Stories Chosen For You
The United States made history on Thursday as Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
The 51-year-old's appointment by Democratic President Joe Biden means white men are not in the majority on the nation's highest court for the first time in 233 years.
While her confirmation is a milestone, it won't change the 6-3 conservative majority on the court, which has come under fire for recent rulings broadening the right to bear arms and eviscerating abortion rights.
Jackson spoke only to say her oaths during Thursday's brief ceremony.
She had picked up support from three Senate Republicans during a grueling and at times brutal confirmation process, delivering Biden a bipartisan 53-47 approval for his first Supreme Court nominee.
Jackson's swearing-in marks a major moment for Biden, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1980s and 90s, meaning he has the unprecedented distinction of both naming and overseeing the appointment of a Supreme Court justice.
The appointment presents an opportunity for his administration to pivot from a spate of bad news in recent months, with Biden's poll ratings still languishing below 40 percent amid runaway inflation ahead of midterm elections in November.
Crucially, it has allowed Biden to show the Black voters who rescued his floundering 2020 primary campaign that he can deliver for them.
At 42 days, the confirmation was among the shortest in history, although longer than it took to seat Donald Trump's last court pick during his presidency, Amy Coney Barrett.
As the final word on all civil and criminal legal disputes, as well as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution, the Supreme Court seeks to ensure equal justice under the law.
Four of the justices on the nine-member court are now women, making it the most diverse bench in history -- although they all attended the elite law schools of Harvard or Yale.
© 2022 AFP
There's 'ample information' to back up one of Cassidy Hutchinson's most important claims: Maggie Haberman
Allies of former President Donald Trump have tried to discredit the testimony of former aide Cassidy Hutchinson by disputing some of her claims, particularly that she was told that Trump lunged at a member of his own Secret Service while trying to go to the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
However, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman notes that there is no disputing some of Hutchinson's claims, including that the former president was angry that some of his supporters were being denied access to his "Stop the Steal" rally because they had come armed with weapons.
Writing on Twitter, Haberman says that "it was reported in real time that Trump was furious about the crowd size and screaming at aides about it on Jan. 6, 2021." In fact, Haberman adds, "there's ample information about it."
Trump's speech at the "Stop the Steal" rally does show he was fixated on the size of the crowd and was upset that the news cameras weren't showing the thousands of supporters who were not allowed into the designated area.
RELATED: The Jan. 6 committee's surprise witness delivered a surprisingly devastating blow to Trump
"Media will not show the magnitude of this crowd," Trump said at the very start of his speech. "Even I, when I turned on today, I looked, and I saw thousands of people here. But you don't see hundreds of thousands of people behind you because they don't want to show that."
Later in the speech, Trump seemed to suggest to the Secret Service that more of his supporters should be brought in.
"And I'd love to have if those tens of thousands of people would be allowed," Trump said while pointing outward. "The military, the Secret Service -- and we want to thank you, and the police, law enforcement, great, you're doing a great job -- but I'd love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us. Is that possible? Can you just let them come up, please?"
Watch video of the relevant parts of Trump's speech below.
\u201cWe went back and watched Trump\u2019s speech on January 6.\n\nSure seems to back up what Cassidy Hutchinson said under oath yesterday.\u201d— The Republican Accountability Project (@The Republican Accountability Project) 1656529378
Watch: Turmoil erupts in Indiana library as Proud Boys storm 'Rainbow Storytime' event
Video shows a group of Proud Boys storming a scheduled “Rainbow Storytime” program in a reading room at an Indiana public library and demanding the event be shut down, the South Bend Tribune reports.
One member unfurled a flag reading “Michiana Proud Boys,” and the video shows the men badgering library staff for about 45 minutes, accusing them of pushing "perversion" on children.
“You’re grooming these children's minds,” one of the Proud Boys said. “This is our region and we will not have that in our region.”
South Bend police officers and the library’s security personnel eventually convinced the men to leave.
IN OTHER NEWS: How Rudy Giuliani turned to a far-right network for bogus evidence to frame 'antifa' for Jan. 6
The library rescheduled the event, which was planned in partnership with the Tree House Gender Resource Center, and said it will continue to offer such events “to all members of our community.”
“The library will always be a welcoming place for everyone of all viewpoints, so the library will continue to offer programs like this no matter what the response is,” said Marissa Gebhard, who is the communications manager for the library system, adding that the books that were to be read were “carefully selected” in an age-appropriate manner.
The Midwest Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League told local news outlet ABC7 that the Proud Boys are increasingly targeting LGBTQ events.
“They have showed up at Pride marches they’ve showed up at other Pride events,” David Goldenberg said. “They’ve showed up at libraries in other parts of the country. And so this appears to be a tactic or strategy that the proud boys are using to harass, threaten and intimidate members of the LGBTQ community.”
“What I think perhaps is most despicable about this incident at Tutt library is that it involved children, and it speaks to how horrible these individuals are, and how hateful they are, and how nothing is really off-limits for them,” he added.
Watch the video below.
Michiana Proud Boys Rainbow Crash www.youtube.com
Copyright © 2022 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | For corrections or concerns, please email corrections@rawstory.com.