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In an America that prides itself on individual freedom and pluralism, everyone must have the power to pursue happiness in the way they choose, even while some disagree or make other choices. Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision is consistent with this fundamentally American philosophy, ensuring that people in the LGBTQ community have the same rights to fair and equal treatment in the workplace as everyone else. If we're unable to accept our differences and live, work, and serve together with shared respect for each other's liberty, we'll never truly be able to call this nation the "land of the free." Even though doing so can be challenging, part of being an American is constantly strengthening our personal commitment to the equal worth and liberty of all. —Evan McMullin
Top Ten

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1. Changes are coming As cities from Atlanta to Albuquerque to Seattle to New York take action on police reform, President Trump offered his own version of reform today, signing an executive order that would provide incentives for police departments to increase training on use of force and to strengthen a national database to track misconduct. Falling far short of what protesters have sought, the EO encourages local departments to leverage federal grant money to take action around a set of national best practices. "These standards will be as high and as strong as there is on Earth," Trump said at a press conference in the Rose Garden today. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
* — ([link removed]) Half measure on chokeholds. During his speech, Trump said the order will ban the use of police chokeholds "except if the officer's life is at risk." He also heaped praise on the police, took time to attack his political opponents, and dismissed efforts to reallocate police funding to other public services. —CNBC ([link removed])

* — No judicial action on qualified immunity. Yesterday, the Supreme Court refused to hear several cases involving qualified immunity until their next term, slated to begin in October. Lawsuits brought by victims of police misconduct are often the only way to hold officers accountable, but a string of decisions by the Supreme Court has made it difficult for victims to get compensation or a court win. ([link removed])
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* — What happened in California? The FBI is investigating the recent deaths of two black men, Robert Fuller and Malcolm Harsch, both of whom died by hanging in Southern California. The sheriff's offices in both cases have said there is no evidence of foul play, but the Fuller and Harsch families maintain neither man was suicidal. —NBC News ([link removed])

More: Colorado among first in US to pass historic police reforms following protests (The Denver Post) ([link removed])

2. Honig: What's next for SCOTUS? ([link removed])

"[I]t is impossible to ignore that yesterday's ruling was authored by [Justice Neil] Gorsuch—whom Trump himself nominated to the court in the first place. Within the next few weeks, the court will likely deliver more rulings that could have seismic impact on national public policy. And those decisions will tell us much about the court itself—most importantly, whether it can rise above the pronounced partisan and ideological division that has defined it in recent years." —CNN ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Elie Honig is a former federal and state prosecutor.

More: Supreme Court won't hear case on California sanctuary law (The New York Times) ([link removed])

3. Pence pushes misleading coronavirus claim Vice President Mike Pence encouraged governors yesterday to adopt a misleading claim that the Trump Administration has pushed, which purports that the rise in new coronavirus cases is caused by an increase in testing. Pence's recommendation came after President Trump stated, "If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any." —The New York Times ([link removed])
* — ([link removed]) ([link removed]) Trump's coronavirus "preventative" is pulled. The Food and Drug Administration withdrew emergency use authorizations for the anti-malarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 yesterday. The agency now believes that the suggested dosing regimens "are unlikely to produce an antiviral effect," according to FDA chief scientist Denise Hinton. —Politico ([link removed])
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— Who's spreading corona conspiracies? People from around the world, including the U.S. In fact, Russia, the king of online conspiracies, has concluded it's easier to identify divisive content from real Americans and help it spread through low-profile networks of social media accounts than create tales of their own. "The Kremlin doesn't need to make fake news anymore," said Clint Watts, a former FBI special agent and information warfare expert. "It's all American made." Ugh. —The New York Times ([link removed])
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* — On the take? At least four members of Congress, from both sides of the aisle, have reaped benefits from the half-trillion-dollar Paycheck Protection Program they helped create—and some even opposed legislation requiring lending transparency. There are likely more, but only the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department have that information. —Politico ([link removed])

More: Collinson: Trump's wish for an end to the pandemic contradicts reality (CNN) ([link removed])

4. Top VOA executives resign Following the Senate confirmation of Michael Pack, a close ally of President Trump and his former adviser Steve Bannon, as head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett and Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara have resigned from their positions. Trump has long criticized VOA, and his nomination of Pack to lead the agency in charge of VOA is seen as an attempt to exert control over the organization. ([link removed])
* — "Nothing about you, your passion, your mission, or your integrity changes," said Bennett in a farewell message. "Michael Pack swore before Congress to respect and honor the firewall that guarantees VOA's independence, which in turn plays the single most important role in the stunning trust our audiences around the world have in us." — Trump is a frequent and vocal critic of VOA. "If you heard what's coming out of the Voice of America, it's disgusting. What things they say are disgusting toward our country. And Michael Pack would get in and do a great job," he said at a recent press briefing. ([link removed])
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* — Critics fear that Pack would jeopardize VOA's independence, giving more favorable coverage of the Trump Administration. Despite serving as a U.S. government media agency, VOA's charter requires that its reporting be "accurate, objective, and comprehensive." —NPR ([link removed])

5. Greste: Who will stand up for press freedom? "In the past, the U.S. has led the way in defending liberal democratic values like press freedom, the rule of law, and human rights. But rather than criticizing them, President Donald Trump has infamously cozied up to the likes of strongmen such as [Phillipine President Rodrigo] Duterte, and it seems doubtful that he will speak up now. Which leaves it to other democracies like Britain and Australia to lead the way." —The Guardian ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Peter Greste is Unesco chair in journalism and communication at the University of Queensland, and a founding director of the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom.
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6. North Korea inflames tensions with South Korea North Korea destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border today, rebuking South Korea over its support of U.S.-led economic sanctions. The building represented some of the best diplomatic progress made between the North and South in years. The building allowed North and South Korean officials to communicate directly at any time. ([link removed])
* — Experts believe that North Korea destroyed the building to send as strong of a message as possible, without provoking a military response from South Korea or the U.S. South Korea's Unification Ministry said the destruction of the building "destroyed the hopes of those who wished for peace on the Korean Peninsula." ([link removed])
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* — "We can expect Pyongyang will continue with similar military acts, but not enough that would force Seoul to retaliate in kind with force. We should remember that the liaison office was essentially already dead, so, if there's a real problem, then it's for South Korean taxpayers," said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser for Northeast Asia and nuclear policy at the International Crisis Group. ([link removed])
* — North Korea publicly blames poor relations with South Korea on anti-Kim Jong-un leaflets flown over the border by activists, despite the fact that South Korea denounced the action. In response to the leaflets, South Korea revoked the licenses of two groups involved and urged a criminal investigation of their leaders. —Bloomberg ([link removed])

More: US embassy in South Korea removes Black Lives Matter banner and Pride flag (CNN) ([link removed])

7. PPG Ed Board: Hong Kong democracy is best for all "The democratic institutions of Hong Kong—the right to assemble, the freedom of the press, and free elections—are what the people of Hong Kong want to maintain. Acknowledging the mainland government is not the issue; the people of Hong Kong simply want to maintain their way of life. The people of Hong Kong essentially want the Beijing government to leave them alone. Letting the city forge its own path, while continuing to acknowledge the sovereignty of the mainland Chinese government, would go a long way toward quelling protest and improving the relationship between the city and the rest of China—and the world." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ([link removed])

More: Hong Kong families, fearing a reign of terror, prepare to flee the city (The Washington Post) ([link removed])

8. Iowa fails to act on voting rights for felons In a setback for voting rights advocates in Iowa, Republicans who control the state's General Assembly passed legislation over the weekend requiring voters to provide identification in order to obtain absentee ballots—then left without voting on restoring the franchise for convicted felons. ([link removed])
* — Despite support for felon voting rights from GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Republican-controlled Senate did not act on the idea. Reynolds had previously signed legislation demanded by her fellow Republicans requiring that felons pay restitution before being allowed to vote. ([link removed])
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* — Iowa is the only state where felons are forever barred from the voting booth. Reynolds has committed to signing an executive order to put that ignominious distinction to rest. ([link removed])

* — It's not all bad news though. Iowa has joined other states nationwide to take some steps to make remote voting easier this year because of the pandemic. —The Fulcrum ([link removed])

More: Kilgore: What we can do to stop voting chaos in November (New York Magazine) ([link removed])

9. Kempe: US alliances are more important than ever "With all the recent attention to the ongoing economic and technological decoupling of the United States and China, far too little attention has been paid to a slower moving, dangerously growing transatlantic divide. Unaddressed, the result could be a tectonic, strategic shift away from the trans-continental relationship that built and defined post-World War II Europe and shaped the last 75 years globally. At a time when the global balance of power is shifting in China's direction, transatlantic failure could be a decisive geopolitical factor. The damage would be far-reaching for America's worldwide interests, for European unity and influence, and for the most significant community of democracies and open market economies the world has ever known..." —CNBC ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Frederick Kempe is an author, journalist, and president and CEO of the Atlantic Council.

10. An American Story: Unity and dialogue over beer Two best friends from New York, Benjamin Smith, who is white, and Marcus Ellis, who is black, wanted to start a community dialogue about race while relaxing on lawn chairs and drinking some beers together. So they set up a sign that reads, "Black or white, relax and have a beer." ([link removed])
* — For both men, the recent death of George Floyd and the protests that followed struck a chord. "I fought for a free America, a just America," Smith, a former U.S. Marine, said. "When I heard about the George Floyd incident, it really, really upset me. That's not what I fought for." — "Another one down. It's pretty sad," Ellis said. "People have a right to protest, people have a right to share their voice, but there's a right way going about things, and a wrong way going about things." ([link removed])
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* — The image of Smith and Ellis sharing a beer together spread across social media and received thousands of positive reactions, including from country star Brad Paisley, who chatted with the men by Zoom...and sent them more beer to continue their community gatherings. —CBS News ([link removed])

Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis and recent unrest, and promoting American values. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Thank you!
What's Your Take?

This article ([link removed]) highlights the desire of the African nations to see equality in the United Nations Human Rights Council. I hope the Council can also talk about human rights in African nations. Where I live, we have a lot of refugees from countries who tell us of gross violations of human rights...like nothing we have ever seen here. The flow of African refugees shows the civil rights violations going on in Africa.

Also, I hope the Council can focus again on trafficking. I have never seen anything like it until I moved to my current town. It is modern-day slavery in the U.S. and around the world. The Africans who allow kids to be raped there are allowing it here with the help of influential Americans who act like Jeffrey Epstein.

To me, this type of slavery is the greatest inequality: 30% of victims are children ([link removed])

Unfortunately, due to the poverty of the refugees when they arrive, some are lured right into trafficking with the consent of their parents. I recently read it is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the U.S. It is affecting lots of people, as declared by the UN ([link removed]) .

Africans all over the world need our prayers. —Anonymous

Click here to tell us what you think about today's stories. ([link removed])
The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.

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