A Little Love For June 12 | Dreamers Graduate Into Uncertain Futures As DACA Decision Looms
June 10, 2020
LOVING IS EASY
|June 12 marks “Loving Day” which celebrates the day the Supreme Court struck down bans against interracial marriage in 1967. The case was Loving v. Virginia and Richard and Mildred Loving were at the very heart of the dispute (all puns very much intended). N’dea Yancey-Bragg with USA Today writes, “In the five decades since the decision, interracial marriage has increased dramatically. In 2015, one in six newlyweds had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity which is more than five times higher than the number of intermarried newlyweds in 1967, according to Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.”
WHAT TIMING
|“Three days after GEORGE FLOYD was killed in the custody of Minneapolis police, the Supreme Court’s justices met privately to consider a raft of long-pending appeals asking them to review a legal doctrine that makes it difficult for many victims of abusive policing to sue the perpetrators. The timing was coincidence, and the court has taken no action on the petitions. But the multitude of cases—including one from Minneapolis—underscores the power of qualified immunity.” Jess Bravin and Brent Kendall with The Wall Street Journal report on the wave of criticism that is washing over the Supreme Court’s qualified immunity doctrine.
POWER TO THE PROTESTERS
|The timing of ongoing protests over police brutality and racial injustice may also have an impact on a petition to the Supreme Court from a Black Lives Matter leader, DERAY MCKESSON. His petition involving a First Amendment dispute over rights of assembly, petition and speech takes on new importance as protests continue in cities big and small all over the country. Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal reports.
CHOOSE YOUR CHOICE
|“A little more than a year ago, special counsel ROBERT MUELLER released his report concerning Russian interference in the 2016 election and PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S efforts to obstruct that investigation. Remarkably, Congress still has not seen the entire, unredacted report. The Department of Justice withheld portions of the report that concerned grand jury matters, and it has fought the release of those excerpts to Congress. Now, the Supreme Court will decide whether Congress can view the unredacted report, as centuries of precedent dictate, or whether the Trump administration can continue to obstruct Congress’ legitimate oversight request.” Ashwin Phatak argues in Slate that SCOTUS needs to choose the rule of law in this dispute — and quickly. Phatak suggests the Supreme Court either decline to hear the case at all, or hear it over the summer on an expedited timeline.
A SECOND CHANCE
|Neil Vigdor with The New York Times reports death row inmate BOBBY MOORE, who was at the center of a SCOTUS ruling that exempts people with intellectual disabilities from being executed, was granted parole on Monday. He had been sentenced to death in 1980, but justices ruled last year that Mr. Moore was intellectually disabled after rejecting the Texas methodology for diagnosing such disabilities.
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
|Christine Stephenson with USA Today covers the graduation of INDIRA ISLAS, a Dreamer who is one of 600 students graduating from universities this year after receiving help from TheDream.US scholarship fund. “TheDream.US students have faced more hardship than the average graduate. They’re graduating into what might be the worst economy since the Depression, just like everyone else. But they also have to worry about their lives being ripped away at any moment.” Islas has dreams of becoming a doctor, but ever since DONALD TRUMP was put in office she’s been holding her breath on whether that dream may ever happen.