first, followed by another one three days earlier and one going back to March 2011.
From the get-go - five years ago - any reasonable person might get curious about the overlapping roles of so-called "educators" [with no degree in teaching] becoming politicians who get entangled in questionable real estate deals or other irregularities,  then go back into education thanks to an illegal appointment and tendering his immediately-effective resignation admitting  "personal and professional limitations" . . . this went down two days ago!  With a big family to support he'll need to find another job sometime soon.
This all might have dropped out of the news or gone under-the-radar screen locally, except for what happened to Mesa resident Richard Crandall in conservative Colorado where he was Commissioner of Education for just four months, after nine months in the same position in the state of Wyoming.
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BLOGGER NOTE: Two other states - Colorado and Wyoming - were quick to realize Rich Crandall's shortcomings. He could not dependent on the closely-held connections in the entrenched Patronage System established here in Arizona.
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Here's a report from The Colorado Independent
Why Colorado’s education commissioner quit
Marianne Goodland
May 20, 2016 Education

"Colorado’s Commissioner of Education announced Thursday he is quitting after just four months in the position. The job was more than Rich Crandall could handle, according to a joint statement from the board and him.
Crandall’s resignation takes effect immediately . . .
Crandall is a former Arizona state senator who served six years before resigning to take the helm at the Wyoming Department of Education, a job he started in July 2013, overseeing 91,000 students statewide.
Crandall was appointed by the governor but the state’s Supreme Court said in January 2014 that the governor did not have the authority to appoint what had previously been an elected position.
 [Blogger note: The position of Director was dissolved when the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled the legislation that created the position unconstitutional.]
Crandall left Wyoming in April, 2014 and returned to Arizona, where he owns a nationwide company that provides consulting dieticians to assisted living and long-term care facilities.
The Colorado Board of Education hired Crandall despite his lack of significant management experience in education.
Prior to his time in Wyoming, Crandall’s most-closely related educational role was as chair from 2005 to 2008 of the Mesa Public Schools (AZ) Board of Education, a district with 69,000 students.
He acknowledged in his job application he has never worked as a teacher or principal.
In announcing his departure, Crandall cited family responsibilities and the demands of the job.That same news release included a statement from board Chair Steve Durham, which said that while he appreciated the importance Crandall put on family needs, he also recognized his own “professional and personal limitations in this demanding position.”
Blogger's note: image and excerpts from Marianne Goodland's report is the following link
http://www.coloradoindependent.com/159375/why-colorados-education-commissioner-quit 
> Colorado education commissioner resigning
4 months after starting
Updated
  • M.B.A., University of Notre Dame, 1997
  • MA, Accounting, Brigham Young University, 1993
  • B.S., Accounting, Brigham Young University 1993

He is a Certified Public Accountant and he is the Founder and Chair of CN Resource and is also the CFO/Partner for Crandall Corporate Dietitians, and a managing member of Delos Development
He currently serves on the board of directors of digital marketing firm ChannelNet.
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he is married to Leann Larson Crandall and together they have 13 children (seven from Rich's first marriage to Patrice Webb and six from Leann's first marriage)
Crandall is a moderate Republican former member of the Arizona State Senate and Arizona House of Representatives.
Elected in 2007 to the House and 2010 to the Senate, he resigned from the Senate on August 16, 2013, and the seat was declared open when President of the Senate Andy Biggs (R) received his paperwork on August 20, 2013.
 

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Mesa Republican Russell Pearce: Flagrant Icon For White Male Supremacy

There he was last week giving public testimony for the defense of indicted Maricopa County Assessor Paul Peterson who didn't show up for a suspension appeal in front of The Maricopa Board, and here he was shown in an image from 2013 talking with reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court  
ALEC Is an Incubator for Efforts to Protect White Supremacy, Says New Report
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout
Truthout | Published December 4, 2019
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Maintaining this system by necessity requires maintaining economic and political control
< here's the new Maricopa County BOS + the Arizona Attorney General
Here's the previous BOS >
ALEC claims to be a nonpartisan group that values “public-private partnership,” but critics argue it’s essentially legislating in secret, leaving the public with little understanding of how the bills it generates are drafted. . . ALEC boasts nearly one quarter of state lawmakers among its membership, and hundreds of its model bills have become state law around the country. . ."
Here's Russell Pearce next to Paul Petersen's attorney last week . . . The cast of characters who are now 'coming out-of-the-woodwork' tells more than the allegations and more than 60 federal charges lodged in 3 states than the suspension appeal.
It's none other than the long-time notorious conservative Mesa Republican Russell Pearce* who's now got a new gig as chief deputy to Maricopa County treasurer Royce Flora. He testified for only two minutes as the last defense witness for Petersen's attorney Kory Langhofer.
He said the treasurer’s office works very closely with the assessor’s office, and that the treasurer saw no evidence of the office’s official duties not being performed during Petersen’s absence
> Russell Pearce and AZ Congressman Andy Biggs appeared together in April 2019
21 April 2019Russell Pearce Redux: A Conservative Mesa Mormon Republican On-The-Fringe Again
This time around with another Mesa Republican U.S. Congressman Andy Biggs at a "Patriotism over Socialism" rally staged in conservative stronghold Gilbert last week.
Pearce says blood may need to be spilled to protect the country. (Video courtesy America's Voice News)
"It may take the shedding of blood to keep this Republic and I, for one, am willing to do whatever it takes," the former president of Arizona's Senate, said in a recent speech.
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Aw-aw . . . Better pick up the phone and call Mitt!
Pearce endorsed Romney back in 2014.
He also endorsed Mark Freeman last year in a campaign to get elected to the Mesa City Council.
Will the rest of Republicans holding public office here in Mesa now come out to disavow these hate-speech riddled remarks four days ago?  Mesa Mayor John Giles?
Pearce's remarks could certainly scare away immigrants to register for the 2020 Census, whether citizens or not.
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> Pearce's brand of politics was long ago rejected by voters.
"We have stupid leaders, stupid politicians and it’s time we start replacing those who refuse to stand up for the values that those have shed blood for," he told the crowd Monday.
By replace, I'm hoping he meant via a public vote not a rocket launch.
Link > https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed
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