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☆ Biden hails ‘monumental’ steps toward easing marijuana rules as rescheduling process moves ahead
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Biden has already pardoned federal marijuana offenders and urged individual state governors to take similar steps. On Thursday, the Justice Department is taking the next formal step in the process of easing federal restrictions on cannabis, according to a senior administration official. The rescheduling proposal will appear publicly in the Federal Register, opening it up for a 60-day public comment period. While the process for rescheduling marijuana is lengthy, the president’s aides believe the step is a necessary one to place the drug in a more appropriate category. Biden’s advisers also privately acknowledge the potential political benefit of loosening rules on marijuana, which has gained wider cultural acceptance over the last decade.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, ” Biden, “, Biden, I’m, ” Organizations: Washington CNN, Department, Justice, Federal, Drug, Justice Department

☆ Serbia Approves Contract With Jared Kushner for Hotel Complex
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Eric Lipton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Serbian government has approved a contract with Jared Kushner on plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former defense ministry in Belgrade, putting him directly into business with a European state as his father-in-law, Donald J. Trump, vies to return to the White House. Mr. Kushner is pursuing the $500 million hotel project in partnership with Richard Grenell. A former Trump administration aide, Mr. Grenell first proposed that U.S. investors attempt to redevelop the long-vacant bombed-out site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense while Mr. Grenell was still a diplomat, serving as a special envoy to the Balkans. The deal, which provoked protests in Belgrade on Thursday, is with an affiliate of Mr. Kushner’s Affinity Partners, the three-year-old, $3 billion investment fund backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. “The government of Serbia has chosen a reputable American company as a partner in this venture, which will invest in the revitalization of the former Federal Secretariat for National Defense complex,” a Serbian government official said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Persons: Jared Kushner, Donald J, Trump, vies, Kushner, Richard Grenell, Grenell Organizations: Serbian, Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, Mr, Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Federal Secretariat, National Defense Locations: Belgrade, Balkans, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, American

☆ Pope Francis says his conservative critics in the church have a ‘suicidal attitude’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Christopher Lamb | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Pope Francis has suggested that his conservative critics in the United States have a “suicidal attitude,” in an interview with CBS News. Asked about criticism from “conservative bishops” in the US who have opposed Francis’ more progressive papacy and efforts to reform the Catholic Church, the Pope paused on the word “conservative,” saying a conservative is “one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude.”There is an important difference between taking “tradition into account” and being “closed up inside a dogmatic box,” Francis emphasized. Francis has envisioned a merciful Catholic Church open to everyone, a “field hospital” ready to bind up the wounds of a suffering humanity. Those who oppose Francis say they want a pope instead who lays down the law and presents doctrine in black-and-white terms.

Persons: Pope Francis, ”, Francis ’, Pope, ” Francis, Francis, Cardinal Raymond Burke, Harrison Butker’s, Butker Organizations: CNN, CBS News, Catholic Church, Catholic, CBS, Kansas City Chiefs Locations: United States, Tyler , Texas

☆ The US Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, is leaving Japan after nearly a decade in the Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Ella Sherman | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThe USS Ronald Reagan, the only aircraft carrier in the US Navy forward deployed, or permanently stationed in another country, is leaving Japan after spending nearly a decade in the Pacific. Related storiesIn 2021, USS Ronald Reagan briefly left its forward-deployed position to provide air support during US withdrawal operations in Afghanistan. USS Ronald Reagan traveling through the Straits of Magellan, to San Diego, CA, in a transfer move. US Navy/Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Elizabeth ThompsonThe USS Ronald Reagan already had a history of cooperation with Japan prior to its deployment. "Whether it's aboard USS Ronald Reagan today or USS George Washington in the future, we will continue to strengthen those ties at all levels, on-shore and at-sea."

Persons: —, Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan Sailors, Daryle Cardone, Ronald Reagan's, Reagan, Photographer's, Elizabeth Thompson, USS George Washington, George Washington, Greg Newkirk, Anthony Wallace, Gerald R Organizations: Service, US Navy, Business, Nimitz, Carrier Strike, CSG, Fleet, USS, Japan, Self, Defense Force, Navy, Aircraft, Getty, Pacific . Aircraft, US, Pacific Locations: Japan, Yokosuka, China, Afghanistan, Magellan, San Diego , CA, Bremerton , Washington, Israel, Iran, Gaza, Pacific, Russia, North Korea

☆ E.U. Investigates Meta Over Addictive Social Media Effects on Children
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Adam Satariano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

regulators could ultimately fine Meta up to 6 percent of its global revenue, which was $135 billion last year, as well force other product changes. The investigations are part of a growing effort by governments around the world to rein in services like Instagram and TikTok to protect minors. Meta has for years faced criticism that its products and recommendation algorithms are fine-tuned to hook children. In October, three dozen states in the United States sued Meta for using “psychologically manipulative product features” to lure children, in violation of consumer protection laws. People younger than 13 are not supposed to able to sign up for an account, but E.U.

Persons: Meta Organizations: Facebook, European Commission, United, Meta, Digital Services Locations: United States

☆ Opinion | The Authoritarians Have the Momentum
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( David Brooks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The central struggle in the world right now is between liberalism and authoritarianism. In this contest, we liberals should be wiping the floor with those guys! Modi seems to be on the verge of re-election. Over the last two centuries liberalism has evolved into a system that respects human dignity and celebrates individual choice. As other moral systems, like religion, have withered in many people’s lives, liberalism itself has expanded to fill the hole in people’s souls.

Persons: Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Narendra Modi, Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Trump, Modi, ” Alexandre Lefebvre, isn’t Locations: Iran, Russia

☆ Takeaways From the Times Investigation Into ‘The Unpunished’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Ronen Bergman | Mark Mazzetti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, most Israelis have considered Palestinian terrorism the country’s biggest security concern. But there is another threat that may be even more destabilizing for Israel’s future as a democracy: Jewish terrorism and violence, and the failure to enforce the law against it. It is a blunt account, told in some cases for the first time by Israeli officials, of how the occupation came to threaten the integrity of the country’s democracy. Lawbreakers Become LawmakersOfficials told us that once fringe, sometimes criminal groups of settlers bent on pursuing a theocratic state have been allowed for decades to operate with few restraints. Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government came to power in 2022, elements of that faction have taken power — driving the country’s policies, including in the war in Gaza.

Persons: Lawbreakers, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Locations: of Israel, Gaza

☆ Supreme Court saves consumer protection agency after a challenge from conservatives and the payday lending industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( John Fritze | Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Congress created the bureau in 2010 to protect consumers from financial scams. The payday lending groups sued over a 2017 bureau rule that prohibited attempts to withdraw payments from accounts after two consecutive tries failed due to insufficient funds. Because of that, the conservative appeals court tossed the payday lending rule. The Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court in 2022. CNN Supreme Court analyst Steve Vladeck said the ruling is another instance of the high court not endorsing controversial opinions from the 5th Circuit.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Biden, Massachusetts Democratic Sen, Elizabeth Warren, ” Thomas, Steve Vladeck, “, would’ve, ”, Vladeck, Samuel Alito, ” Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Stuart, Trump Organizations: CNN, Massachusetts Democratic, Federal Reserve, Circuit, University of Texas School of Law Locations: New Orleans

☆ What the Supreme Court Ruling Means for Other Consumer Bureau Actions
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Emily Flitter | Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the ruling falls far short of eliminating the bureau’s legal obstacles. Immediately after the ruling was announced, lawyers for the bureau, which is charged with preventing consumer abuse in the financial industry, began preparing dozens of legal filings to try to unfreeze its activities. Among them are requests to federal judges to end stays on new rules and on subpoenas to financial firms. While the Supreme Court’s ruling should resolve a few of the stays, the bureau will still struggle to overcome other roadblocks. He noted that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s dissent cited three recent consumer bureau actions that, in Justice Alito’s view, would be “major changes” in consumer protection law.

Persons: ”, Graham Steele, Samuel A, Alito Jr, ’, Alito’s Organizations: Consumer, Treasury Department

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington, D.C., on May 14, 2021. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is legal. The court in a 7-2 decision rejected an argument that the CFPB's funding method violated the U.S. Constitution's Appropriations Clause because Congress had not annually authorized money for the agency. Instead, Congress authorized the CFPB to draw funding from the Federal Reserve system that the agency's director deems necessary for its work. The majority's ruling reversed a decision by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which found the CFPB's funding mechanism was unconstitutional.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Thursday's, Alito groused Organizations: Consumer Financial, Washington , D.C, Federal Reserve, Federal, System, 5th Circuit U.S, of Appeals, Community Financial Services Association of America, Consumer Service Alliance of Texas Locations: Washington ,

☆ Donald Trump's allies are doing his dirty work while tiptoeing around his gag order
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Geoff Weiss | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But while the former president has been uncharacteristically restrained recently, a cast of Republican lawmakers and Trump surrogates have traveled to court to rail about the proceedings. It's raised questions about whether the "surrogates" could be violating Trump's gag order. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has been floated as a potential VP pick, told Newsmax one reason he attended was to "overcome this gag order." Under the gag order, Trump is not allowed to comment about Cohen. But Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told BI that "practically speaking," Judge Merchan can do little to stop lawmakers from speaking on Trump's behalf.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, It's, Mike Johnson, JD Vance, Ohio, Rick Scott of, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vance, Doug Burgum, Matt Gaetz, Michael M, Trump, Juan Merchan's, Andrew Rice, he'd, Sen, Tommy Tuberville, Lauren Boebert, Cohen, Boebert, Donald J, Andrew Lieb, Lieb, ANGELA WEISS, Laurie Levenson, Neama, Merchan, Rahmani, Jeff Modisett Organizations: Service, Republican, Trump, Business, Sens, Gov, Republicans, MSNBC, Caucus, Loyola Law, Former Indiana Locations: Rick Scott of Florida, Florida, Alabama, Colorado, Manhattan

☆ Elon Musk axed the entire Tesla Supercharger team after their division chief defied orders and said no to more layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewTesla CEO Elon Musk made the snap decision to fire the entire Supercharger team after its division chief refused to make further layoffs happen, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The billionaire said in an email to staff on April 29 that he was dissolving the entire team behind Tesla's charging infrastructure, per The Information. AdvertisementRepresentatives for Tesla, Musk, and Tinucci didn't respond to Reuters' request for comment. The Tesla chief moved quickly to assuage concerns, and assured investors that Tesla's Supercharger network isn't going anywhere. A slowdown in the rollout of Tesla's charging infrastructure would thus be a setback for Biden's clean-energy agenda.

Persons: —, Elon Musk, Musk, Rebecca Tinucci, Tinucci, Tesla's, Tesla, Mercedes Benz, haven't, Aaron Luque, Joe Organizations: Service, Reuters, Bloomberg, Business, Tesla, The, Motors, Ford, Politico, BI

☆ Billionaire real estate investor Frank McCourt wants to buy TikTok — but he's not interested in the algorithm
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Shubhangi Goel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewReal estate mogul Frank McCourt is the latest person to raise his hand to try to acquire TikTok's US business. Related stories"We thought this was a really fantastic opportunity to accelerate the creation of an alternative internet," McCourt told the Associated Press. McCourt wants to change TikTok's basic business to an open-source model that allows users and creators more control over their data. McCourt told the New York Times that he doesn't want the algorithm. "We doubt very much that China would sell TikTok with the algorithm," McCourt told the Times.

Persons: —, Frank McCourt, McCourt, Kirkland, Ellis, TikTok, Forbes, Tim Berners, Lee, TikTok . McCourt, Eric Schmidt, Steven Mnuchin, he's Organizations: Service, Guggenheim Securities, Business, Associated Press, Liberty, Los Angeles Dodgers, Big Tech, New York Times, Times Locations: China

☆ Opinion | Kristi Got Her Gun
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Carlos Lozada | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kristi Noem did herself no favors with “No Going Back,” her new book featuring a fake story about a dictator and a true story about a dog. I’m truly grateful to Noem for writing — or at least publishing — this book. But the book by the South Dakota governor and presumably erstwhile contender to be Donald Trump’s running mate is worth reading in full for two additional reasons. Only Trump can decide whether Noem’s slaying of a dog named Cricket also killed off the governor’s vice-presidential hopes. Reading the rest of it makes clear not only why Noem killed the dog, but why she chose to share the story — and why she belongs nowhere near the vice presidency.

Persons: Kristi Noem, I’m, Noem, Politico’s Michael Schaffer, Donald Trump’s, Trump Organizations: South, Cricket Locations: South Dakota

☆ Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Consumer Watchdog’s Funding
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court rejected a challenge on Thursday to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded, one that could have hobbled the bureau and advanced a central goal of the conservative legal movement: limiting the power of independent agencies. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing the majority opinion. “Under the appropriations clause,” he wrote, “an appropriation is simply a law that authorizes expenditures from a specified source of public money for designated purposes. The statute that provides the bureau’s funding meets these requirements. We therefore conclude that the bureau’s funding mechanism does not violate the appropriations clause.”

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, ” Organizations: Consumer Financial, Treasury

☆ Columbia University president hit with no-confidence vote from faculty group over handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Alisha Ebrahimji | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Columbia cited security concerns in canceling the large event, a school official told CNN, and instead is holding smaller ones. “Canceling the traditional commencement ceremony was one of the toughest calls in a year of many tough calls,” Shafik wrote in an op-ed in the Columbia Daily Spectator, noting her top priority has been the safety of students, faculty and staff. Fifty people were arrested, and police began the booking process onsite, university spokesperson Tom Vasich said in an email. Pro-Palestinian protesters had set up a campus encampment on April 29, when the university also called in local law enforcement. “This is not protest, this is pure hate.”The building’s takeover came a day after the UCB Divest Coalition agreed to end its campus encampment following discussions with university leadership.

Persons: Minouche Shafik, “, Shafik “, Ben Chang, Shafik, ”, ” Shafik, Tom Vasich, ” Vasich, Vasich, Anna, Dan Mogulof, Nazism ”, David, Mogulof, Santiago Mejia, ” Carol Christ, Jagdeep Singh Bachher, Ana Mari Cauce, ” Cauce, David Ryder David Ryder, ’, Russell Dorn, Robert Manuel, ” Manuel, Manuel, –, ” Benjamin Meyer, Morehouse, Joe Biden’s, David A, Thomas, CNN’s Victor Blackwell, Amanda Musa, Matt Egan, Julia Vargas Jones, Andy Rose, Chris Boyette, Melissa Alonso Organizations: CNN — Pro, Columbia University, Ivy League school’s, New York, CNN, Barnard College, American Association of University Professors, –, Columbia Daily Spectator, UC Irvine, University of California, Irvine Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Authorities, KABC, UC Berkeley, Pro, KGO, Jewish Community Relations, Nazism, UCB, UC Berkeley’s, Palestine, San Francisco, Getty, UC Regents, UC, Regents, University of Washington, Seattle, Wednesday, REUTERS, Reuters, University, ” DePaul University, Police, DePaul University in, WLS, DePaul, ” University, Coalition, ” Morehouse, Morehouse College’s, White House, White Locations: Israel, Gaza, Shafik, Columbia, Irvine, Orange, Berkeley, Merced, Seattle, DePaul University in Chicago, Atlanta

☆ Biden administration plans to speed up court cases for recent migrant arrivals
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Priscilla Alvarez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Biden administration plans to speed up court cases for some recently arrived migrants who are seeking asylum, marking the latest move to address arrivals at the US-Mexico border, according to senior administration officials. The Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department announced Thursday a new court docket targeting migrants who have unlawfully crossed the US southern border. Cases can often take years because of an immigration court backlog, prompting the effort to set up a process intended to expeditiously work through cases. The immigration court backlog exceeds 3 million pending cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse or TRAC, which tracks immigration court data. “We’ve identified judges who have availability to manage to do these and manage along with all the existing work that they’re doing,” the senior administration official said.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas, Mayorkas, —, ”, “ We’ve Organizations: CNN, Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department, Department of Justice, Homeland, Republicans, Obama, Trump, Immigrant Locations: Mexico, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, “, Syracuse

☆ Meta’s Facebook and Instagram probed over fears they may be too addictive for children
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The European Union is worried that Meta is failing to protect children on its platforms, Facebook and Instagram, and has launched a formal investigation that could result in a hefty fine. The probe is the latest evidence that regulators are increasingly focussing on the harmful impact of Meta’s platforms — and other social media — on young users, including by encouraging addictive behavior. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will consider whether Meta (META) has complied with its obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the bloc’s sweeping new law for online platforms. The legislation requires online platforms to put in place measures to protect children, including by preventing them from accessing inappropriate content and ensuring a high level of privacy and safety. The European Commission is concerned that Facebook’s and Instagram’s online interfaces “may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior,” it said in a statement Thursday.

Persons: Meta, Thierry Breton, ” Meta Organizations: London CNN, Facebook, European Commission, Digital Services, European, Meta, CNN, New Locations: New Mexico, Gaza

☆ Opinion | Justices Speak, and Are Greeted With Dissent
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And yet, these are the facts: He accepted lavish gifts from powerful friends and failed to report them. His wife was indisputably involved in an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the duly elected new one. Which Justice Thomas plainly detests when applied to minorities, because (I guess) he believes that it belittles the accomplishments of those who receive a helping hand. I’ve doubted Justice Thomas’s judgment in the past; now I doubt his advocacy skills in general. Because his arguments are self-pitying and unpersuasive.

Persons: Thomas, Clarence Thomas, Ginni, I’ve, Thomas’s Organizations: Ivy League

☆ Taiwan, on China’s Doorstep, Is Dealing With TikTok Its Own Way
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Meaghan Tobin | Amy Chang Chien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As it is in the United States, TikTok is popular in Taiwan, used by a quarter of the island’s 23 million residents. People post videos of themselves shopping for trendy clothes, dressing up as video game characters and playing pranks on their roommates. Influencers share their choreographed dances and debate whether the sticky rice dumplings are better in Taiwan’s north or south. Taiwanese users of TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet giant ByteDance, are also served the kind of pro-China content that the U.S. Congress cited as a reason it passed a law that could result in a ban of TikTok in America. The video was flagged as fake by a fact-checking organization, and TikTok took it down.

Persons: Influencers, Rob Wittman, stoking, TikTok Organizations: U.S, Republican Locations: United States, Taiwan, China, America, Virginia, Taiwan’s

☆ Upside-down US flag flew at home of Justice Samuel Alito after 2020 election, New York Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An upside-down American flag – a symbol used by some supporters of former President Donald Trump who challenged the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory – hung outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the election, The New York Times reported Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN, which has not independently verified the flag’s use. “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito said in an emailed statement to the Times. The Times said it was not clear how long the flag flew outside of Alito’s home. Last fall, in response to a series of revelations about travel accepted by Thomas and Alito, the Supreme Court adopted a code of conduct for the first time.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s, –, Samuel Alito, Alito, Trump, “, ” Alito, Trump’s, Clarence Thomas, recusal, Virginia “ Ginni ” Thomas, Thomas, ”, James Organizations: CNN, Supreme, The New York Times, Times, Capitol, The Times, White, Hofstra Law Locations: Alexandria , Virginia, Alabama

☆ U.A.W. Effort to Organize Mercedes Workers in Alabama Has High Stakes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 5,000 Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama are voting this week on whether to join the United Automobile Workers union, a decision both supporters and opponents say will have consequences far beyond two factories near Tuscaloosa where the German carmaker churns out luxury sport utility vehicles and batteries for electric cars. Conservative political leaders have portrayed the union campaign to organize Mercedes workers as an assault by outsiders on the region’s economy and way of life. The vote tally is expected to be released by federal officials on Friday. Six Southern governors, including Kay Ivey, an Alabama Republican, issued a statement last month criticizing unions as “special interests looking to come into our state and threaten our jobs and the values we live by.” Alabama recently passed a law intended to discourage union organizing. For the union, a win would add to a string of victories in the South, where organized labor has traditionally been weak, and provide momentum to the U.A.W.’s efforts to win over workers at other nonunion automakers like Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Tesla.

Persons: Kay Ivey Organizations: Benz, United Automobile Workers, Conservative, Six, Alabama Republican, ”, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda Locations: Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Six Southern, ” Alabama

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of Neil Gorsuch as an Associate Supreme Court Justice in the Rose Garden of the White House, Washington, D.C., April 10, 2017. Two leading Democratic senators are pressing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to say whether he repaid a wealthy friend any of the principal for a $267,230 loan he used to buy a luxury motorhome. The letter to Thomas's lawyer, dated Tuesday, raises questions about potential tax violations by the conservative justice, who is the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court. Democrats point to reports that his wife, Ginni Thomas, took part in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump's immunity appeal on April 25, with Thomas on the bench.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Ron Wyden, Sheldon Whitehouse, Thomas, Anthony Welters, Prevost Le, Wyden, Elliot Berke, Whitehouse, Justice Thomas, Welters, Berke, ProPublica, Harlan Crow, Harlan, Donald Trump, Ginni Thomas Organizations: Justice, White House, D.C, New York Times, Finance Committee Locations: Rose, Washington, Welters

☆ Read the Texas Governor’s Pardon
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

PROCLAMATION BY THE Governor of the State of Texas PROCLAMATION No. 2024-0001 DPS #07666731 TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME: WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry, TDCJ #02450686, D.O.B. April 24, 1987, was sentenced in the 147th District Court in Travis County on May 10, 2023, to twenty- five years in prison for the offense of Murder, Cause No. D-1-DC-21-900007; and WHEREAS, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has conducted an exhaustive review of Daniel Scott Perry's personal history and the facts surrounding his shooting of Garrett Foster; and WHEREAS, both the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 23, of the Texas Constitution protect the right to keep and bear arms for, among other things, self-defense; and WHEREAS, Texas law, consistent with those constitutional guarantees, provides one of the clearest self-defense protections in the United States; and WHEREAS, Texas Penal Code § 9.32(a) provides that a person “is justified in using deadly force against another" when that person "reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary" to protect a person against another's use of unlawful deadly force; and WHEREAS, Texas Penal Code § 9.32(c) provides that a person who is otherwise lawfully present at the location where deadly force is used "is not required to retreat before using deadly force"; and WHEREAS, on July 25, 2020, Daniel Scott Perry, while driving on a public road in Austin, slowed his vehicle as he rounded a corner onto Congress Avenue and encountered a group of protestors obstructing traffic; and WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry's car was immediately surrounded by aggressive protestors who rushed to obstruct, strike, pound, smash, and kick his vehicle; and WHEREAS, Garrett Foster then approached within 18 inches of Daniel Scott Perry's car, confronted him, and brandished a Kalashnikov-style rifle in the low-ready firing position; and WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry fired his handgun at Garrett Foster to eliminate a perceived threat to his safety and called law enforcement less than one minute later to inform them of the incident; and WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry explained to law enforcement at the time that he used his weapon because he feared losing his life and has since consistently stated that he acted in self-defense; and WHEREAS, Travis County District Attorney José Garza, rather than upholding the self- defense rights of citizens, has prioritized "reducing access to guns" that citizens may use to lawfully defend themselves; and FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE 1:25 PM O'CLOCK MAY 16 2024

Persons: Daniel Scott Perry, Paroles, Daniel Scott Perry's, Garrett Foster, brandished, Attorney José Garza Organizations: D.O.B, Texas, United States Constitution, Travis, Attorney Locations: Texas, TDCJ, Travis County, United States, Austin

☆ Texas Governor Pardons Man in Fatal Shooting of Protester in 2020
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Greg Abbott of Texas on Thursday pardoned a man who was convicted of fatally shooting a protester during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in the summer of 2020, fulfilling a promise he made last year amid pressure from conservatives. The decision immediately followed a pardon recommendation from the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose members are appointed by the governor. Lawyers for the man, Daniel S. Perry, argued that he had acted in self-defense against the protester, who was carrying an AK-47-style rifle. Mr. Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison in an emotional hearing last year in which prosecutors presented evidence of racist online comments he had made and said that psychological experts had found him to be “basically a loaded gun.” As the pardons board considered the case, lawyers with the Travis County district attorney, José Garza, met with the board to argue against a pardon. Under Texas law, a recommendation from the board is necessary before the governor can grant a pardon.

Persons: Greg Abbott of, Paroles, Daniel S, Perry, José Garza Organizations: state’s, AK Locations: Greg Abbott of Texas, Travis County, Texas

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