Supreme Court temporarily blocks the end of Trump-era immigration policy
WASHINGTON — Acting on an emergency appeal from some Republican-led states, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued a temporary order Monday that will preserve — for now — a Trump-era policy that turned away most migrants seeking asylum at the southern border.
The chief justice asked for a response from the Biden administration by the end of the day on Tuesday.
It remains unclear whether Roberts or the full Supreme Court will make a decision on the appeal before Wednesday, when the so-called Title 42 rule is set to end.
Tens of thousands of migrants have been moving toward the border with Mexico, believing the rule would expire this week.
The Trump administration adopted the rule in response to the COVID-19 emergency and authorized the government to turn away migrants without giving them an asylum hearing. Title 42 refers to part of a U.S. public health law that allows the government to act during certain emergencies.
The Biden administration had said that as the pandemic eased, the restrictions may no longer be needed.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington set aside the rule, holding that it was no longer justified asa pandemic measure. His decision allowed for an appeal, but it was due to take effect on Wednesday.
—Los Angeles Times
Jury sequestered after 7-hour deliberations for ex-Fort Worth cop Aaron Dean’s punishment
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jurors deliberated former Fort Worth Officer Aaron Dean’s punishment for more than seven hours Monday before they were sequestered, extending the sentencing phase of the trial another day.
The Tarrant County jury began deliberations just before 10 a.m. after prosecutors and defense attorneys gave their last pitches for the sentence Dean, 38, should receive for killing Atatiana Jefferson in 2019.
The same jurors found Dean guilty of manslaughter Thursday after weighing his guilt for about 14 hours over two days, drawing mixed reactions from the community. Dean is white. Jefferson was Black.
The jury rejected a murder charge, which could have led to a life sentence.
Dean faces two to 20 years in prison but could also be eligible for probation. Dean had been free on bond but was jailed after his manslaughter conviction.
Witnesses were called Friday by both sides to testify about Jefferson and Dean’s character for the trial’s punishment phase,including a psychologist who said he evaluated Dean before he was hired by Fort Worth police and concluded Dean wasn’t fit for police work. Dean successfully appealed the psychologist’s finding and finished the police academy in 2018.
Although some of the 12 jurors are people of color, none are Black. Prosecutors pleaded in closing arguments for jurors to return a 20-year sentence.
Jefferson’s “life is worth so much more than a probation sentence — so much more,” prosecutor Ashlea Deener said. “This family, her memory, her legacy, this community deserves more.”
—The Dallas Morning News
Amber Heard, Johnny Depp settle defamation case
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have settled their dueling defamation cases more than six months after a Virginia jury found for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor in the exes’ turbulent trial.
In a lengthy statement shared Monday on Instagram, Heard explained her decision not to pursue the appeal she filed shortly after the jury awarded her $2 million and Depp more than $10 million in June. The Daily Mail reported that Depp and Heard reached a settlement in which Heard’s insurance company will pay Depp $1 million — an amount Depp’s team corroborated Monday in a statement.
“After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case brought against me by my ex husband in Virginia,” Heard announced Monday. “It’s important for me to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.
“The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised when they come forward. Now I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to. I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”
In a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times, Depp attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez said they are “pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light.”
—Los Angeles Times
Netherlands makes official apology for slavery
AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands has apologized for the injustice of slavery, 150 years after it was finally ended in its former colonies.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke of historic crimes in a government statement in The Hague on Monday. "We can recognize slavery in the very clearest terms as a crime against humanity," he said.
The prime minister recalled the "immeasurable suffering" caused by slavery. "For centuries, under Dutch state authority, human dignity was trampled on in the most heinous way."
He also acknowledged that the consequences are still felt today and said his government wants to work with descendants to come to terms with and alleviate the suffering.
"We apologize posthumously to all the enslaved who suffered from the action worldwide, to their daughters and sons and all their descendants to this day," the prime minister said.
Rutte was addressing an audience of representatives of descendants of enslaved people. At the same time, seven ministers or state secretaries delivered the government's message in person in the former colonies of Suriname and six Caribbean islands.
There had been expressions of resentment among descendants and in the former colonies in the run-up to the speech.
Associations representing the descendants of slaves felt ignored and wanted King Willem-Alexander to make the apology on July1, 2023 — the 150th anniversary of the final ending of slavery in the colonies.
—dpa
