How Maricopa County Chair and the Arizona Democratic Party Chair will Act to elect Democrats in the 2012 Election

On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, Ann Wallack, chairwoman of the Maricopa County Democratic Party will speak about the plans for Maricopa County and the State Party as they go into the 2012 election cycle.

Ann was born in Wisconsin and raised in Minnesota.  She attended the University of Minnesota and then transferred to California State University, Long Beach.  Ann and her husband are owners of Runner’s Den, an athletic shoe store serving the Valley for over 30 year.  She is co-founder of Raceplace Events, an event management company that produces national and local events, including 11 Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure events. Mrs. Wallack has a 25-year history of community involvement, which includes operations for the Fiesta Bowl and the Insight Bowl, the Hole-in-One Tournament and the Fiesta Bowl Ball.  In 2002, she chaired the Fiesta Bowl Committee, which raised $4 million and hosted the BCS National Championship. She is a strong supporter of public education and was a candidate for State Senate in District 11 in 2006 and 2008.  When not obsessing over politics, Ann enjoys reading, running, hiking, golf and playing the piano.

Update on Recent and upcoming Supreme Court Decisions, focusing on the Affordable Healthcare Act and SB 1070 (Immigration)

Professor Paul Bender is back by popular demand. He spoke to us in May of last year on Redistricting and the Supreme Court and is back on June 27 to give us an update on recent and upcoming Supreme Court Decisions, focusing on the Affordable Healthcare Act and SB 1070 (Immigration).

Professor Bender is Professor of Law and teaches courses on U.S. and Arizona constitutional law. He has written extensively about constitutional law, intellectual property and Indian law, and is coauthor of the two-volume casebook/treatise, Political and Civil Rights in the United States. Professor Bender has argued more than 20 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and actively participates in constitutional litigation in federal and state courts.

Professor Bender served as Dean of the College of law from 1984 – 1989, during which time he was instrumental in starting its Indian Legal Program. Prior to joining the College faculty, he was law clerk to 2^nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Learned Hand and to U. S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, and spent 24 years as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Professor Bender served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States from 1993-1997, with responsibility for Supreme Court and federal appellate litigation in the areas of civil rights, race and sex discrimination, freedom of speech and religion, and tort claims against the federal government.

Professor Bender has served as a member of the Hopi Tribe’s court of Appeals, and is currently Chief Justice of the Fort McDowell Nation Supreme Court, and the San Carlos Apache Court of Appeals. He serves as a legal analyst for Phoenix public television station KAET, and comments frequently in the press and broadcast media on legal and constitutional issues.