August 30, 2021

August 30, 2021[edit]

Welcome to the Monday, August 30, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. SCOTUS Roundup: Orders include eviction moratorium, vaccine requirements
2. Introducing the new lieutenant governor of New York
3. WA school board candidate re-enters race after receiving most primary votes

SCOTUS Roundup: Orders include eviction moratorium, vaccine requirements

While the Supreme Court does not begin its new term until Oct. 4, the court is still issuing opinions from its emergency docket. This includes cases that are not part of the court’s merits docket and scheduled for argument.

Here’s a roundup of key orders this month:

• Aug. 26: The Supreme Court vacated the nationwide moratorium on evictions of tenants who live in a county experiencing substantial or high levels of COVID-19 transmission and make declarations of financial need. The moratorium was imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In the 6-3 ruling, the court wrote, "If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it." Justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett were in the majority. Justices Justice Stephen Breyer filed a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
  
• Aug. 24: The court denied the Biden administration's application to stay an injunction from the  U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas requiring the reinstatement of the Trump administration’s "Remain in Mexico" policy. This policy requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while awaiting a U.S. immigration court hearing. The court’s order stated that Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan would have granted the application. Five justices are needed to grant a stay.
  
• Aug. 20: Justice Amy Coney Barrett—who is assigned to respond to emergency matters from Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—denied a request from Protect Our Parks to halt the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park in Chicago.  The request was denied without being referred to the full court.
  
• Aug. 12: Barrett also denied a request for emergency relief to block Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students. The request was denied without being referred to the full court.

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Introducing the new lieutenant governor of New York

The newly sworn-in governor of New York, Kathy Hochul (D), announced at an event in Harlem on Aug. 26 that she had selected Brian Benjamin as her pick for lieutenant governor. Benjamin currently represents the 30th District in the New York State Senate and serves as the chamber’s senior assistant majority leader.

Benjamin ran for New York City comptroller over the summer, finishing fourth in the Democratic primary with 11.6% of the vote.

Hochul said during the announcement that Benjamin would be sworn in after Labor Day. The special election for Benjamin’s vacant seat in the state senate will likely coincide with the November general election. Benjamin was last elected in the district with 93.0% of the vote in 2020 and 99.6% in 2018.

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WA school board candidate re-enters race after receiving most primary votes

Clallam County, Washington, has the nation's longest unbroken record of voting for the winning presidential candidate—going back four decades to 1980!

Clallam County is also a Boomerang Pivot County, meaning it backed Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. There are 24 other Boomerang Pivot Counties in the U.S.

Here’s one of the interesting local races coming out of Clallam County:

Kristi Schmeck, who suspended her campaign for a seat on the five-member Sequim School District Board of Directors in the late spring, rejoined the race after receiving the most votes—28.9%—in the Aug. 2 primary. She advanced to the general election with Virginia R. Sheppard, who received 28.7%.

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