News from The Morning Dispatch.
- The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday in favor of Joseph Kennedy, a former assistant football coach at a public high school in Washington state who was placed on administrative leave (and whose contract was ultimately not renewed) after repeatedly praying at midfield following his team’s games and allowing students to join him. Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch held that Kennedy’s conduct was protected by the First Amendment and did not violate the Establishment Clause. “Learning how to tolerate speech or prayer of all kinds is ‘part of learning how to live in a pluralistic society,’ a trait of character essential to ‘a tolerant citizenry,’” Gorsuch wrote.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday the alliance will dramatically scale up the number of troops it keeps on high alert, from about 40,000 to 300,000. “[Russia has] chosen confrontation instead of dialogue,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “We regret that, but of course then we need to respond to that reality. And that's exactly what we do with the fundamental shift in our deterrence and defense.”
- At least 46 migrants were found dead on Monday in the back of a tractor-trailer near San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base in what is believed to be the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history. Sixteen survivors were transported to nearby hospitals, while San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told reporters the recovered bodies were “hot to the touch” and that there were no signs of water or functioning air conditioning on the rig. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released earlier this month showed immigration arrests along the southern border reached an all-time high in May, putting the agency on pace to surpass a record 2 million detentions in fiscal year 2022. Ed Gonzalez—President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—said Monday he would withdraw his nomination for the role, having languished in legal limbo 14 months
- At least 18 people are dead and 59 injured after Russian forces launched a series of missiles at a shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, according to Ukraine’s emergency service. More than 1,000 civilians were reportedly inside the mall at the time of the attack, leading officials to believe the casualty count will continue to rise. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky labeled Russia the “largest terrorist organization in the world,” noting the shopping center was far from the frontlines of the war and had “no strategic value.”
- U.S. Central Command announced yesterday that CENTCOM forces conducted a kinetic strike in Syria’s Idlib province on Monday, allegedly killing Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, the leader of Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda-linked group. CENTCOM claims the strike targeted al Yemeni while he was traveling alone on a motorcycle, and that there were no civilian casualties.
- A district court in Louisiana issued a temporary restraining order on Monday blocking Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Health Department Secretary Courtney Phillips from enforcing the state’s “trigger laws” that went into effect following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and would have banned most abortions, with exceptions only for the life of the mother. Abortion will remain legal in the state through at least July 8 when the hearing for the case begins.
- CVS Health, Walmart, and Rite Aid have begun rationing over-the-counter emergency contraception pills with demand for the medication—commonly known as Plan B—skyrocketing in the wake of last week’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson.
- New York State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio ruled Monday that New York City’s plan to allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections starting next year violates New York’s constitution.
- In a sign the Justice Department’s investigation into the matter is ramping up, John Eastman—the constitutional lawyer who advised then-President Donald Trump in the wake of the 2020 election and played a key role in Trump’s efforts to remain in power beyond the end of his term—said yesterday that federal agents seized his iPhone last week, on the same day law enforcement officials raided former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s home. Eastman filed a lawsuit seeking the return of his phone, claiming the warrant used to secure it “mentions no crime at all.”
- At least three people died—and multiple others were injured—when an Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed on Monday in Mendon, Missouri. According to Amtrak, the train derailed after striking a truck that was obstructing a public crossing.
