June, 30 2023, 11:48am EDT
ACLU Responds to Supreme Court Ruling in 303 Creative, Inc. v. Elenis
The Supreme Court this morning issued its ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis. David Cole, Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union, offered the following response:
“The Supreme Court held today for the first time that a business offering customized expressive services has the right to violate state laws prohibiting such businesses from discrimination in sales. The Court’s decision opens the door to any business that claims to provide customized services to discriminate against historically-marginalized groups. The decision is fundamentally misguided. We will continue to fight to defend laws against discrimination from those who seek a license to discriminate.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Colorado filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject the First Amendment challenge to a Colorado civil rights law requiring businesses open to the public to treat customers equally.
303 Creative, Inc. v. Elenis is a part of the ACLU’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket.
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Far-Right Prime Minister of Slovakia Shot in Assassination Attempt
Robert Fico was in "life-threatening condition" after the shooting.
May 15, 2024
This is a developing story... Check back for possible updates...
Robert Fico, the right-wing prime minister of Slovakia who has aligned himself with Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in "life-threatening condition" Wednesday after being shot "multiple" times in what the government called an assassination attempt.
Fico was shot in the town of Handlova after attending a government meeting and greeting supporters.
Slovakian outlet Aktualityreported Fico had two gunshot wounds in his arm and one in his abdomen.
Fico was first elected prime minister in 2006, and has faced corruption allegations during his political career. He resigned in 2018 during mass protests over the killing of an investigative journalist who was conducting a government probe, and was again elected last September.
The prime minister has opposed mainstream European Union policies and sending military aid to Ukraine, and Slovakia became the first country to halt such aid in October after Fico took office.
Stunned reactions poured in from leaders in Slovakia and around the world, with President Zuzana Čaputová, a staunch defender of Ukraine, condemning the shooting "in the strongest possible terms."
Orbán said he was "deeply shocked by the heinous attack against my friend."
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Cable News Refused to Report Trump's Bombshell Quid Pro Quo Offer to Big Oil Execs
"The most under-covered Trump story is his complete selling-out of the American people on issues they care about most," one political insider said.
May 15, 2024
Major cable news networks Fox News Channel, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC all failed to cover former President Donald Trump's promise to Big Oil executives that he would reverse President Joe Biden's climate regulations if they donated $1 billion to his campaign, according to an analysis published by Media Matters for America late Tuesday.
When the news first broke, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch wrote, "You won't read a more important story today." Yet, in the four days after the story broke, it only received 48 minutes of cable airtime—all on MSNBC.
"The most under-covered Trump story is his complete selling-out of the American people on issues they care about most," Jesse Lee, a former Biden communications adviser, posted on social media in response to the report. "If gas prices go up soon, these same networks that ignored Trump's $1 billion oil bribe will cover it constantly—and crucify Biden."
"He is basically saying he's going to destroy the planet that our children... are growing up on just if these guys will write him a check."
The story of Trump's quid pro quo offer to fossil fuel executives was first reported by The Washington Post on May 9. It detailed a dinner the former president hosted at Mar-a-Lago in April attended by leaders of oil and gas firms including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Occidental Petroleum. During the dinner, Trump told the executives that a $1 billion donation would be a "deal" for the industry "because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him."
To assess how cable covered—or didn't cover—the story, Media Matters for America looked at the transcripts from May 9 to May 12 for CNN; Fox News Channel; MSNBC; ABC's "Good Morning America," "World News Tonight," and "This Week;" CBS' "Mornings," "Evening News," and "Face the Nation;" and NBC's "Today," "Nightly News," and "Meet the Press." They searched the transcripts for the words "Trump," "former president," or "Mar-a-Lago" close to the words "oil," "donor," "executive," "billion," "industry," "fossil," or "fuel," as well as any version of the words "environment" or "CEO."
Only the MSNBC transcripts turned up any results. These included:
- Just over 18 minutes—or nearly 40% of the total—on "Velshi" on May 11, featuring interviews with climate activist Bill McKibben, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington president Noah Bookbinder, and The Atlantic's David A. Graham.
- A discussion on the May 9 edition of "Alex Wagner Tonight" between host Wagner and guests former Obama Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and former Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
- An interview on the May 10 edition of "All in With Chris Hayes" with New York Times climate reporter Lisa Friedman.
- An exchange on the May 11 edition of "Alex Witt Reports" between host Witt and New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker.
- An interview on the May 12 edition of "Ayman" with Princeton University sociology professor Kim Lane Scheppele and New York Times columnist and analyst Michelle Goldberg.
- Mentions on "The ReidOut" and "The Weekend."
Several of the MSNBC interviews did highlight the importance of the story—which has prompted an investigation by a top House Democrat.
McKibben told Ali Velshi that "in a very real sense this is the most important climate election ever."
Others focused on the blatant corruption of the exchange. Graham noted that it was particularly brazen.
"He is making it clear what the quid pro quo is without any kind of pretense. It's just right here, 'You give me money; I'll do what you want me to do,'" Graham told Velshi.
Rhodes called it "basic pay-to-play corruption," adding, "He is basically saying he's going to destroy the planet that our children... are growing up on just if these guys will write him a check."
There were also comments on what the news said about the fossil fuel executives themselves.
"These are the same executives who, in the wake of January 6, said, 'We're not going to support people who undermined our democracy,'" Bookbinder pointed out. "And there they are, these couple of years later, meeting with Donald Trump, courting his support, hearing his offer—his demands—that they give a billion dollars to his campaign."
Baker told Witt: "I think it's going to confirm for a lot of people who are already suspicious of the fossil fuel industry that they have, over the years, bought off Washington writ large. That's been a longtime conviction on the part of people who think that the energy industry has too much power."
"It's going to cause a lot of cynicism, obviously, especially if Donald Trump were to win and then to try to roll back some of these climate initiatives," Baker continued. "People will make the assumption—and it will have some obvious evidence to back it up—that he is doing so in exchange for large contributions from an industry that's affected by it."
They will, that is, if they caught the 48 minutes of reporting the story received.
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Biden Moves Forward With 'Immoral' $1 Billion Arms Shipment to Israel
The new shipment was announced "right after the State Department admits Israel has 'likely' used U.S.-supplied weapons in violation of humanitarian law," said one journalist.
May 15, 2024
Less than a week after U.S. President Joe Biden said he was pausing a shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel, citing concerns over the safety of civilians in Rafah and other "population centers" in Gaza, the White House informed Congress Tuesday that it will soon send over $1 billion more in arms and ammunition to the Israel Defense Forces.
The package includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds, congressional aides toldTheAssociated Press.
Despite the Biden administration's repeated claims that it believes U.S. bombs should not "be dropped in densely populated cities," Intercept reporter Prem Thakker pointed out that the arms shipment was announced days after the State Department admitted in a report that it was "reasonable" to conclude Israel has used U.S. weapons to violate international humanitarian law in its relentless bombing of Gaza.
It was unclear whether the $1 billion shipment was part of an existing arms sale or a new transaction with Israel. The weapons are not among those included in the $17 billion in military aid for the IDF included in a foreign aid package passed last month.
At Al Jazeera, Shihab Rattansi reported that the weapons shipment is "being presented as the long-term U.S. commitment to supplying Israel with weaponry" and "has been under consideration since mid-spring," with some of the weapons potentially not reaching the IDF for months or even up to three years.
But foreign policy analyst Rula Jebreal suggested that regardless of whether the weapons are used in Rafah, where Israel is currently expanding its assault, the shipment goes "against U.S. national security interest and global standing" and will aid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "on his lawless path of colonization."
The shipment was announced ahead of a statement released by Amnesty International and other humanitarian groups condemning international governments—including that of the U.S.—for standing by as Israel has killed at least 35,173 Palestinians in Gaza since October while also blocking nearly all humanitarian aid, pushing part of the enclave into famine that is expected to spread.
The U.S. and other suppliers of weapons to Israel must respect last month's United Nations Human Rights Council resolution demanding an end to weapons sales to the IDF, said the groups.
"As the main weapon provider for Israel's military effort, the United States bears a significant responsibility for Israel's international humanitarian law violations. In addition to halting the transfer of high payload bombs, the U.S. should also use all its leverage to halt the ongoing military operation in Rafah," said the organizations, including Relief International and Oxfam. "All states must act now to ensure an immediate and sustained cease-fire."
Amnesty released an analysis late last month showing that U.S. bombs were used in attacks on Gaza that likely fit the definition of war crimes.
Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum reported Wednesday from Deir el-Balah, Gaza that Israel has intensified its attacks on Rafah as well as in cities in northern Gaza.
"Over the past couple of hours, we have recorded more victims in central areas of Gaza City," reported Abu Azzoum. "Ten Palestinians have been killed in the city's Sabra neighborhood after a U.N.-run clinic was targeted by Israeli jets."
The IDF said Tuesday that it had hit more than 100 targets across the Gaza Strip in a 24-hour period and was continuing to carry out attacks in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced since October.
Nearly 450,000 people have now been forced to flee the southern city once again, and Al Jazeerareported Tuesday that at least one family that escaped Israel's Rafah incursion was killed days later in an attack on a refugee camp.
Moving forward with another weapons shipment to Israel, said U.S. economic justice group Debt Collective, was "murderous" and "immoral."
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