Days before election, NE AG Jon Bruning files request to present oral arguments to defend marriage inequality before state supreme court

Attorney General Jon Bruning filed a request Tuesday to defend the state's definition of marriage before the Nebraska Supreme Court in a divorce case between Margie and Bonnie Nichols, two women married in Iowa but seeking a Nebraska divorce.

“In 2000, 70 percent of Nebraska voters chose to amend the Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman,” Bruning said in the release. “The Nebraska Constitution is clear and I will defend it.”

Wow, 2 wks before the primary? What a coincidence! Maybe he can arrange an execution too. @JournalStarNews: http://t.co/iKX3ByOzFF #NEGov
— dannymoe (@danmoser1961) April 30, 2014

Jon Bruning: 'all prisoners deserve to be in prison'

John Bruning's newest idiotic statement was made during Thursday's GOP gubernatorial candidate debate, during a discussion of prisoner overcrowding in Nebraska.
     Bruning, who is clearly unfit to serve even as attorney general, much less be promoted to Governor by voters, evidently believes that Nebraska's criminal justice system is perfect, that police never manufacture, tamper with, or conceal evidence, and that no one in the state is ever wrongly convicted.
     This, despite the fact that the National Academy of Sciences just released a study saying that at least 4.1% of death row defendants are falsely convicted.
     Since capitol crimes are the most scrutinized, it is likely that an even geater percentage of false convictions occur of lesser crimes.
     According to the World-Herald, Bruning said he's fine with putting more inmates in each cell and added “If they don't like the accom­modations the taxpayers provide, don't get sent to prison.”
     That what-me-worry? attitude only works until overcrowding becomes so intolerable that federal courts step in, as they have repeatedly in such cases. At which point we suppose Bruning will blame the White House if it is occupied by a Democrat.
     GOP candidate Pete Ricketts has called for prison alternatives to deal with nonviolent offenders.

Gay Nebraskans: Does your attorney general work for you — or against you?

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, left and Nebraska AG Jon Bruning

Today, 13 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in support of Virginia's marriage equality plaintiffs. Among the signatories was Tom Miller, Attorney General of Iowa. Absent was Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who only spends your taxes to file briefs opposing marriage equality.
     Related: Are you registered to vote yet? Voter registration in Nebraska ENDS THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 24 and FRIDAY April 25th (if registering by mail.) Call or visit your county election commissioner's office for further details.

Attention heteros: extremist NE AG, Jon Bruning, doesn't think you have a right to be divorced either

Margie and Bonnie Nichols, married in Iowa in 2009 and together for longer than a decade, are finding that the road to splitsville doesn't end in Nebraska.
     In August,  Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy dismissed their divorce case, writing in her order, “A finding that the marriage is irretrievably broken — by its very nature — cannot be made without recognizing the marriage itself, and it stretches logic and common sense to conclude otherwise.”
     Nebraska constitutionally banned same sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships in 2000 in one of the most draconian exclusions in the USA.
     Now, uber-homophobic Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, currently campaigning for a promotion to governor after Cornhusker voters rejected his Senate bid, has weighed in on the case:

     Bruning’s office argued the constitutionality of Nebraska’s same-sex marriage law shouldn’t be considered and said divorce isn’t a right.
     “Bonnie cites no authority for the proposition that divorce is a fundamental right or a privilege and immunity guaranteed by the federal constitution. This is because there is no authority for such a proposition,” the Attorney General’s Office wrote.
     ACLU and Legal Aid argued divorce could be handled without delving into the constitutionality of Nebraska’s prohibition of same-sex marriage, and that not letting courts hear these cases violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
     For Margie and Bonnie Nichols, the inability to get divorced raises a number of potential problems and liabilities related to filing federal taxes, being responsible for each other’s debt, Social Security income and other retirement benefits. Mikolajczyk [of Omaha-based Domina Law Group] said an annulment doesn’t offer the same legal protections as a divorce, nor does it address issues of alimony or property division.
     The women cannot remarry, even to someone of the opposite sex. Doing so without a divorce would run afoul of bigamy laws, which come with criminal penalties.
     “They want to terminate this contract just as anyone else in our state has the right to dissolve their marriage,” Mikolajczyk said. “They both would like the opportunity to move on with their lives, and you can’t really do that if other states and the federal government perceive them as still married.”

Nebraska AG Jon Bruning pictured
with Eames and Barcelona chairs

     In November 2003, Jon Bruning said Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling against that state's ban on gay marriages was ridiculous. "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?" Bruning said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to stop." [Associated Press, 11/18/03]
     In 2011, Jon Bruning had Nebraska State Senator Mike Gloor introduce legislation punishing HIV+ Nebraskans who sneezed in the direction of a cop with up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine — despite the fact that the CDC has repeatedly said that saliva has never been shown to transmit HIV.
     In 2012, after state Senator Beau McCoy's bill to kill looming gay rights ordinances in Omaha and Lincoln died in committee, Bruning issued an opinion that LGBT rights ordinances were illegal anyway despite contrary opinions by city attorneys in both Lincoln and Omaha.
     Nebraska's action leaves just five states in which marriage equality lawsuits have not been challenged recently.

Great minds think alike! NE AG Jon Bruning totally on same page as Vlad Putin spokesman about LGBTs having sex with furniture

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, currently running for governor again, has a history of likening gay relationships to a romantic attachment to articles of furniture as does Vladmir Putin's spokesman Sergei Markov:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

Nebraska AG Jon Bruning pictured
with Eames and Barcelona chairs

     Last week Bruning spent an undetermined amount of Nebraska public funds filing an amicus brief in support of Utah's efforts to keep gay couples strangers to the law.
     By filing a brief on behalf of Utah, Jon Bruning has shown yet again that he seems never to have met an antigay policy or law he doesn't embrace.
     In November 2003, Jon Bruning said Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling against that state's ban on gay marriages was ridiculous. "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?" Bruning said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to stop." [Associated Press, 11/18/03]
     In 2011, Jon Bruning had Nebraska State Senator Mike Gloor introduce legislation punishing HIV+ Nebraskans who sneezed in the direction of a cop with up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine — despite the fact that the CDC has repeatedly said that saliva has never been shown to transmit HIV.
     In 2012, after state Senator Beau McCoy's bill to kill looming gay rights ordinances in Omaha and Lincoln died in committee, Bruning issued an opinion that LGBT rights ordinances were illegal anyway despite contrary opinions by city attorneys in both Lincoln and Omaha.

Homophobic NE AG Jon Bruning, who once falsely insinuated a political opponent was a pedophile, is fined $19,000 by Federal Election Commission

Nebraska's Attorney General, Jon Bruning, will somehow have to pay a $19,000 fine because the FEC says he violated both  reporting rules and the intent of an “exploratory committee.”
     The damning evidence was an email which Bruning sent just after forming his "exploratory" committee. It read: “Please help me defeat Ben Nelson in 2012 by making a contribution today.”
    In 2010, Bruning (and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman) had to return campaign contributions from a foreign oil company, TransCanada, after a complaint by Bold Nebraska and subsequent press exposure (apparently Nebraska's top legal official either didn't know TransCanada was not a U.S. company or just forgot that it's illegal for U.S. politicians to be rented by foreign firms.)
    In November 2003, Jon Bruning said Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling against that state's ban on gay marriages was ridiculous. "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?" Bruning said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to stop." [Associated Press, 11/18/03]
     In 2011, Jon Bruning persuaded Nebraska State Senator Mike Gloor to introduce legislation punishing HIV+ Nebraskans with up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if they sneezed in the direction of a cop — despite the fact that saliva doesn't transmit HIV.
     In 2012, after state Senator Beau McCoy's bill to kill looming gay rights ordinances in Omaha and Lincoln died in committee, Bruning issued an opinion that LGBT rights ordinances were illegal anyway despite contrary opinions by city attorneys in both Lincoln and Omaha.
     Last November, Bruning's US Senate ambitions were dashed in a three-way primary race with former NE AG Don Stenberg and State Senator Deb Fischer when he was targeted by $200,000 worth of last-minute SuperPac attack ads paid for by the billionaire Omaha founder of TD Ameritrade, Joe Ricketts.
     Below: Bruning comparing welfare recipients to racoons at an Americans For Prosperity rally.
     Below that: In 2012, Bruning broadly insinuated that his GOP opponent, Don Stenberg, was a pedophile because Stenberg's campaign twitter bot asked to "follow" Bruning's 14-year-old daughter — even though at the time Bruning's campaign twitter account was also following at least one 16-year-old girl.

NE Primary: major homophobe, frontrunner AG Jon Bruning, demolished by GOP dark horse, a billionaire's SuperPac — and a Sara Palin endorsement

County-by-county: Jon Bruning's stunning defeat. Deb Fisher-carried counties are dark red, Bruning counties are light red.

Below: TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts' SuperPac ad trashing Jon Bruning:


In November 2003, Jon Bruning said Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling against that state's ban on gay marriages was ridiculous. "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?" Bruning said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to stop." [Associated Press, 11/18/03]
     In 2011, Jon Bruning had Nebraska State Senator Mike Gloor introduce legislation punishing HIV+ Nebraskans who sneezed in the direction of a cop with up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine — despite the fact that saliva doesn't transmit HIV.
     In 2012, after state Senator Beau McCoy's bill to kill looming gay rights ordinances in Omaha and Lincoln died in committee, Bruning issued an opinion that LGBT rights ordinances were illegal anyway despite contrary opinions by city attorneys in both Lincoln and Omaha.
     Now Bruning's US Senate ambitions are in ruins, courtesy of a dark horse Unicameral representative from rural Nebraska, Deb Fischer, a last minute SuperPac expenditure of $200,000 paid for by the billionaire Omaha founder of TD Ameritrade, Joe Ricketts and an endorsement of Fischer by Sara Palin. (Paterfamilias Rickets' out gay daughter is an attorney who supports Lambda Legal; his son supported the candidacy of state senator Beau McCoy, who will kill gay rights in Nebraska if it's the last thing he does. The Ricketts family must have some interesting Thanksgiving dinners.)



     Bruning had other problems, notably the candidacy of former AG Don Stenberg (almost as antigay as Bruning himself) and a string of articles in both the Lincoln Journal-Star and the Omaha World-Herald which chronicled Bruning's swift rise to millionaire status while attorney general.
     Deb Fisher will face former Nebraska Governor and Senator Bob Kerrey in the general election.
     Kerrey won in a landslide, as expected, though he didn't get AKSARBENT's vote because he arrogantly refused to answer any of the questions in the League of Women Voter's questionnaire.
     We'll vote for him in the general election because he came out for gay marriage recently. (While doing so, Kerrey instructed a reporter to be sure to mention that Dick Cheney does too.)

Below: Joe Jordan of nebraskawatchdog.org talks to Democratic victor Bob Kerrey about Fischer's win:



     Kerrey is quite funny. Here's how he answered a question from Omaha World-Herald columnist Brad Dickson, a former gag writer for Jay Leno:

Q: If elected, will you be favoring us with “Waltzing Matilda” again? Feel free to respond no comment.
A: Yes, but you'll have to be in the shower to hear it, and there's no chance I'll invite you.

(Actually, Kerrey sang And The Band Played Waltzing Mathilda, a 70s antiwar song, after first being elected to the US Senate in 1988.)

While governor, Kerry, who lost a limb in Vietnam, dated actress Debra Winger when she was filming Terms of Endearment in Lincoln. When a reporter asked him about the romance, Kerrey deadpanned: "She swept me off my foot."

Jon Bruning says Obamacare is unconstitutional. Is it?

Bruning calls Obamacare an unconstitutional "power grab" that "forces you to buy" health insurance.

      Perhaps if Bruning weren't so busy serving on the boards of about two dozen private companies while drawing a public salary, he would have found time to research this phony claim.

Barack Obama is the third president to back a health insurance mandate

     Professor Einer Elhauge of Harvard Law School did, in the New Republic.
     Slate says his research thoroughly rebuts Bruning's — and others' — argument.

• In 1790, a Congress including 20 Founders passed a law requiring that ship owners buy medical insurance for their seamen. Washington signed it into law.
• In 1792, another law signed by Washington required that all able-bodied men buy a firearm. (So much for the argument that Congress can’t force us to participate in commerce.)
• And in 1798, a Congress with five framers passed a law requiring that all seamen buy hospital insurance for themselves. Adams signed this legislation.

Homophobic GOP Nebraska Attorney General broadly insinuates that homophobic GOP opponent is a (heterosexual) pedophile

The Don (left) and Jon show. Two of Nebraska's nastiest
GOP politicians are vying for Ben Nelson's Senate seat.

In November 2003, Nebraska's current AG, Jon Bruning, said Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling against that state's ban on gay marriages was ridiculous. "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?" Bruning said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to stop." [Associated Press, 11/18/03]
     In 2005, Bruning's current opponent, former AG Don Stenberg, blamed Democrats for liberal judges, gay marriages, abortion and other "social ills."
     This week Bruning was criticized by his rival's campaign manager of being "offensive beyond words" for Bruning's "repeated references to a 62-year-old man [rival Stenberg] and a 14-year-old [Bruning's daughter, Lauren]."
     Bruning and Stenberg are GOP primary rivals for retiring Senate Democrat Ben Nelson's Nebraska seat. Stenberg's campaign evidently tried to follow the private twitter account of Bruning's daughter and was blocked.
     Stenberg said he doesn't manage his twitter account. His campaign uses software to seek out twitter accounts; his campaign manager, Dan Parsons, said the program searches for twitter accounts to follow by keying on words such as "Bruning" and "Stenberg."
      Parsons said that "may" be how the teen received a request. He also said that Bruning deliberately used his own daughter to launch a "disturbing personal attack." Then he noted that if the issue is about age, Bruning himself appears to be following teens — including a 16-year-old girl — on his Twitter account.
     At a debate in Gering, Bruning asked, "Why does a 62-year-old man want to follow a 14-year-old girl on Twitter?" He also said his daughter found Stenberg's request to access her Twitter feed "kind of creepy."
     Later, Bruning said he never meant to imply that Stenberg had improper designs on his daughter.
 

     Similarly, AKSARBENT denies in advance any insinuation that Bruning and Stenberg are both either bags of dirt or scorpions in a bottle. As well as all suggestions that it hopes they both sue each other into penury and afterward contract debilitating diseases which render each incapable of speaking anything ever again. Also, their campaign managers. Any such conclusions are entirely the mistaken and speculative inferences of the readers of AKSARBENT which, like Jon Bruning, denies responsibility for anything it says.

NE senate race: antigay Nebraska AG Jon Bruning vs. gay-friendly Bob Kerrey: Bruning now using 'Willie Horton' political consultant

Right-wing Nebraska AG Jon Bruning will has retained D.C.-based McCarthy-Hennings Media, as the website Nebraska Watchdog first reported.
     The "McCarthy" in that corporate name refers to adman Larry McCarthy, whose resume includes the 1988 Willie Horton attack ad against Michael Dukakis during George H.W. Bush's campaign for president.
     McCarthy played xenophobia and religious divisions in the electorate like a violin in more recent political spots like "Chinese Professor" and "Mosque."
     Bruning, for his part, has compared welfare recipients to raccoons scavenging for food.

"The raccoons, they're not stupid, they're going to do the easy way if we make it easy for them -- just like welfare recipients all across America," he said in a video recorded by American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic independent expenditure group. "If we don't send them to work, they're going to take the easy way out."

     ..."What better way to reform your image as a politician who makes racially insensitive comments than to hire the ad firm that makes racially insensitive ads?" said Rodell Mollineau, president of American Bridge 21st Century. 

     In November 2003, Bruning said Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling against that state's ban on gay marriages was ridiculous. "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet, or a man to marry his chair?" Bruning said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to stop." [Associated Press, 11/18/03]

     In 1982, Bob Kerrey, then on the Human Rights Commission in Lincoln, supported an equal employment measure for gay citizens before voters overturned it amid a rumor campaign fueled by a subsequently discredited NU psychologist Paul Cameron.
     From 2007 to 2011, a period in which many Americans lost their life savings, Bruning tripled the value of his personal non-publicly traded assets, from a range of $4.3 to $17.8 million to $12.6 to $61.3 million while in office as Nebraska Attorney General and has held positions while AG on 24 different banks, private businesses and LLCs.
     Below, Joe Jordon, of Nebraska Watchdog, talks to AG Bruning about his ties to David Sokol, who abruptly left Berkshire Hathaway amid charges of insider trading and is the target of an ongoing SEC investigation.



Below: then-senator Bob Kerrey took on Charleton Heston and the NRA in an ad for his successful reelection to the US Senate.

Jon Bruning off to DC on your dime to raise campaign funds and destroy some of your health care benefits

Share this via facebook, email, reddit or whatever. Use the buttons under this post!

The Lincoln Journal-Star reports that John Bruning's campaign manager, Trent Fellers, says Bruning will be "sitting should-to-shoulder with his colleagues" to derail President Obama's health care initiative.
     Bob Kerrey's campaign manager called the trip "nothing but a charade and a fundraising trip," noting that Bruning has scheduled four fundraising events in three days.

"In fact, Jon Bruning will not speak one word to one Supreme Court justice during the hearings," Johnson said.

     Said the Journal-Star: "Bruning was one of a dozen state attorneys general to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new health care law and has been a member of the group's five-member executive committee."
     Three days of oral arguments before the US Supreme Court will begin Monday.

     Here is some of what is at stake:

Don vs. Jon: two homophobic scorpions in a bottle

AKSARBENT can only hope that the loser of the GOP Senate primary battle between Attorney General Jon Bruning and State Treasurer Don Stenberg damages the winner badly enough that he doesn't prevail in the general election and that they both consume large amounts of right-wing billionaire cash exposing attacking each other's character. Either would be a lousy senator. Here's what Don Stenberg said about Jon Bruning recently:

"I did not have partners in any investments while I was the attorney general. I did not become, or try to become, a multimillionaire while serving as Nebraska's attorney general," he said. "While I went to great lengths to avoid conflicts of interest, Jon Bruning seems to invite them."

Lincoln TV station rips Jon Bruning's nasty "welfare recipients as racoons" remark in a way that oatmeal-breath Omaha TV reporters can only dream about

Nebraska Senate candidate Jon Bruning compares welfare recipients to coons

The clip above was distributed by Talking Points Memo and was recorded this past weekend at a Tea Party event in Papillion. Kyle Michaelis, writing in the New Nebraska Network, noted that last week, speaking to Kearney business leaders, Bruning suggested that half of Americans (the bottom half) are freeloaders and had better be careful or the rich who pay for everything will just disappear. According to the Kearney Hub:

"Half the people are in the wagon and the other half are pulling the wagon," [Bruning] said. "If you run your taxes up to a certain point, people are going to leave the country."

Michaelis added: "It also appears he thinks it's reasonable that wealthy Americans would leave the country if they're taxed at the same rate they were just ten years ago (before the budget-busting Bush tax cuts)."

Nebraska Supreme Court shuts down Atty. Gen. Jon Bruning's attempt to use illegal drugs; Omaha cab operator Matt Butler considers recall revenge on all judges except Republican Mike Heavican

New Nebraska Network reports that the Nebraska Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Carey Dean Moore due to Atty. Gen. Jon Bruning's insistence that Nebraska use a drug made in India, which is illegal in the U.S.
    In response, Nebraska Watchdog says that Republican activist Matt Butler, operator of Happy/Yellow/Checker cabs in Omaha, has said he's considering a recall initiative against all Nebraska Supreme Court justices except Chief Justice Mike Heavican — a Republican.

LB226, the "sneeze in the direction of a cop and go to prison" bill for people who have tested HIV+, advanced in the Nebraska Legislature yesterday

LB226, (see previous post here) advanced from Select File (2nd reading) and is awaiting final reading. It has been amended twice. One revision makes it somewhat less draconian than the original bill, drafted by homophobic Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and introduced by Grand Island Senator Mike Gloor.

It now applies to, as well as public safety officers, "an employee of the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-Geneva or the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-Kearney"

The following language in Section 2:

5 Sec. 2. (1) Any person who knowingly and intentionally
6 strikes any public safety officer with any bodily fluid or who
7 throws, propels, expels, or emits any bodily fluid in the direction
8 of any public safety officer, is guilty of assault with a bodily
9 fluid against a public safety officer.

has been changed to:

7 Sec. 2. (1) Any person who knowingly and intentionally
8 strikes any public safety officer with any bodily fluid is guilty
9 of assault with a bodily fluid against a public safety officer.

Neither a roll call or record vote was taken on second reading, so Aksarbent can't tell you who voted for this bill and who didn't. There were 35 ayes, 5 nays, 6 present and not voting, and 3 excused and not voting.

Johnson: Jon Bruning's defense of fired Berkshire-Hathaway exec David Sokol 'completely inappropriate'

Nebraska Watchdog has an interesting post about the Nelson campaign's reaction to Attorney General Jon Bruning's kneejerk defense of his Senate campaign benefactor David Sokol against a backdrop of a continuing SEC investigation and the recent distance that Berkshire-Hathaway has put between itself and Sokol.
     Nelson's campaign chief Paul Johnson deplored Bruning's "pay to play" attitude toward public service.
     Of course, Aksarbent readers have their own reasons to harbor disdain toward an opportunistic homophobe like Bruning.


Meanwhile, Jane Kleeb at Bold Nebraska is quite suspicious of the recent letter of support of the Transcanada pipeline written by the Merrick County Supervisors. Her advice?

Email or Call the Merrick County Board of Supervisors, 308-946-2881, izatat@cablene.com and rweller@gpcom.net (see *note)

Ask the board to show the meeting minutes of all TransCanada discussions and to disclose the money/contracts the staff, board members and their relatives have taken from TransCanada, including funds for "community" projects.  Also ask the board to NOT sign the letter of support for the pipeline. *note: the only two emails of the Board of Supervisors listed on the Merrick County website are the two above.  Those are for DL (Shorty) Hahn and Rex Weller.

Write a Letter to the Editor of the local papers in Merrick County which include the Republican Nonpareil, Grand Island Independent, Nance County Journal and Columbus Telegram.

The death of young Jon Bruning, a Nebraska tragedy...

Honor Indians Institute

In 2007, Kyle Michaelis, of newnebraska.net brought the two-faced careerism of political opportunist and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning into sharp relief when he published "The Death of Young Jon Bruning, a Nebraska Tragedy," wherein he called attention to the columns Bruning wrote as a student at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for the Daily Nebraskan.

Subsequently, Bold Nebraska published all of Bruning's DN articles, even referring to one of them in dubbing him "Wrong Way Jon," which was apparently a testament to his collegiate basketball prowess.

Now, even National Journal and Politico have gotten into the act.

So, since what the local blogs have published have now been laundered through the national websites, isn't it time for the Nebraska dead tree opinion-makers to weigh in? The Lincoln Journal-Star did, today.

At Aksarbent we suspect that the Omaha World-Herald will either ignore the story or spin it for Jon, unless Don Stenberg runs for the Senate, in which case we suspect the Herald will giddily dump Jon Bruning's lifetime achievements in cynical pandering to opposite political ideologies over his head like a colander of spaghetti.

LB 226, which would make sneezing in the direction of a cop by an HIV+ person a felony, gets favorable hearing in Nebraska legislature

Nebraska's uber-homophobic Attorney General, Jon Bruning, has drawn up a bill, (introduced by Grand Island Senator Mike Gloor) that would would make even sneezing in the direction of any public safety officer by an HIV+ person aware of his/her status a felony punishable by five years in the penitentiary and/or a $10,000 fine, despite the fact that the CDC has said that saliva doesn't transmit HIV or hep B or C.

Attorney General Jon Bruning, who is planning to skip out on his job if he wins a US senate seat, (he also pulled a Sarah Palin to jump from the Unicameral* to his current job) is well known in Nebraska for his comments to an AP reporter following his discovery that a Massachusetts court had approved gay marriage: "Does that mean you have to allow a man to marry his pet or a man to marry his chair?"

His bill, LB 226, received a great deal of support in a Monday hearing in Lincoln, but several witnesses objected.

...opponents argued the bill might already be overly broad and could add to misconceptions about how HIV is contracted.
     As the bill is written, a person who sneezed on an officer during a traffic stop could face criminal charges, said Amy Miller with the Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
     The measure would criminalize the act of simply throwing or emitting bodily fluids in the direction of an officer, whether it hit the officer or not, Miller said.
     "I can't think of another example where we've criminalized behavior that does not, in fact, cause any bodily harm," she said.
     Public school district representatives testified in a neutral capacity, taking the unusual position that the bill was both too broad and too narrow.
     Mary Campbell with the Lincoln Public Schools system questioned whether lawmakers intend to criminalize behaviors of developmentally disabled students who might spit or vomit on a school resource officer.
     "And if it is the intent ... are we then, by criminalizing it only against police, condoning the same behavior directed at a teacher?" she asked.

Grand Island Sen. Gloor

Neb. Atty. Gen. Bruning

The Nebraska Aids Project had this to say:

We are writing you today to ask that you activate your personal networks to contact Senators about this bill. Let’s be clear, we are all in favor of the protection of law enforcement and public safety officers, but the way this bill is written and the way it targets HIV causes more harm than good, especially since already existing assault statutes (like those in other states) are more than adequate in dealing with this issue.

We need to make special efforts to voice our opinions to Senator Gloor, as well as the Senators on the Judiciary Committee. Letters and phone calls work the best. You will probably speak to one of their staff. Please remember to be respectful in voicing your opinion.

Senator Gloor, Grand Island (introducer): (402) 471-2617, mgloor@leg.ne.gov
Senator Ashford, Omaha (Chair of Judiciary): (402) 471-2622, bashford@leg.ne.gov
Senator Colby Coash, Lincoln (Judiciary): (402) 471-2632, ccoash@leg.ne.gov
Senator Brenda Council, Omaha (Judiciary): (402) 471-2612, bcouncil@leg.ne.gov
Senator Burke Harr, Omaha (Judiciary): (402) 471-2722, bharr@leg.ne.gov
Senator Tyson Larson, O’Neill/Randolph (Judiciary): (402) 471-2801, tlarson@leg.ne.gov
Senator Steve Lathrop, Omaha (Judiciary): (402) 471-2623, slathrop@leg.ne.gov
Senator Scott Laughtenbaugh, Omaha/Blair (Judiciary): (402) 471-2618, slaughtenbaugh@leg.ne.gov
Senator Amanda McGill, Lincoln (Judiciary): (402) 471-2610, amcgill@leg.ne.gov

Here is a copy of the bill.  Go here to find your Senator.

Some basic talking points 1) Criminalizing spitting and biting of HIV positive persons flies in the face of all established science; 2) It codifies discrimination and the exceptional treatment of HIV (and in this case Hepatitis) which encourages stigma; 3) In light of the actual risk of harm to police and correctional officers, the punishment is draconian; 4) The proposed language puts serious strain on the relationship between doctors and HIV positive patients and undermines the hard work that public health professionals do; and 5) The proposed bill contradicts the National AIDS Strategy...

The biggest point to communicate is: we are all in favor of the protection of law enforcement and public safety officers, but the way this bill is written and the way it targets HIV causes more harm than good, especially since already existing assault statutes (like those in other states) are more than adequate in dealing with this issue.

---------------------------
*Nebraska only has a senate. It got rid of its House of Representatives during the Depression to save money.

TODAY: Nebraska Atty. Gen. Jon Bruning, State Senator Mike Gloor spread HIV, hep C myths, stigma with proposed new law, LB226; Hearing: Room 1113, Nebraska State Capitol, 1:30 pm (SW corner of 1st floor)

Grand Island Sen. Gloor

Neb. Atty. Gen. Bruning

Well isn't that sweet. At a time when the federal Department of Justice is directed by the Office of National HIV/AIDS Policy in the White House to get states to review and remove HIV specific criminal laws, Nebraska is going back to the 80s to create a fear-driven, fact-forgotten law. — Todd Heywood

Kellee Terrell, News Editor of TheBody.com reports the following in the Huffington Post:

Even though HIV and hepatitis C are not spread through the transference of saliva, that scientifically proven fact didn't stop Nebraska State Senator Mike Gloor. On Jan. 10, Gloor proposed a bill that would make spitting on a police officer a misdemeanor in his state, but for someone living with HIV or hep C, the punishment is much more severe.

The Associated Press reported:

The bill is one of five that Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning [402-471-2682 or comment here — Aksarbent] listed in his legislative package last week. Under the measure, assaulting a peace officer with bodily fluid would be a misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The offense would be a felony if committed by those who know they are infected with HIV, AIDS or hepatitis B or C. The penalty would jump to up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

As of now, it's not clear if this bill has any real support from other state politicians to get passed. But understandably, just the introduction of it has upset the HIV/AIDS community in Nebraska. Jordan Delmundo, Nebraska AIDS Project's Grants and Public Policy Manager, believes that the bill further encourages misconceptions about HIV/AIDS. "[Blood, semen, breast milk, and vaginal fluids] are the only scientifically proven fluids that transmit HIV, not saliva," Delmundo told TheBody.com. He added, "We all are for the protection of those who work in public safety, but this bill only contributes to stigma and myths about the disease."

Delmundo is also concerned because this bill undermines the work that the Nebraska AIDS Project does to educate the community -- for instance, the group just recently launched the Nebraska AIDS Stigma Awareness Project (ASAP). "Our laws and government influence how people think," he said. "This bill, as written, reinforces the exact negative things that we at the Nebraska AIDS Project fight against every day."

On January 12th, LB226 was referred to the Nebraska Unicameral's Judiciary Committee (402-471-2622), which, during session, meets on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in Room 1113 on the 1st Floor of the Capitol. Mailing Address: Room 1103, State Capitol, Lincoln NE 68509

Hearings on LB226 will be held Friday February 04, 2011 in Room 1113 of the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln at 1:30 PM. Check here for hearing date changes.

Don't know who your Nebraska Senator is? Go here.
Contact information for members of the Judiciary Committee:

Sen. Brad Ashford (Chairman)
(Central Omaha from 39th to 132nd and Pacific to I-80)
District 20
Room 1103
P.O. Box 94604
State Capitol
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2622

bashford@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Steve Lathrop (Vice-Chairman)
(Ralston)
District 12
Room #2000
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2623

Email: slathrop@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Colby Coash
(Northwest and South Central Lincoln)
District 27
Room #2028
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2632

Email: ccoash@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Brenda Council
(Northeast Omaha, Cuming to Miller Park)
District 11
Room #1120
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2612

Email: bcouncil@leg.ne.gov  

Sen. Burke Harr
(Northeast Omaha, Benson and adjacent areas)
District 08
Room #1115
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2722

Email: bharr@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Tyson Larson
(Cedar, Pierce, Knox counties and part of Holt county)
District 40
Room #1019
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2801

Email: tlarson@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh
(Blair, Fort Calhoun, portions of northwest Omaha and parts of rural Douglas and Washington counties)

District 18
Room #1021
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2618

Email: slautenbaugh@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Amanda McGill
(Northeast Lincoln)
District 26
Room #1212
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2610

Email: amcgill@leg.ne.gov