Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
In Allowing Coach to Pray, Supreme Court Says First Amendment Doesn’t Contradict Itself <[link removed]> - The First Amendment to the Constitution has two connected clauses on religion, one prohibiting an “establishment of religion” and the other protecting the “free exercise thereof.” The case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District involved a high school football coach, Joe Kennedy, who routinely kneeled midfield after games to offer a private prayer of thanks, saying he was engaging in the free exercise of his religion. His school district in Washington state fired Kennedy for doing so, claiming that allowing such a religious display would amount to an establishment of religion. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District <[link removed]>, the Supreme Court tried to untie this knot by
ruling Monday that the school district violated the coach’s constitutional rights. Heritage Expert: Thomas
Jipping <[link removed]>
Supreme Court Takes Up Challenges to Near Limitless Power of EPA <[link removed]> - West Virginia v. EPA will undoubtedly be the most consequential environmental case the Supreme Court takes up this term—whether it rules narrowly on the technical scope of the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, or it endeavors to answer broader questions about the roles of Congress and executive agencies.Americans should hope the Supreme Court uses this opening to
return policymaking to the hands of their elected representatives, rather than to unaccountable bureaucrats trying their hardest to run our lives. Heritage Expert: Katie
Tubb <[link removed]>
A Couple’s Long Journey in the Anti-Abortion Movement <[link removed]> - Three weeks later, the couple, Carrie Severino, the president of the Judicial Crisis Network, a group closely affiliated with the Federalist Society, and Roger Severino, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation and former Trump administration official, have seen their shared dream come to pass: the end of Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old ruling that enshrined the right to an abortion in federal law. A majority of Americans <[link removed]> disagree with the decision, polls show, and it devastated many people across the country, with thousands protesting in cities and abortion providers scrambling to help women who now face long journeys to obtain care and, in some cases, the threat of prosecution.Heritage Expert: Roger Severino <[link removed]>
Supreme Court gun ruling reminds New Yorkers there is a right to bear arms <[link removed]> - Ordinary, law-abiding gun owners are not the problem. They will not become the problem simply because they can now carry their firearms in public for self-defense. You don’t have to fear them — unless, of course, you’re a criminal. In that case, many of your victims will now be armed, and therefore harder to victimize. You should be very, very afraid. But for the vast majority of New York residents, the full arrival of the Second Amendment in your state <[link removed]> is nothing to agonize over. You’ve merely joined the Constitution Club with the rest of the country. And on behalf of 43 other states, let me be the first to say "welcome." Heritage Expert: Amy Swearer <[link removed]>
Supreme Court Upholds Democracy in Dobbs Abortion Decision <[link removed]> - The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the notorious 1973 decision that wrote abortion rights into law. Critics of the court’s new ruling overlook a crucial fact: By throwing out one of the most anti-democratic court decisions in the past 100 years, the justices have upheld the democratic process. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court finally acknowledged what was readily evident back in 1973: Roe was an illegitimate decision in which seven justices simply created a nonexistent constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Roe was an ideological decision, an exercise in judicial policymaking with no basis in the law. Rather, it was a sad example of the court acting as a super-legislature to override the views of the public and their elected legislators in the states. Heritage Expert: Hans von Spakovsky <[link removed]>
After Daily Signal Report, Instagram Removes Post Containing Justices’ Home Addresses <[link removed]> - The Daily Signal reported on Sunday <[link removed]> that the popular social media sites Instagram and Reddit hosted posts listing the home addresses of Supreme Court justices and urging activists to protest at their residences. The next day, Andy Stone, the communications director at Instagram’s parent company, Meta, confirmed that the post on Instagram had been removed. In response to a tweet by this writer asking how posts seemingly in violation of Instagram’s terms of service were allowed to remain on the site, Stone responded, “It’s not allowed. We removed this post.” Heritage Expert: Douglas Blair <[link removed]>
Atlanta suburb pushes to secede from city due to surging crime: 'This is a war zone' <[link removed]>- Unfortunately, the past two years have seen violent crime surge across the United States. Police officers, in many instances, have been defunded and demonized, and as a result, are demoralized. Officers face dangerous jobs that are made more difficult when they do not receive the training and support that they need. Police departments around the country are facing staffing shortages as a result of difficult working conditions. We know that when there are not enough police on the streets or when officers are not allowed to do their jobs, crime increase. One of the most effective tools for combatting crime is to put more police officers on the street and to empower them to enforce the laws that are on the books. Heritage Expert: Zack Smith <[link removed]>
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