December 19, 1940 Civilian Public Service (CPS) camps were established for conscientious objectors following the institution of the first peacetime draft (a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor). It was the first time members of peace-oriented religious groups (e.g., Quakers, Mennonites, Church of the Brethren) could legally avoid military conscription. Fire fighting. CPS 30, Walhalla, Michigan (Brethren) Though they worked nine-hour days except Sundays, they had to pay their own room-and-board, and were not released from the camps until 1947. Civilian Public Service (Aside from the above working conditions, they were not paid at all, so nothing to send home, either. This link is a good read for info.)
December 19, 1962 Juan Bosch Gaviño Juan Bosch Gaviño was elected President of the Dominican Republic in its first free elections in 38 years. The election of journalist and writer Bosch followed shortly after the end of 31 years of military dictator Rafael Trujillo who had been assassinated the previous year. Bosch was overthrown by a U.S.-backed coup just seven months later. Bosch’s brief political career
December 19, 2010 Police in a provincial city in Tunisia used tear gas late on Saturday to disperse hundreds of youths who smashed shop windows and damaged cars, witnesses told Reuters. The beginning of Arab Spring. Read more (Reuters)
has only good news for my body and for my mind, she warms them and she becalms them unlike her greek namesake who left her listeners terrified and tense ah the onomastic turnaround took twenty centuries to turn the older story on its head which explains ex-lingua why my modern body feels comfort in the new diachronic goddess
Since 2020, Democracy Docket has extensively covered and tracked important litigation related to voting rights, elections and redistricting and now has a database of over 660 cases. As in previous years, we are providing a comprehensive year-end report on all the democracy-related cases filed and decided in 2023 that directly impacted voters.
Considering it was not a federal election year, 2023 was quite busy for democracy in the courts. While there were not as many new lawsuits filed this past year relative to 2022, there was a notable influx of consequential outcomes stemming from democracy-related cases that directly impacted voters.
Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2023, we tracked:
73 new democracy-related lawsuits filed across 31 states.
146 court orders that impacted voters across 34 states.
83 victories for voters across 26 states.
The statistics in this report are based on the lawsuits in our case database as of Dec. 31, 2023. For the purposes of this report, we excluded the 57 active redistricting lawsuits and the small number of criminal cases we are tracking.
Throughout 2023, we tracked 73 new democracy-related lawsuits across 31 states.
Despite not being a federal election year, 2023 nevertheless saw over 70 democracy-related lawsuits spanning dozens of states. By comparison, in 2021 — another off-cycle year — Democracy Docket tracked 57 new democracy-related lawsuits across 18 states.
As expected, the number of new lawsuits filed in 2023 was lower than the 175 new democracy-related lawsuits filed in 2022 both before and after the midterm elections. In anticipation of the upcoming 2024 presidential election, we expect the number of new lawsuits to once again drastically increase this year.
In 2023, we tracked more pro-voting than anti-voting lawsuits and saw a nearly even split amongst lawsuits filed in federal and state courts. Lawsuits that centered around election administration — especially relating to direct democracy and the ballot initiative process — were most prominent among democracy-related litigation filed this past year. We observed how Republicans are doubling down on their anti-voting efforts in court, with GOP litigants bringing 68% of anti-voting lawsuits in 2023. Meanwhile, lawsuits filed by nonpartisan organizations — such as the NAACP or League of Women Voters — accounted for the vast majority of pro-voting litigation.
Below, we break down our comprehensive database of lawsuits that were filed in 2023 and provide analysis of the broader trends that characterized the past year’s litigation landscape.
Unlike in 2022, there were more pro-voting than anti-voting lawsuits filed in 2023.
Democracy Docket categorized the 73 new lawsuits filed in 2023 as either “pro-voting” or “anti-voting.” In total, we tracked 51 pro-voting lawsuits and 22 anti-voting lawsuits filed in 2023.
While this past year’s breakdown is a departure from the trend we saw in 2022 — in which there were more anti-voting lawsuits (93) than pro-voting lawsuits (82) — it is more in line with what we saw in 2021, when there were 49 pro-voting lawsuits and 8 anti-voting lawsuits.
Between 2022 and 2023, we noticed a distinct shift in who was behind new democracy-related litigation, with pro-voting parties bringing the bulk of all new lawsuits in 2023. While anti-voting parties brought 53% of the total lawsuits filed in 2022, they only brought 30% of new lawsuits filed in 2023. Inversely, pro-voting parties brought 47% of the total lawsuits filed in 2022, but nearly 70% of new lawsuits filed in 2023.
This is likely explained by the fact that most off-year election litigation focuses on pro-voting challenges to new voter suppression laws. In both 2021 and 2023, we saw waves of new anti-voting laws enacted by Republican-controlled legislatures. On the other hand, in even-numbered years, litigation tends to focus on how elections are administered and votes are counted — two areas where the anti-voting parties are particularly litigious. (snip-graphics and much More Info on the page)
First I want to acknowledge that I still 11 tabs of comments I did not get to yet today. They are saved for tomorrow. I know Ali and Randy understand my situation so I want to clue the rest in before I go to bed, and yes I am very tired.
I went to bed about 5 PM last night after eating some beef stroganoff that Ron insisted I eat before going to bed. But I couldn’t sleep. So I tossed and turned until Ron came to bed hours later.
Then because we are a couple that love each other and like sleeping together we snuggled, me spooning him first and while he slept I did not. Then he woke and he wanted us to roll over so we did, now he was pressed tight to me … and again he fell asleep. Then about 11:45 he woke up and wanted to stop cuddling which I agreed with. He fell asleep.
Well I fretted but did manage to fall asleep about 11:45 pm or later … only to be woken by our rescue inside outside old cat that need lots of feedings started yellowing at the top of his small lungs. At 12:50 am. I got up. Ron who wakes up if I snort or cry out or hell even turn over wrong, sleeps through his cat’s cries. I feed him, the cat, not Ron. Then I returned to bed. I watched the clock. I was not going to get up, I was not going to get up, I was not going to get up … fuck it I got up. At 1:30 am. No sleep, grumpy.
About 5 am had some sloppy Joe mix Ron made the night before. It is not setting well with me. We have been having trouble finding one that tastes good but doesn’t make me thorw up.
Well I am online answering comments and doing my blogging stuff until Ron gets up at 6:30 am. I ask him if he wants to walk, he says no he wants me to go lay down, I am now two days without sleep. I go lay down at 7 am. I stay there until 7″30 am and can’t sleep, so get up and go to talk to Ron. He says I need to try longer. I do, At 9 am I get up and am determined to start my blogging day.
I am blogging and helping Ron. I do the dishes as Ron has been clearing the Florida Room junked up with stuff after Hurricane Ian we had nowhere else to put. An argument I made for a new shed that no one would listen to me on. We had a huge dresser packed with dishware, and we brought it in to be cleaned. We had a large stand up cabinet we emptied or more dishware and stuff we need so also brought that into the main house to clean.
So all day while I did laundry and helped Ron wash and dry dishes I did some blogging. It was all going great … Until this evening when Ron asked me several uncomfortable questions … Damn it!
Did you eat today he asked? Yes I joyfully told him I had the sloppy Joe mix you made last night, ate two buns so 4 sides. … he looked at me. Did it stay down. Well I stuttered … so far but it is trying hard to come back up. That was when he declared such mix off the menu until I can stomach better despite my counterarguments.
The rest of the afternoon went well, we worked on laundry and even the Florida room and moved / washed the stuff together for their new place in the house.
Then things took an ugly turn. At around 4:45 pm Ron decided I need to eat. I informed him (sounds better than saying I told him) I was not hungry. He got angry. Scottie he tried to sound authoritarian … you have to eat, you are losing too much weight and this is not good for you. I countered with I am not hungry and if I force my self I will be sick … But I relented and said OK how about a small salad. I love salads and in a small bowl even when I am really nauseated I can eat them.
But he had a better idea I liked right away. On the advice of our wonderful brother Randy Ron bought some yogurts for this situation. He gave me one and I did not complain … I knew better. I ate it. Not a flavor I like. I struggled it down anyway or else he was going to make something and watch me while I ate it.
Now it is nearly 6 pm here. I have not gotten to all the comments and pages I have opened … but I keep falling asleep at my desk. Not something I want to have Ron discover me doing. If he finds me asleep he will throw a huge fit that will take a lot more to solve than just going to bed. Plus my eyes keep blurring out and I clear them to realize I typed nonsense or worse. Night all. Hugs and loves. Scottie
December 18, 1865 Following its ratification by the requisite three-quarters of the states earlier in the month, the 13th Amendment was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” “Selling females by the pound”
December 18, 1999 Julia Butterfly Hill descended from her tiny platform 180 feet up in a giant redwood tree (sequoia sempervivens) named “Luna,” after perching there for 738 days to protect it from loggers. Luna survived a chainsaw attack in 2001 but still stands. “The question is not ‘Can you make a difference?’ You already do make a difference.It’s just a matter of what kind of difference you want to make during your life on this planet.” – Julia Butterfly Hill More about Julia Butterfly Hill and Luna Luna Today Earth Medicine
I put the bit about the book I thought could be of interest beneath. I’ve already read the other Bennet sister book, but my queue is itch for me to add “Sorcery and Small Magics”. The other books are enticing, as well.
Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy is $2.99! I just recommend this one to someone in Smart Bitches After Dark. If you didn’t know, I’m offering up personalized recommendations to subscribers and this one is a slightly cozy, queer, fantasy historical with rivals who are now magically connected after a curse goes wrong.
Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.
Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.
He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.
That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.
Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.
Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them. <snip>
