Good morning!
On this date in 1965, David Miller became the first antiwar protester to burn his draft card in defiance of a new law prohibiting the destruction of Selective Service documents. He was arrested days later by the FBI, and sentenced to 30 months in prison. Miller appealed, arguing that his “expressive conduct” was protected by the First Amendment, but his conviction was upheld.
The final stretch…
- On Tuesday, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court’s ruling from last week and will permit Texas to enforce its voter ID law. Opponents of the law vow to take it to the Supreme Court. Lyle Denniston has details at the SCOTUSblog.
- A new study conducted by University of Delaware researchers found that white people’s support for voter ID laws increased by six percentage points when the question was accompanied by a photo of a black person voting. Christopher Ingraham reports for WaPo.
- A Libertarian third-party candidate running in Iowa’s razor-close Senate race died when his plane crashed on Tuesday, according to the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald.
- In what may be a sign of Democrats’ sense of where the battle for the Senate stands, Roll Call reports that the DSCC has pulled its advertising dollars from Kentucky, where Alison Lundergan Grimes is challenging Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Politico says they’re pouring more money into the Georgia race between Democrat Michelle Nunn and Republican David Perdue.
- TNR’s Danny Vinik is still gobsmacked by McConnell’s brazen claim, repeated during a debate on Monday, that repealing Obamacare would have no effect on hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who purchased insurance from Obamacare.
- Meanwhile, immigrant rights activists are fuming over a Grimes ad attacking McConnell over a vote he cast years ago for what the ad characterizes as “amnesty.” BuzzFeed has that story.
- Speaking of immigration, John Stanton reports for Buzzfeed that the staunchly pro-immigration reform Chamber of Commerce has shelled out $15 million supporting candidates who oppose the policy.
In other news…
Ebola –> A second health care provider in Texas has tested positive for the disease, according to the Texas Dept. of Health. (The first says she’s ‘doing well.’) AND: The World Health Organization’s forecast for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has darkened as the mortality rate for those infected is on the rise. The agency says that despite wealthy countries’ pledges of assistance, the international community’s effort has been woefully inadequate to the task at hand. Rick Gladstone and Nick Cumming-Bruce report for the NYT. AND: Here at home, Tara Culp-Ressler reports for ThinkProgress that the fact that we don’t currently have a Surgeon General may be hurting the coordination of federal agencies’ response to the situation. Senate Republicans blocked Obama’s nominee to fill the position over her view — shared by the medical community — that gun violence is a public health issue.
Blocked, for now –> The Supreme Court ruled that Texas could not enforce parts of its regulatory “backdoor abortion ban,” at least for the moment. Mark Sherman reports for the AP.
Back-to-back El Niño? –> At Slate, Eric Holthaus looks at the possibility of having back-to-back El Niño years, as the oceans may unleash an unusually intense burst of heat.
The terrorists won –> Officials at Utah State University received letters threatening a shooting rampage against women if a talk by feminist Anita Sarkeesian wasn’t cancelled. Sarkeesian was ready to go ahead with the event, but withdrew after campus officials said that the state’s open carry law prohibited them from keeping guns out of the venue. Adi Robertson reports for The Verge.
Coal country is dying –> At Grist, David Roberts considers whether the federal government should provide some form of transitional assistance to coal-producing regions hurt by the natural gas boom.
Police behaving badly –> Gawker’s Hudson Hongo writes that the NYPD has paid out $428 million to settle more than 10,000 complaints over the last five years. AND: At the HuffPo, Christopher Mathias rounds up a series of recent videos that appear to show NYPD officers using excessive force on suspects.
“US troops out now” –> Protesters in the Philippines are outraged that a US soldier who allegedly murdered a transgender woman is being held aboard an American ship rather than being detained by local authorities. Andrea Germanos reports for Common Dreams.
“A message problem” –> Stephen Colbert finally figures out how to win unmarried women over to the GOP…
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