Month: May 2021

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced his opposition to legislation that would establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson and Republican Congressman John Katko, respectively the chair and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, reached a deal late last week on legislation to create a bipartisan commission. The panel would be evenly divided between members appointed by Democrats and Republicans and give the GOP-appointed commissioners veto power over any subpoena.

In a statement announcing his opposition to the bill, McCarthy claimed that it “is drafted in such a way that could interfere with and ultimately undermine” other congressional investigations and federal prosecutions of the alleged rioters, adding,“Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation.”

The White House said President Biden supports the legislation, noting in a statement that the country “deserves such a full and fair accounting to prevent future violence and strengthen the security and resilience of our democratic institutions.” The president also came out in favor of a $1.5 billion supplemental spending bill to bolster security at the Capitol.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that North Carolina sheriff’s deputies were justified in fatally shooting 42-year-old Andrew Brown Jr., a black man, during an attempted arrest last month, and added that no charges will be filed against law enforcement. Brown Jr. was shot while behind the wheel of his car on April 21 in Elizabeth City as Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies were serving a warrant for his arrest on felony drug charges.

District Attorney Andrew Womble said Brown’s shooting death was “justified due to his actions,” adding that “no officers will be criminally charged. The officers’ actions were consistent with their training and fully supported under law.” An autopsy commissioned by Brown’s family found he was shot five times, once in the back of the head. That report added to the findings of a state death certificate that showed that he was shot five times and that Brown’s immediate cause of death was a “penetrating gunshot wound of the head.” The district attorney has said officers fired only after Brown struck deputies twice with his vehicle. But Brown’s relatives have questioned why deputies used deadly force when he was surrounded by law enforcement, and have also expressed frustration that body-worn camera footage of the incident has not been released to the public.

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an abortion case that could alter nearly 50 years of rulings on abortion rights, particularly with three justices appointed by President Donald Trump as part of a 6-3 conservative majority.

The court is taking on a case about whether states can ban abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb. Mississippi is asking to be allowed to enforce an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but is not asking the court to overrule the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision confirming a woman’s right to an abortion, or a decision 19 years later that reaffirmed it. However, many still feel the case is a clear threat to abortion rights. Even if the court does not explicitly overrule earlier cases, a decision favorable to the state could lay the groundwork for allowing even more restrictions on abortion, including state bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks.

The case probably will be argued in the fall, with a decision likely in the spring of 2022. Mississippi’s ban had been blocked by lower courts as inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent that protects a woman’s right to obtain an abortion before the fetus can survive outside her womb. The Supreme Court had previously turned down state appeals over provability abortion bans.