Thursday morning news - June 24, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Biden anti-crime effort aims to crack down on illegal guns » The White House announced a new strategy Wednesday to stem violent crime in the United States.

The plan aims to, among other things, crack down on gun dealers who break federal law and establish strike forces in several cities to help stop gun trafficking.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters:

PSAKI: His objective is to take steps—what he can do as president of the United States, using the tools he has at his disposal to empower local communities, get them the resources they need, and ensure we’re putting laws in place that reduce gun violence.

Biden is seeking more money for the agency that tracks the nation's guns.

He’s also encouraging cities to invest some of their COVID-19 relief funds into policing as well as crime reduction programs.

Republicans say the president’s plan places too much emphasis on guns and not enough on the criminals who may wield them.

South Carolina Sen. Linsey Graham said too many criminals receive little more than a slap on the wrist.

GRAHAM: The people who robbed and looted in New York are being let go. There’s a sense out there that the bail system is broken down. You get caught on Monday morning, you’re out on Monday afternoon.

The White House countered that the president is anything but soft on crime, and stated once more that while he backs police reform, he does not support efforts to defund police departments.

High court limits when police can enter home without warrant » The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday put limits on when police officers pursuing a fleeing suspect can enter a home without a warrant.

The court ruled that when officers are pursuing someone suspected of a misdemeanor, they cannot always enter a home without a warrant if a suspect enters.

The court had previously given police greater freedom to enter homes in cases involving a suspected felony.

Wednesday’s ruling does not give police a bright line for when they can and cannot enter a home to pursue someone suspected of committing a lesser crime.

The ruling was 7-to-2 with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito dissenting.

High court sides with cheerleader over Snapchat post » The high court also ruled almost unanimously Wednesday that a Pennsylvania public school wrongly punished a student over a vulgar social media post. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The court rule 8-to-1 in favor of Brandi Levy, who was a 14-year-old high school freshman four years ago when she expressed anger on social media over not making the varsity cheerleading squad.

She used a string of curse words and a raised middle finger in a Snapchat post.

Levy was not in school when she posted her remarks, but the school suspended her from cheerleading activities for one year anyway.

The high court ruled that the suspension violated Levy's First Amendment freedom of speech rights. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, noting he would have upheld the suspension.

The justices did not foreclose schools from disciplining students for what they say off campus, though they did not spell out when schools could act. An earlier federal appeals court ruling in this case would have barred public schools from punishing off-campus speech.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Judge blocks Iowa pro-life law » Meantime, a ruling in Iowa this week could set up a legal battle before the state Supreme Court.

A judge has blocked a state law that would have imposed a 24-hour waiting period before getting an abortion.

Iowa District Court Judge Mitchell Turner ruled that because legislators passed the law last year as an amendment to an unrelated bill, it violated the Iowa Constitution's single-subject rule.

He also ruled that the law ran afoul of a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights.

A spokesman for the Iowa attorney general's office said the state will appeal.

Austin backs change in military sex assault prosecution » Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, for the first time this week, said he will support major changes to the military justice system. Under those changes, military commanders would no longer decide whether to prosecute sexual assault cases and certain other alleged crimes.

Austin had appointed an independent review commission to look at sexual assault and harassment in the military and has accepted the panel’s advice.

AUSTIN: We are prepared to work with Congress to amend the uniform code of military justice in this regard. The IRC also Special victims crimes inside this independent prosecution system to include domestic violence, and I support this as well.

A bipartisan group of 67 senators support a bill that would have independent prosecutors handle all alleged felonies that call for more than a year in prison.

But other key lawmakers and military leaders say stripping control of all major crimes from commanders could hurt military readiness and unit cohesion, and erode command authority.

Britain denies Russian claims of warning shot incident » The British government is refuting claims that a Russian warship and warplane fired warning shots at a British destroyer. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has that story.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: Moscow claimed the incident occurred near Crimea in an area it claims as its territory.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said a patrol ship fired warning shots after the HMS Defender had ignored a notice against intrusion and sailed into Russian waters.

It said a Russian bomber also dropped four bombs in the vessel’s path to persuade the Defender to change course.

It’s the first time since the Cold War that Moscow acknowledged using live ammunition to deter a NATO warship. But Britain says that never happened.

The British Ministry of Defense insists that the Defender was never fired upon and that it was in Ukrainian waters, not Russian territory.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, a move not recognized by most countries. In April, it declared a broader area off Crimea closed to foreign naval ships.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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