The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready today to rule that former presidents should have some degree of immunity from criminal prosecution. Such a decision, while effectively rejecting Donald Trump’s assertion of absolute immunity, could narrow the scope of the federal criminal case accusing Trump of plotting to subvert the 2020 election.
The court seemed poised to send the case back to a lower court to draw distinctions between official conduct that would be protected and private conduct that could be subject to criminal charges. Those proceedings could make it hard to conduct the trial before the 2024 election.
The conservative justices looked unconcerned about a delay. They warned of a future where former presidents are regularly charged by politically motivated prosecutors. They agreed with the liberal justices mainly about the significance of their decision, which is expected in late June or early July: “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said.
Many of the justices seemed to be considering the idea that presidents should enjoy some form of protection against criminal prosecution. But the liberal justices voiced concern that by offering presidents a shield from prosecution, the court could turn the Oval Office into a “seat of criminality,” as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson described it.
Harvey Weinstein’s New York conviction was overturned
New York’s highest court today overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges, ruling that the once-powerful Hollywood producer had not received a fair trial.
The court’s 4-3 decision — a staggering reversal in the foundational case of the #MeToo era — cited the prosecution’s decision to call as witnesses women who said Weinstein had assaulted them, but who were not part of the charges against him. My colleague Jodi Kantor, whose reporting revealed decades of abuse allegations against Weinstein, explained why the strategy was seen at the time as a risky one.
Weinstein, who is being held in an upstate New York prison, could be sent to prison in California, where he was sentenced in 2022 to 16 years after he was convicted of rape. The Manhattan district attorney vowed to seek a retrial.
Hundreds have been arrested in a wave of student protests
Police officers in Atlanta detained demonstrators today on the usually serene campus of Emory University, where pro-Palestinian protesters had erected tents. It was the latest in a series of clashes in a protest movement that has spread across American campuses.
Across the country, more than 400 participants have been taken into police custody over the last week, including protesters at Columbia University and Emerson College in Boston.
New U.S. rules could spell the end for coal power plants
The Biden administration today released a regulation that requires coal plants in the U.S. to reduce their emissions by 90 percent over the next 15 years. The rule is one of four new restrictions that could deliver a death blow to the country’s coal industry.
Republican-led states and the coal industry are all but certain to challenge the rules in court, and Trump has promised that, if elected, he would roll back Biden’s climate regulations.
‘Challengers’ tests Zendaya’s star power
Zendaya has been quite famous for a while, first as a teen on the Disney Channel and later as a star of an Emmy-winning show (“Euphoria”) and in big movies (“Spider-Man” and “Dune”). But “Challengers,” a Luca Guadagnino film about a love triangle between three tennis stars that arrives in theaters tomorrow, will test Zendaya’s box-office draw as a solo star.
In a review, our critic called it “a fizzy, lightly sexy, enjoyable tease of a movie.” The costumes, a rare collaboration with a major fashion designer, caught my colleagues’ attention.
The Chicago Bears are on the clock
The N.F.L. draft begins tonight, and much of the intrigue surrounds this year’s crop of quarterbacks. The Chicago Bears are widely expected to select U.S.C.’s Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick, and it’s quite possible that second and third choices will be quarterbacks as well. Here’s what to expect, and who your team might be drafting.
Some adults love stuffed animals, too
Hollis Tuttle was given a stuffed bear puppet for her seventh birthday. She named it Ogen and kept it by her side until a week before her wedding at age 33, when she brought it to her parents’ house because her fiancé didn’t want to share a bed with the puppet. That was 14 years ago; she has since gotten a divorce and found new stuffed animals to fall asleep with.
We talked to several adults who continue to enjoy the companionship of a stuffed animal, as well as psychologists who said that the comfort offered by such an item doesn’t necessarily need to end at a certain age.
Have a cuddly evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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