Month: July 2022

A suspect is in custody in connection with the mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Illinois on Monday that killed 6 people, and injured over 20 more.  The shooting took place just after 10 a.m. along a holiday parade route in suburban Highland Park, about 30 miles north of Chicago. Authorities said that in addition to the six deaths, 26 people were taken to NorthShore University Health System with injuries, ranging from 8 years old to 85 years old.

Police Chief Louis Jogmen told reporters that 22-year-old Robert Crimo III, identified as a “person of interest” in connection the mass shooting, was arrested without incident in Lake Forest, Ill. after a brief pursuit by car, Highland Park, Ill.  Crimo was into custody by Highland Park officers, and no charges had been filed against Crimo as of press time. Authorities offered no immediate motives for the shootings. Lake County Major Crime Task Force Sgt. Christopher Covelli told reporters that investigators recovered the rifle used in the shooting from the scene. He said it appeared the gunman was “shooting from a roof.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement: “There are no words for the kind of monster who lives in wait and fires into a crowd of families with children celebrating a holiday with their community. There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams, their futures. Prayers alone will not put a stop to the terror of rampant gun violence in our country. We must — and we will — end this plague of gun violence.”

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden also spoke out, saying they were “shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day.”

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WNBA star Brittney Griner sent a letter to the White House on Monday asking for President Joe Biden’s assistance in securing her release from Russia, where she has been detained for nearly five months. Griner has been held in a Russian prison since February, after she was arrested for allegedly carrying hashish oil in her luggage through a Russian airport. Griner’s trial began last Friday, and is scheduled to continue on July 7. If convicted, Griner faces up to 10 years in prison.

A portion of the letter was released by Griner’s representatives, saying in part: “as I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever.  I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore. I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home.”

The U.S. State Department reclassified Griner as being “wrongfully detained” in May, and transferred her case to the office of the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. This change allows the U.S. government to negotiate for her release instead of waiting for her trial to conclude.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in on the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, becoming the first Black woman on the bench.

The 51-year-old Jackson, a top federal appellate court judge and former public defender, was sworn in at noon following the retirement of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who ascended to the high court in 1994 and announced his resignation earlier this year. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the constitutional oath, and Breyer administered the judicial oath. Roberts said at the ceremony: “There will be a formal investiture in the fall, but the oaths will allow Judge Jackson to undertake her duties, and she’s been anxious to get to them without any further delay. On behalf of all of the members of the court, I am pleased to welcome Justice Jackson to the court and to our common calling.”

Jackson was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for about a year before ascending to the Supreme Court.  President Joe Biden had promised during his campaign for president in 2020 that he would nominate a Black woman to the court.

The Senate narrowly confirmed Jackson in April by a 53-47 vote, with most Republicans arguing that Jackson’s track record as a judge showed she is weak on crime. Jackson is the 116th Supreme Court justice, and will formally join the court when it begins its next term in October.

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In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court said on Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency has no authority in regulating carbon emissions from existing power plants.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that Congress must have a say in applying such rules: “In certain extraordinary cases, both separation of powers principles and a practical understanding of legislative intent make us ‘reluctant to read into ambiguous statutory text’ the delegation claimed to be lurking there. To convince us otherwise, something more than a merely plausible textual basis for the agency action is necessary. The agency instead must point to ‘clear congressional authorization’ for the power it claims.”

The liberal justices maintained that Congress already had given the EPA that authorization through the Clean Air Act. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent: “Today, the court strips the EPA of the power Congress gave it to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time. It deprives EPA of the power needed — and the power granted — to curb the emission of greenhouse gases.”

Led by West Virginia, the case was brought by a coalition of Republican-led states and coal companies that contested an earlier federal appeals court decision that said the EPA had the power to issue the kind of regulations they opposed. West Virginia’s lawsuit took issue with the 2015 Obama administration Clean Power Plan, which sought to lower carbon emissions by 32% by regulating existing coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants. The Obama administration had planned to require states to lower carbon dioxide emissions by replacing coal power plants with green energy sources.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, he replaced Obama’s initiative with a plan that essentially removed all regulations. But when President Biden took office, he reversed course and promised to slash greenhouse emissions nationwide dramatically.  Biden called the ruling “another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards.” He said in a statement: “While this decision risks damaging our nation’s ability to keep our air clean and combat climate change, I will not relent in using my lawful authorities to protect public health and tackle the climate crisis.”  Biden has ordered the Justice Department and other affected agencies to review the Supreme Court ruling and devise plans to allow federal law to cut back on emissions that cause climate change.

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