Talk of the Town
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order signed last year that required proof of citizenship to register to vote and demanded mail-in ballots be received by Election Day.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii law that prohibits the carry of a firearm onto private property that is open to the public unless the property owner gives express consent.
In a 6-3 decision by Justice Samuel Alito, the court’s conservative majority said the law imposed “severe restrictions on the daily activities” of lawful gun owners in violation of the Second Amendment.
“Rather than allowing all to enter private property open to the public unless specifically prohibited, these new laws provided that no one carrying a firearm may enter without express authorization,” Alito wrote.
“The Hawaii law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” the opinion said.
The ruling, which likely also invalidates similar laws in California, Maryland, New York and New Jersey, is a setback for gun control advocates that had argued the measures were necessary for public safety in places like shopping malls, bars, restaurants, theaters, farms, arenas and private beaches.
Hawaii had argued that there is no such thing as a right to armed entry onto private property without consent, pointing to a handful of historical examples of similar laws since America’s founding.
But the court’s conservatives concluded that those analogues were “outlier legal rules adopted in a few locales.”
“Overwhelming evidence shows an enduring American tradition permitting public carry,” Alito wrote.
While private property owners may still prohibit firearms on their premises, the onus now falls entirely on those owners to post signage banning guns. The default rule, in essence, is that lawful gun owners may carry their weapons unless told otherwise, according to the decision.
Forty-five states presume that it is okay to carry guns on private property open to the public unless property owners make their contrary wishes clear.
In dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said the ruling “only further binds the hands of modern legislatures attempting to balance and protect their residents’ interests.”
“Today’s decision makes one thing clear: The Court’s objective is protecting guns, not consistently preserving any principle of law,” Jackson wrote.
The National Rifle Association, which backed the challenge to the Hawaii law, praised the majority decision in a statement on X.
“Law-abiding gun owners will no longer be forced to beg for special permission simply to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms in public places,” wrote NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford.
Brady, a gun safety group, slammed the court’s decision as “deeply dangerous” and one that “privileges guns over everything and all people in society.”
“This common-sense law is what the people of Hawaii wanted, but the court has complete disregard for that community will. Ultimately, the court makes it clear that it cares little about the threat of gun violence posed to the American people,” said Kris Brown, the group’s president.
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(NEW YORK) — Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday morning that she is suspending her U.S. Senate campaign, leaving Graham Platner as the likely Democratic nominee to face off against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Mills cited financial resources as a reason for suspending her campaign.
“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else — the fight — to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills said in a prepared statement. “That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate.”
The latest Federal Election Commission filings from Q1 show Planter raised roughly $1.4 million more than Mills and has roughly $1.7 million more cash on hand.
Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran, also regularly polled significantly higher than Mills.
Mills’ announcement came just one day before the Maine Democratic Convention was scheduled to begin — and more than five weeks before the state’s June 9 primary.
Mills and Platner were scheduled to participate in their first televised debates of the campaign in May alongside David Costello.
Sen. Bernie Sanders supported Platner, while Sen. Chuck Schumer had previously announced his endorsement of Mills.
In a statement issued Thursday morning by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in part, “After years of allowing Trump’s abuses of power, Senator Collins has never been more vulnerable and we will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner to defeat her.”
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
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(WASHNGTON) — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to sign an order to pay “all” employees at the Department of Homeland Security amid the record-long agency shutdown.
“Help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” Trump wrote in a post to his social media platform.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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