Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott drew widespread condemnation from legal experts after he said Saturday that he is “working as swiftly” as the law allows to pardon a man who was convicted the previous day of murdering a racial justice protester in 2020. Daniel Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant, was …
Read More »We Are ‘Just Beginning,’ Tennessee GOP Boasts in Fundraiser After Expelling Democrats
Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams The Tennessee Republican Party waited less than 24 hours to start fundraising off the expulsion of two progressive lawmakers from the state House—openly bragging Friday about what critics have called a blatantly anti-democratic move that shows the party’s growing authoritarianism. State Reps. Justin Jones (D-52) and …
Read More »Biden Administration Appeals Judge’s Ruling Ordering Abortion Pill Off U.S. Market
Jennifer Shutt, Tennessee Lookout The U.S. Department of Justice launched an appeals process Friday that will likely put a landmark decision about access to medication abortion in front of the Supreme Court. The notice of appeal was filed less than three hours after a federal judge in Texas revoked the …
Read More »AOC Calls Biden Reversal on Protections for Trans Athletes a ‘Disgrace’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday was among the progressives denouncing the Biden administration’s newly proposed rules for transgender student-athletes, which critics said would open the door to discrimination at all age levels despite the U.S. Department of Education’s statement that “categorically” banning trans athletes from teams that align with their …
Read More »Federal Judge In Texas Suspends FDA Approval Of Abortion Pill
Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune In a potentially devastating blow for abortion access nationwide, a federal judge in Amarillo has suspended the approval of mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug that has been on the market for more than 20 years. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling will go into effect in …
Read More »Green Beret-Turned-Oath Keeper With Jan. 6 Ties Sentenced To 7 Years
Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Jeremy Brown, a self-described Oath Keepers member and lauded 20-year U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, was sentenced on Friday in Tampa to more than seven years in federal prison on weapons charges related to a federal investigation into his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 riot …
Read More »Ousted Tennessee Lawmaker Justin Jones Vows to Keep Fighting for Gun Control
Justin Jones, the Democratic Tennessee lawmaker who was expelled from the state Legislature on Thursday, said he was trying to protect all children from the scourge of gun violence—including the children of the Republican colleagues who subsequently voted to oust him—while vowing to keep fighting for gun control. Addressing the …
Read More »AOC Says Clarence Thomas ‘Must Be Impeached’ Over ‘Almost Cartoonish’ Corruption
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that the U.S. House should impeach right-wing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the wake of ProPublica reporting that exposed the judge’s billionaire-funded luxury vacations. “This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking—almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who …
Read More »Tennessee House Republicans Expel Two Democrats, Keep One, Over Gun Floor Protests
Adam Friedman, Tennessee Lookout The Tennessee House of Representatives voted along party lines to expel Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from its body for leading a floor protest over gun violence one week ago, but Rep. Gloria Johnson survived expulsion by one vote. The expulsion vote against Jones, …
Read More »Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Repeals 1931 Abortion Ban
Barbara Rodriguez Originally published by The 19th Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday signed into law a bill that repeals a 1931 abortion ban, cementing access in the state and fulfilling a promise she made during her reelection campaign. Whitmer signed the legislation surrounded by Michigan doctors, lawmakers and abortion …
Read More »Idaho Becomes First US State to Restrict Interstate Travel for Abortion Care
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday made his state the first in the U.S. to restrict interstate travel for abortion care by signing legislation that aims to prevent minors from traveling to obtain an abortion without parental consent. The Republican-authored law, H.B. 242, creates a new …
Read More »As Future Of Abortion Pill Is Weighed, Democrats In Congress See Little They Can Do
Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix U.S. Senate Democrats appear lukewarm about pursuing reproductive rights legislation in a divided Congress, even as a federal judge in Texas considers overturning access to abortion pills nationwide. Interviews by States Newsroom with Democrats who control the Senate by a narrow margin found little optimism they …
Read More »Senate Clears Measure To Undo Biden WOTUS Rule On Wetlands
Jacob Fischler, Michigan Advance Both Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the Biden administration’s intensely contested expansion of what qualifies as wetlands that the federal government can regulate. The Senate approved a resolution, sponsored by West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, that would revoke …
Read More »Tennessee House Republicans Move To Expel Three Democrats Over Floor Protests
Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout Republican lawmakers sponsored resolutions Monday to expel three Democrats who led a protest on the House floor last week as hundreds of people rallied outside the chamber for tighter gun laws before the session devolved into a fracas. The bills are aimed at state Reps. Justin …
Read More »Protasiewicz Wins Big In Seismic Shift For Wisconsin
Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner As Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz took the stage at her election victory party Tuesday night, the three current members of the liberal minority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court watched from off stage, arm-in-arm, as they took in the moment they became a majority. Protasiewicz, a …
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