SCOTUS will hear challenge to affirmative action
SCOTUS will hear challenge to affirmative action
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are lawful, putting the fate of affirmative action in higher education at risk. The court has repeatedly upheld similar programs, most recently in 2016. But the court’s membership has tilted right in recent years, and its new conservative supermajority is almost certain to view the challenged programs with skepticism, imperiling more than 40 years of precedent. If the Supreme Court follows its usual practices, it will hear arguments in its next term, which starts in October. A decision is not likely until the spring or summer of 2023.
George Floyd’s civil rights focus in opening arguments of fed’l trial
The most important piece of evidence used to convict Derek Chauvin of murder last year was a bystander video that showed the former Minneapolis police officer suffocating George Floyd with his knee. But defense lawyers for three of Chauvin’s fellow officers, who are accused of violating Floyd’s civil rights, began their case Monday by telling a federal jury that there is far more to the story than the video — an argument that Chauvin’s lawyer also used at trial. From the very start, the defense lawyers acknowledged that Floyd’s death was devastating, before making their arguments that their clients were not responsible.
James Webb Telescope reaches destination
After traveling nearly 1 million miles, the James Webb Space Telescope arrived at its new home Monday. The spacecraft’s arrival checks off another tricky step as scientists on Earth prepare to spend at least a decade using the observatory to study distant light from the beginning of time. The $10 billion telescope launched to space Dec. 25. But the telescope still needed to power through the first leg of its setup phase. Earlier this month, the observatory unfurled its heat shield and deployed its mirrors and other instruments with few surprises — a remarkable feat given the telescope’s novel design and engineering complexity.
Judges approve grand jury in Georgia election probe
Judges have approved a request for a special grand jury by the Georgia prosecutor who’s investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure Georgia officials to throw out Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week sent a letter to county superior court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher asking him to impanel a special grand jury. Brasher issued an order Monday saying the request was considered and approved by a majority of the superior court judges.
By wire sources
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