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July 11, 2018
Court Pick Sets up Battle
law. A judge must interpret the Constitu-
tion as written.”
Democrats and liberal advocacy
groups—including many in Oregon—have
expressed their staunch opposition.
“There can be no mistaking Trump’s
Supreme Court nomination for anything
but what it is: a direct attempt to overturn
Roe v. Wade,” said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Ore. “American women could lose the
right to chart the courses of their own lives,
finding their futures are determined by the
whims of fanatical state legislators and the
availability of contraception.”
President Trump has in the past ex-
pressed a desire to overturn Roe V Wade
by picking “pro-life” justices on the court.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., ex-
pressed similar concerns over the poten-
tial loss of abortion rights and pointed to
Kavanaugh’s previous support for lawsuits
against the Affordable Care Act.
“Americans with pre-existing condi-
tions could lose life-saving health care.
Marriage equality could be overturned.
Racial inequality and blatant voter sup-
pression could be further embraced by the
highest court in the land,” said Merkley,
who has also expressed interest as a 2020
presidential candidate.
In October, Kavanaugh voted to delay
an abortion for a teenage immigrant who
was in government custody, something that
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon
Liberal groups in
staunch opposition
by d anny P eterson
t he P ortland o bserver
President Donald Trump chose Brett Ka-
vanaugh, a solidly conservative, politically
connected judge, for the Supreme Court
Monday, setting up a ferocious confirma-
tion battle with Democrats as he seeks to
shift the nation’s highest court ever further
to the right.
A favorite of the Republican legal estab-
lishment in Washington, D.C. Kavanaugh,
53, is a former law clerk for retiring Justice
Anthony Kennedy, a Republican appoin-
tee. Like Trump’s first nominee last year,
Justice Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh could
help remake the court for decades to come
with rulings that could restrict abortion,
expand gun rights and roll back key parts
of Obamacare.
Kavanaugh, who serves on the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is
expected to be less receptive to abortion
and gay rights than Kennedy was. He also
has taken an expansive view of executive
power and has favored limits on investigat-
ing the president.
Speaking at the White House, Kavana-
ugh pledged to preserve the Constitution
and said that “a judge must be independent
and must interpret the law, not make the
Call to Disarm PSU Police
The family of a local black resident and U.S. veteran killed
June 27 by Portland State University police while trying to
break-up a fight and marking PSU’s first officer-involved
shooting, called on Friday for the campus police depart-
ment to permanently disarm and fire the two officer in-
volved in the shooting. The shooting is under investigation
by multiple agencies.
Homeless Arrests Review
Portland’s Independent Police Review panel will investi-
gate how Portland police officers interact with homeless
people, citing concerns about racial profiling from a recent
investigative report by the Oregonian revealing that one in
two arrests made by the Portland Police Bureau in 2017 was
of a homeless person, while less than 3 percent of Portland-
ers are homeless. The action was taken Tuesday after a re-
quest by new Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw.
The
Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh is introduced by President Trump
at the White House Monday.
highlighted as a concern that he would rule
in similar fashion as Supreme Court Justice.
In addition, African American con-
gressman U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings,
D-Md., also expressed his concern of orga-
nized labor rights and voting rights being
undermined, should Kavanaugh win the
nomination.
“Confirming judge Brett Kavanaugh
would put in place an enduring conserva-
tive majority for decades to come…he will
continue to apply the law unfairly to pro-
tect the rights of powerful corporations and
in
Week Review
Anthem Policy Challenge
The NFL Players As-
sociation filed a griev-
ance Tuesday chal-
lenging the league’s
new national anthem
policy requiring play-
ers to stand if they are
on the field during the
performance of the
Star-Spangled Banner. Players have been kneeling during
the national anthem in an effort to raise awareness for racial
and social injustice in America since Colin Kaepernick took
a knee before a preseason game in 2016.
Trump Pardons Outlaw Ranchers
Major Paving Project Starts
No major traffic delays were reported on Monday morn-
ing as the first part of a major construction project got
underway on the I-5 southbound ramp to I-84 eastbound.
Three of the overpasses that connect the two freeways
are to close for maintenance, one at a time, over the com-
ing weeks.
President Trump pardoned two ranchers Tuesday whose
arson convictions inspired the armed takeover of Ore-
gon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016. Dwight
and Steve Hammond were convicted of intentionally and
maliciously setting fires on public lands. Other anti-gov-
ernment extremists took up the Hammonds’ case as a
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the wealthy, but not the rights of minorities
and the poor,” Cummings said.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said a
person with Kavanaugh’s political views
should not be given a lifetime Supreme
Court seat.
“President Trump’s Supreme Court
nominee Brett Kavanaugh will be a rub-
ber-stamp for an extreme, right-wing agen-
da pushed by corporations and billion-
aires,” Sanders said.
--Associated Press contributed to this
article
rallying cry and violently occupied the national wildlife
refuge for 41 days.
Rescued from Thai Cave
A daring rescue mission in
the treacherous confines of
a flooded Thai cave ended
Tuesday with all 12 boys
and their soccer coach
pulled to safety after be-
ing trapped deep within
the labyrinth -- ending a
grueling, 18-day ordeal
that claimed the life of an
experienced volunteer diver and riveted people around
the world.
More ICE Protest Arrests
Federal agents from the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity engaged with protestors again Monday outside the
federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
holding facility on Southwest Macadam Avenue. Pro-
testers from the group Occupy ICE accused the federal
officers of intimidation and inflicting violence on people
who were not obstructing walkways, driveways or en-
trances to the building.
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