Category: NEWS
Blue-city prosecutors in red states vow not to press charges over abortions
Dozens of elected prosecutors across the country — including a number representing blue cities nestled inside red states — are pledging to not press charges against patients or providers over abortion in the wake of Friday’s Supreme Court ruling giving states full control over abortion policy.
So far, 84 district attorneys and other prosecutors from 29 states and territories and Washington, D.C., have signed the statement distributed by Fair and Just Prosecution. Altogether, the officials represent jurisdictions covering 87 million Americans, according to the organization.
Significantly, the signatories include district attorneys in states like Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas — all Republican-controlled states with abortion “trigger bans” set to activate within a month, now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. Other prosecutors have also joined in via public statements online.
“Criminalizing abortion will not end abortion; it will simply end safe abortions, forcing the most vulnerable among us — as well as medical providers — to make impossible decisions,” the statement read. Later, it added: “Our legislatures may decide to criminalize personal healthcare decisions, but we remain obligated to prosecute only those cases that serve the interests of justice and the people.”
The statement marks a public, preemptive deployment of “prosecutorial discretion” in the battle over abortion policy. Prosecutors and law enforcement agencies have significant leeway over what cases they choose to pursue.
But it’s still unclear what practical effect the prosecutors’ stand will have in each state. Abortion providers are already suspending procedures in a number of states with bans already written into statute, like Planned Parenthood in Arkansas. Similar actions have taken place in Alabama, West Virginia and a slew of other states.
And while blue-city local prosecutors can choose what actions they do or don’t want to take, some states have the power to step in instead.
“If a local prosecutor says they won’t bring these cases and the attorney general disagrees with that, depending on the state, they may have the power to take the cases away and pursue them,” said University of North Carolina law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick, the director of the Prosecutors and Politics Project. “And in states where they don’t already have the power, they can simply pass a law that allows them to do that.”
Jefferson County, Ala., District Attorney Danny Carr, for example, is one of the letter-signers who pledged not to prosecute abortion patients or providers. Pima County, Ariz., District Attorney Laura Conover hasn’t signed on to the letter yet but has committed elsewhere not prosecute anyone assisting or receiving an abortion.
But Alabama and Arizona are among the states where state officials can decide to override local prosecutors for any reason, according to the …read more
South African police investigating at least 22 deaths at East London tavern
The bodies will be transported to state mortuaries where relatives are expected to help identify victims. …read more
Iran announces rocket launch as nuclear deal talks set to reopen
Iran is prepared to conduct a rocket launch as the country prepares to reopen negotiations with the U.S. regarding its nuclear program, Iranian state media announced. …read more
https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-announces-rocket-launch-nuclear-deal-talks-reopen
South Africa investigates unexplained pub deaths
Investigations are underway after at least 20 young people were found dead in a township bar. Authorities have said the bodies shown no signs of injury. …read more
Storm clouds at home dampen Biden’s return to Europe
ELMAU, Germany — President Joe Biden stepped back onto the world stage Sunday looking to rally the world’s most powerful free nations against a common foe. But turmoil back home has raised questions about the health of his own democracy and political standing.
Biden began a pair of Europe summits looking to reinforce the need for the world to continue to back Ukraine against Russia by urging democracies to prove that they can stand together to defeat the globe’s rising autocracies.
But his appearance at the G-7 in Germany’s stunning Bavarian Alps was overshadowed by the Supreme Court ruling to overturn abortion rights, delivering a staggering blow to his presidency and leaving other world leaders to condemn — and pity — what they have watched in the United States.
Biden announced that the G-7 would impose a ban on new imports of Russian gold in an effort to further weaken Moscow’s economy and punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of his neighbor. And Biden offered his central message for his week in Europe: that, despite growing fiscal strains, the West must continue to support Kyiv.
“We have to make sure us all stay together, and we’re going to continue working on the economic challenges we face, and I think we’ll get through all this and come out stronger,” Biden told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his first meeting of the summit.
“What Putin has counted on from the beginning is that somehow that NATO and the G-7 would splinter,” Biden said, “but we haven’t, and we’re not going to.”
But despite Biden’s efforts to refocus the meeting on Putin’s aggression, the gathering at picturesque Schloss Elmau in Krun was pushed from the front pages by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case that had protected national abortion rights for nearly 50 years. The ruling was cheered by many conservatives but, per polling, stands as broadly unpopular in the U.S. and has led to throngs of protests from angry, scared women and their allies.
Among the fiercest critics of the decision were some of the world leaders flanking Biden at the German castle on Sunday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deemed it “a big step backwards,” while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared, “No government, politician or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body.”
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in the hours after the ruling that “abortion is a fundamental right for all women.”
“I wish to express my solidarity with the women whose liberties are being undermined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” Macron wrote.
Biden has forcefully condemned the Court’s decision and has pledged to use the federal government to protect the ability of women to choose. But there was little under the purview of his executive powers to help millions of American women.
The decision on abortion came just days after Biden also forcefully denounced the Supreme Court’s ruling that dramatically weakened gun control measures. The rulings, driven by justices appointed …read more
AOC slams SCOTUS abortion decision, says women will die and too many children already in ‘poverty’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Arkansas leaders for banning most abortions following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision last week. …read more
Bundesliga: Hertha Berlin chooses former ultra as president
Fans have picked one of their own as Hertha Berlin’s new president, snubbing the ex-lawmaker favored by the investors. New club chief Kay Bernstein has called for a “new start.” …read more
Biden tells G7 allies to ‘stay together’ — as group moves to ban Russian gold imports
President Joe Biden told allies at a G7 summit Sunday that “we have to stay together” against Russia — as the group moved to ban imports of Russian gold. …read more
https://nypost.com/2022/06/26/biden-tells-g7-allies-to-stay-together-against-moscow/
G7: Scholz, Biden open summit with Ukraine topping agenda
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hosting the G7 summit with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the UK. Talks are set to focus on Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. …read more
After Supreme Court overturned New York’s concealed carry law, Americans react
Americans in New York City reacted to the Supreme Court ruling that overturned a law that restricted people’s ability to carry concealed firearms in public. …read more