Assassi-nation. A lawyer for Donald Trump straight-facedly told the Supreme Court yesterday that U.S. presidents should be able to order political rivals’ murders without fear of prosecution.
■ The AP recaps key moments from those arguments …
■ … which a political science professor says signal “a crux in history.”
■ Law prof Joyce Vance: “Clarence Thomas, whose wife was involved in Jan. 6, decided it was appropriate for him to participate in this case. … His presence … was a blot on … the rule of law” …
■ … or as Trump’s niece Mary says: “A reminder that the current Supreme Court is corrupt and illegitimate.”
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “The court’s decision will likely … delay Trump’s trial for crimes committed in his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election … until after the 2024 election.”
■ Harold Meyerson (no relation) at The American Prospect: “The Court is effectively … endeavoring to decide the upcoming presidential election in Trump’s favor.”
■ Live updates: Trump’s criminal trial continues in New York.
Ouch. Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr, who dismissed Trump’s 2020 election victory claims, said he’ll still vote for Trump this fall …
■ … after which Trump took to social media to berate Barr anyway.
Chicago’s turn. Antiwar protests were planned for several campuses today.
■ Northwestern’s student newspaper has been providing live updates on the protest there.
■ Evanston RoundTable photos show the “Free Gaza Liberated Zone” scene this morning.
■ The AP: “As some universities negotiate with pro-Palestinian protesters, others quickly call the police.”
■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Free speech absolutists who want kids arrested …
■ … or, as Welcome to Hell World columnist Luke O’Neil puts it: “The state of Israel must be allowed to massacre as many Palestinians as they wish and any effort to forestall that from Boston to Los Angeles to Atlanta to New York City should be met with the full force of the militarized police to ‘restore the peace.’”
13 shots. An autopsy concludes that’s how many of the almost 100 bullets fired by Chicago cops actually struck Dexter Reed in a deadly shootout last month.
■ Analysis by The Trace: “Road rage shootings are on the rise across the United States as drivers increasingly turn to firearms to vent their frustrations.”
■ A 22-year-old man who helped set a CTA van on fire during the 2020 riots has been sentenced to prison.
‘Covering everyone, regardless of their immigration status, is … good for all of us.’ A new study from the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago concludes that public funding for healthcare coverage of the uninsured—including noncitizen migrants—pays for itself.
■ Gov. Pritkzer’s pushing a big boost in state funding for programs to help the homeless find homes.
The Onion’s appeal. The Pulitzer-worthy humor site has been sold, under a deal that will keep the “entire staff intact and in Chicago.”
■ The new CEO—former NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins—pledges: “We’re … going to let them do whatever they want.”
■ The new parent company takes its name from a long-running Onion gag.
■ A (sarcastic but real) pitch from the new owners: “Give Us $1 Or The Onion Disappears Forever.”
How to fight book bans. Literary Activism columnist Kelly Jensen offers four stratagems.
■ Reversing Trump-era changes, the FCC has reinstated internet neutrality rules—stripping service providers of the power to favor, slow down or block certain products and websites.
■ 404: Facebook’s bizarre AI spam has migrated to LinkedIn.
Radio exits. The emerging list of layoffs at Audacy-owned stations includes WBBM Newsradio’s Keith Johnson, a near-30-year veteran most recently heard there weekday afternoons.
■ WLS-AM host Steve Cochran admits corporate parent Cumulus sent him to a training session after he “clicked on six different phishing scams.”
■ Hey, Steve: Watch out for this scam, in which someone claiming to be with the Illinois State Police reports your identity’s been stolen.
Are you smarter than a fifth grader (who’s been reading The Conversation’s weekly “Curious Kids” feature)? Take this week’s news quiz and find out.
■ Q. 1: “If everyone on Earth got in the ocean and submerged themselves underwater at the same time, about how much would the world’s sea level rise?”
■ Score better than 5/8 on this edition and you get to brag about beating your Chicago Public Square columnist.
Thanks. PopMatters provided musical accompaniment for production of this edition.