High court’s marshal requests enforcement of anti-picketing laws
RICHMOND, Va. — The marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court has asked Maryland and Virginia officials to enforce laws she says prohibit picketing outside the homes of the justices who live in the two states.
“For weeks on end, large groups of protesters chanting slogans, using bullhorns, and banging drums have picketed Justices’ homes,” Marshal Gail Curley wrote in the Friday letters to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and two local elected officials.
Curley wrote that Virginia and Maryland laws and an ordinance in Montgomery County, Maryland, prohibit picketing at justices’ homes, and she asked the officials to direct police to enforce those provisions.
Justices’ homes have been the target of abortion rights protests since May, when a leaked draft opinion suggested the court was poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.
The protests and threatening activities have “increased since May,” Curley wrote, and have continued since the court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade was issued June 24.
“Earlier this week, for example, 75 protesters loudly picketed at one Justice’s home in Montgomery County for 20-30 minutes in the evening, then proceeded to picket at another Justice’s home for 30 minutes, where the crowd grew to 100, and finally returned to the first Justice’s home to picket for another 20 minutes,” Curley wrote in her letter to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “This is exactly the kind of conduct that the
Maryland and Montgomery County laws prohibit.”
In her letter to Jeffrey McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, she said one recent protest outside an unspecified justice’s home involved dozens of people chanting, “no privacy for us, no peace for you!”
Journalist’s killing: The Palestinian Authority on Saturday said it has given the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to American forensic experts, taking a step toward resolving a standoff with Israel over the investigation into her death.
Abu Akleh, a veteran correspondent who was well known throughout the Arab world, was fatally shot while covering an Israeli military raid on May 11 in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinians and Abu Akleh’s colleagues with her at the time say she was killed by Israeli fire.
The Israeli army says that she was caught in the crossfire of a battle with Palestinian gunmen, and that it is impossible to determine which side killed her without analyzing the bullet.
The Palestinians have refused to turn over the bullet, saying they don’t trust Israel. Rights groups say Israel has a poor record investigating shootings of Palestinians by its troops, with probes languishing for months or years before they are quietly closed.
Bodies found in Minn. lake:
The bodies of three children and a woman believed to be their mother have been recovered from a Minnesota lake, and authorities say the deaths are being investigated as a triple murdersuicide.
Meanwhile, the body of
the children’s father was found at a different location hours earlier. Names had not been released as of Saturday afternoon. The children, all under the age of 5, were two boys and a girl.
The chain of events began Friday morning when the man’s body was found at a mobile home park in the town of Maplewood, near Minneapolis. Maplewood Police Lt. Joe Steiner said the woman’s car was found near Vadnais Lake around 4 p.m. Friday. The shoes of the children were found on the shore.
Ky. police officers killed:
Three law enforcement officers were killed and five wounded in eastern Kentucky when a man with a rifle opened fire on police attempting to serve a warrant, authorities said.
Police took Lance Storz, 49, into custody late Thursday night after an hourslong standoff at a home in Allen, a small town in the hills of Appalachia.
An emergency management official was also injured and a police dog was killed, according to the arrest citation.
The responding officers encountered “pure hell” when they arrived on the scene, Floyd County Sheriff John Hunt told reporters Friday afternoon.
Hunt said four deputies initially responded, then called for backup when they were shot at. The sheriff said Storz surrendered after negotiations that included his family members. Hunt had told local media the deputies were serving a court-issued warrant Thursday evening related to a domestic violence situation.
Japan endures heat wave:
People in Tokyo are sweating it out as the government warns of possible power shortages and urges greater efforts to conserve energy while Japan endures unseasonably hot temperatures.
Weather officials announced the earliest end to
the annual summer rainy season since the Japan Meteorological Agency began keeping records in 1951. The rains usually temper the summer heat, often well into July.
The sultry temperatures are adding to worries over power shortages over the summer. The economy and industry ministry urged people living in the region serviced by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. to conserve power in the afternoons, especially when demand peaks at 4-5 p.m.
Heatstroke is a big concern since many older Japanese tend to avoid using air conditioning, partly out of habit and partly to avoid running up big electricity bills. Older Japanese homes also tend to lack insulation and are stifling hot in the summer and very cold in the winter.
The Japanese archipelago saw record high temperatures for June in some areas. In Isezaki, north of Tokyo, the temperature rose to
104.4 on June 25, a record for the month.
Pope in Africa: Pope Francis urged the people and leaders of Congo and South Sudan on Saturday to “turn a page” and forge new paths of reconciliation, peace and development.
Francis issued a video message on the day he had planned to begin a weeklong pilgrimage to the two African countries.
He canceled the scheduled trip last month because of knee pain that makes walking and standing difficult.
In the message, Francis urged the people of both countries not to allow themselves to be robbed of hope despite the violence, political instability, exploitation and poverty that he said had pained them for so long.
He said political leaders owed the pursuit of such goals to young people who dream of peace “and deserve to see those dreams come true.”