| THE BIG STORY
Here’s how Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, has ruled on abortion, immigration, and policing
On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his nominee to replace the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The announcement kicks off what is likely to be a bitter confirmation fight focused on Barrett’s anti-abortion beliefs and Republicans’ attempts to seat her so close to the Nov. 3 election.
Barrett, 48, was one of Trump’s early federal court nominees. She has served on the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit since November 2017.
Barrett’s views on abortion are likely to feature prominently in the confirmation fight. Before becoming a judge, she was a law professor at Notre Dame Law School, where she spoke about her opposition to abortion. In her time on the 7th Circuit, she has sided with states trying to impose restrictions on the procedure.
Here’s a comprehensive overview of Barrett’s decisions and dissents as a judge.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Rachel Malehorn STAYING ON TOP OF THIS America’s “patchwork pandemic” is why the US hasn’t gotten COVID-19 under control
Trump has suggested that COVID-19 is “going away.” The numbers show the opposite.
Instead, the US has played a massive game of whack-a-mole with the coronavirus, temporarily taming its spread in one place only to have it show up elsewhere.
The story of the pandemic in the US has been: individual states, cities, and counties temporarily manage to get things under control, only for the virus to find susceptible populations elsewhere, especially in places with limited restrictions on gatherings and no face mask requirements.
We talked to experts about the failures that led to the patchwork pandemic.
SNAPSHOTS Pennsylvania’s “naked ballot” problem is spooking election officials. Last week, the state’s Supreme Court ruled officials can reject ballots that are not enclosed in a secrecy envelope to conceal how a person voted. Now tens of thousands of ballots could be thrown out in a state that was decided by fewer than 45,000 votes in 2016.
A man who violated safety orders by throwing house parties has been sentenced to a year in prison. Shawn Marshall Myers, 42, was sentenced to one year in prison after throwing two large parties in violation of the Maryland governor's coronavirus protective orders.
A Uighur woman who was at risk of being forcibly sent back to China and detained has arrived safely in the US. Tursunay Ziyawudun is among a small number of former detainees who have left China and spoken publicly about their experiences in internment camps in the Xinjiang region.
A Louisville police major is stepping down after insulting protesters in an email to other officers. “They will be the ones washing our cars, cashing us out at the Walmart, or living in their parents’ basement playing COD for their entire life,” Maj. Bridget Hallahan said of protesters.
“I DON’T KNOW HOW HE GOT OFF TRACK” He went from being a football star in a wealthy California town to amassing guns and texting about hunting for BLM protesters
According to an affidavit filed in federal court this week, Benjamin Hung intentionally drove his truck into a peaceful group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators protesting in Old Town Pasadena’s ritzy shopping district.
When officers searched Hung’s truck — a truck decorated with flags associated with far-right militia groups — they allegedly found a loaded Glock semiautomatic weapon, an 18-inch machete, and $3,200 in cash.
But the story gets stranger. Hung had, according to the FBI, been illegally amassing weapons and running a “training camp” at a family-owned vineyard in Northern California to prepare for “civil unrest.”
Here’s the thing. Hung was a former high school football star from a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles. How did a young man celebrated for his touchdowns and his fundraising to eradicate polio wind up accused of involvement in groups associated with a violent, far-right insurrection?
Read the story from reporters Salvador Hernandez and Jessica Garrison.
TRUTH HURTS Lizzo said the body positivity movement has been “made acceptable” and is “no longer benefiting” the people who created it
In a recent interview, the singer spoke out about the appropriation of the body positivity movement. Lizzo said the term “body positivity” has been commercialized, and pointed out that it’s no longer working for the people who created it.
The singer went on to explain that she thinks it would be “lazy” at this point for her to call herself “body positive,” and so she's pushing for a different label instead: “I would like to be body-normative,” she said. “I want to normalize my body.”
Ground yourself in your values as you start your week, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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