July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

July 29, 1870:   America’s first asphalt pavement was laid in Newark, N.J. Previously, coal tar was used for many pavements laid in the 1860s. The first recorded asphalt pavement in the U.S. was a sand mix placed in front of the City Hall in Newark, N.J., in 1870. Edmund J. DeSmedt, a Belgian chemist (who became the inspector of asphalt and cements for the District of Columbia) held a U.S. patent for this asphalt paving method, granted on 31 May 1867. In that century most roads, even in cities, were wide dirt pathways, severely affected by weather. Smooth surfaced asphalt roads originally were for the benefit of bicyclists. By 1904, only 141 miles were surfaced, but commonplace by 1916. Natural asphalt deposits were originally used, but almost all of the asphalt used commercially is now made from petroleum. (National Asphalt article) (see March 7, 1876)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

National Conference of Colored Women

July 29, 1895: the First National Conference of Colored Women Convention was held in Boston. The participants gathered to assert their position as a critical component of the women’s movement, to discuss the issues and challenges facing African-American women, and to debate how best to move forward in light of those challenges.  (Black Past dot org article) (see January 12, 1896)

Lynchings protest

July 29, 1918: in response to the increase of racially motivated killings (83 lynchings were recorded in 1918 alone), the National Liberty Congress of Colored Americans asked Congress to make lynching a federal crime. Despite attempts over the next several decades, anti-lynching legislation never passed. (Black In Time article) (next BH, see Aug 17; next Lynching, see Sept 28; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Hazel Scott

July 29, 1950: Hazel Scott was a popular jazz pianist/singer in the early 1940s. For several months in 1950, she had a regular television show on the small Dumont network (which soon went out of business).

As such, she was the first African-American to have his or her own television show. (Most people believe that Nat King Cole was the first). Scott was politically active on civil rights and left-wing issues, performing at many fund-raising events. She was named as a Communist sympathizer in the notorious anti-communist report Red Channels (see June 22). Then, on July 22, she was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee HUAC). A week later, on this day, Dumont cancelled her show, and her career never fully recovered. (Smithsonian article on Scott) (Red Scare, see Sept 22; BH, see Sept 1)

Moderation urged

July 29, 1964: in response to urban riots in New York City, Philadelphia, and other cities, moderate civil rights groups on this day urged a moratorium on demonstrations and other forms of protest until after the presidential election. They were concerned that any future violence might help elect Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who had opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as president in November. The more militant groups, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), refused to suspend protests and issued a separate statement arguing that demonstrations had been crucial to civil rights progress and should not be suspended. (see July 30)

Stop and Frisk Policy

July 29, 2014: Police unions lost their bid to challenge a ruling concluding that the city’s stop-and-frisk tactics are sometimes discriminatory — moving the city a step closer toward changing the program.

The stop, question and frisk program had drawn criticism for its effect on minorities, but has also won praise for its role in reducing crime.

In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said five police unions representing the majority of the NYPD’s 35,000 employees lacked legal standing to pick up where the city left off when it decided to settle the case last year rather than pursue an appeal.

The unions said a finding of discrimination against minorities within the stop-and-frisk program had damaged the reputations of the nation’s largest police force.

But Torres said unions’ claims rested “on the flawed assumption that anonymous officers who have not taken part in this litigation have a reputational interest arising from the court’s finding against their employer.”

She added: “As a general matter, employees suffer no legally protectable reputational harm merely because their employer is found liable in a lawsuit.”

The judge said the unions had presented no evidence of serious reputational harm or how the findings were highly injurious.

“Nor do the unions provide examples of how their members’ careers have been `tarnished,’ `adversely affected’ or how officer integrity has been impugned,” Torres said. [ACLU S & F statistics] (see Nov 11)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones

July 29, 1903:  Mary Harris “Mother” Jones led a march to New York City to plead with President Theodore Roosevelt to help improve conditions for the children, demanding a 55 hour work week. On this date, a preliminary delegation from the March of the Mill Children from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt’s summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, publicizing the harsh conditions of child labor, arrived. They were not allowed through the gates. (Fem Bio article on Jones) (see Nov 14)

United Farm Workers

July 29, 1970: 26 grape growers in Delano signed contracts with UFW ending a five year strike. [NYT article] (see July 30, 1970)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

July 29, 1957: the U.S. Ratification of the International Atomic Energy Agency by President Eisenhower, marked the official birth of the IAEA. In the press conference following the signing ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., President Eisenhower evoked his address to the UN General Assembly in December 8, 1953, at which he had proposed to establish the IAEA.

“In fact, we did no more than crystallize a hope that was developing in many minds in many places … the splitting of the atom may lead to the unifying of the entire divided world.” (Nations Encyclopedia article) (see Aug 1)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

July 29, 1958: President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 into law, establishing NASA. The American program had been delayed in part because Eisenhower insisted that the space program should be a non-military operation, and that it should not reconfigure defense missiles for space exploration. (text) (see Dec 6)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

see July 29 Music et al for more

Suze Rotolos

July 29, 1961: after seeing him play at a folk musc day at the Riverside Church. Suze Rotolos became an enthusiastic fan. The Rotolos family lived above the Cafe Society Downtown, a little theatre in Greenwich Village. She lived with her mother, Mary, a widow, and her sister Carla, Above the Rotolos, on the fourth floor, lived Miki Isaacson, whose living room was a permanent crash pad for folk singers, including Dylan, who was pleased to be staying near Suze. The two soon became an item.

At about the time she met Dylan, Rotolo began working full time as a political activist in the office of the Congress of Racial Equality and the anti-nuclear group SANE. It was not until they met that Dylan’s writing began to address issues such as the civil rights movement and the threat of nuclear war.

Unfortunately the love affair was doomed. Their breakup in 1964 yielded some of his greatest early love songs – Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right and subsequent family squabbles with the Rotolos were documented in Ballad In Plain D, on Another Side Of Bob Dylan. (see Sept 14)

Help!

July 29, 1965: The Beatles’ second film Help! had its royal première at the London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus, London. Ten thousand fans gathered outside to see the group arrive in a black Rolls-Royce. Inside the Pavilion they met Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, who had delayed their summer holiday for the event. (see Aug 6)

Dylan’s motorcycle accident

July 29, 1966: Dylan was involved in a motorcycle accident. The seriousness of the accident is still unknown. Dylan’s biographers have written that the crash offered him the much-needed chance to escape from the pressures that had built up around him. Dylan confirmed this interpretation of the crash when he stated in his autobiography, “I had been in a motorcycle accident and I’d been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race.” In the wake of his accident, Dylan withdrew from the public and, apart from a few select appearances, did not tour again for almost eight years. [2016 Seattle Times article] (see February – December 1967)

Beatles v Jesus

July 29, 1966: John Lennon’s March 4 interview with Maureen Cleave in which he says “We’re more popular than Jesus” appeared in American teen magazine, “Datebook.” Within days of publication, anti-Beatle sentiment builds up and American disc jockeys in the southern States encourages the destruction of Beatle records and memorabilia at bonfire rallies. Also enforced was a radio ban on Beatle records that was started by a Birmingham, Alabama D.J. The ban picked up momentum by other radio stations in the southern Bible belt. By August 6, thirty US radio stations have banned all Beatles records from airplay.

World reaction to John’s remarks:

• South Africa: Piet Myer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation temporarily banned Beatles records from being played and noted that “The Beatles arrogance has passed the ultimate limit of decency. It is clowning no longer.”
• Spain: three radio stations immediately bans the airing Beatle records.
• Holland: one radio station banned the airing of Beatle records. (Beatles, see July 3– – Sept 2; Lennon’s remarks, see Aug 5 )

Light My Fire

July 29 – August 18, 1967: “Light My Fire” by the Doors #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Road to Bethel

July 29, 1969: Woodstock Ventures served with papers to appear in court regarding impact of festival on local summer youth camps and local homeowners. An out-of-court settlement agreed to with camps. Judge George Cobb stated that he’d hand down his decision on August 14—the day before the festival was to begin.

The abandoned Diamond Horseshoe hotel ready for workers to move in.  (see Chronology for expanded story)

Cherry Garcia

July 29, 1987: Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream introduced their signature flavor, and first celebrity-themed flavor, “Cherry Garcia.” (GD, see August 9, 1995; CM, see December 17, 1989)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

 

July 29, 1967: fire swept the U.S. aircraft carrier Forrestal off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was the worst U.S. naval disaster in a combat zone since World War II. The accident took the lives of 134 crewmen and injured 62 more. Of the carrier’s 80 planes, 21 were destroyed and 42 were damaged. (Times Machine article) (see Aug 4)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Charles & Di

July 29, 1981: a worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watched the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ & BSA

July 29, 1992: James Dale, 21-year-old Rutgers University student and former Eagle Scout, sued the Boy Scouts of America, saying his membership was revoked two years ago after the Scouts found out he was gay. Dale said the Boy Scouts taught him to take pride in who he is. “I owe it to the organization to point out to them how bad and wrong this policy is,“

The Monmouth Council [NJ] of the Boy Scouts of America said Dale did not meet the standards of leadership set by the national organization, which prohibits homosexuals. (BSA/Dale, see March 3, 1998; LGBTQ, see May 5, 1993)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Dr Britton Killed

July 29, 1994: abortion opponent Paul Hill shot and killed Dr. John Bayard Britton and Britton’s bodyguard, James H. Barrett, outside the Ladies Center clinic in Pensacola, Florida. (Hill was executed on September 4, 2003.) (NY Times article) (see Sept 13)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

Clinton testifies

July 29, 1998: Clinton agreed to testify voluntarily and Starr’s office withdraws the subpoena. Clinton’s testimony is set for August 17 at the White House. 

Clinton fined

July 29, 1999: U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright ordered President Bill Clinton to pay $90,686 for giving false testimony in the civil sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by Paula Jones. (see Clinton for expanded story)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

July 29, 2010: President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, an act to help the Federal Government better address the unique public safety challenges that confront tribal communities. According to a Department of Justice report, Native American women suffer from violent crime at a rate three and a half times greater than the national average. One in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes. (NCAI article) (see February 14, 2011)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

July 29, 2011: U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a request by historian Stanley Kutler, and others to unseal the testimony given by President Richard Nixon on June 23 and 24 in 1975. Nixon had been questioned about the political scandal during the 1970s that resulted from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington.

Lamberth ruled in the 15-page opinion that the special circumstances, especially the undisputed historical interest in Nixon’s testimony, far outweighed the need to keep the records secret. “Watergate significance in American history cannot be overstated,” Lamberth wrote, adding that the scandal continues to attract both scholarly and public interest. “The disclosure of President Nixon’s grand jury testimony would likely enhance the existing historical record, foster scholarly discussion and improve the public’s understanding of a significant historical event,” he said. (see Watergate for expanded story)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ & Westboro Baptist Church

July 29, 2013: members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., appeared at a Macklemore concert in Kansas City, Mo. to protest the song “Same Love,” about sexual equality and gay marriage. (MYNorthwest article) (LGBTQ, see Aug 26 ; WBC, see August 20)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

July 29, 2016

• a U.S. appeals court struck down a North Carolina law that required voters to show photo identification when casting ballots, ruling that it intentionally discriminated against African-American residents. The ruling, a victory for rights advocates that enabled thousands of people to vote more easily. (NPR article)
• Judge Larry Hendricks, a Shawnee County district judge, ruled that the votes of 17,500 people whose registrations had been questioned would be tallied in Tuesday’s primary. Hendricks issued a temporary order, meaning the votes will be counted Tuesday. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Kobach on behalf of Kansas voters who were told that they could vote in federal elections but that their votes in state and local elections would not be counted. Kobach argued that by ruling against him, the state would be letting people who weren’t U.S. citizens vote in the primary.
• S. District Judge James Peterson threw out as unconstitutional a host of Wisconsin election laws passed in recent years, saying they unfairly benefited Republicans who had enacted them and made it more difficult for Democrats to vote. Peterson’s ruling keeps in place the state’s voter identification law, unlike recent rulings in North Carolina and Texas, but he ordered broad changes. (Chicago Tribune article) (see May 11, 2017)

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

World Trade Center

July 29, 2019: President Trump signed the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund bill into law during a ceremony in the State Dining Room.

July 29 Peace Love Art Activism

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Silent protest

July 28, 1917: up to 10,000 African Americans silently paraded down New York City’s Fifth Avenue to protest lynchings in the South and race Revolts in the North. The NAACP and Harlem leaders organized the protest as the U.S. was going to fight “for democracy” in World War I. One parade banner read: “Mr. President, why not make America safe for democracy?” (HuffPost article) (next BH, see Aug 23;  next lynching, see “In April 1918″; silent protest, see June 17, 2012; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Albany Movement

July 28, 1962: Martin Luther King Jr and, twenty-seven were arrested and jailed during two prayer protests in fron of Albany City Hall.  (BH, see July 28; see Albany for expanded story)

James H Meredith

July 28, 1962: the US Court of Appeals ordered the University of Mississippi officials to enroll Meredith, a 29-year-old African American and who served nine years in the Air Force. (see September 13, 1962)

George Whitmore, Jr

July 28, 1970: The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division unanimously affirmed George Whitmore, Jr.’s third conviction in the Elba Borrero case. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

 Stop and Frisk Policy

• July 28, 2007: New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the NYPD was not meeting its legal obligation to publicly release all its stop-and-frisk data. (see Nov 20)
• July 28, 2015: NYPD officers conducted nearly 50 percent fewer stop-and-frisk encounters in the first quarter of 2015 year than they did in 2014, but the percentage of minorities stopped was still greater than 80 percent, close to the level reported in previous quarters, the latest statistics show.  Keeping in line with Commissioner William Bratton’s policy of reducing the number of stops, the NYPD performed a total of 7,135 stop-and-frisks in the first quarter of 2015, down from 14,261 in the same period last year, a decline of 49.9 percent, police data showed. (see April 4, 2016)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Long Beach, LI

July 28, 1920: the police chief of Long Beach, New York, on Long Island, announced that women would be permitted to wear one-piece bathing suits, without either shoes or stockings. He added, however, that “there must be no immorality,” and that his officers “will see to that.” (see Aug 20)

Hillary Clinton

July 28, 2016: Hillary Clinton became the first woman to become a major party’s nominee for the presidency of the United States. [transcript of acceptance speech] (see Aug 18)

Salem Witchcraft Exoneration

July 28, 2022: Elizabeth Johnson Jr, who had confessed to practicing witchcraft during the 1693 Salem witch trials, was the only remaining person convicted during those trials whose name had not been cleared. Though she was sentenced to death, after she and more than 20 members of her extended family faced similar allegations, she was granted a reprieve and avoided the death sentence.

The exoneration came 329 years after her conviction, tucked inside a state budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker. The exoneration was the product of a three-year lobbying effort by a civics teacher and her eighth-grade class, along with a state senator who helped champion the cause.

“I’m excited and relieved,” Carrie LaPierre, the teacher at North Andover Middle School, said in an interview on Saturday, “but also disappointed I didn’t get to talk to the kids about it,” as they are on summer vacation. “It’s been such a huge project,” Ms. LaPierre added. “We called her E.J.J., all the kids and I. She just became one of our world, in a sense.” [NYT article] (next Feminism, see July 21, 2023)

Feminism & Crime and Punishment

July 28, 2023: President Joe Biden signed an executive order giving decisions on the prosecution of serious military crimes, including sexual assault, to independent military attorneys, taking that power away from victims’ commanders.

The order formally implements legislation passed by Congress in 2022 aimed at strengthening protections for service members, who were often at the mercy of their commanders to decide whether to take their assault claims seriously. [AP article] (next Feminism, see January 11, 2024 ; next C & P, see Aug 24)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Bonus March

July 28, 1932: President Herbert Hoover ordered the army, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, to forcibly evict the Bonus Marchers. MacArthur’s men set camps on fire and drove the veterans from the city. Public and press criticized Hoover, increasingly regarded as insensitive to the needs of the nation’s many poor, for the severity of his response. (Washington Post article) (see June 22, 1944)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

July 28, 1948:  a challenge was filed to a New York state law that permitted public school students to be released so that they could take religious instruction classes at religious institutions. The suit claimed that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. (R & PE, see Sept 27 ; release time, see April 28, 1952)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

McCarthyism

July 28, 1954: the film, On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan, premiered in New York City. Kazan had been criticized for “naming names” to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), on April 10, 1952. The film was regarded as his statement on the importance of giving testimony to investigating committees, and a reply to his former theater colleague and friend Arthur Miller. Miller’s play, The Crucible (see, January 22, 1953). (RS see Aug 18; Kazan, see March 21, 1999)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Sodomy laws repealed

July 28, 1961: Illinois repeals its sodomy laws, becoming the first U.S. state to decriminalize homosexuality. The repeal went into effect on January 1, 1962. (ACLU article on history of sodomy laws)(see September 11, 1961)

Virginia

July 28, 2014: Judge Henry F. Floyd  ruled that Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional in the first such decision by a federal appellate court in the South.

“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws,” wrote Floyd.

The 2-1 ruling applied throughout the circuit that also includes West Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas. (Washington Post article) (see Aug 4)

Tennessee

July 28, 2015: Tennessee State Rep. Rick Womick announced that he had advised 95 county clerks in a letter to ignore the June 26 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows gays to get married.

“I write to you today regarding the recent Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) opinion on the definition of marriage,” states the letter by Womick, a Republican from Rutherford County’s Rockvale community southwest of Murfreesboro. “It has come to my attention that most, if not all of you, have been contacted by AG (attorney general) Herbert Slatery and the (Gov. Bill) Haslam administration and have been told to uphold the SCOTUS opinion or face a discrimination lawsuit.”

Womick had suggested that the governor, also a Republican, should be impeached for failing to enforce the Tennessee Constitution that bans gay marriage due to an amendment approved in a voter referendum in 2006. (DNJ article) (see Aug 5)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Troop increase

July 28, 1965: President Johnson announced his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 and to double the number of men drafted per month from 17,000 to 35,000. (see Aug 3) 

Operation Popeye

July 28, 1972: sponsored by Senators Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin and Clairborne Pell, the US Senate voted for an amendment to cut off Defense Department funds for any use of rainmaking or creation of forest fires as a weapon of war.

The US Dept of Defense continued to deny such operations and also refused to discuss the operational aspects in Vietnam  (V, see Aug 11; see Popeye for expanded story)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

July 28 Music et al

Road to Bethel/July 28, 1969

• a benefit was held at the Village Gate (NYC) to raise money for scholarship funds to enable young artists to exhibit at Woodstock. Performers at the benefit included Marian McPartland, Les McCann, and Robert Flack. (see July 28)
• Bethel town meeting for presentation of the all-inclusive draft of festival to NY State Health Department lasted 8-hours as many residents challenged each part of presentation, but all questions were answered. The Bethel Businessman’s Association voted to support festival. (see Chronology for expanded story)

Cultural Milestone

July 28, 1973: “The Summer Jam” at Watkins Glen, NY held. The rock festival once received the Guinness Book of World Records entry for “Largest audience at a pop festival.” An estimated 600,000 rock fans came to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway outside of Watkins Glen, to see The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and The Band perform.

Similar to the 1969 Woodstock Festival, an enormous traffic jam created chaos for those who attempted to make it to the concert site. Long and narrow country roads forced fans to abandon their vehicles and walk 5–8 miles on a hot summer day. 150,000 tickets were sold for $10 each, but for all the other people it was a free concert. The crowd was so huge that a large part of the audience was not able to see the stage; however, twelve huge sound amplifiers, installed courtesy of legendary promoter Bill Graham, allowed the audience to at least hear. (next Cultural Milestone, see June 26, 1974; see Watkins for expanded story)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Weather Underground

July 28 , 1970: Bank of America HQ in NYC is bombed around 3:50 AM. WUO claims responsibility. (see Weather for expanded story)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

July 28, 1998: the United Auto Workers union ended a 54-day strike against General Motors. The strike caused $2.8 billion in lost revenues. (World Socialist Web site article) (see Oct 13)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

Immunity

July 28, 1998: in a dramatic breakthrough, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a full immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents, Marcia Lewis and Dr. Bernard Lewinsky.

Filegate

July 28, 2000: the final report on the so-called “filegate” scandal unsealed by a federal appeals court, and Whitewater Independent Counsel Robert Ray said the report shows no evidence of misconduct by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton or former White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum. (see Clinton for expanded story)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

July 28, 2005: the Provisional IRA issued a statement formally ordering an end to the armed campaign it has pursued since 1969 and ordering all its units to dump their arms. (see Troubles for expanded story)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

July 28, 2012: Michael Walli, Sister Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed cut through three fences and broke into a $548 million storage bunker for nuclear weapons. Inside the most secure part of complex they defaced a bunker holding bomb-grade uranium, hung banners, strung crime-scene tape, and hammered off a small chunk of the fortress-like Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. (NYT article) (Nuclear and Rice, see May 8, 2013)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Mississippi blocked

July 28, 2014: a federal appeals panel blocked a Mississippi law that would have shut the sole abortion clinic in the state by requiring its doctors to obtain admitting privileges at local hospitals, something they had been unable to do.

By a 2-to-1 vote, the panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that by imposing a law that would effectively end abortion in the state, Mississippi would illegally shift its constitutional obligations to neighboring states. The ruling was the latest at a time when states, particularly in the South, were increasingly setting new restrictions that supporters say address safety issues and that critics say are intended to shut clinics.

 “A state cannot lean on its sovereign neighbors to provide protection of its citizens’ federal constitutional rights,” Judge E. Grady Jolly wrote.  “Pre-viability, a woman has the constitutional right to end her pregnancy by abortion,” he continued. This law “effectively extinguishes that right within Mississippi’s borders.”

Mississippi officials had argued that women seeking abortions could always drive to neighboring states, such as Louisiana or Tennessee, to obtain the procedure, an argument the panel rejected.

The decision did not overturn the Mississippi law or explore whether the admitting-privilege requirement was justified on safety grounds. Rather, the panel said, the law could not be used to close the sole clinic in the state. (NYT article) (see Aug 4)

State of Washington

June 28, 2016: the Supreme Court allowed Washington state to require pharmacies to dispense Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, rejecting an appeal from pharmacists who said they had religious objections to providing the drugs.

The justices’ order left  in place rules first adopted in 2007 following reports that some women had been denied access to emergency contraceptives that are effective when taken within a few days of unprotected sex. Pharmacies must fill lawful prescriptions, but individual pharmacists with moral objections can refer patients to another pharmacist at the same store. (Washington State AG article) (see Aug 18)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

Paul Shanley released

July 28, 2017: after 12 years behind bars, Paul Shanley, the former Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of child rape charges was released from prison according to Jay Dias of the Massachusetts Department Of Correction.

Shanley, 86, was convicted in 2005 of two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child and two counts of rape and abuse of a child, according to the sex offender registry. With his release, he would begin 10 years of supervised probation, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.

Shanley was one of a number of priests convicted of abuse charges in the wake of reporting from The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team that revealed the Catholic Church’s pedophile priest scandal.

Shanley’s release sparked backlash from a group representing victims of the scandal. “Age, a change of title or location doesn’t change a pedophile,” said Barbara Dorris, managing director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “For now, I just hope the officials who housed him, employed him, and protected him have an obligation to make sure this never happens again.” (Boston Globe story) (next SAC, see Nov 22)

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick charged

July 28, 2021: former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after a Vatican investigation confirmed he had sexually molested adults as well as children, has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy during a wedding reception in 1974, court records show.

McCarrick was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, according to documents filed in the Dedham District Court (MA).

He was the first cardinal in the U.S. to ever be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor, according to Mitchell Garabedian, a well-known lawyer for church sexual abuse victims who is representing the man alleging the abuse by McCarrick.

“It takes an enormous amount of courage for a sexual abuse victim to report having been sexually abused to investigators and proceed through the criminal process,” Garabedian said in an email. “Let the facts be presented, the law applied, and a fair verdict rendered.” [AP article] (next SAC, see Dec 13); next McCarrick, see August 30, 2023)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

July 28, 2020: the Trump administration continued its push to roll back DACA — the program that protects young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children — by refusing to accept new applicants.

“I have concluded that the DACA policy, at a minimum, presents serious policy concerns that may warrant its full rescission,” said Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf in a memo explaining the administration’s decision.

According to that memo, the administration will continue to renew DACA protections for the roughly 640,000 immigrants who already have them — but only for one year, not for two years, as was previously the policy. [NPR story] (next IH, see Aug 16; next DACA, see Nov 14)

July 28 Peace Love Art Activism