In The Flight Place At The Wrong Time
July 1, 2022
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, and the country has quickly made their feelings about the ruling known. Many surveys indicated that the general public disagrees with SCOTUS on the ruling, so we thought we’d ask our Daily Pnut readers! Please fill out our survey and let us know your thoughts on the decision, and feel free to share with your family and friends.
Please note, there will not be a new edition of Daily Pnut on Monday in observance of the Fourth of July.
“Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.” – Thomas Hardy
Overturning The Country Upside Down
So much for stare decisis, that Latin phrase meaning “let the decision stand.” Judges are supposed to give serious consideration to years of legal precedent before throwing it under the bus. Yet the Supreme Court’s current super-majority isn’t letting precedent, solid legal analysis, or the wishes of a majority of Americans stand in the way of implementing their super-conservative agenda. In the last few days this court has: (1) removed a constitutional right women had for almost 50 years to make their own reproductive decisions; (2) further blurred the line between church and state to strengthen the role of religion in public life; (3) expanded gun rights by striking down a 100-year-old New York law placing restrictions on carrying a concealed handgun in public; (4) overturned nearly 200 years of precedent recognizing tribal nations’ right to self-governance; and (5) sharply curtailed the federal government’s efforts to combat climate change.
Thursday, six conservative justices crippled the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to broadly regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants at a time when scientists are sounding ever louder alarm bells about the accelerating pace of global warming. The world is running out of time to get the climate crisis under control, and experts say this decision could set the U.S. back years. The decision also handicaps agency authority generally by invoking the so-called “major questions” doctrine. Prior to 2017, SCOTUS had applied this doctrine to strike down regulations in only a few exceptional circumstances. But the Trump Administration invoked it routinely to support its deregulatory efforts, and did so in inconsistent and expansive ways untethered to prior case law. Trump’s Justice Department turned the major questions doctrine into a weapon that could be wielded as a broadside attack on the administrative state. This ruling will impact the federal government’s authority to regulate not just other areas of climate policy, but the internet and worker safety, or any agency action that comes without clear congressional authorization.
That’s not even the worst. SCOTUS just agreed to hear a redistricting case next fall that could give state legislatures broad authority to run federal elections without the traditional oversight from a state constitution or judiciary. In other words, politicians could wind up with the power to literally change the outcome of an election. (CNN, NBC, Regulatory Review, ABC)
And The Tali-band Played On
- Hardline religious and ethnic leaders from across Afghanistan met Thursday for the first time to discuss girls’ education. No women took part in the gathering organized by the country’s Taliban rulers, who took control when Western forces withdrew from the country last August.
- At the time of the withdrawal, the Taliban appeared to assure that advancements Afghan women and girls had made over the last two decades wouldn’t be rolled back. But before long, high schools were closed to girls, and rulers said they would remain closed to girls until a plan could be drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen.
- A spokesman said the group would respect whatever those at the gathering decided on girls’ schooling, but that the final decision would be made by the Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhunzada. When civil society groups criticized the lack of female participation in the gathering, the Taliban acting deputy prime minister said women were involved because their male relatives would be attending. (Reuters)
Amazon Pride
- Homosexuality is criminalized in the United Arab Emirates, punishable by fines and imprisonment. Tech companies have compromised with restrictive governments in order to keep access to their markets.
- The Emirati government gave Amazon until Friday to comply with demands to restrict items and search results on its website that relate to LGBTQ people and issues, and Amazon has complied despite professing to be adamant about free speech in America.
- Of course, Amazon isn’t alone. Netflix has pulled shows in Saudi Arabia and censored scenes in Vietnam, Apple has stored customer data on Chinese servers despite privacy concerns, and Google removed an app for a Russian opposition leader last year after facing a threat of prosecution there. (NYT, $)
Additional World News
- Russia abandons Snake Island in victory for Ukraine (Reuters)
- Israeli parliament votes to dissolve, triggering fifth election in four years (CNN)
- Potential tropical storm could douse northern South America and Aruba (WaPo, $)
- Indonesian president offers to take message from Ukraine’s leader to Putin (Reuters)
- Companies in China are aiding Russia’s military, U.S. alleges (WaPo, $)
- North Korea accuses US of building an ‘Asian Nato’ ahead of security talks (Guardian)
- Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam sentenced to life in prison without parole (CNN)
Drills And Spills
- Congress requires the administration to hold regular oil and gas drilling auctions at five-year intervals. Former President Trump had proposed a vast expansion of drilling sales to cover more than 90% of coastal waters, including areas off California that hadn’t been offered since the 1980s, and new zones in the Atlantic and Arctic. Legal challenges blocked those plans.
- President Biden campaigned on a promise to end all new federal drilling to combat climate change; his early efforts to suspend leasing were also blocked. The Interior Department recommended that all federal offshore oil and gas drilling auctions over the next five years be located in the Gulf of Mexico, where the drilling industry has already been focused for decades.
- In May, Secretary Deb Haaland vowed to unveil the latest draft proposal ahead of the current plan’s June 30 expiration. But the rollout was delayed on Thursday. Undoubtedly Biden is having difficulty balancing his promise to wean the country off fossil fuels with the requirement to hold regular drilling auctions, and intense political pressure to boost energy supplies to ease soaring inflation. We don’t envy his conundrum. (Reuters)
In The Flight Place At The Wrong Time
- As if summer travel in 2022 wasn’t bad enough, experts say the July 4 weekend will likely be the busiest so far this year. 2.7 million brave souls are expected to flood the airports both Thursday and Friday, which would be challenging enough without adding in hundreds of cancellations and 30% of remaining flights taking off late.
- So, what better time for Delta Air Lines pilots unhappy over stalled contract talks to picket at airports across America? The Air Line Pilots Association International tried to calm worried potential passengers, saying the picketing was informational only and there would be no actual walkout. Might not be a bad idea to try scheduling a rent car just in case. At least if you’re driving you’re not tearing your hair out while wandering aimlessly around the airport. (Fortune, NBC News)
Additional USA News
- NY judge ends Trump contempt order after lengthy legal fight (NBC)
- New York governor: State to limit where guns can be carried (AP)
- Florida surgeon general tells lawmakers blocking orders to childhood vaccines could have led to delays (Politico)
- Some big-city district attorneys vow not to prosecute abortion cases, setting up legal clashes in red states (CNN)
- Abortion Ruling Prompts Privacy Guidelines From Biden Administration (WSJ, $)
- Biden plans to nominate anti-abortion lawyer as federal judge: Yarmuth (The Hill)
A Hop, Snip, And A Jump
- In light of the big roadblock the Supreme Court threw up at women by overturning Roe, all we can say is Thanks Guys for stepping up to do your part. That ruling not only sparked protests across the country and triggered a flurry of legal activity in state courts by abortion rights advocates, but it also led to more men seeking vasectomies.
- Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic said it usually gets three to four requests a day for the procedure, but from last Friday to this Wednesday it got 90. A urologist in North Miami, Florida said that calls to his clinic have increased so much that he’s considering going in on Saturdays to keep up with the demand for appointments. A Missouri urologist at Kansas City Urology Care said his office has been bombarded with calls seeking information about the procedure. “Since Friday, we’re up 900% in people looking to get a vasectomy,” he told NBC affiliate KSHB.
- Ohio, Texas, Florida, and Missouri are among the many states that had so-called trigger laws designed to quickly ban or severely restrict women from getting abortions after the Roe decision was reversed. So far, judges in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Utah, and Kentucky have temporarily blocked those bans, but who knows how long that will last, or if abortion providers will just be too afraid to risk it. No, more men should just volunteer to help out and get the snip-snip done. Be brave. After all, it’s reversible. Meanwhile, Governor Abbott down in Texas has vowed to simply eliminate all rapists, so that’s a good plan. (NBC, Reuters, Austin American-Statesman)
Additional Reads
- 14-year-old tiger dies after contracting COVID-19 at zoo (ABC)
- NASA scientists say images from the Webb telescope nearly brought them to tears (Ars Technica)
- Tianwen-1: China’s Mars probe has photographed the entire red planet (CNN)
- Discovery of 1955 warrant in Emmett Till’s murder sparks calls for arrest (Axios)
- Vermont sells its first winning Powerball ticket for $366 million (NBC)
- Wolves survived the ice age as a single, global population (Ars Technica)