High Court Rulings on Campaign Spending, Sentencing of Juveniles

Two other important Supreme Court decisions were announced yesterday.  The first upheld the Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate campaign donations.  (They struck down a Montana law which restricted campaign donations.)

The second decision by the Court said that it was a violation of the 8th Amendment to sentence juveniles to life imprisonment without a chance of parole.

Watch High Court Reaffirms Campaign Finance on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Supreme Court Ruling on Arizona's Controversial Immigration Law

Three important parts of the law were struck down, another upheld (for now at least).  The part that was upheld, sometimes called the "show me your papers" provision is seen by some as the most controversial part of the law.  A good explanation from Marcia Coyle on the NewsHour on PBS last night:

Watch Supreme Court Upholds Controversial Part of Immigration Law on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Obama Publicly States Support for Gay Marriage

While he claimed his views were "evolving" for the last several years, the president who has done much to support LGBT rights, has never gone further on the issue than saying he supported "civil unions".  But yesterday, he made public his support:

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And historian Doris Kearns Goodwin thinks history will smile on Obama for his public statements

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

UC Davis - Police Use Pepper Spray on Passive, Non-Violent student protesters

The video of seemingly indefensible police action:





The police claim they were surrounded and the protesters would not move.  From the CBS news article:

"according to Annette Spicuzza, UC Davis police chief...police used the pepper spray after they were surrounded. Protesters were warned repeatedly beforehand that force would be used if they didn't move, she said.

Meanwhile in Seattle, as a part of the Occupy Seattle protests:

An 84-year-old woman who was pepper sprayed this week at an Occupy Seattle protest said the national attention she received can help the movement's cause. 

This info is taken from an article from CBS news you can connect to here.

E-Verify bill opens new front in debateTimes Newspaper

Good idea or a way to hassle immigrants?

Opinions vary on this law enacted by Congress, but the Governor of Washington thinks proposed changes would hurt the farming business in our state.

E-Verify bill opens new front in debate over immigration | Seattle Times Newspaper