Judicial Benchmarks

• SCOTUS rules for Trump on presidential immunity: In the most consequential and highly anticipated decision on this year’s Supreme Court docket, the justices ruled 6-3 in Trump v. United States that a former president has “absolute immunity” from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts. As Fox News reports, “The Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The question stemmed from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal election interference case in which he charged former President Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.” This, then, is yet another damaging blow to Smith’s case against Trump and his reputation for fundamental decency. Speaking for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The nature of presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” while adding, “There is no immunity for unofficial acts.” No free passes for despots, but the justices at least temporarily saved our nation from banana republican status by making it far less likely that a former president can be prosecuted by an embittered political opponent.

• SCOTUS once again punts on a First Amendment case: This morning, while the Supreme Court moved forcefully to protect the American president from political prosecution, it once again punted on a hugely important matter of free speech. Instead of defending the First Amendment, the High Court returned to lower courts the efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and other social media platforms regulate their user-posted content. As the AP reports: “While the details vary, both laws aimed to address conservative complaints that the social media companies were liberal-leaning and censored users based on their viewpoints, especially on the political right. The cases are among several this term in which the justices are wrestling with standards for free speech in the digital age.” Writing for the majority, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said, “The judgments are vacated, and the cases are remanded, because neither the Eleventh Circuit nor the Fifth Circuit conducted a proper analysis of the facial First Amendment challenges to Florida and Texas laws regulating large internet platforms.” As such, this Supreme Court term concludes as a bleak one for the defense of First Amendment liberties.

Politics

• “Dementia!” she cried: If the Democrats’ decision to prop up Joe Biden can be called elder abuse, then what we saw from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday could fairly be called elder self-abuse. Appearing with CNN debate moderator Dana Bash, Pelosi tried to convince us that the sad spectacle we saw on Thursday night was a distraction from the real issue, which is Donald Trump’s dementia. “This is an opportunity,” she said, “for Joe Biden to go out there and show he has the stamina and the rest. And, by the way, while the press … there are, uh, uh, healthcare professionals who think that, that, uh, Trump has dementia. That his connection — his thoughts do not go together, not only that he just lies; he doesn’t even know the truth.” That’s the old Goldwater trick, the old crazy-by-proxy smear. If only she hadn’t been slurring her words when she did so. What we have here, then, is the surreal circumstance of a dementing octogenarian defending a fellow dementing octogenarian by claiming that a comparatively vital and vigorous septuagenarian has dementia.

• “Bedwetter brigade”? Really? Following Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last Thursday — a performance that even has Democrats calling for him to step down — his campaign not only decided to gaslight his supporters but take it a step further. “If you’re like me, you’re getting lots of texts or calls from folks about the state of the race after Thursday,” reads an email sent out to Biden campaign supporters. “Maybe it was your panicked aunt, your MAGA uncle, or some self-important podcasters.” While offering “a few responses,” the email even acknowledges that “the debate started rough," but it quickly shifts gears, claiming that "voters saw what a threat Donald Trump is to the country.” It then labels Democrats who are calling on Biden to drop out of the race as members of the “bedwetting brigade.” The email asserts that Biden dropping out of the race “is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose.” It then insists, “Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted. He won overwhelmingly.” Insulting the concerned party faithful seems a strange tactic since it only serves to reveal just how worried Team Biden is.

• Biden-Trump debate ratings down significantly from 2020 (Daily Wire)

• France’s right-wing leads first round of parliamentary election (Washington Examiner), triggers leftist protests (Breitbart)

Immigration

• Illegal alien crime: Violent crime committed by illegal aliens has become a growing phenomenon. In Albany, New York, an illegal alien from Turkey was arrested last week and charged with raping a 15-year-old girl. In Syracuse, New York, an illegal alien from Ecuador was arrested and charged with murdering a young woman on June 18, her 21st birthday. And also last week in Irving, Texas, a 37-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of two Chick-fil-A employees. Police say it appears that the murders were “a targeted incident and that this was not a random act of violence.” This would seem to indicate a likely gang-related hit. All of these crimes can be tied directly to Joe Biden’s border malfeasance. Indeed, not only are Biden administration officials allowing illegals to enter the country, but they are also going out of their way to return to the country those aliens who were deported under Donald Trump. The excuse for this taxpayer-funded lawlessness: Trump denied migrants’ asylum requests, which could lead to lawsuits from leftist immigration activist groups.

• Judge blocks Oklahoma bill cracking down on illegal immigration after lawsuit from Biden admin (Daily Wire)

Culture

• Ohio bans trans from bathrooms and locker rooms: With the state’s voters having recently expressed their reservations about limitations on abortion, one might reasonably expect the Ohio legislature to be reluctant to take on other battles within the culture wars. But one would’ve been wrong — at least when it comes to boys barging into girls’ bathrooms. On the contrary, the Ohio House passed a bill banning students who call themselves transgender from using the bathrooms and locker rooms assigned to the opposite sex. The bill would mandate that students in state K-12 schools and colleges who call themselves “transgender” can only use the bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their assigned gender at birth. “Boys and girls should not be in locker rooms together,” said State Representative Beth Lear, one of the bill’s coauthors. “They should not be in bathrooms together and they should not be sharing overnight accommodations.” The bill now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate, and Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who’s been a squish on matters concerning the Rainbow Mafia, says he’ll sign this bill.

• Texas court upholds ban on transing the kids: In an 8-1 decision, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that a law banning gender-bending medical procedures on minors, including surgeries and puberty blockers, did not violate the state’s constitution. “We conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children,” wrote Justice Rebeca Huddle for the majority. Following the ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated, “The Texas Supreme Court upheld SB 14, a law protecting children from dangerous gender confusion procedures by prohibiting puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilative surgeries on minors. We will always defend children in Texas from these irreversible procedures. My office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law.” This is a big win for parental rights in Texas and a blow for the trans cult that has sought to further the spread of its destructive gender-bending ideology by targeting children.

• The Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on trans-ing children hangs on Neil Gorsuch (Christian Post)

• Pride Month is so gross: “Pride Month” is thankfully over. Of course, the annual national worship of sexually deviant narcism culminated in a number of “Pride” parades over the weekend. The New York City Pride parade was interrupted by a bunch of pro-Palestinian protesters who temporarily blocked the parade route, leading to the arrest of 10 protesters. NYC is not the only place this clash between anti-Israel protesters and “Pride” parades has occurred. Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia also experienced these protests. Meanwhile, in San Francisco’s Pride parade, which was attended by members of the public, including young children, nudity was rampant. When a citizen reporter asked law enforcement about the legality of public nudity, the police responded by claiming that it was allowed because it was not “for sexual gratification.” So, a parade that intentionally celebrates sexual deviancy and does so with people literally walking around naked is not about “sexual gratification”? The gaslighting is on another level in San Fran.

• Pat Tillman’s mom blasts ESPN: At its annual ESPY awards, ESPN will be giving out its Pat Tillman Award, named for the former NFL player-turned-U.S. Army soldier who died serving his country in Afghanistan in 2004, to … Prince Harry. That’s right — the controversial British royal who opted out of doing his royal duties because his American wife did not like the life. Tillman’s mother, Mary, blasted ESPN for the decision. “I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” she said. “There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.” ESPN analyst Pat McAfee also weighed in on the choice, observing, “It’s going to Prince Harry, who I don’t even think is a prince anymore, right? He said, ‘Don’t call me that’? See, why does the ESPYs do this s**t?” He added, “This is like actually the most embarrassing thing I’ve seen in my entire life.” While Harry served in the British military for 10 years and did two tours in Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot, his actions hardly deserve an award that celebrates self-sacrifice. If anything, it looks like ESPN is trying to help Harry rehab his public image after he infamously threw his family under the bus.

• Two Civil War soldiers will be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in and near Chattanooga (News Channel 9)

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