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Justice O’Connor set the tone in her chambers by hiring a large number of female clerks, setting herself apart from the other justices. And while she was demanding — accepting no excuses for mistakes, a lesson she drew from growing up on a ranch in the West — she also took an interest in her clerks and their personal lives. “She would give them career advice, she would give them jobs,” said the historian Evan Thomas, who interviewed 94 former O’Connor clerks for his biography of the justice, “First.”“She told them to get out and get exercise, always take care of your family, give good dinner parties, never be too busy to take care of people,” he said. “You had to have a life.”For the women who clerked under Justice O’Connor, there was a keen awareness of both the barriers she had broken and her desire to be viewed outside of that history. Some recounted her wish to have her headstone reflect only that she had been a good judge, her relief when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a second woman to sit on the court and her insistence that her gender did not shape her decisions.

Persons: O’Connor, ”, Evan Thomas, “, Justice O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cristina Rodríguez Organizations: Yale Law School

In 2019, Andy Beshear eked out an upset win for governor of Kentucky, a startling victory for a Democrat in a state that Donald Trump had won in 2016 by around 30 percentage points. But with his re-election on Tuesday, Mr. Beshear, 45, showed that he was more than just lucky. He again won the cities of Louisville and Lexington handily, but also won small rural counties across the state that he had lost four years earlier. The victory followed an aggressive and well-funded campaign that could serve as a blueprint for Democrats across the country, who for years have seen rural states like Kentucky slipping ever further out of reach. It also could position Mr. Beshear as a candidate for national office in 2028 and beyond.

Persons: Andy Beshear eked, Donald Trump, Matt Bevin, Beshear, Daniel Cameron Organizations: Democrat, Republican, Lexington Locations: Kentucky, Louisville

☆ Excerpts From Nashville School Shooter’s Writings Are Published Online
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A conservative political commentator published three photographs on Monday that appeared to show excerpts from writings by the shooter who killed six people at a Nashville Christian school, enraging parents of the surviving students and prompting an investigation into the leak. For months there has been a court battle over whether any of the assailant’s writings should be released, with the families of about 100 students who survived the shooting at the Covenant School in March having sought to prevent their publication. The larger trove of documents — which one city official quantified in court as “voluminous” — has remained with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department as the legal battle winds its way through the courts. But on Monday, Steven Crowder, the political commentator, published three photos of handwritten notebook pages that appeared to have been left behind by the shooter and reflected a hateful, calculated plan to target the private school and its students. The Police Department later confirmed that it was involved in the investigation into “the dissemination of three photographs of writings,” adding that the photos in question were not formal “crime scene images.”

Persons: Steven Crowder, ” Organizations: Nashville Christian, Covenant School, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, The Police Department

☆ How Louisiana Democrats Lost Before a Ballot Was Cast
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before a single ballot was cast, Louisiana Democrats knew they couldn’t win control of the State Legislature this year. It was mathematically impossible, because a lack of candidates meant they were not even contesting the majority of districts. Their best hope for political success rested with Shawn Wilson, a former state transportation secretary, and the expectation he would force a runoff against Jeff Landry, the state’s hard-line Republican attorney general, in an open primary for governor. At least, Democrats reasoned, Mr. Wilson would make it a little harder for the overwhelmingly favored Republican to flip control of the governor’s mansion in a region increasingly dominated by conservatives. But when Mr. Landry won a majority of the primary vote in October, eliminating the need for a runoff, the results instead laid bare the bleak conditions of a state Democratic Party decimated by internal divisions, paltry fund-raising totals and a disenchanted voter base.

Persons: Shawn Wilson, Jeff Landry, Wilson, Landry Organizations: Louisiana Democrats, Republican, Democratic Party Locations: Louisiana

Desmond Mills Jr., one of five former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the brutal beating and death of Tyre Nichols, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to two felony charges of obstruction of justice and excessive force. He is the first of the five officers indicted on federal charges by a grand jury in September to plead guilty. His cooperation is expected to include pleading guilty to at least some of the state charges, and potentially testifying against the other officers. The remaining four officers have all pleaded not guilty to both federal and state charges. Five Black officers from the department’s elite Scorpion unit, including Mr. Mills, were soon fired for their roles in the beating.

Persons: Desmond Mills Jr, Tyre Nichols, Mills, Nichols Organizations: Memphis, Prosecutors, Scorpion

“We’re all a little star-struck, to be honest,” said Timothy Magner, the president of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, who corrected himself to use the new “speaker” title to refer to Mr. Johnson. (Multiple friends and colleagues said he has a knack for impressions of politicians, which they cited as evidence of a sense of humor.) “He would tell you he’s never surprised by God’s ordinance,” she added. “And the thing about Mike is — he means that answer.”Some constituents said that they, too, were among the many Americans learning about Mr. Johnson this week. In Opelousas, in the southern slice of his district, Shawana Johnson, 43, said she heard of him for the first time through a canvassing text message on Wednesday.

Persons: “, ”, Timothy Magner, Johnson, Washington acclimates, Mary, Patricia Wray, he’s, Mike, Shawana Johnson Organizations: Greater, Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce Locations: Greater Shreveport, Louisiana, Opelousas

☆ Representative Jared Golden of Maine calls for a ban on assault weapons, reversing a long-held stance.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Representative Jared Golden of Maine, a centrist Democrat, called for a ban on assault weapons Thursday afternoon, reversing a long-held stance after 18 people were killed in a mass shooting in Lewiston. Mr. Golden, a Marine Corps veteran, has repeatedly broken with his party to oppose legislation that would ban assault weapons, a policy that Democrats have repeatedly tried and failed to revive in the nearly two decades since it lapsed. That position, Mr. Golden said on Thursday, reflected in part “a false confidence that our community was above this, and that we could be in full control, among many other misjudgments.”“The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure,” Mr. Golden said. Standing by him at a news conference, Senator Susan Collins, a centrist Republican, declined to back a ban on assault weapons. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, one of the most liberal lawmakers in the House, called Mr. Golden’s comments “powerful, brave and moving” on social media.

Persons: Jared Golden of, Golden, ”, Mr, “, Susan Collins, “ There’s, Alexandria Ocasio, Golden’s, — Organizations: Democrat, Marine Corps, Republican, Republicans — Locations: Jared Golden of Maine, Lewiston, Cortez, New York

☆ Georgia’s Voting Maps Are Struck Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Republicans in Georgia violated a landmark civil rights law in drawing voting maps that diluted the power of Black voters, a federal judge in Atlanta ruled on Thursday, ordering that new maps must be drawn in time for the 2024 elections. Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia demanded that the state’s legislature move swiftly to draw new maps that provide an equitable level of representation for Black residents, who make up more than a third of the state’s population. In the ruling, Judge Jones wrote that the court “will not allow another election cycle on redistricting plans” that had been found to be unlawful. “Georgia has made great strides since 1965 towards equality in voting,” Judge Jones wrote, referring to a troubled history of racism and disregard for voting and civil rights. “However, the evidence before this court shows that Georgia has not reached the point where the political process has equal openness and equal opportunity for everyone.”

Persons: Steve C, Jones, Judge Jones, ”, ” Judge Jones Organizations: Northern, Northern District of Locations: Georgia, Atlanta, Northern District, Northern District of Georgia, “ Georgia

☆ Five Former Officers Indicted on Federal Charges in Tyre Nichols Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five former Memphis police officers accused of brutally beating Tyre Nichols have been indicted on federal criminal charges in connection with Mr. Nichols’s death in January, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday. The four charges, handed up by a grand jury in the Federal District Court in Memphis, accuse each of the five men of various civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction offenses. The indictment says that the two offenses led to Mr. Nichols’s severe injuries and death. If convicted, the men could face up to life in prison on those two counts alone. The remaining two counts — both related to witness tampering and obstruction — are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Nichols’s, Nichols Organizations: Memphis, Justice Department, Court Locations: Federal, Memphis

Dan Ellison started shrimping when he was 12, bringing a change of clothes on the boat so he could make it to school after early-morning outings. He would sketch shrimp boats in class, before quitting school in eighth grade to pursue his passion. “I couldn’t do what a doctor or lawyer does,” Mr. Ellison, 61, said. You’ve got to know so much to survive.”He joined his father shrimping and fishing in tiny Horseshoe Beach, Fla., a business that took a significant hit when the state banned net fishing in the 1990s. “It’s just a dying breed,” Mr. Ellison said of shrimpers in the Big Bend region, where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle.

Persons: Dan Ellison, shrimping, Mr, Ellison, You’ve, “ It’s, shrimpers, Hurricane Idalia Organizations: Hurricane Locations: Fla, Bend, Florida

☆ Tennessee G.O.P. Again Silences Democratic Lawmaker Justin Jones
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tennessee’s House Republicans on Monday again silenced Representative Justin Jones, a Black Democrat who was expelled earlier this year in a gun control protest, after he was deemed to have violated new stringent rules of decorum. Democrats left the House chamber in protest after Mr. Jones was barred from speaking on the floor for the remainder of the day, while chants of “fascists” and “racists” broke out in the gallery overhead. Republicans ordered state troopers to clear the galleries. The uproar came when Speaker Cameron Sexton and chamber leaders decided that Mr. Jones, for the second time in the day, had breached the rules of the House by speaking out of turn. This time, Mr. Jones had suggested, during a debate about increasing the number of police officers in schools, that the state’s resources should be focused instead on mental health professionals and teacher pay — comments Mr. Sexton said were off-topic.

Persons: Justin Jones, Jones, ”, Cameron Sexton, Sexton Organizations: Tennessee’s, Republicans, Monday, Black Democrat

☆ Grieving Governor’s Moderate Gun Proposal Is Spurned by G.O.P. Allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Lee of Tennessee began a push in April to address public safety, his family was grieving the loss of two close friends, both educators killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school. His call for millions of dollars to harden school security was embraced by Republicans in the legislature, who flanked him during a formal announcement. But days later, when Mr. Lee, a Republican, decided to go further and ask for an order of protection law that could temporarily restrict an individual’s access to firearms, he stood alone for the announcement. The legislature would wrap up its work by the end of the month without taking a vote to pass it. Now, Mr. Lee has summoned lawmakers back to Nashville on Monday for a special session on public safety that could include consideration of a limited version of the law.

Persons: Bill Lee of, Lee Organizations: Gov, Nashville Christian, Republicans, Republican Locations: Bill Lee of Tennessee, Nashville

☆ The Loss of Space Command Headquarters Brings an Alabama City Down to Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even as a child in the 1960s, Jan Davis felt a twinge of resentment about her hometown, Huntsville, Ala., being overlooked. Rocket tests rattled windows and doors across town, and everyone seemed to have a familial connection to the work of building the rockets that powered NASA’s mission to put a man on the moon. Still, it was mission control in Houston and Cape Canaveral in Florida that became worldwide symbols of the space race. It attracted legions of scientists, defense contractors and federal investment. And in the final days of the Trump administration, Huntsville was selected as the permanent home of the United States Space Command.

Persons: Jan Davis, Davis, Ms, —, Trump Organizations: NASA, United States Space Command Locations: Huntsville, Ala, Houston and Cape Canaveral, Florida

About the role familial connections played in the success of many alumni. About whether the practice of legacy admissions, which has long favored white families, should be eliminated just as a more diverse generation of graduates is getting ready to send its own children to college. About how to reconcile the belief that privileges for the privileged are wrong with the parental impulse to do whatever they can for their own children. A new analysis of data from elite colleges published last week underscored how legacy admissions have effectively served as affirmative action for the privileged. Children of alumni, who are more likely to come from rich families, were nearly four times as likely to be admitted as other applicants with the same test scores.

Persons: James, Chakraborty

☆ Alabama Lawmakers Decline to Create New Majority-Black Congressional District
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alabama Republicans pushed through a new congressional map on Friday that will test the bounds of a judicial mandate to create a second majority-Black district in the state or something “close to it,” incensing plaintiffs in the court case and Democrats who predicted the plan would never pass muster with a judicial panel charged with approving it. The map also dropped the percentage of Black voters in the existing majority-Black district to about 51 percent from about 55 percent. In Alabama, more than one in four residents are Black. Notably, the redrawing ensures that none of the state’s six white Republican incumbents would have to face one another in a primary to keep their seat. The proposal will have to be approved by a federal court, which will hold a hearing on it next month.

Persons: ” Organizations: Republicans, Alabama Legislature, Republican Locations: Black, Alabama

Under orders from the Supreme Court to produce a voting map that no longer illegally dilutes the power of Black voters in Alabama, the state’s lawmakers are now facing a high-stakes scramble to come up with an acceptable replacement by the end of this week. A little over a month after the court’s surprise ruling, the Alabama legislature will convene for a special five-day session on Monday, with the Republican supermajority having given little public indication of how it plans to fulfill a mandate to craft a second district that allows Black voters to elect a representative of their choice — one who could well be a Democrat. The effects of the revised map, which must be passed by Friday and approved by a federal court, could reverberate across the country, with other states in the South confronting similar voting rights challenges and Republicans looking to hold onto a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives next year. The session also comes at a pivotal moment in the debate over the constitutionality of factoring race into government decisions, as conservatives have increasingly chipped away at the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other longstanding judicial protections centered on equality and race.

Organizations: Democrat, U.S . House Locations: Alabama, U.S

☆ Transgender Care Ban Allowed to Take Effect in Tennessee, Appeals Panel Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Emily Cochrane | More About Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A federal appeals panel on Saturday said a Tennessee law that would ban hormone therapy and puberty blockers for transgender youth could go into effect, marking the first time a federal court has allowed a law banning transition care to fully take hold in the United States. The ruling, issued by a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, comes less than two weeks after a district court judge temporarily blocked the ban on hormone therapy and puberty blockers. The judges, who will now consider a broader appeal on the temporary hold on the law, said a final decision would come before Sept. 30. The decision is a notable blow to transgender youth, their families and their allies, who have leaned on the nation’s judiciary as a last resort to block a series of sweeping laws that target transition care, legislation they say would be harmful to young people’s health. Until the ruling Saturday, judges had been compelled by the argument that the laws are discriminatory against transgender people and violated the Constitution, ruling to either temporarily or permanently block their enforcement.

Organizations: U.S ., Appeals, Sixth Circuit Locations: Tennessee, United States, Cincinnati

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