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Judge Orders National Parks to Restore Signs Mentioning Flaws in American History
The Trump administration plans to appeal a judge’s recent ruling that requires the National Park Service to restore historically interpretive signs that sometimes mention embarrassing facts about the United States.
The National Park Service replaced signs that mention uncomfortable issues such as slavery, civil rights and climate change to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The March 27 executive order says Trump wants “to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.”
The order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” directed federal agencies to remove materials from parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
It also applies to monuments, memorials, museums, statues and markers under control of the U.S. Interior Department. It mentions the Smithsonian Institution museums and Independence Hall in Philadelphia as examples.
Supreme Court Allows New York Law That Threatens Gun Industry
The U.S. Supreme Court last week allowed a New York law to stand that allows lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers who fail to take precautions against illegal firearms trafficking and thefts.
The law was challenged by the gun industry.
They said the New York law was preempted by a 2005 federal law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. It shields the gun industry from lawsuits when its firearms are used to commit crimes.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun trade organization, argued that making them liable was like allowing people to sue beer companies for injuries from drunk drivers.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan disagreed.
Judge Orders Clean Energy Projects Restored After Allegations of Political Reprisal
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is requiring the U.S. Energy Department to restore $82.1 million in clean energy grants that it canceled last year.
A lawsuit led by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers alleged that 11 grant cancellations were intended as political reprisal.
The grants were awarded to corporations during the Biden administration. Projects that lost the money were in states that supported former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the last election, according to the plaintiffs.
The Energy Department denies any political discrimination.
The grants included $49.8 million for a project to reclaim minerals critical to several industries from fuel cells and $6.1 million to reduce the cost of hydrogen extraction to make it competitive with prices for natural gas.
Legal Briefs
D.C.’s Most Likely Next Mayor Increases Threats of Federal Takeover
District of Columbia Council member Janeese Lewis George’s victory last week in winning the Democratic nomination for mayor of Washington, D.C., is creating concern for the possibility of more federal control over the city.
President Donald Trump said that if Lewis George wins the race for mayor, he might take control of Washington.
"Well, I wouldn't like it, and maybe we'd take back Washington and run it on the federal basis,” Trump said June 11. “We won't put up with it."
A primary victory for a Democrat nearly guarantees a second victory as mayor in the heavily Democratic District of Columbia.
Lewis George is a democratic socialist who said she would “stand up” to Trump. She advocates for D.C. statehood, more tax money spent on universal affordable child care and public housing as well as caps on utility rates.
Trump described Lewis George as a threat to economic prosperity in the nation’s capital.
Trump said, “We’re not going to lose our businesses” by having Lewis George as mayor.
She called Trump’s threats “an attack on democracy itself."
D.C. in Brief
Virginia judge supports assault weapons ban in face-off with gun rights groups
A Virginia judge’s ruling last week that supported the state's new ban on the sale of many high-capacity semiautomatic rifles and pistols is only intensifying legal challenges by gun rights groups.
The challengers say the law signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) in May violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the militia clause of the Virginia Constitution. The law is scheduled to take effect July 1.
“Firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement.
The Virginia Supreme Court this month appointed a three-judge panel to determine whether four lawsuits challenging the assault weapon ban should be consolidated into a single high-profile legal case.
The ruling last week by Judge W. Russell Allen of Lynchburg Circuit Court denied a request for a preliminary injunction sought by gun advocacy groups. They were led by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation.
Their main argument is that the law infringes on Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution, which says "a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state."
Allen ruled that the state constitutional provision refers to “militias” but does not create an individual right to possess or purchase specific firearms. He also wrote that the General Assembly retains a right to regulate the most dangerous weapons to protect public safety.
The law prohibits the future sale, manufacture, importation and transfer of a range of semiautomatic firearms and magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. It generally allows owners to keep weapons they already possess.
Violators could face a misdemeanor conviction punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Some local prosecutors who say they think the law is unconstitutional said they would not enforce it.
Virginia is one of eleven states, along with the District of Columbia, seeking permanent restrictions on assault weapons. Nearly all of them are facing lawsuits challenging their authority.
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