The Tap: Thursday, June 23, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #22 of The Tap, which was published on June 25, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• Late Thursday evening, the Republican National Committee released a list of the 112 members of the national convention Rules Committee. The committee and its membership have been the subject of much attention since as early as December of last year, as journalists and party insiders alike have speculated about possible changes to the official rules of the Republican Party and how those changes could shape not only the outcome of the 2016 convention but also the course of the 2020 primary season. Last week, it was announced that Enid Mickelsen of Utah and Ron Kaufman of Massachusetts would chair the committee in July.
  • See also: RNC Rules Committee Members, 2016
• Following his racketeering conviction on Tuesday, Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) resigned, effective immediately. Fattah initially planned to wait to resign until October 3, just before his sentencing, but he faced mounting pressure to resign immediately from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

• Recently ousted Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was hired by CNN as one of its political commentators. According to the CNN Money story in which the hiring was announced, the decision was considered controversial by some in the newsroom “in part because he has a reputation for being hostile toward journalists.”

• The U.S. Supreme Court announced opinions in five cases on Thursday. The court has three opinions to issue before the end of the current term. Those opinions will be handed down on Monday, June 27.
  • The court issued per curiam opinions in two cases: Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and United States v. Texas. The opinions of the lower courts in both cases were upheld (affirmed) by an equally divided 4-4 court. Both cases were on appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Dollar General addressed whether tribal courts have jurisdiction over civil claims where one party is not a tribal member; the Fifth Circuit held in this dispute that the tribal court did have jurisdiction. U.S. v. Texas challenged the validity of a preliminary injunction, pending a trial, against implementation of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, commonly known as DAPA. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the injunction, determining that the states seeking the injunction have standing to sue in court. A case on the merits is expected to take place before Judge Andrew Hanen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, who issued the injunction.
  • In Mathis v. United States, a six-justice majority reversed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in finding that state court convictions cannot be used toward issuing an enhanced sentence under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act if elements of a state criminal law defining a crime (here, robbery) are broader than the generic, commonly understood elements that define a crime.
  • In Birchfield v. North Dakota, which was consolidated with two other cases—Bernard v. Minnesota and Beylund v. Levi—the court held that, incident to a lawful arrest for DUI, the use of warrantless blood tests to determine a driver’s BAC is unconstitutional and that state laws that criminalize a suspect’s refusal to submit to a warrantless blood test are also unconstitutional. States, however, may continue to use warrantless breath tests under similar circumstances for similar purposes.
  • In Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin, the court ruled 4-3 that the university’s race-conscious undergraduate admissions program did not violate the Equal Protection Clause; however, in his opinion for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy stipulated that “a college must continually reassess its need for race-conscious review. … The Court’s affirmance of the University’s admissions policy today does not necessarily mean the University may rely on that same policy without refinement. It is the University’s ongoing obligation to engage in constant deliberation and continued reflection regarding its admissions policies.” Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the case.

• The Senate rejected the following gun control measures:
  • The Senate voted to avoid tabling S Amdt 4858 to HR 2578 by a vote of 46-52, but it failed to reach the 60 vote threshold necessary to move forward. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), proposed preventing individuals on the No Fly List and the Selectee List from purchasing firearms or explosives. Additionally, the legislation proposed a process for individuals to appeal the denial of the right to purchase a firearm in federal court.
  • The Senate voted to table S Amdt 4859 to S Amdt 4858 by a vote of 67-31. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), proposed preventing an individual on the No Fly List or Selectee List from purchasing a firearm or explosive by giving the U.S. attorney general the "authority to delay the transfer of a weapon for up to three business days while relevant law enforcement agencies conduct an investigation."

• Key vote: The House passed legislation that provides $1.1 billion to fight Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause paralysis and severe birth defects, by a vote of 239-171. The White House threatened to veto the bill. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, "This is a bill that would steal money from other critically important public health priorities. We urge Republicans to stop turning this into a political football, and to actually get to work to come up with proposals that will serve the American people." Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) countered, "It is a responsible plan that assures the administration will continue to have the needed resources to protect the public."

State

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation aimed at curbing opioid abuse and overdoses. The law limits initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain to a seven-day supply and requires additional consultation between doctors and patients before refills may be authorized. The new law also requires insurers to cover the first two weeks of inpatient substance abuse treatment without prior authorization, extends the time individuals can be held for emergency treatment from 48 to 72 hours, and creates 2,500 additional slots for substance abuse treatment programs in the state. Earlier this year, Massachusetts and Delaware also passed similar legislation limiting the initial supply of opioid painkillers to seven days.
• Hawaii became the first state to put gun owners into an FBI database known as the “Rap Back” system after Gov. David Ige (D) signed SB 2954 into law. The new law will alert the police when a firearm owner is arrested for a criminal offense anywhere in the country. Gov. Ige said in a statement that the legislation is “about our community’s safety and responsible gun ownership. This system will better enable our law enforcement agencies to ensure the security of all Hawai‘i residents and visitors to our islands.” Ige also signed HB 625 and HB 2632. HB 625 may disqualify someone from owning a gun if he or she has been convicted of stalking or sexual assault. The other bill would require someone who has been diagnosed with a significant behavioral, emotional, or mental disorder to surrender his or her firearms and ammunition to the police.
• Alaska Attorney General Craig W. Richards announced his retirement effective immediately, citing a desire to spend more time with family. Governor Bill Walker (I) appointed Deputy Attorney General Jim Cantor as acting attorney general until a replacement can be found. In another cabinet shake-up, Walker announced he would appoint Andy Mack as the state's natural resources commissioner following acting Commissioner Marty Rutherford's retirement announcement. Rutherford has served since Mark Myers retired on March 1, 2016; Mack will assume office on June 30, when Rutherford steps down.
• The California “Fair Wage Act of 2016” Minimum Wage Initiative was withdrawn and will not appear on the November ballot. The initiative would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021. The initiative’s sponsoring group, SEIU-UHW West, was involved in negotiations for Senate Bill 3, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in April. The bill was designed to gradually increase the state minimum wage until it reached $15 by the year 2022, and “Fair Wage Act of 2016” petitioners announced that their initiative would likely be withdrawn upon enactment of the legislation. A competing $15 minimum wage initiative, the “Raise California’s Wage and Paid Sick Days Act,” was withdrawn by its respective petitioners on April 1, 2016.
• The California Proposition 63 will appear on the November ballot. Supporters have until June 28, 2016, to collect the 365,880 valid signatures required to qualify the measure for the ballot, and they submitted more than 600,000 signatures in April. The secretary of state concluded that about 400,000 of the signatures collected were valid and certified the measure prior to its circulation deadline. The initiative would prohibit individuals from possessing large-capacity ammunition magazines and require that they pass a background check and obtain authorization from the Department of Justice in order to purchase ammunition.

Local

• Charles Pugh, former president of the Detroit City Council in Michigan, was arrested on six counts of criminal sexual misconduct. The charges were made regarding his alleged molestation of a 14-year-old student from 2003 to 2004. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy called on June 22, 2016, for Pugh to face arrest and criminal charges. Pugh served as city council president from 2010 to 2013 after being elected as the city’s first openly gay public official in 2009. Pugh was arrested in New York City, where he had reportedly lived and worked as a restaraunt waiter since leaving Detroit in 2013. According to the Detroit Free Press, he “fled Detroit in the middle of the night” once the news broke regarding a different relationship with a 17-year-old student in 2012. The 17-year-old student sued Pugh and the school district and won a $250,000 jury verdict against Pugh and $350,000 from the district in November 2015. Detroit is the largest city in Michigan and the 18th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • Three of the six counts against Pugh are first-degree charges, and the other three counts are third-degree charges. The maximum possible penalty of the first-degree charges is life in prison, and the maximum penalty for the third-degree charges is 15 years in prison. He is expected to be extradited and arraigned in Detroit.

Preview of the day

There were no items for this day in issue #21 of The Tap, which was published on June 18, 2016. See the "Review of the day" tab for more information.