Human Race: Historic high court tenure

Justice Clarence Thomas became the second-longest serving member of the U.S. Supreme Court on May 7, overtaking former Justice Stephen Johnson Field. President George H.W. Bush nominated Thomas to the court in 1991. During his 34 years on the bench, Thomas has authored 835 opinions. His most cited majority opinion is Swierkiewicz v. Sorema, a case involving discrimination in the workplace. Although most of Thomas’ majority opinions have involved economic disputes, he famously authored a court opinion in 2022 that upheld a right to bear firearms in public. Thomas also wrote a concurring opinion in the case overturning Roe v. Wade. During a recent speech at the University of Texas, Thomas reflected on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence and how it has shaped his life and legal perspective. “We should not forget that the Declaration established the principles that produced—despite all of our imperfections, our miscues, and our tragic mistakes—it gave us the freest, wealthiest, and most powerful nation in the history of the world,” he said. “It provided the moral principles by which Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King would criticize the institutions of slavery and segregation.” If the 77-year-old Thomas remains on the bench until 2028, he may beat former Justice William O. Douglas for longest Supreme Court career.

Apprehended

Federal prosecutors filed charges against 45-year-old Michael Marx in connection with a shooting near the Washington Monument on May 4. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office accused Marx of shooting at Secret Service agents near a crowded intersection, hitting a juvenile bystander. Secret Service agents spotted Marx with a gun and ordered him to stop. He fired on them instead, and the agents shot back, striking him three times. Once in custody, Marx was transported to a nearby hospital. The shooting happened at around the same time that Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade was leaving the White House, according to the Department of Justice. Marx faces charges of assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and felony firearm possession. —Christina Grube

Corruption probe

The FBI raided the Ports­mouth, Va., office of Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas on May 6. Agents also ­carried out a raid at a nearby ­cannabis ­dispensary she co-owned. The investigation is part of a probe that began during the Biden administration over possible corruption and ­bribery related to marijuana businesses. But Democratic lawmakers in Virginia and Washington, D.C., suggested the raid was politically motivated. Two weeks before the raid, Lucas helped pass Virginia’s new redistricting maps, in hopes of giving Democratic candidates an advantage in winning back the U.S. House. —Elizabeth Black

Virus scare

Argentina’s Ministry of Health confirmed at least nine people sickened on an Antarctic cruise contracted the rare Andes strain of the rodent-borne hantavirus. At least three people died from the infection, which health officials characterize as rare but severe. About 35% of hantavirus cases result in death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is most commonly contracted through contact with urine, feces, or saliva from infected rodents. But the Andes strain has been reported to have limited human-to-human transmission, according to the World Health Organiza­tion. Health officials believe the first victims caught it during a bird-watching trip before boarding the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. It set sail from Argentina on April 1. The ship’s passengers finally disembarked and began ­flying home on May 10, after the ship docked in the Canary Islands. —Christina Grube

Last-chance appeal

Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen plans to appeal her criminal conviction to Europe’s top human rights court. In March, the Finnish Supreme Court found Räsänen guilty of hate speech for a 20-year-old booklet called “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity.” While the court cleared her of charges for a social media post that included a Bible passage, it fined Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola several thousand euros for authoring the booklet. It also ordered parts of the publication to be censored after the court characterized them as insulting to homosexuals as a group. Räsänen will make a last-ditch effort to get the ruling overturned by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. —Liz Lykins

Death row reprieve

Clarence Curtis Jordan got a very big 70th birthday present from the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals (TCCA) on April 9 when it vacated his sentence after 47 years on death row. In 1978, a jury convicted then 21-year-old Jordan of murdering 40-year-old Houston grocer Joe L. Williams during a robbery. But in 1988, the TCCA found him incompetent to be executed, due to a severe intellectual disability and schizophrenia-like symptoms. Still, Jordan remained on death row without an attorney for almost four decades until 2024, when he was appointed a new attorney as Harris County attempted to work through a backlog in its criminal courts. Jordan will likely be resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. —Addie Offereins

Disqualified

Sam Allberry resigned from pastoring Immanuel Church Nashville after new details emerged about the extent of his 2022 relationship with another man. Allberry has written and spoken extensively on the sinfulness of his own same-sex attraction. He does not identify as gay because he rejects the lifestyle. The church knew about Allberry’s relationship, which ended before he joined the staff. At the time, church leaders launched an investigation and concluded it had been unwise but was not a barrier to hiring him. Elders did not specify what new information they learned but, in light of it, have now unanimously disqualified Allberry from ministry. In a statement, they called Allberry’s conduct a breach of trust and failure to walk according to his gospel calling. They said Allberry agreed with the decision and is repentant, cooperative, and receiving counseling. Church leaders said they will support Allberry and the other party to provide counseling and restore full fellowship with the church. —Lauren Smyth