Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, July 6, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, and even though it’s the weekend, we’ve still got some very interesting stories to share with you today. Here’s what’s going on.
Mexico is asking the Supreme Court to let it sue U.S. gunmakers; President Joe Biden gets a favorable ruling in his college loan forgiveness program, and a dangerous heatwave blankets the Southwest. Also, a new ruling in Wisconsin regarding absentee ballot drops, and a federal judge is stepping down from the bench.
Mexico Asks US Supreme Court to Allow Its $10 Billion Lawsuit Against US Gun Makers
Mexican officials are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow its $10 billion lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers to proceed in the lower courts.The case is Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit allowed the case to move forward after it was dismissed by a federal district court.
Mexico filed the case this week after the lead plaintiff, Smith & Wesson, filed a petition with the high court back in April seeking to overturn the First Circuit ruling.
In its new brief, Mexico argues the First Circuit ruled correctly when it held that the gunmakers “deliberately aided and abetted the unlawful sale of firearms to purchasers supplying brutal cartels in Mexico” and that the country suffered harm as a result.
The brief also said that the gun makers’ petition to the Supreme Court is premature. It says Mexico should be allowed to move forward with its claim in the lower courts because several legal issues, including jurisdiction, have not yet been resolved, and that it would be followed by evidence-gathering and possibly a trial and appeal.
On the other side, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 26 other federal lawmakers are encouraging the high court to grant Smith & Wesson’s petition and hear the case, saying, “Mexico’s lawsuit is an affront to the sovereignty of the United States of America.” They also say Mexico’s case has no place in federal court, and that Mexico is attempting “to impose its view of law, the right to bear arms, and liability protection on the American people.”
For now, it’s not clear when the Supreme Court will consider the petition. At least four of the nine justices would have to vote in favor of granting the petition for it to advance to the oral argument stage.
Court Lifts Ban on Key Part of Biden’s Student Loan Repayment Plan
A federal court has given the green light to the Biden administration, saying it can move forward with a key part of its loan forgiveness program as legal challenges continue to play out in the courts.A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit says they’re lifting an injunction that had previously blocked the administration from starting the program known as the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.
That plan had aimed to introduce lower payments for nearly all people who took out student loans compared to other repayment plans, because it’s based on a smaller portion of a borrower’s adjusted gross income and because the government is using taxpayer money to cover some of the interest for certain borrowers under the program.
Courts in Kansas and Missouri had blocked the administration from rolling out the SAVE plan since legal challenges were ongoing, but in this latest ruling, lawyers for the White House successfully showed that they will likely succeed against a challenge brought by Alaska and other states. Attorneys for the Biden administration also said that they’ll suffer an irreparable injury if the injunction isn’t stayed, and that public interest favors lifting that injunction.
The Kansas injunction is now temporarily lifted pending appeal, which will allow the government to implement the SAVE program. The appeals court ruling does not apply to the Missouri decision that blocks loans from being forgiven after just 10 years instead of 20 or 25 years.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said borrowers will hear directly from their loan servicers and that the department will implement the new, lower monthly payments for those enrolled in the SAVE plan.
The program had originally been set to take effect on July 1 before the injunctions were handed down.
‘Potentially Historic’ Heat Wave Building Across the US West Coast, With No Relief Soon
Get used to the heat, because it’s going to be around for a while, especially if you live on the West Coast.Heat watches and warnings are in place for much of the Western United States and as of yesterday, more than 150 million Americans were under some form of heat advisory.
Temperatures are expected to reach triple digits for many locations, and some places could see the thermometer hit 110 degrees or higher.
The National Weather Services says to use caution as it could get as hot as 120 degrees in the deserts. California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona are opening cooling centers and warning residents to stay indoors and keep hydrated.
By the way, the extreme heat puts many people, especially the elderly, at risk for heat-related illnesses including heat stroke. In fact, an elderly homeless man died earlier this week due to a heat-related illness, and a 10-year-old child died in Arizona after suffering a heat-related emergency while hiking at a preserve.
Health officials advise seeking immediate medical attention or calling 911 if you have any kind of a heat-related illness. You can help yourself by staying out of the heat, drinking plenty of water, and wearing loose clothing.
The Southwest states are also on guard for potential wildfires due to dry conditions and because of the hotter-than-normal temperatures.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Allows Drop Boxes Ahead of 2024 Election
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has issued a ruling reinstating the use of unsupervised ballot drop boxes only four months ahead of the 2024 election.The 4–3 decision reverses Wisconsin’s ban on unmanned drop boxes that took effect in 2022.
At that time, the justices ruled that nothing in state law allowed for absentee drop boxes to be placed anywhere other than inside election clerk offices. The court changed in 2023, when a new justice was elected, and as a result, reversed its earlier decision.
The case was brought by Priorities USA—a voter mobilization group—the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Voters, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which administers elections, and they were all in support of allowing drop boxes.
Attorneys representing Republicans who backed the 2022 ruling argued that there have been no changes in facts or to the law that would allow it to be overturned since the ruling was less than two years old. In fact, one of the attorneys argued that if the court overturned the ruling, it would have to revisit the issue again the next time a new justice is added to the Court.
On the other hand, attorneys representing the plaintiffs said the court misinterpreted the law in 2022 and wrongly concluded that absentee ballots can only be returned to a clerk in their office.
You should know that there will be a vacancy on the court next year as one of the justices won’t be running for reelection.
Federal Judge in Alaska Resigns
Earlier this week, a U.S. district judge in Alaska resigned, which means that President Biden now has the chance to nominate a federal judge to the U.S. District Court of Alaska.Judge Joshua Kindred, who hasn’t stated publicly why he’s leaving, was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019 and was confirmed by a vote of 54–41 in the Senate in February 2020.
Judge Kindred worked for the Oregon Supreme Court and later as an assistant district attorney in Alaska before he was nominated as a federal judge by the former president.
The U.S. Courts website says Judge Kindred’s role will be available this Monday when his resignation takes effect and that he is the only federal judge to have resigned in the past year or so. By the way, right now, there are 27 federal jurist vacancies across the country.
Interesting to note, that at this stage in his term, President Trump had two Supreme Court justices and 51 appellate court judges confirmed to lifetime appointments. On the other hand, President Biden, so far, has tapped one Supreme Court justice and 42 appellate court judges.
President Biden has also had more than 200 federal judges appointed, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says is a major milestone. However, it’s not clear if President Biden can beat the former president’s appointment of 234 judges before the end of this year.
It’s also worth noting that the president has pushed for more female and minority judges on the federal bench, and that 127 of the 200 judges confirmed to the bench are women.
It’s Saturday, I’m tired, so I’m going to bench myself. Also, looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for this edition, the weekend edition, of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Before we lock up the studio, just a reminder: If you have some free time today, we hope you’ll tell some folks you know about our program as we continue to grow our ever-expanding News Brief family, and we’re delighted to have you as one of our family members. And don’t worry about overstaying your welcome—stay as long as you’d like. We have plenty of extra space.
Esellie checks in to say: “Thanks for your fast moving update. It is so helpful that you keep your news reports short and to the point.”
Mr. Ringgold is checking out the program in Ventura, California, and thanks for the note from Mr. Sommers in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap things up with a very “notable” quote.
This one comes to us from Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who said very elegantly and mathematically: “cozy+smell of pancakes-alarm clock=weekend”
Amy Krouse Rosenthal was an American author of both adult and children’s books, a short film maker, and radio show host as well.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas, and thanks a bunch for spending some time with us today. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, and whatever you have planned for the weekend, please be safe and we’ll see you back here next time for another edition of the Epoch Times News Brief. Have an incredible day today, and bye for now.
