Containing the border crisis?

Arizona

Gov. Doug Ducey agreed on Dec. 21 to remove a temporary border wall made of shipping containers, a decision that came one week after the Biden administration sued the state. Ducey had ordered up to 3,000 containers to fill gaps in the barrier along the southern border. Construction on a permanent wall started during the Trump administration but stalled under Biden. Ducey claimed federal officials said a year ago they would complete the wall construction but had yet to start work on the project. He said the state had no option but to try itself to stem the flow of illegal immigration. Southern border migrant encounters topped 2.37 million during the fiscal year that ended in September. And with caravans now headed for the border, apprehensions are expected to rise in the coming months. In its lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Justice claimed that Arizona’s temporary wall solution trespasses on federal land. Incoming Gov. Katie Hobbs, scheduled to take office Jan. 5, called the shipping containers a “political stunt.” —Leigh Jones

Mississippi

Prisons in the Magnolia State are running out of room. Mississippi leads the world in the number of inmates per capita despite reform efforts in recent years. A law passed in 2021 gave more inmates the opportunity to earn parole, lowering the number of inmates to 16,449. But 10 months later, the state hit 19,000 inmates and is now on track to exceed its listed capacity of 20,443 within the next few months. Though the state is handing out fewer prison sentences, the Parole Board is keeping inmates behind bars longer. Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain said better drug rehabilitation and job training programs aim to counteract the rise by lowering recidivism. —Addie Offereins

Washington, D.C.

The House of Representatives voted Dec. 14 to remove the bust of Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court opinion. Dred Scott, decided in 1857 by a 7-2 majority, said descendants of imported African slaves did not have U.S. citizenship and more clearly defined them as property in the context of slavery. As such, the court ruled that no such person could file suit in a federal court as plaintiff Dred Scott, who had been held as a slave in Missouri, had attempted to do. The new legislation passed by the House will replace the ­current bust with an image of Thurgood Marshall—the first black Supreme Court justice. The bill already passed the Senate and now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk for his consideration. —Leo Briceno

This brief was updated on Jan. 13, 2023, to correct the name and title of Chief Justice Roger Taney and the name of the state where Dred Scott was enslaved, and to clarify that the Dred Scott case’s ruling applied to descendants of African slaves and prevented them from suing in federal court.

Texas

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against the Biden administration Dec. 12 to defend the state’s right to work with religious foster care providers. Under a rule adopted during the Obama administration, the federal government requires all private agencies working in the foster care system to place children with same-sex couples. States that don’t enforce the rule could lose federal funding. President Donald Trump overturned the Obama-era rule before it was enforced, but pro-LGBTQ groups are pushing for its renewal. A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., vacated the Trump-era guidelines that rescinded the rule. But a court in New York threw out a case brought by LGBTQ ­service providers. Texas, which has a law protecting the rights of religious foster care agencies, gets about one-quarter of its $550 million residential care budget from Washington. In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Paxton said the federal rule would force religious agencies “either to adopt a radical woke agenda or surrender their mission of helping ­children.” —Leigh Jones

Massachusetts

There’s pot aplenty in the Bay State, where a cultivation licensing boom has led to an overabundance of weed. The state’s first marijuana retailer opened in 2018, and within three years the state’s Cannabis Control Commission had licensed at least 900 more. Some stakeholders view the subsequent plummeting price of cannabis products as “an expected market correction,” while others believe the industry is at a crossroads. Oregon, facing a similar glut, issued a moratorium on cannabis licenses in April. Meanwhile, Massachusetts officials are preparing for fallout from cheaper-than-ever legalized marijuana. Driver education classes will now include information about tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the active chemical in marijuana—and its effect on cognition, vision, reaction time, and perception of time and distance. Adults can legally use marijuana in 21 states and the District of Columbia. —Kim Henderson

Florida

The Vatican has defrocked a prominent Florida-based Catholic priest known for his pro-life activism. In an official letter dated Nov. 9, the Vatican found Frank Pavone guilty of “blasphemous communications on social media, and of persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop.” Pavone remained defiant, celebrating Mass even after the Vatican removed him from the priesthood. He believes he is being punished for his views, saying “there are Catholic bishops who feel uncomfortable when I put so much priority on abortion.” As the longtime president of the pro-life organization Priests for Life, Pavone is no stranger to controversy—or Catholic ­discipline. He was suspended in 2011 while serving in Texas, and in 2016, Pavone’s bishop opened an investigation after a video showed what appeared to be the body of an aborted baby placed on an altar. Bishop Patrick Zurek said Pavone’s appearance in the video was “not consistent with the beliefs of the Catholic Church.” —Juliana Chan Erikson