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Tuesday, June 28, 2022

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Supreme Court Sides With Coach Who Was Fired for Praying After Football Games

Fox News: The Supreme Court handed a big win to a former Washington high school football coach who lost his job over reciting a prayer on the 50-yard line after games. At issue was whether a public school employee praying alone but in view of students was engaging in unprotected “government speech,” and if it is not government speech, does it still pose a problem under the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 decision that the answer to both questions is no (Fox News). The coach responds: I’m glad I stayed in the fight (FoxNews). It marks a definitive end to the “Lemon” test: The Court has eroded the so-called Lemon test over the years, and with this decision Justice Gorsuch now pulps it as “abstract” and “ahistorical,” while chiding lower judges for citing it (WSJ). Jeremy Dys of First Liberty—who represented the coach: Now the law is, or should be, settled: Neither coaches nor teachers shed their constitutional rights when they walk through the door of a public school (World).

Dobbs Decision Gains Appreciation as “Masterpiece of Judicial Craft”

Public Discourse: The Alito majority opinion is a masterpiece of judicial craft, uniting and bridging small differences among the Court’s five solid judicial conservatives. It works to an extent within existing judicial doctrine, powerfully and overwhelmingly refuting Roe’s and Casey’s holdings establishing a right to abortion even if one were to accept the premises of the dubious doctrine of “substantive due process.” It thoroughly thrashes the notion that “stare decisis” requires the Court to adhere even to demonstrably, monstrously erroneous precedent for its own sake, for reasons of imagined fidelity to the “rule of law,” or, even worse, for the sake of the Court’s or justices’ images or prestige. The majority opinion in Dobbs, true to the draft, persuasively refutes every legitimate constitutional argument for the results in Roe and Casey. It rules narrowly, focusing on the unique question of abortion—the question presented—and leaving other matters untouched as presenting different issues. (Public Discourse). It was a victory for originalism: It was originalism that provided the intellectual framework that has kept the conservative legal movement together since 1973, and it was originalism that imbued the justices of the Dobbs majority with theoretical commitments about law that were antithetical to Roe and Casey (City Journal). Albert Mohler: Justice Samuel Alito did a masterful job in writing the majority opinion. It’s also important to recognize that in a concurring opinion, stalwart conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who’s been sitting on the court now for a matter of three decades, was incredibly clear in pressing forward to also state that the very idea of substantive due process is unconstitutional and untenable. (Briefing).

Report: Republicans Gain Over One Million New Party Members

Associated Press: A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party’s gains in recent years are becoming Republicans. More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data analyzed by The Associated Press. The previously unreported number reflects a phenomenon that is playing out in virtually every region of the country — Democratic and Republican states along with cities and small towns — in the period since President Joe Biden replaced former President Donald Trump. But nowhere is the shift more pronounced — and dangerous for Democrats — than in the suburbs, where well-educated swing voters who turned against Trump’s Republican Party in recent years appear to be swinging back. Over the last year, far more people are switching to the GOP across suburban counties from Denver to Atlanta and Pittsburgh and Cleveland (Associated Press). Fox News: Roughly 1.7 million Americans have changed their party affiliation over the past 12 months. Two-thirds of those have gone to the GOP, while just 630,000 have switched to the Democratic Party, according to the report. While not the final nail in the coffin for Democrats, the voter trend is yet another indicator that Republicans stand to make large gains in Congress and state governments across the country in November (Fox News).

California to Dole Out Free Money to Residents Hundreds as Part of Their “Gas Tax Rebate”

The plan will increase reliance on government and inevitably increase price of gas as well: After weeks of negotiations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders in the Legislature have finally agreed to a deal on the gas rebates Newsom first promised in March of this year. Under the plan, single filers who make less than $75,000 a year will receive $350, and joint filers with a combined yearly income under $150,000 will receive $700. If filers have one dependent or more, they get an additional $350. Single filers who make more than $75,000 and less than $125,000 a year will receive $250, and joint filers with an income between $150,000 and $250,000 will receive $500. If these filers have one dependent or more, they get an additional $250. Finally, single filers filers who make more than $125,000 and less than $250,000 a year will receive $200, and joint filers who make between $250,000 and $550,000 will receive $400. The additional amount of money received if these filers have a dependent is $200. In total, the state estimates that 23 million Californians will be eligible for payments. The money will be distributed by the state Franchise Tax Board, and will go out to taxpayers around late October (SF Gate). ABC: The statewide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in California hit an all-time high of $6.44 last week. The average price was $6.35 cents per gallon on Friday compared to the national average of $4.93 (ABC).

New York Court Strikes Down Law Permitting Illegal Aliens to Vote in Local Elections

Spencer Brown: New York Judge Ralph Porzio ruled on Monday that New York City’s extension of voting rights to non-U.S. citizens violated the New York Constitution, the state’s election law, and the Municipal Home Rule Law — rendering another Democrat attempt to undermine elections illegal, null, and void. A bill creating the new class of non-citizen voters — potentially numbering as many as 900,000 new voters in New York City municipal elections — was passed by the New York City Council in December 2021, but not vetoed or signed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio. After 30 days without action from de Blasio, the bill was considered adopted under the council’s rules (Townhall). Fox News: The Republican National Committee and New York Republican State Committee joined a group of officeholders and individual voters who sued city officials over the law, arguing that it violates the New York State Constitution, state election law, and the Municipal Home Rule Law. They also claimed that their votes would be diluted by allowing noncitizens to vote (Fox News). ABC: Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, which was among the plaintiffs, said U.S. elections “should be decided by American citizens.” “The RNC is proud to head a broad coalition in successfully challenging this unconstitutional scheme and will continue to lead the effort across the country to ensure only citizens can vote in America’s elections,” she said (ABC).

Progressives Launch Resort to Racial Slurs Toward Justice Thomas

Newsweek: There has been another, deeply unfortunate development, too: the vehement racism shown towards Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas wasn’t the author of the ruling (Justice Samuel Alito was), but Justice Thomas has been singled out on social media by progressives deliberately using some of the most vile, racist language (Newsweek). Virginia Kruta: “You better hope that they don’t come for you, Clarence!” Whoopi Goldberg suggests interracial marriage and even slavery could be back on the table after Roe v. Wade flip (Twitter). Anthony B. Bradley: I’ve been really shocked by the number of progressives calling Clarence Thomas a “n-” because of his stance on abortion (Twitter).

Russia Defaults on Foreign Debt for First Time in Over 100 Years

BBC: Russia is believed to have defaulted on its debt for the first time since 1998 after missing a key deadline. Russia has the money to make a $100m payment, which was due on Sunday, but sanctions made it impossible to get the sum to international creditors. The country had been determined to avoid the default, which is a major blow to the nation’s prestige. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, said “statements of a default were absolutely unjustified”. He added that an intermediary bank had withheld the money and that the reserves were blocked “unlawfully” (BBC). Wall Street Journal: Litigation over the lack of payment could span years. Russia has accused the West of manufacturing an artificial default, and has gone to great lengths in recent months to route money in roundabout ways to get the required payments into the hands of bondholders… Russia has plenty of money from oil and gas sales to pay its foreign debts, which are relatively small compared with the size of its economy. But allied Western governments have blocked the Kremlin’s ability to tap foreign bank accounts or use cross-border payment networks to move money (Wall Street Journal).

New York Prosecutors Resign Under Non-Prosecutorial District Attorney

Fox News: Hundreds of prosecutors in New York City are quitting the district attorneys’ offices amid controversial criminal justice reforms. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office this year has hemorrhaged 65 assistant district attorneys, which is about 12% of the staff. Bragg released a memo on his third day in office, ordering prosecutors not to seek prison sentences for a number of crimes and to downgrade charges – including for robberies and commercial burglaries (Fox News). New York Post: The situation is nearly the same in the office of Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez, where 67 of some 500 prosecutors, or about 13 percent, have also called it quits as of June 17. Another three resigned on Thursday, according to a source. That is compared to 84 who left in all of 2020 and 94 last year (New York Post). HotAir: Not all of the departing prosecutors are solely blaming the woke DAs, however. They are casting blame on the state government’s legislature also. New criminal justice “reform” laws require prosecutors to turn over reams of material to defense attorneys on a compressed schedule (HotAir).

Russian Rockets Hit Civilian-Filled Shopping Mall, Death Toll Still Counting

USA Today: Scores of civilians were feared killed or injured Monday after a Russian rocket hit a crowded shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Ukrainian officials said. At least two deaths were immediately reported; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the number of possible victims was “unimaginable.” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Ukraine will receive urgently needed air defense systems to target incoming missiles. There are signs of growing resistance to Russian occupation in southern Ukraine with the assassination of local officials installed by Russia, the Pentagon official said (USA Today). BBC: UK PM Boris Johnson has condemned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s “cruelty and barbarism” after a missile strike on a shopping centre in Ukraine left at least 10 people dead and 40 injured. He says the attack, on the day Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the G7 summit, would strengthen the resolve of allies to resist Putin. “This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink (BBC).

10.

Massive Fentanyl Bust in California

Lives will be saved as a result. ABC: A traffic stop led to a major drug bust Friday night in Tulare County … The Tulare County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Unit was called out and they found 150,000 fentanyl pills in the vehicle. Investigators say the street value is $750,000 (ABC). Bill Melugin: 150 bags w/ 1,000 pills each, worth $750,000 total. 25-year-old Jose Zendejas & 19-year-old Benito Madrigal arrested & charged (Twitter). Chuck Callesto: BREAKING REPORT: California man arrested with enough fentanyl to kill 12 MILLION Americans (Twitter).

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