Day: September 20, 2020

Biden in 2016: SCOTUS Confirmation Can Happen ‘a Few Months Before a Presidential Election’ If Senate Is Involved in Pick

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Former vice president Joe Biden said in 2016 that he would have considered a Supreme Court justice nominee in an election year if the president had consulted the senate on the nominee.

“I would go forward with the confirmation process as chairman even a few months before a presidential election. If the nominee were chosen with the advice and not merely the consent of the Senate just as the constitution requires,” Biden said during a 2016 speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

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Commentary: For the Sake of the Constitution, and the Country, Fill Ginsburg’s Seat Quickly

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at the age of 87. Her passing was not unexpected. On the contrary, her steadily worsening condition over the past several years left her increasingly incapacitated. After Donald Trump’s election in 2016, many on the Left expressed dismay that she chose to stay on the court rather than resign and let President Obama nominate her replacement. 

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Feds Explored Possibly Charging Portland Officials in Unrest

The Associated Press

The Justice Department explored whether it could pursue either criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland, Oregon, after clashes erupted there night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators, a department spokesperson said Thursday.

The revelation that federal officials researched whether they could levy criminal or civil charges against the officials — exploring whether their rhetoric and actions may have helped spur the violence in Portland — underscores the larger Trump administration’s effort to spotlight and crack down on protest-related violence. The majority of the mass police reform demonstrations nationwide have been peaceful.

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Trump Promises to Nominate a New Justice ‘Without Delay’

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President Donald Trump promised Saturday to nominate a new Supreme Court justice “without delay.”

“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices,” the president tweeted Saturday morning, tagging the Republican Party in his tweet.

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Almost 20 Percent of New York Millennials Blame Jews for the Holocaust

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Nearly 20% of New York’s Millennials and Gen Z believe the Jewish people are to blame for The Holocaust, a nationwide survey released Wednesday found.

While The Holocaust resulted in over 11 million deaths, 36% of respondents under age 39 believed the total death count of Jews was “two million or fewer,” according to a nationwide survey of young people by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also known as the Claims Conference.

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Homes Burned as Winds Push California Fire into Desert Floor

The Associated Press

Strong winds pushed a wildfire burning for nearly two weeks in mountains northeast of Los Angeles onto the desert floor and spread it rapidly in several directions, causing it to explode in size and destroy homes, officials said Saturday.

Meanwhile, officials were investigating the death of a firefighter on the lines of another Southern California wildfire that erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender.

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Commentary: NYU Prof Says More Than 20 Percent of Universities Could Fail Because of the Lockdowns

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As bad as the COVID-19 lockdown has been in any number of sectors of the US economy, colleges and universities have been hit particularly hard. Restaurants and movie theaters have physical plants that continue to cost them money regardless of whether they are serving food or showing movies. Hotels have it even worse, because they are far more expensive to maintain. But colleges and universities have it worse still. Their physical plants include not only housing and dining facilities, but also recreation areas, classrooms, and expansive grounds. In addition, colleges and universities have staff that often number hundreds of times that of hotels.

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Hispanics in Virginia Significantly More Likely to Have COVID-19 Antibodies than Other Adults, VDH Study Says

Jacob Taylor

Hispanic adults are four times more likely to have prior traces of a COVID-19 infection when compared to the average Virginian, according to a Virginia Department of Health (VDH) study published Friday.

The Coronavirus Serology Project was conducted this summer from June 1 to August 14 by adult patients in Virginia presenting non-COVID related symptoms agreeing to complete a questionnaire and provide a blood sample for antibody testing. 

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Large Numbers of Early Voters Might Not Change Final Election Results

Eric Burk

It looked like the release of a new iPhone. Across Virginia, hundreds of people lined up outside polling places on the first day of early voting on Friday. The Virginia Public Access Project is reporting that already, over 600,000 more Virginians have requested mail-in ballots than in 2016. However, political pundits warn that large increases in early voting might not affect final results that much.

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Virginia Election Ballots to Feature Proposed Constitutional Amendment on a New Redistricting Commission

Jacob Taylor

When Virginians submit their ballots for the November elections they will not just be voting for the president or members of Congress, they will also be deciding how the state’s redistricting system will work going forward.

Redistricting is constitutionally mandated to occur every ten years after the completion of the most recent U.S. Census. 

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Gov. DeWine Did a Number of Things to Address COVID-19 This Week

Ben Kolodny

Governor Mike DeWine’s office released a review of the state’s COVID-19 status and response as well as a list of actions taken by the state.

The governor updated this week’s coronavirus numbers, which saw 69 counties remain at their current level of exposure, and Preble County being downgraded from a level 3 to a level 2. In other COVID-19 news, the state has it’s own dashboard for COVID tracking of children and schools in conjunction with the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and local health departments.

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Michigan Judge Rules Absentee Ballots That Arrive up to Two Weeks After Election Day Still Valid

Jordyn Pair

A Michigan state judge ruled on Friday that absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day can still be counted.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled that absentee ballots that are postmarked for November 2 can still be counted even if they arrive up to two weeks after polls close on Election Day, according to reporting from CNN and ABC News. Absentee ballots were previously only allowed to be counted if they arrived before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

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Ohio Schools Report Low Cases of COVID-19 During Beginning of School Year

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With the majority of Ohio school students back in the classroom, at least on a hybrid learning model, new data show COVID-19 cases related to school districts is relatively low.

Ohio’s new school dashboard and children’s dashboard launched this week, reporting 197 students and 122 staff members across Ohio have tested positive for the virus. That number is less than 1 percent of Ohio’s total cases so far.

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Minnesota Secretary of State Sends Letters Telling Those Who Haven’t Requested Absentee Ballots to Vote from Home

Corinne Murdock

Minnesota’s Secretary of State Steve Simon is sending letters telling those who haven’t requested an absentee ballot to vote from home. An estimated 2.3 million voters will receive the letter and an absentee ballot application.
The letter asserts that staying safe and keeping other citizens healthy “means voting from home.” 

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Attorney Warns That Mayor John Cooper and Others are Privately Seeking Ways to Sabotage the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act

Chris Butler

Members of the Metro Nashville Election Commission met privately Friday, and at least one of the five commission members refused to say what they discussed, even though it was government business.

Nashville attorney Jim Roberts told The Tennessee Star Saturday that he suspects commission members met to discuss ways to undermine the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. As reported last month, this referendum, if approved, would roll back Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s 34-37 percent tax increase. The referendum would also limit property tax rate increases to 2 percent every year without voters approving it. Voters are scheduled to decide during a December 5 referendum.

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