WJI's Daily Reads for June 3, 2022

WIZM: Lisa McDougal appointed to Richland County bench.

Bloomberg Law: U.S. Supreme Court still hasn't issued half of its opinions this term.

Amid signs of internal discord, the US Supreme Court is waiting until the bitter end to do the largest share of its work in more than 70 years.

The court is due to issue 33 opinions, a whopping 53% of its expected total in argued cases, as its 2021-22 term comes to an end in the next month. 

Slate: More reasons not to rely on Justice Samuel Alito's version of abortion history.

But in the real world, Oregon prosecutors never even considered prosecuting Dunn for performing the abortion. Quite the opposite. Appearing before the Oregon Supreme Court, attorneys for the state insisted that “abortion is not a crime” under Oregon law unless it results in the death “of a quick fetus.” Dunn had accordingly broken no law because he performed Kruse’s abortion prior to quickening—the point at which a fetus makes its first noticeable movement, as early as fifteen or sixteen weeks in pregnancy. . . .

Correcting the historical record matters. Noted conservative and libertarian originalists like professors Michael McConnell and Randy Barnett have argued that the 14th Amendment’s original meaning protects unenumerated rights that a substantial majority of states respected for a lengthy period of history. That describes the legal status of pre-quickening abortion throughout our nation’s early years: It was permitted by every state at the founding and still by a majority of states when the 14th Amendment was ratified. Contrary to Alito’s opinion, in other words, history and tradition actually support a constitutional right to abortion for much of early pregnancy.

Hawaii News Now: Youths sue Hawaii over climate change.

NPR: Michael Avenatti gets four years for stealing book proceeds from Stormy Daniels.

Government Technology: N.H. city building surveillance network with home footage.

Manchester homeowners, businesses and just about anyone with a security camera would be able to feed their video to Manchester police under an information system under consideration by the department.

Police said video feeds would be integrated and used in real time to assist officers who are responding to a crime. It also could save time for detectives, who now have to approach people and ask for their security camera video while investigating a crime.

Yahoo News: Peaceful protestors suing to purge government records tracking their activities.

TITAN Fusion Center — short for Terrorism Information Threat Assessment Network — in Salem is among 79 TITAN centers across the United States according to the National Network of Fusion Centers website. Oregon's TITAN Fusion Center combines state and federal law enforcement resources with a mission to "protect Oregon citizens from terrorist and criminal activity by providing an all-crimes criminal information clearinghouse supporting by multiple agencies," according to the program's website. . . .

"None of the plaintiffs engage in or support, nor have ever engaged in or supported criminal activity that would warrant Oregon DOJ's attention or fall within Oregon DOJ's delegated powers," the lawsuit states.