Massachusetts voters become latest to try and keep Trump off ballot over Jan. 6 attack
Five voters in Massachusetts have become the latest to challenge former President Donald Trump's eligibility to appear on Republican primary election ballot in March, claiming he is ineligible to hold office because he encouraged and did little to stop the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Lawyers argue whether the Constitutionโs โinsurrectionโ clause blocks Trump from the 2024 ballot
Lawyers for a group of Colorado voters are focusing on the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol and former President Donald Trumpโs words and actions in a hearing that could determine whether the Constitutionโs insurrection clause bars Trump from running again for the White House.
Trump is 'not above the law,' prosecutors say in urging judge to let federal election case proceed
Federal prosecutors say Donald Trump is โnot above the lawโ as they are urging a judge to reject the former presidentโs efforts to dismiss the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Divided Supreme Court outlaws affirmative action in college admissions, says race can't be used
A divided Supreme Court has struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
Chileans resoundingly reject new progressive constitution
Chileans have resoundingly rejected a new constitution to replace a charter imposed by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago, dealing a stinging setback to President Gabriel Boric who argued the document would usher in a progressive era.
House passes domestic violence bill, pushes issue to Senate
The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act passed 244-172 with 29 Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the legislation. The White House announced its support earlier Wednesday for reauthorizing VAWA, which aims to reduce domestic and sexual violence and improve the response to it through a variety of grant programs. AdPresident Joe Biden introduced the original Violence Against Women Act in June 1990 when serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A subsequent version was eventually included in a sweeping crime bill that President Bill Clinton would sign into law four years later. Congress has reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act three times since.
EXPLAINER: What is the impact of racially diverse juries?
FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2021 file photo, A mural of George Floyd is seen in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. DOES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION REQUIRE DIVERSE JURIES? In the 1940 decision Smith vs. Texas, the high court ruled unanimously that the Constitution prohibits racial discrimination in the selection of grand juries, finding it โat war with our basic concepts of a democratic society and a representative government.โWHY ARE DIVERSE JURIES MORE LIKELY TO DELIVER FAIRER VERDICTS? โWith diverse juries, there are more vantage points,โ he said. Other studies have found similarly positive effects on juries, even if just one or two non-white jurors are included with a mostly white jury.
House Dems make case for conviction; Trump denies charges
The impeachment trial represents a remarkable reckoning with the violence in the Capitol last month, which the senators witnessed firsthand, and with Trumpโs presidency overall. AdThe impeachment trial, Trumpโs second, begins in earnest on Feb. 9. โThe only honorable path at that point was for President Trump to accept the results and concede his electoral defeat. Instead, he summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue,โ the Democrats wrote in an 80-page document. โThere is no โJanuary Exceptionโ to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution,โ the Democrats wrote.
Capitol siege by pro-Trump mob forces questions, ousters
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. The tragedy deepened late Thursday as a Capitol police officer injured in the melee died, the fifth death related to the riot. The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Officer Brian D. Sicknick died from injuries sustained responding to the riot on Wednesday at the Capitol. The procedure allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. Black lawmakers, in particular, noted the way the mostly white Trump supporters were treated.
Michigan lawmakers call on Pence to invoke 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office
Read: Experts: Capitol riot product of years of hateful rhetoricIn response, lawmakers are calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the Constitutionโs 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Learn more: What is the 25th Amendment and how does it work? The Vice President and Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment, or Congress should impeach and remove the President. โ Brenda Lawrence (@RepLawrence) January 7, 2021Rep. Haley Stevens, Michiganโs 11th DistrictI encourage those with the authority to invoke the 25th Amendment to exercise that power. pic.twitter.com/5VK8DLTLn4 โ David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) January 7, 2021Speaker of the U.S. House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, from California, previously introduced legislation in October requesting Congress to intervene under the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
What is the 25th Amendment and how does it work?
The 25th Amendment has never been used to remove a president -- but itโs there for a reason. The 25th Amendment, proposed by Congress and ratified by the states in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, provides the procedures for replacing the president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session.
Pence defies Trump, affirms Biden's win
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON โ Vice President Mike Pence defied President Donald Trump early Thursday morning as he affirmed President-elect Joe Bidenโs November victory, putting an end to Trumpโs futile efforts to subvert American democracy and overturn the results of the election. Pence acknowledged that reality in a lengthy statement Wednesday laying out his conclusion that a vice president cannot claim โunilateral authorityโ to reject states' electoral votes. Pence's move was an expected outcome, but one that carved a dramatic fissure between Trump and Pence, his once most loyal lieutenant. โIf Mike Pence does the right thing we win the election,โ Trump wrongly told supporters, who later marched through Washington and stormed the Capitol. He repeatedly returned to Pence throughout his speech, voicing frustration as he tried to pressure the vice president to fall in line.
Does Trump have power to pardon himself? It's complicated
WASHINGTON โ President Donald Trump has declared that he has the โabsolute rightโ to issue a pardon to himself. The Constitutionโs text โ affording the president โpower to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment" โ can be read to suggest that the Founding Fathers envisioned some sort of limitations on a presidentโs pardon power. The question of whether Trump will do it, though, is as unsettled as the question of whether he can. But, Tushnet said, Trump's lawyers could conceivably try to invoke double-jeopardy arguments to claim that a federal pardon should bar any New York state prosecution based on the same conduct. On the federal level, a self-pardon obviously handcuffs the Justice Department under President-elect Joe Biden from pursuing any federal case against Trump.
High court takes up census case, as other count issues loom
FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo an American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether the Trump administration can exclude people in the country illegally from the count used for divvying up congressional seats. It's the latest, and likely the last, Trump administration hard-line approach to immigration issues to reach the high court. Will the quality of the census data be hurt by a shortened schedule, a pandemic and natural disasters? Will a lame-duck Senate pass legislation that could extend deadlines for turning in census numbers?
Seattle, Portland, New York sue over Trump's 'anarchy' label
New York, Seattle and Portland, three cities recently labeled "anarchist jurisdictions" by the U.S. Justice Department, are suing to to invalidate the designation and to fight off the Trump administration's efforts to withhold federal dollars. โThe Trump administrationโs political threats against Seattle and other Democratic cities are unlawful and an abuse of federal power," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a news release announcing the federal lawsuit. The Justice Department last month identified New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle as three cities that could have federal funding slashed. โTheyโve actually taken this anarchist designation and started to include it in applications for federal grants,โ Johnson said. As much as $12 billion in federal money affecting health, transportation and law enforcement programs could be at stake, Johnson said.
Her words: Amy Coney Barrett on faith, precedent, abortion
___โI donโt think abortion or the right to abortion would change. Itโs never appropriate for a judge to impose that judgeโs personal convictions, whether they derive from faith or anywhere else on the law.โ โ 2017 Senate hearing. โ 2017 Senate hearing. Its members might be seen as partisan rather than impartial and case law as fueled by power rather than reason.โ โ Texas Law Review. If she is not sure enough, the preference for continuity trumps.โ โ Texas Law Review.
AP Explains: What happens if a candidate for president dies?
But what happens if a candidate for president dies before Election Day? Instead, they are voting for slates of electors who will pick the president and vice president as members of the Electoral College. In modern U.S. elections, the meeting of the Electoral College is essentially a ceremonial confirmation of the choice made by voters. If no candidate reaches 270 electoral votes, the House chooses the president and the Senate chooses the vice president, in a process spelled out in the Constitution. In 1824, Andrew Jackson won a a plurality of the popular vote and the most Electoral College votes.
Her words: Amy Coney Barrett on faith, precedent, abortion
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Some notable quotes from Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor and current judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Itโs never appropriate for a judge to impose that judgeโs personal convictions, whether they derive from faith or anywhere else on the law.โ โ 2017 confirmation hearing. โ 2017 confirmation hearing. Its members might be seen as partisan rather than impartial and case law as fueled by power rather than reason.โ โ Texas Law Review. If she is not sure enough, the preference for continuity trumps.โ โ Texas Law Review.
What happens if the US election is contested?
Even if the election is messy and contested in court, the country will have a president on Inauguration Day. But states' electoral votes have to be cast on Dec. 14. When the electors meet, the candidate who gets at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes wins. But what happens if election issues still prevent a winner from being named? In a contingent election, House members have to choose among the three people with the most electoral votes.
Court: Secret videos can't be used in Kraft massage case
The state 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Kraft's rights were violated under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Police say the recordings show Kraft and other men engaging in sex acts with women and paying them. Police say they twice recorded Kraft, a widower, paying for sex acts at the Orchids of Asia massage parlor. He said detectives had to fully record all massages, because the sex acts happened at their conclusion and 95% of male customers received one. DeSousa said even if the court finds police violated innocent customers privacy rights, the Supreme Court has ruled that in most circumstances, only improperly seized evidence should be thrown out.
Oklahoma voters to decide whether to expand Medicaid
OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma voters will decide Tuesday whether to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of low-income residents and become the first state to amend their Constitution to do so. While an increasing number of Oklahoma voters took advantage of mail-in voting for Tuesday's primary, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. statewide. Amending the Oklahoma Constitution will prevent the Republican-controlled Legislature, which has resisted Medicaid expansion for a decade, from tinkering with the program or rolling back coverage. Oklahoma is one of 14 states, along with neighboring Texas and Kansas, that have not expanded Medicaid under the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority has projected that about 215,000 residents would qualify for a Medicaid expansion, for a total annual cost of about $1.3 billion.
California affirmative action vote prompts 'tough' debate
What am I to do, without even having the decency of a conversation to discuss the difficulties of race? Low asked his colleagues on Wednesday. If we cant even have these tough conversations, what do you think is going to happen to the electorate?" Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, who authored the repeal, apologized on the Assembly floor just before the vote for not contacting lawmakers individually. This is not the same California that voted on this 25 years ago, said Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, a Democrat from Los Angeles. California State University, the nations largest four-year public university with 23 campuses and nearly 482,000 students, has a student body that is nearly 75% people of color.
Work from home Congress? House OKs proxy votes
The House approved Friday a package of historic rules changes so Congress can keep functioning even while it's partly closed. Under the new rules, House lawmakers will no longer be required to travel to Washington to participate in floor votes. House lawmakers will be able to draft bills, conduct oversight and even issue subpoenas from the comfort of their homes. A key Trump ally, McCarthy argues if other Americans are at work, Congress should be, too. But Republicans warn there will be legal challenges to legislation passed during this period, questioning the constitutional legitimacy of proxy votes.
Ginsburg: Equal Rights Amendment backers should start over
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON, D.C. โ Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Monday that those like her who support an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution should start over in trying to get it passed rather than counting on breathing life into the failed attempt from the 1970s. โI'd like it to start over.โCongress sent the amendment, which guarantees men and women equal rights under the law, to the states in 1972. In addition to Virginia, Nevada and Illinois also voted to ratify the amendment after the deadline, in 2017 and 2018 respectively. So if you count a latecomer on the plus side, how can you disregard states that said we've changed our minds?โGinsburg has previously expressed the view that the amendment โfell three states short of ratification.โGinsburg has been a champion of the Equal Rights Amendment for decades. She said her answer is โnot quite.โGinsburg noted that every Constitution in the world written since 1950 has the equivalent of an Equal Rights Amendment.
Tucson sanctuary city, Colorado sports betting before voters
Voters in the West are deciding several ballot measures Tuesday, including one that would make Tucson, Arizona, a sanctuary city and initiatives that would legalize sports betting in Colorado and an affirmative action referendum in Washington state. Among the highlights:ARIZONAPeople in Tucson are being asked to designate it as Arizona's only sanctuary city. Proposition 205 was started by a group of activists looking to give a voice to the city's sizeable Latino communities. Tucson's entire City Council, all Democrats, is opposed, citing concerns about the potential for losing millions of dollars in state and federal funding. COLORADOA measure that would legalize sports betting and tax it to help conserve water is being considered in Colorado.
Congressional Democrats subpoena Trump organization
Sullivan previously told the Justice Department that it could not yet appeal his decisions that allowed the case to move forward into evidence-collection. It's an extraordinary step for the Justice Department to go around a lower court's decision before a case is resolved. Trump has repeatedly accused Democrats of "presidential harassment" in their efforts both to obtain his financial records and haul in his closest aides to testify. In other court cases, Trump's private legal team has argued that the Democrats' subpoenas have no legislative purpose and invade his privacy. Democrat-led House committees have subpoenaed Trump's financial records from multiple entities that keep them.
Federal judge blocks Trump policy keeping asylum seekers detained
Copyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration policy denying bond hearings to asylum seekers. US District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that people who are detained after entering the US to seek protection are entitled to bond hearings and the chance to be released from custody under the Constitution. The policy would have effectively blocked concerted efforts by immigration lawyers and immigrant rights advocates to push for bond hearings for detained asylum seekers. Michael Tan, a senior staff attorney with ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, celebrated the ruling Tuesday as having "forcefully rejected" the administration's efforts. "The court forcefully rejected the Trump administration's bid to arbitrarily jail asylum-seekers without a hearing," Tan said in a statement.
Michigan AG taking strong stance to back Detroit pensions
DETROIT โ The ultimate decision facing Judge Steven Rhodes is this: Does Michigan's Constitution, which protects retiree pensions, supersede federal bankruptcy law? That's what Attorney General Bill Schuette is going to argue. "My job as attorney general is to aggressively advocate that position," the AG said. Detroit's emergency manager and the high-powered restructuring specialists working on the city's Chapter 9 filing believe that federal law trumps Michigan's Constitution. "Anybody who knows me knows that I'm an attorney general that supports and defends the Constitution," he said.