President Biden said the Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down his student debt forgiveness plan underscores the “hypocrisy” of Republicans, who also championed dolling out billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses. The Washington Times stories: White House
Read More...A Politico headline said that a recent Supreme Court decision “limits LGBTQ protections” while an ABC News story told us that it was about whether “businesses can refuse to serve LGBTQ+ customers.” The decision today in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis wasn’t about that at all. In this 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that the government cannot force you to say something that violates your religious beliefs. Lorie Smith runs 303 Creative, a website and graphic design company. She wanted to expand her business and start creating custom wedding…
Read More...In a decision that did not get the attention it deserved, the newly reconstituted North Carolina Supreme Court recently reinstated, as the court said, one of “least restrictive voter identification laws in the United States.” Liberal judges on that court—two of whom are no longer there after losing their 2022 re-election attempts—had previously thrown out the law, erroneously claiming that it was passed with discriminatory intent and that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the North Carolina Constitution. In Holmes v. Harper, on April 28, the new court withdrew…
Read More...CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Warren McGraw, a former West Virginia Supreme Court justice who spent five decades in public service, has died at age 84, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said Thursday. Court spokeswoman Jennifer Bundy confirmed McGraw’s death but had no additional information. Blue Ridge Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens in Beckley said it was in charge of funeral arrangements, which were incomplete. McGraw, who died Wednesday, had retired as a county circuit judge in 2021, citing the physical impairments due to Parkinson’s disease. Mike Pushkin, the state Democratic Party…
Read More...A decade’s worth of disappointment has conditioned Black Americans and Democrats to fear voting-rights rulings from the Supreme Court. In 2013, a 5–4 majority invalidated a core tenet of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Subsequent decisions have chipped away at the rest of the law, and in 2019, a majority of the justices declared that federal courts have no power to bar partisan gerrymandering. So this morning, when two conservatives joined the high court’s three liberals in reaffirming a central part of the Voting Rights Act, Democrats reacted as…
Read More...The Department of Veterans Affairs, facing an increased workload as more veterans seek VA health care and benefits, is prepared to significantly staff up under the Biden administration’s fiscal 2024 budget request. The VA in its fiscal 2024 budget request is looking to grow its workforce to 453,834 employees — a more than 4.5% increase from current staffing levels. Since 2019, the VA has added the equivalent of more than 78,000 full-time employees. The Biden administration is proposing a $ 351.1 billion total budget for VA in 2024 — more…
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