The Rundown: Supremes Say Gays, Transgenders Deserve Protection

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that gay, lesbian and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The decision said that the Title VII provision of the landmark law that outlaws employment discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, includes bias against LGBT workers. Two of the court's conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined its liberals in the 6-3 decision, and Gorsuch wrote for the court, saying, "An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids." Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh both wrote separate dissents, with Alito saying, "Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of 'sex' is different from discrimination because of 'sexual orientation' or 'gender identity.'"

➤ATLANTA MAYOR ORDERS POLICING CHANGES, BROOKS' FAMILY CALLS FOR JUSTICE, CHANGE: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Monday that she was ordering changes to police use-of-force policies, including requiring that officers get continuous training in deescalating situations that they must use before taking potentially fatal action, and that they must intervene if they see another officer using excessive force. The move came three days after 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, who was black, was fatally shot by police outside a Wendy's drive-through in the city. Brooks' family called yesterday for action, with his niece, Chassidy Evans, saying, "When does it stop? We’re not only pleading for justice. We’re pleading for change." His widow, Tomika Miller, asked that those demonstrating over Brooks' death, quote, "keep the protesting peaceful," saying, "We want to keep his name positive and great."

The officers had responded to complaints about a car blocking a Wendy's drive-thru and found Brooks asleep in the vehicle. Although their interaction was calm and Brooks agreed to a sobriety test, a struggle began when they tried to handcuff him after the test showed a too high blood alcohol reading. Brooks was able to grab a Taser from one of the officers and started running. Wendy's security camera footage showed Brooks turn and point an object -- which the officers said was the Taser -- at one of the officers, who fired his gun.

A 911 dispatcher who was apparently watching in real time as a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into the neck of George Floyd called a supervisor to tell him what she saw, not caring if it made her look like a “snitch.”
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Police Dispatcher was Concerned About Use of Force Against George Floyd: The Minneapolis Police Department released audio on Monday of a dispatcher who watched George Floyd's arrest via surveillance cameras and expressed concern about the use of force. The dispatcher's call to their supervisor came about the time when Floyd's was being taken to the hospital in an ambulance, after a police officer had kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The dispatcher said, "I don't know, you can call me a snitch if you want to, but we have the cameras up for 320's call and . . . I don't know if they had to use force or not, but they got something out of the back of the squad, and all of them sat on this man . . . "

Feds to Review Hanging Death of Two California Men: Officials said Monday (June 15th) that federal authorities will review local investigations into the recent hanging deaths of two black men in Southern California to determine whether federal law was violated. Local authorities have said there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths of Robert Fuller in Palmdale and Malcolm Harsch in Victorville, with early indications pointing to suicide for both, but sheriffs have pledged to continue to investigate.

➤U.S. REVOKES EMERGENCY APPROVAL FOR HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE FOR CORONAVIRUS: The Food and Drug Administration yesterday revoked emergency authorization for the use of two malaria drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, to treat the coronavirus, due to growing evidence that they don't work and could cause serious cardiac side effects. President Trump touted the use of hydroxychloroquine, and even took it himself preventatively. The FDA also warned doctors against prescribing them with remdesivir, the only drug so far that's been shown to help coronavirus patients, saying the malaria drugs can reduce the effectiveness of remdesivir.

Black Americans Most Likely to Know a Coronavirus Victim: Black Americans have been particularly susceptible to getting the coronavirus, and they are also disproportionately likely to say that a family member or close friend has died of the virus, according to three surveys conducted since April. Eleven percent of black Americans say they were close with someone who died from the coronavirus, compared to five percent of Americans overall and four percent of white Americans.

Death Toll: There have been more than 116,100 deaths as of last night, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, and more than 2,113,300 confirmed cases.

➤TEMPERATURE CHECKS, HAND SANITIZER, MASKS AT TRUMP RALLY: There have been ongoing concerns about the safety of President Trump's plans to hold a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic, his first since early March. In an apparent first step to address those worries, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted Monday (June 15th) that rally-goers will be given temperature checks, hand sanitizer and face masks before entering the venue. It was announced last week that people signing up for free tickets to the rally must sign a liability disclaimer for if they get the coronavirus from being at the rally.

➤TRUMP SAYS EX-NSA BOLTON COULD FACE 'CRIMINAL PROBLEM' IF GOES FORWARD WITH BOOK: President Trump said Monday that his former national security adviser John Bolton could face a, quote, "criminal problem" if he moves forward with plans to publish his book, which is due out next week. Trump accused Bolton of not completing a review to make sure the book doesn't contain classified material. However, Bolton's attorney said Bolton worked for months with classification specialists at the White House National Security Council. He also said, "This is a transparent attempt to use national security as a pretext to censor Mr. Bolton . . . " Publisher Simon & Schuster said of Bolton's book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir: "Bolton covers an array of topics -- chaos in the White House, sure, but also assessments of major players, the president’s inconsistent, scattershot decision-making process, and his dealings with allies and enemies alike . . . " The publisher also says that Bolton wrote: "I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations."

➤TRUMP'S NIECE PUBLISHING TELL-ALL BOOK, GAVE TAX DOCUMENTS TO 'N.Y. TIMES': President Trump's niece, 55-year-old Mary Trump, is set to publish a tell-all book in August, in which she'll reveal that she leaked tax documents to help the New York Times investigation into Donald Trump's finances, The Daily Beast reported yesterday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 Times report showed Trump's father, Fred Trump Sr., put more than $400 million into Trump's failing businesses in the 1990s. Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr., the president's older brother who died in 1981 at age of 42 from a heart attack caused by alcoholism. The Daily Bast cited people with knowledge of the book, called, Too Much and Never Enough, that it would be filed with, quote, "harrowing and salacious" stories about the president, and that Trump's sister, retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, expresses, quote, "damning thoughts about her brother."

➤COMMISSIONER SAYS MLB SEASON MAY NOT BE PLAYED: After last week saying that he was "100 percent" certain that there would be a MLB season, Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday that it may not happen, after a breakdown in talks with the players union on the plan for a coronavirus-delayed season because of a dispute over player salaries. Manfred said on ESPN, "I’m not confident. I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is going to continue." MLB also sent a letter to the players union asking if it will waive the threat of legal action." After unsuccessful back-and-forth proposals from both sides, union head Tony Clark said Saturday, "Further dialogue with the league would be futile," and asked MLB to set a schedule. The union then said it might file a grievance seeking damages that could reach $1 billion or more. Clark said yesterday, "This latest threat is just one more indication that Major League Baseball has been negotiating in bad faith since the beginning."

➤GOODELL ENCOURAGES TEAMS TO SIGN KAEPERNICK: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on ESPN Monday that he'd encourage teams to sign Colin Kaepernick. Goodell said, "[I]f he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it's gonna take a team to make that decision. But I welcome that, support a club making that decision, and encourage them to do that." Kaepernick last played in 2016, after he kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. But there's been new positive attention to Kaepernick and his protest in light of George Floyd's death and the protests that have followed.

➤SAINTS' JENKINS TO BE CNN CONTRIBUTOR ON RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: CNN announced Monday that New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins will join the network as a contributor on racial and social justice. Jenkins said, "I believe I can be a voice for other athlete activists and those who have dedicated their lives to changing legislation, policies and reforms for human equality." Jenkins and retired wide receiver Anquan Boldin created the Players Coalition in 2017, a charity that advocates for racial and social equality. Jenkins has also been speaking about police brutality and police funding on social media, in mainstream media and at rallies amid the protests that have been taking place since George Floyd's death.

➤OSCARS MOVES BACK:  For the fourth time in history, the Oscars have been postponed due to the novel coronavirus. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Monday that the 93rd Academy Awards telecast has been postponed by two months, from February 28, 2021, to April 25, 2021.