Good Monday morning.
On this day a little over 46 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck a blow for equity and pushed the country one small step forward on the path to dismantling institutional racism – a path we are still trodding today, and perhaps will be for as long as you and I are on the planet.
Or, given the way things are going these days, perhaps even longer.
Setting aside the rather depressing discussion about how much backsliding we’ve done as a nation when it comes to tolerance and letting people live in wedded bliss (or however they choose to define it) how, where, and with who they want, (as long as they’re not hurting anyone else), let’s talk about Loving v. Virginia.
The case – and the decision in it, which was handed down on June 12, 1967 – starts with a love story between two people, one white (Richard Perry Loving) and the other not white (Mildred Delores Jeter).
An aside: If you’ve heard anything about this case, you probably thought Mildred Jeter was Black. But it turns out that her heritage was quite a bit less cut and dried than that. She described herself as part Negro and part Indian in a 1963 letter to the ACLU. Her son, Donald Loving, maintains she was Native American – or, more specifically Virginia Indian.
But really, it was the Supreme Court case that challenged the Virginia law that deemed the Lovings’ interracial marriage illegal, in which the couple’s attorney, Philip Hirschkop, drew a line between interracial marriage bans and slavery that really complicated things in terms of solidifying the believe that Mildred was African-American.
Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself.
The Lovings met when they were just kids. He was 17 and she was just 11. They didn’t start dating until years later, but he knew her for a long time before that because he was a friend of her older brothers.
Not long after they started dating – when she was 18 – Mildred got pregnant and the couple decided to move in together. They wanted to get married, but were unable to do so legally in Virginia, thanks to the 1924 Racial Integrity Act. So, they traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1958, where they were able to legally wed.
And then they went home. And here’s where things got sticky.
It turned out that it was illegal just to BE married to an individual who wasn’t white in Virginia – even if you had left the state to legally do so. The local sheriff arrested the couple after receiving a tip that they were cohabitating in sin, so to speak. They pleaded guilty and were sentenced to one year in prison – a sentence that was suspended as long as they leave their home and not return.
The Lovings decamped to D.C., but they missed Virginia. Rural life suited them. They struggled to make it in the big city and were far from family and friends. Their son was hit by a car. They wanted to go home. And so they sued to vacate their conviction in hopes that they would be able to do so.
The ACLU filed a motion on the Lovings’ behalf, having been alerted to their plight by AG Robert F. Kennedy. It took nine years of legal wrangling, but in a unanimous decision, the nation’s highest court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional.
The Lovings lived in a house that Richard built for them. Mildred, who once famously told a reporter: “We loved each other and got married. We are not marrying the state. The law should allow a person to marry anyone he wants,” sadly long outlived her husband.
He was killed at the age of 41 when a drunk driver hit the couple’s car. She lost an eye in the crash, but lived to the age of 68, when she died of pneumonia in 2008.
In honor of the Loving decision – and the fight Richard and Mildred waged – today is Loving Day. I know this post is getting a bit winded – where DOES the space go?
But I would be remiss if I didn’t note that last year – the 55th anniversary of the Loving decision – the Supreme Court overturned Roe, which some believe could also be a threat to the court’s marriage decisions, both same-sex and interracial.
Congress responded by passing the Respect for Marriage Act, which requires states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in any other state, but does not require them to be performed within their own borders. President Biden promptly signed the measure into law.
After a lovely Sunday and a not too terrible Saturday, we’re in for a stretch of much-needed rain. It will be cloudy with occasional showers today, with temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s.
In the headlines…
The federal indictment of former President Trump has unleashed a wave of calls by his supporters for violence and an uprising to defend him, disturbing observers and raising concerns of a dangerous atmosphere ahead of his court appearance tomorrow.
Trump’s onetime Attorney General William Barr said the former president is “toast” after being indicted by the federal government for mishandling classified documents.
Barr said he was “shocked by the degree of sensitivity of these documents and how many there were, frankly.”
Whether the 37 felony charges detailed in the federal indictment against Trump are a blow or a boon for the former president’s political standing depends on who’s being asked.
Even as prosecutors publicly unveiled a deep and detailed array of evidence against Trump in the documents investigation on Friday, they suffered a potential setback with the surprise assignment of the case to Judge Aileen M. Cannon – a Trump appointee.
Walt Nauta, 40, a Navy veteran and a regular presence at Trump’s side, is said to have played a central role in helping to thwart government efforts to retrieve classified documents.
The GOP candidates challenging Trump in 2024 have to decide how to run against the indicted former president. And it could determine where the party goes from here.
There’s concern among Democrats that third party candidate Cornel West could be a spoiler in November of 2024.
Eight in 10 Democratic primary voters say in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll they would like to see a series of Democratic debates during the 2024 campaign. That includes an overwhelming 72% of those supporting President Joe Biden.
Biden on Saturday welcomed hundreds of LGBTQ policymakers, staffers, advocates and allies for a Pride celebration at the White House designed to highlight the administration’s ongoing commitment to protect the community’s rights and freedoms.
Biden will return to Philadelphia next Saturday to rally with union members in his first political event since announcing reelection.
Syracuse University’s national champion men’s soccer team will be honored today by Biden at the White House.
An attorney for indicted Rep. George Santos asserted Friday his client’s $500,000 bond on criminal charges was paid by relatives who are entitled to anonymity in his high-profile prosecution.
Santos appealed a federal magistrate judge’s decision ordering the release of the names of the people who helped bail him out of federal custody, suggesting that the individuals were family members.
“The suretors are family members and not lobbyists, donors or others seeking to exert influence over the Defendant,” the filing states. “There is no way to quell such speculation and foster confidence in the judicial process but to reveal the identities of the Suretors.”
On May 25, a group of news organizations asked the court to reverse that decision. Attorneys representing media outlets argued in a legal filing that transparency serves the public interest.
After a grueling year marked by Democratic infighting, New York State lawmakers concluded the 2023 legislative session this weekend with few marquee policy wins and a notable failure to address the state’s critical housing needs.
The long-debated controversial Clean Slate Act — which will automatically seal most criminal records — has passed both houses of the state Legislature.
During a marathon session late Friday night, lawmakers voted to adopt the bill as they push through the weekend to wrap up their business for the year.
Assembly members narrowly voted late Friday afternoon to adopt the measure 83-64. Senators passed it in kind 38-25 just before 11 p.m., expecting to conclude session in the upper house for the year early Saturday morning.
Although the legislative session appeared to conclude Saturday, assembly members, not senators, are expected back in the “near future” to complete unfinished work, according to spokespersons for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
New York would ban mandatory anti-union meetings in the workplace under legislation heading to Hochul for her signature.
New York voters would be able to cast ballots early through the mail under a proposal that will be heading to Hochul’s desk.
Dr. James McDonald was confirmed late Friday by the state Senate to serve as the top public health official in New York state.
The state Senate on Friday declined to vote on Hochul’s nomination of Justin E. Driscoll to become the permanent head of the increasingly important New York Power Authority.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins: “As this deliberative body passes common sense solutions, we are writing the blueprint for our greatest potential yet.”
Hochul: “As we wait for much-needed national gun laws, states need to step up and do more. That’s why I continue to fight today for the solutions we need to save lives tomorrow.”
New York’s hospitals and nursing homes will be required to continue maintaining a 60-day emergency stockpile of personal protective equipment despite authorities declaring the COVID-19 emergency over.
Some experts and elected officials say New York’s leaders should have responded more quickly to the wildfire smoke that pushed air quality to historically unhealthy levels.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against criticism of his administration’s response to the dangerously poor air quality spurred by the Canadian wildfires, as elected leaders accused him of acting too slowly and not communicating effectively.
The NYT’s Mara Gay wrote: “Adams’s slow, muted response to the unhealthy smoke left the city’s more than eight million residents unprepared, scrambling to protect themselves.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for the White House to double its deployment of firefighters to combat wildfires raging across Canada, saying more help is needed to prevent a “summer of smoke” in New York.
Adams thanked the two top Democrats in Congress last week after they announced the city would receive $105 million in new federal aid for the city’s migrant crisis, but he said the outlay isn’t nearly enough to address the situation long-term.
Adams, the “nightlife mayor,” has many friends. And several of these friends – and some of his relatives – have received high-level appointments from Adams to work in his administration.
The NYPD has issued street drinkers a staggering nearly 10,000 tickets in the past year — more than in the four before Adams took office combined, according to police data reviewed by The NY Post.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell is reportedly powerless to make most moves at the NYPD without approval from the Adams administration.
New York City’s food delivery workers are slated to make a minimum wage for the first time ever under new regulations announced by Adams yesterday.
This is a first of its kind pay raise for the more than 60,000 delivery workers who currently are making just over $7 an hour.
The migrant crisis, weak commercial real-estate market and toxic smog from Canadian wildfires make this “a frightening time” to be in the Big Apple, ex-Gov. David Paterson said.
City Comptroller Brad Lander is demanding an immediate adjournment on all eviction cases in which low-income tenants are unable to get a lawyer.
The NYPD is test flying a permitting system that will allow drones to buzz about New York City — but commercial drone operators believe the strict rules will effectively put them in a no-fly zone.
Ex-marine Daniel Penny, who is charged with killing homeless man Jordan Neely on the subway last month, said he wasn’t “trying to choke him to death” when he jumped into action after Neely was threatening passengers.
Democratic Assemblywoman Inez Dickens has spent years falsely insisting she was a graduate of Howard University when she never actually completed a degree there — or anywhere.
Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán is pushing a new bill that would all but legitimize — and subsidize — the Big Apple’s illegal sex worker industry.
Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon blames his borough’s rising crime rate on Albany lawmakers who are more focused on helping criminals than victims, and a shrinking contingent of cops.
Murders on Staten Island this year have skyrocketed 125% (9 from 4); while rape is up 60% (16 from 10); robberies 42% (128 from 82), burglaries 33% (149 from 112), and felony assaults 30% (390 from 299), NYPD data shows.
Charter schools in the US are significantly outperforming their traditional-public-school peers across the nation — and by particularly large margins in New York City and other urban areas, an extensive new study reveals.
An off-duty New York City firefighter who drowned trying to rescue his daughter from a riptide dedicated his life to saving others, his stunned friends and neighbors said.
Generous incentives will secure a project that keeps New York’s motion picture industry competitive, officials say. Critics call the price too steep.
City of Albany workers dug up what appears to be a time capsule in the foundation that held the Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler statue after it was taken down Saturday in front of City Hall, city officials said.
The National Arena League is investigating a profane exchange on social media between Albany Empire majority owner Antonio Brown and Orlando Predators part-owner John Cheney.
A self-described anti-racism group has filed a federal civil-rights complaint against SUNY Albany over the taxpayer-funded school’s controversial library internship program that’s available only to black students.
The Albany City School District is facing scrutiny after state investigators found it misused certain rooms to isolate students with disabilities, while one educator separately alleged staff secured some elementary schoolers to classroom chairs with seat belts.
“Kimberly Akimbo,” a small-scale, big-hearted show about a teenage girl coping with a life-shortening genetic condition and a comically dysfunctional family, won the coveted Tony Award for best musical last night.
Other winners: Leopoldstadt was named best play, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog won best revival of a play, and Parade won best revival of a musical.
J. Harrison Ghee, whose portrayal of a gender-questioning musician fleeing the mob in “Some Like It Hot” has charmed critics and audiences, won a Tony Award for best leading actor in a musical, becoming the first out nonbinary actor to win that award.
Broadway veteran Denée Benton referred to Gov. Ron DeSantis as the “grand wizard” of Florida (a title typically reserved for a KKK leader) at the 2023 Tony Awards, receiving a large round of applause from the Washington Heights audience.
Theodore J. Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, died on Saturday in a federal prison medical center in Butner, N.C. He was 81.
The cause of his death reportedly was suicide, which is certain to raise fresh questions about the quality of security, oversight and health care in the troubled, chronically understaffed federal prison system.
