Then we speak to a judge in arkansas who is facing calls to be impeached after he took part in an antiDeath Penalty protest just hours after he halted six executions last month. The judge may never lose his or her humanity, and the judge as judge never forgets that the law has to be followed in a matter how he oror she feels abt a particular issue. Amy plus, we will look at the economic crisis in puerto rico as the island moves to close 179 Public Schools days after seeking bankruptcy protection. And we speak to a dreamer at Rutgers University in new jersey who is now facing possible deportation. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In france, former investment banker and political centrist Emmanuel Macron was elected president on sunday in a decisive victory against farright candidate Marine Le Pen. With the majority of votes counted, macron won about 65 to le pens 35 . Even though le pen lost, it was a record performance for her party, the national front, whose antiimmigrant policies once made it a pariah. Le pen had campaigned on an openly xenophobic and racist platform, calling for france to crack down on immigration and leave the european union. On sunday night, macron addressed thousands of supporters in front of the Louvre Museum in paris. Europe and the world expececs us to o defend t the spirit of on the threat in some many places. They expect us to defend freedom everywhere, to protect the oppressed. They expect us to bring some new hohope, i knew humanism, that oa safer world, protected freedoms, a world of growth with more. Ustice, more ecology amy macron ran on a protrade, proeu and pronato platform, and will need to secure a majority in next months parliamentary election to implement his program. Well have more on the French Election after headlines with french human rights activist yasser louati. In texas, republican Governor Greg Abbott signed sb4 into law sunday, outlawing sanctutuary cities and allowing police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain. Governor abbott signed the bill sign the law after delivering a short speech in a live video posted to facebook. Has now banned sanctuary cities in the lone star state. We are a nation of laws. Texas is doing its part to keep it that way. Amy critics call sb4 a show me your papers bill that will lead to widespread racial profiling while preventing undocumented immigrants from calling police or testifying in court. After Governor Abbott signed the bill, scores of protesters descended on the Governors Mansion in austin. This is 18yearold activist yuneun alvarado. My mom anand i were both undocumented. We still live in an abusive home. It is bills like this Like Senate Bill for will only mamake abuse feardomestic for their lives even more because they wont they will be afraid that if they calall te police for their safety, they will be deported and it can possibly die. Amy sb4 is set to take effect on september 1. Texas democrats and Civil Liberties groups have promised legal challenges. On capitol hill, Senate Republicans have begun drafting a healthcare bill that would repeal much of the Affordable Care act, though the legislation is unlikely to closely resemble a bill approved by the house last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell tasked a working group of 13 republicans to draft the legislation all of them white men. This is California Democratic senator r dianne feieitein speaking on nbcs s meet the press. I dont t know with a 13 whie men, when you h have five republican womenen who are excluded from that, that these 13 men are supposed to sit down you are speaking of the working group it is all male. Wowomens hehealth is a big parf this. Womemen are a mamajority of the population. And their Health Interest deserves to be contemplated in any reforms. Amy republicans hold just 52 of the senates 100 seats, and several gop senators have said they will not accept the house bill approved on thursday. A federal court will hear arguments today on President Trumps attempt to ban refugees and immigrants from six majoritymuslim nations. All 15 judges on the 4th Circuit Court of appeals are slated to hear the case. In march, federal judge Derrick Watson in hawaii ordered a nationwide halt to trumps second attempt at a travel ban, ruling it likely violated the constitutions establishment clause by discriminating against muslims. President trumps nominee for secretary of the army, mark green, withdrew from consideration on friday after drawing fire o over antigay, transphobic and antimuslim , comments. The uproar followed newly under unearthed recordings including a video in which the Tennessee Republican state senator accuses Public Schools of indoctrinating children in islam and a radio interview in which senator green compares transgendered people to isis militants. Trumps first nominee for army secretary, billionaire vincent viola, withdrew in february saying he was unable to disentangle himself from his business ties. The Senate Intelligence committee has asked at least four associates of President Trump to turn over emails and recordings of their communications with russians, as the Committee Investigates allegations that russia meddled in the 2016 election. The four officials are former policy adviser carter r page, former Trump Campaign chair paul manafort, republican operative and trump associate roger stone, and general Michael Flynn who was fired as National Security advisor for failing to disclose talks with russias ambassador before trump took office. Meanwhile, former acting u. S. Attorney general sally yates will testify to the committee today, where shes expected to reiterate that she warned the white house about former National Security adviser Michael Flynn nearly three weeks before he was fired. Former director of National IntelligenceJames Clapper will also testify. In international news, iraqs military has admitted its forces bombed a school in western mosul in an attack on may 4 that left scores of civilians dead. The journalistic Monitoring Group airwars reported the strike killed up to 81 civilians and left 86 others injured. Video posted online purports to show the aftermath of the attack, with dead children pulled from a flattened school. Iraqs army denied targeting civilians, saying it instead targeted an isis bomb factory. The violence came as civilians trapped in mosul reported desperate conditions. This is injured resident quasy adil muhammad. D. People are hungry and starving to death. There is nothing left. There isnt any water. People are so thirsty, they would drink from the well, which is full of diseases. Children and women were eating grass. Amy in somalia, us Africa Command said friday u. S. Navy seal Kyle Milliken was killed and two others wounded as they were ambushed while advising the somali army on fighting al shabaab militants. Millikens death was the first reported u. S. Combat fatality since the socalled blackhawk down incident in mogadishu in 1993, which left 18 u. S. Soldiers and hundreds of somalis dead. In media news, the Sinclair Broadcast Group is reportedly nearing a 4 billion deal to purchase tribune media, which would give it contntrol ofof moe than a third of the countrys local tv stations. The reported purchase comes after president trtrumps pipico head the fcc, ajit pai, dramatically rolled baback limis capping the numbmber of stations one corporation can control. Sinclairs chairman and former ceo, david smith, is active in republican politics and supported Donald Trumps campaign. Craig aaron, the head of free press, told cnn it sure looks like a quid pro quo friendly coverage and full employment for extrump mouthpieces in exchange for a green light to get as big as sinclair wants. Back in washington, d. C. Environmental Protection Agency , administrator scott t pruitt n friday dismissed half of the members of an epa scientific review board, clearing the way for new appointees from the industries the agency is tasked with policing. Among those removed from the epa board of scientific counselors was Michigan StateUniversity Professor robert richardson, who tweeted, today i was trumped. The dismissals come as the Trump Administration seeks to slash epa funding, roll back environmental regulations, appoint Climate Change deniers as the heads of government agencies, and defund and erase Climate Change programs and research. In north carolina, democratic governor roy cooper on friday vetoed hb467, a bill that would have shielded factory farms from damages brought by residents sickenened by hog farms. Residents have long complained about pork producers who collect billions of gallons of untreated pig feces and urine in cesspools, then dispose of the waste by spraying it into the air. You can go to our website at democracynow. Org to see our segment on factory hog farming. In texas, a white Police Officer from a dallas suburb was charged friday with the murder of 15yearold africanamerican teenager jordan edwards. Roy oliver surrendered to the Dallas CountySheriffs Office and was later released on 300,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. Police bodycam video shows oliver fired his Assault Rifle into a car carrying five black teenagers as they drove away from the officer, contradicting olivers initial account that the children were speeding towards him. Jordan edwards was struck in the head and died in a hospital. Saturday, Edwards Family and friends gathered in mesquite, texas for jordans funeral. , and in california, the Los Angeles CityCouncil Unanimously approved a resolution friday calling for an investigation into whether president trurump shshould be impeached fofor high crimes and misdemeanors. City Councilmember Bob blumenfield authored the resolution, saying trump appears to have violated the constitutions emoluments clause, which prohibits those holding federal office from accepting payments from foreign governments. Constititutional scholars are raraising the issue that if foreign official or Embassy Hosts an e event or staysys at a hotel l for the presidenents ne is brandeded from the top of the building to ththe chocolate on e llows, it may violate e this cause ofof the constitution. The e trump organinization c cuy has Business Ventures in nations around the world, including saudi arabia, the philippines, india, argegentina, and t turke. And because of his refalal to unveil his tax returns or really any documentnts that explain wih whom and where he e does b busi, there are e many dealings s thae may never know about. Amy los angeles joins three other california cities, cambridge, massachusetts, and charlotte, vermont calling for , trumps impeachment. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. I am amy goodman in chicago with gonzalez in new york. Juan welcomome to all of our listeneners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in france, where the former investment banker and political centrist Emmanuel Macron has been elected president in a landslide victory over farright candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron won over 66 of the vote. Even though le pen lost, she received nearly 7 million votes more than any other candidate in the history of her party, the antiimmigrant national front. Le pen had campaigned on an openly xenophobic and racist platform, calling for france to crack down on immigration and leave the european union. Macron ran on a protrade and eu agenda. He has never vigorously held elected office, but served for two years as economy minister under president francois hollande. At 39 years old, he will be frances dentist head of state since napoleon. He addddressed thousanands of of the Louvre Museum in paris. World expect the us to defend the spirit off threat in so under many places. They expect us to defend freedom everywhere, to protect the oppressed. They e expect us to bring some w , that of a humanism safer world. A world of protected freedoms. A world of growth with more justice, moree ecology. Amy we go to paris where were joined now via democracy now video stream by french human rights and Civil Liberties activist and researcher yasser louati. He recently wrote an article titled French Elections marine , le pen or Emmanuel Macron . Hitler or uber. That was before the election. Welcome back to democracy now can you talk about what has surprised many, that a very large victory of macron . Hi, amy. Is they of macron were pushed for the voting booth. Either fascism or neoliberalism. Macron got 65 of the votes. Againstared to 2002 Marine Le Pens father, that was 82 . The victory is way below what was accomplished 15 years ago. In the latesest poll from the , one of thepartment notorious politicalal 60 of the macrons voters do not agree with this program, but just voted because e they had no all their no other alternative. Marine leople pen got beyond the 7 million. 11 million p people, whichch mes racist rhetoric and xenophobic views are here just a. On top of it, the latest poll shows 61 of the french do not want Emmanuel Macron data majority parliament, which means a war is now being waged in order to gain majority in parliament. Emmanunuel macron himself woulde isolated and will d depend on te game of allianances. That is for the figures of his victory. As for the speech last night, i was listening incomplete dismay. He spoke about the rights of the oppressed, you you never heard about the state of emergency that was still in effect. When asked about how some police said steny for the rights would be taking sides. Weve not heard him speak about the wars in which france is being engaged in the list goes on. Juan yasser louati, what does this election sasaid about the estatablished politicacal partin france given that t both candidates c came frfrom outsidr parties . Well, the fact that Emmanuel Macron managed to make it in 18 months from being nobody to becoming a president is a clear statement that our political system is completely bankrupt. It is capsized. Ththeres open defiance against politicians. Are voting for extremes or abstaining, as mentioned earlier. The fact he managed to make it to be first and the second round was also a testimony he did not win because he was that bright or that good, but because all of the other candidates were, excuse moment which, but say they were poor and not up to the task here. He just managed to be there at the right time and do the right thing. A new does not need president , needs a new republic a new constitution a new organizing of institutions and to actually get rid of the current legacy which makes france as a white country only. Marine le pen, being xenophobic and against immigration, well, the black and brown and muslims are not immigrants. Theyve been there for three, 4, 5 generations. But they are still perceived as foreigners, which means there is come on top of the social war, [indiscernible] amy lets go to the National FrontsMarine Le Pen speaking after preliminary Election Results were announced. This historic and massive results, french people designated the patriotic and Republican Alliance as the first Opposition Force to the program of the new president. I call on all patriots to join us to take part in the decisive political fight that is starting tonight. More than ever in the forthcoming months, france will need you. Long live the republic. Long live france. Amy that was Marine Le Pen. Yasser louati, for people who are not familiar with french politics, not only talk about what she represents and still the rise of her party, but by legislative elections are so important that are coming up because macron may have one, but where is his partys representation in parliament . That is his biggest weakness. A movement, which means stylish Political Party with clear leadership. Gathering all around him the people who are optimistic, mainstream right and leftwiwing parties fafacing the challene of the majority. The way our Government Works in france, once the president is elected, hee nominates t the pre minister. But t the Prime Minister can ony come from the majority from the national simply. Which means, the majority under the left or opposing party, Emmanuel Macron will have no other choice but to nominate a Prime Minister from an opposing Political Party. That i is exactltly the opportuy for those who want to confront our political system or register alite to candidate because according to the latest analysis from an academic, we might see up to five groups in the National Assembly of france. Marine le pen managed to also make her party so acceptable, that people from the mainstream right party have actually colluded with her and were ready to bid alliances. Which means with the collapse of the socialist party of the left in the Republican Party on the right, Marine Le Pen will definitely get new supporters make alliances with people fleeining mostly the republican the antieuropean, antiimmigration and of course, the populist rhetoric toto get momore c credibility saying thte establishment has failed you, but i will stand w with you and defend you against them. One pipiece of informamation, wh is q quite useful to know who marine lpepen is, she is appearing to be workingclass ththe yet she was born and raisd as a bourgeois woman. She is a million or woman. She grew up in a castle. Upscale western neighborhoods of paris. And beyond the patriotic court of her party, she has been heavily funded by russian oligarchs. As a matter of fact, an investigation is ongoing on russian mobsters financing Marine Le Pen. More news to follow, of course. Amy yasseser louati, thank you for being with us, french women rights and Civil Liberties activist speaking to us from paris. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. When we come back, we turn to an arkansas judge who ruled in a Death Penalty case, then on good friday, went in front of the arkansas Governors Mansion and laid down on a gurney protesting the Death Penalty. This is democracy now we will be back with him in a moment. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. I am on the road in chicago and one gonzalez is in new york. Juan we go now to arkansas, we turn now to puerto rico, which filed for a form of bankruptcy protection last week, seeking to restructure 123 billion in debt and pension obligations, in the largest local government insolvency in u. S. History. The move is likely to slash money for healthcare, pensions and infrastructure. Over the weekend, the island 100 79 179 schools. It is under the promesa law, that recognizes while order rico is not a state, it must in some ways be treated as sovereign. Puerto rico is legally barred from using chapter nine, the bankruptcy route normally taken by insolvent local governments. In well, President Trump has signed the Government Spending bill that included 295 million in medicaid funding for puerto ricos health care system. The islands governor spoke to npr about the public spending cuts. , no secret when iran for office that we needed to reduce the size of government, we needed to be more effective. Frankly, just talking about the schools that are closing, that was part of our proposal a couple of months back. Title nothing to do with iii. And some of the strategies we have stated we need to reduce our expenditures in health care. Although, we dont want to reduce the access. We really need to reduce the expenditures in education. What were doing is tackling the bureaucracy as a toaster as opposed to education itself. Rossello is governor speaking to npr over the weekend. Extensivelyite about this and have given Major University lectures about it. Talk about what has happened in puerto rico. Juan the thing to understand is it has been nearly two years now since the former governor announced to the world that puerto rico could no longer pay its debts. Congress and the Obama Administration spent months trying to figure out what to do without actually giving any direct assistance to puerto rico. And finally, imposed this colonial control board over the island of puerto rico, a board that consistently meets in new york rather than even on the island of puerto rico. And now we finally found out last week that the control board has reached the same conclusion that governor garcia announced nearly two years ago, that it is impossible for puerto rico to pay all of the obligations it now it was. It now oewes. The board made clear, the money the bond that, but another 49 billion in pension obligations thehe puerto rican government has to its publicic employees and it only has about 1 billion left in cash in its Pension Funds, which means the Pension Funds are essentially bankrupt. There is a total of 123 billion that is owed. You have to understand that number. Detroit, the largest previous bankruptcy in american history, was only 18 billion. This is nine times greater than the detroit bankruptcy. It is a sum of money that is andand possible possible to grab, to understand. And the control board for the stated and a petition when it requested the federal judge come in, the island is poised to lose 859 this coming fiscal year and federal Affordable Care act funds, which means its medicaid system will be further in crisis. And that the island will lose 16 billion over the next 10 years as a result of changes in the Affordable Care act. So basically, the situation is going to get worse. So what did the control board do . Is that even if puerto rico has more austerity and the austerity we have already reported, the degree that his current, even with all of that austerity, over the next 10 years, there were only be at best 8 billion left over from annual budgets to pay the bondholders. 35bondholders are owed billion over the next 10 years. That means the board is saying essentially, there is only . 25 on the dollar available, even with massive austerity, to pay these bonds off. Predictably, the bondholders went crazy. They have been going to court. Now the control board has asked for chief Justice Robert chief Justice Roberts did a a judge who is now going to be the judge in charge of deciding exactly how m much mony the creditors get an exactly what happens in puerto ricos future. This has gone from a u. S. Appointed control board now to a federal judge who essentially is in charge of the Economic Future theuerto rico and how much creditors will be paid. Obviously, the creditors are challenging the promesa law, which has created this bankruptcy process, as unconstitutional. So they are constitutional questions since this law was only passed last june by congress, but still have to be resolved. Were looking at years and years of litigation will be economic condition in puerto rico to tear it in the final issue desk deteriorates and the fundamental issue is no longer viable. It is economically impossible to sustain is the issue that will have to be resolved over the coming months. Amy finally, juan, the significance of over 200 schools closing in puerto rico . There is no doubt that some schools needed to be closed because puerto rico has lost almost 200,000 students. It is gone down from a high of over 500,000 to about 300,000 because of the continuing flight of people from the island, especially young couples with their children. There is been a huge trough in the Public School population. However, the level of closing of schools is unprecedented. There is even talk, some of the control board has been asking for furloughs for teachers, which means two days a month, o less days of school for Public School children. In addition, the school board has been asking for about 450 million to cuts in the Public University system of puerto rico, which the governor is trying to reduce the level of the cut in the increased tuitions that would result from that. So there is a huge crisis in the educational system of the island. That is only going to continue to push more and more people from puerto rico to leave the island. Amy were going to link at demomocracynow. Org to all of our coverage of what has been happening in puerto rico as well as the student protest in san juan and different places around bankruptcy, around the moves that are going on both in washington and in puerto rico. This is democracy now , war andynow. Org, the peace report. I am amy goodman in chicago. Juan we go to arkansas where the state executed four men in april marking the first executions in arkansas since 2005. Arkansas had initially planned to execute 11 men during the month of april, but several of the executions were blocked by the courts. One of the judges who blocked the states efforts is now facing calls to be impeached. On april 14, state judge Wendell Griffen issued a temporary restraining order halting six of the executions over concerns the state used false pretenses to obtain a key drug slated to be used in the executions. Following his ruling, judge Wendell Griffen took part in a antiDeath Penalty protest outside the Governors Mansion organized by his church to mark good friday. In addition to being a judge, griffen is an ordained baptist minister. Amy calls for Wendell Griffens impeachment began soon after photographs from the vigil appeared in the press showing him lying down on a cot with his hands bound together as though he were a condemned man on a gurney. The States High Court soon barred judge griffen from hearing cases involving executions, Capital Punishment and the states lethal injection , protocol. Then last week lawmakers set the , stage to impeach griffen. If they succeed, griffen would become the first judge ever impeached in the state of arkansas. While Wendell Griffens future as a judge is in question, he has opted not to stay silent. Today he joins us in his First National television interview. Judge Wendell Griffen, welcome to democracy now can you talk about your actions . Your ruling in a Death Penalty casese, and then goingng outsido protest outside the arkansas Governors Mansion . Welcome to democracy now thank you, amy. Thank you, juan. First of all, let me correct the narrative. The case in which i ruled was that a Death Penalty case. The case involved a complaint by distributor of pharmaceutical product, a drug, that had that drug obtained by the Arkansas Department of corrections under fulls pretenses. The drug was obtained and the distributor sought to get the drug back. The distributor filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on good friday. The afternoon of good friday. Shortly before i was going to attend a prayer vigil that our congregation had scheduled in front of the Governors Mansion. Based on the law that governs contracts and property, basically, a property law, i found that the distributor had a case and that the distributors chance of having its property returned was likely to be destroyedd unless i entered a temporary restraining order. I went to the prayer vigil and then the ruling was incorrectly reported as a ruling as blocking executions. The temporary restraining order was to simply say to everybody, listen, do not dispose of this drug until we can get all of the parties before me and we can sort this out. Whether or not t the departmemef correctionons correctly has the right to hold this drug or whether or not this drug in fact was wrongly obtained. The evidence before me showed it was wrongly obtained. I did what i was supposed to do. Now i also went to the prayer vigil. That is what i was supposed to do. Im a pastor. Good friday is the religious holiday before easter when followers of jesus commemorate the death of jesus. Our congregation had planned out our good friday observance from the Governors Mansion before this motion was submitted to me. A follower ofs jesus, i went to the good friday prayer vigil and as a follower of jesus, i is solidarity with the religion of jesus, i lay on a cot to show my solidarity with jesus it was a condemned man condemned by the roman empire to death. That is what hapappened. Judge griffen, were youou surprirised by the firestorm tht followed your participation in that vigil and the calls for your impeachment . I was surprised that there asksuch a refusal to even about the facts. Mentionedas i earlier, was not a Death Penalty case. It was a case about the return of wrongfully obtained property. I was surprised that people did not understand that no matter what my views are on the Death Penalty, the law on the right to get your property back is the law on getting your property back. Judge is and no matter who the judge is, that law has to be followed. As a matter of fact, after the Arkansas Supreme Court removed me from the case, the judge who took that case after me heard the same case, heard the same fax, and rolled the same way. So the issue is not what ones want once what people you to be about Capital Punishment. This is whether or not a judge will follow the law regardless of how he or she feels about an issue. I did that. What surprised me is that people who claim to believe in the integrity of judiciary, now somehow believe that Judicial Independence is a threat so that they believe judges who follow the law should be impeached. That surprises me. Really, it disappoints me. Amy y judge griffen, arkakansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge hv it was inappropriate for you to dissipate in the good friday protest against the Death Penalty. Participate in the good friday protest against the Death Penalty. She suggesested itit impacted yr decision t to granant a temporay restining ordeder on the usese f an execucution drug. Those actions are inappropriate and that is why we have asked the Supreme Court to vacate judge g griffens tempory restraining order and it is inappropriate for judge griffen to be on this case. Amy and judge griffen, state senator trent garner questioned whether your views on the Death Penalty threaten your ability to be fair and impartial as a judge. This is garner speaking to fox 16. Make a Public Statement front of the Governors Mansion is a disgrace to the judiciary system. I want to get your response to both of these people, judge griffen, and also if you can describe the scene outside the arkansas Governors Mansion when you did lay down on that cot. Lets talk about the scene. First of all, numbers of our congregation were present at the Governors Mansion. There were also other persons present. Other persons who were protesting the Death Penalty. They all have a right to be there. Our congregation had no right to chase off other people. And other people had no right to expect our congregation would not be present. In fact, our congregation led the protesters in singing this little light of mine and amazing grace. Those are songs of our faith. The followers as of jesus congregation, what we had a right to do. As a judge, i did what i had a right to do as a citizen by practicing my faith. That is not disgraceful. That is american. That is democratic. We believe, because of the first amenendment, that every person s the right to live out his or her coconscience. As a judge, i have an obligigatn to f follow the law. W. That meaeans that when a case comemes before me, i have an obligatition as a judge to apply the law that applies to that state. No matter what my personal views may be on an issue. It is not disgraceful for a judge to have views one way or the other w w about cap a punishment or anything else. It is not disgraceful for a judge who holds viewsws to hold those viewsws and decide casases involving g those issues. What is inappropriate is for people to believe that when a judge decides a case according to the law, he or she should somehow be suspected as not being faithful to the law simply because he or she is faithful to their faith. Faithful to faith and faithful to law are not mutually exclusive terms. We can be faithful to our faith and faithful to the law, and the law can be followed even when we as a a people e of f faith find questionons about the law. I think that is something we have to understand. Now, let me speak about attorney general rutledge. Attorney general rutledge represented the department of corrections, the governor of arkansas, and the director of the department of corrections in the lawsuit in which the distributor was tryingng to get its drug back. If attorney general rutledge believed that i was not qualified to decide the casase, she had an obligation as a lawyer to bring that issue of before me. She did not do so. She did not tell me she was bringing the issue before the Supreme Court when she did that. The Supreme Court did not tell me that it was considering attorney general r rutledges momotion to disqualify me when t didid so. The Supreme Court did not give me an opportunity to tell the Supreme Court what the facts were before you removed me from the case and disqualify me from hearing all Death Penalty cases in arkansas or any case involving the Death Penalty. That is unfair because no matter how thihinly you port, every pancake has at least two sides. Part of what a judge is supposed to do is hear all of the sites. It is unethical for judges to roost to hear the sites simply because once i does not want the other side heard. It is unethical for a lawyer who supposed to be representing the judges the attorney general of arkansas represents judges to basically go behind the judges back and try to have a judge removed without even telling the judge that she is doing so and giving the judge and opportunity a chance to hire their own lawyer and set the record straight on what the facts are. About myot concerned conduct. Im very concerned about the conduct of the attorney general. And the conduct of our Supreme Court. Ethically, our Justice System depends on people trusting that our officials wilill follow the law. And when the attorney general of arkansas does not follow the law , when t the Supreme Court does not follow the rules that say every didispute must be heard by all sidides, people are going to have questions. If they will not follow the procedures that affects a judge, how can they expect the procedure to be followed when it affects peoeople who are ordinay citizens . So i am concerned about that. I think we should all be concerned about that. Now as to senator garner, i i think we should all be concerned about the notion that a legislator leaves somehow something is undemocratic for issuesto think aboutut affecting Public Policy. What is undemocratic about practicing your faith . What is disgraceful about living according to your faith . What is disgraceful about following the law even whehen yu have to follllow the law and hae questions about an issue involving the law . By point of fact, i followed the law w in another case involving the Death Penalty where i an amendedo allow complaint to challenge the arkansas d Death Penalty case because the suprpreme court of arkansas had s said the deaeath pepenalty inmatetes could d no r challenge the constitututnality of the Death Penalty. I followed the law in that case even though i opposed the Death Penalty. Entering garner says to me to thehe world, judge griffen is disgraceful, i dont understand how he defines disgrace because, quite frankly, by following the Supreme Courts ruling, i just proved his claim of disgrace. By following the ruling, i disproved attorney general rutledges notion that i cannot follow the law. And by not allowing me to tell the Supreme Court that, the Supreme Court basically has prevented me from letting the record be made clear. Juan judge griffen, this is not the first time you have been involved in controversy overr your personal views. Rock,e a native of little arkansas. You openly voiced support for raising the minimum wage, for opposition to the war in iraq, and opposition to demonizing of immigrants and lgbt people. Could you talk about the reactitions you have gotten in e past to your perersonal views . Thank you, juan. Really, that is what were talking about here. The issue is not whether or not i follow the law on good friday, the issue is i think trent garner has made it clear he has a longstanding objection to the fact that Wendell Griffen as a person, and Wendell Griffen as a judge, holds views about Public Policy and life that he finds objectionable. I believe that people should earn a living wage. And im not afraid to say so. I believe that it is wrong for us to demonize immigrants, for us to pick on our lgbtq brothers and sisters, for us toto mamarginalize people because thy are different. I supported marriage equality. I am glad that we have finally, in arkansas, embraced the notion that all persons are entitled to live out their love openly and honestly without beingng demonid for it and having to be forced to live in the shadows. There are people who find my perspective on life and on faith abhorrent. They have a right to do that. But they dont have the right as Public Officials to punishment or to try to punish anybody else simply because they disagree with what i view life should be. I think we as Public Officials have a responsibility to honor the freedom in this society to disagree. That is a wonderful thing. And it is something very dishonorable little word for it, tyranny. Something very dishonorable when we use power to punish people with whom we disagree. And so this issue involving impeachment is nothing that i need to think about other than simply the latest effort to a black judge. I will say it, a black judge, with whom the white power structure in arkansas disagrees. And i am a black judge and a black creature. And just like the power structure disagree with mark thinking and found him objectionable, the power structure in arkansas disagrees with Wendell Griffen and finds me objectionable. But i think the important thing for me to remember is if i am to be faithful to the law, ive got to follow the law to matter whether people agree to me or not or approve of me or not. If im going to be faithful to my faith, i have to live true to my faith even if people find my faith objectionable and even if theyre willing to punish me for it. I have to be willing to say, if you want to punish me for my faith, im one to live out my faith. You can decide whether to punish me. Amy judge griffen, thank you so mumuch for being w with us. Wendell griffen, judge of the sixth circuit for Pulaski County in arkansas. This is democracy now stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juanin chicago and gonzalez is in new york. Juan were joined now by mike laux, when of the attorneys representing judge griffen for participating g in antiDeath Penalty protest. Can you talk about how unusual it is for a judge in arkansas to face impeachment . Sure. Let me say, first, thank you for having me. Im just one of the attorneys that represents judge Wendell Griffen. Also on her legal team is Mike Matthews also on her legal team is Mike Matthews and austin porter. How rare is it . It is extremely rare. The latest version of the arkansas constitution was adopted in 1874. In a list 150 years, there is never been an effort to impeach a sitting judge the way theyre doing here with judge griffen. I think you have to put this in context. A lawyer smarter than myself recently said to me, you know, normally when there is some type of a race against time involving an execution, that race against time i ito save a a life. Not here. This was a race against time to kill people for drugs expired. Is important to see this entire kind of situation through that prism. Griffen ister judge a challenge because he is so eloquent and covers the bases so well. Let me recap a bit. Judge griffen followed the law. On good friday, the temporary restraining order petition can before him. He sought to maintain the status quo so that these property issues could be settled. Again, mckesson claimed the false pretenses were used to get the drug. This was the conservative thing to do. The judge heard the petition. The elements were satisfied. The complaint was verified. Affidavits were attached. The movement alleged imminent risk of irreparable harm. When you check those boxes, youre supposed to grant the temporary restraining order. And that is what he did. The fact is involved a paralytic in this kind of breakneck paced execution schedule by the state of arkansas is really immaterial to his decision. This is a witchhunt of the first order. Judge griffen has been singled out because of his history of outspokenness, his history of issues. On social injurie this is just another attempt to take him down like so many before. Amy what happens now . If he is impeached, the first time a j judge in arkansas would be impeached mike laux mike laux , . Areight, the possibilities frightening and staggering. This is such an extraordinary measure that they are taking here and it really speaks to the naked political motivation behind these maneuvers. His happened on good friday the tro was entered on the 14th. Literally hours after the prayer vigil and the rally at the Governors Mansion, moments after that, you heard state senators and state representatives taking to the airwaves and making statements impugning judge griffen and a merening impeachment hour after this protest. That really speaks, i think, to nestsal and the rabid with which theyre approaching this matter. It is clear there trying to take judge griffen down. They saw an opportunity to do so. They wasted no time in doing that. The problem is amy i want to thank you very much, mike laux, for joining us, one of the lawyers for judge Wendell Griffen. 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