The Supreme Court says a California law that forces anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion probably violates the Constitution. We also examine budget predictions from the CBO; discuss the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the president's travel ban; and more
How the Supreme Court came to its travel ban decision and what happens next
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the president's travel ban by a 5-4 ruling.
The proclamation was "squarely within the scope of Presidential authority under the INA,'" the court wrote in its majority opinion, referring to the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court seemed to tip its hand at oral arguments in April, when a majority of the justices appeared ready to side with Trump.
The court was ruling on what was the third version of the ban, which Trump has complained is a "watered-down" version. The court allowed it to go into effect while the case was litigated, but the lower courts had ruled that all three versions either violate federal law or are unconstitutional. Like the earlier two bans, Version 3.0 bars almost all travelers from five mainly Muslim countries, and it adds a ban on travelers from North Korea and government officials from Venezuela.
Today on AirTalk, our constitutional law scholars lay out how the justices reached their decision, what the dissenting minority argued, and look ahead to what the effects of this ruling might be.
With files from NPR
Guests:
Lawrence Hurley, reporter covering the Supreme Court for Reuters; he tweets
Josh Blackman, associate professor of Law at the South Texas College of Law who specializes in constitutional law; he is the author of “Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare” (Public Affairs, 2013); he tweets
Lee Gelernt, civil rights lawyer and deputy director of the Immigrants Rights Project at ACLU
SCOTUS strikes down CA law requiring pregnancy centers to give out abortion information
The Supreme Court says a California law that forces anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion probably violates the Constitution.
The 5-4 ruling Tuesday also casts doubts on similar laws in Hawaii and Illinois.
The California law took effect in 2016. It requires centers that are licensed by the state to tell clients about the availability of contraception, abortion and prenatal care, at little or no cost. Centers that are unlicensed were required to post a sign that said so. The court struck down that portion of the law.
The centers said they were singled out and forced to deliver a message with which they disagreed. California said the law was needed to let poor women know all their options.
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
Chris Geidner, DC-based Supreme Court correspondent and legal editor at BuzzFeed News who’s been following the decision; he tweets
Brad Dacus, president and founder of Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defense organization specializing in religious issues headquartered in Sacramento, California
US budget watchdog projects record US debt, is the economy doomed?
A budget scorekeeper for U.S. lawmakers projects that federal debt compared to the size of the economy will reach 78 percent this fiscal year, the highest level in nearly seven decades.
The Congressional Budget Office predicts the debt will grow even as government revenue flattens out in the next few years. Meanwhile, spending on Social Security and Medicare is projected to take a larger share of the pie.
The CBO's report says more of the government's spending will be dedicated to servicing the debt, to the point that interest payments will about equal spending on Social Security in 30 years.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Steve Moore, former economic adviser on Donald Trump's campaign team and economist at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C.
Brian Riedl, economist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a New York-based libertarian think tank
Seth Hanlon, former special assistant on economic policy to President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017; senior fellow focusing on federal tax and budget policy at the left-leaning think tank, Center for American Progress; he tweets at
Giants of the sea: the secret history, life and future of the whale species
Fifty million years ago, whales were about the size of a German shepherd, dwelling and walking on land with four legs.
Since then, whale species have evolved into the largest and longest living mammals to ever exist on Earth. But how did they manage to grow so large? Why did they move out to sea, and what do we know about the future of their survival amidst climate change?
Nick Pyenson, star paleontologist and curator of the Smithsonian’s fossil marine mammals, takes us on a deep dive into the scientific adventures and research in his new book, “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s most Awesome Creatures.”
From how their brains tell them to rise up to the surface for a breath while sleeping, to having belly buttons and being able to recognize themselves in mirrors, we’ll talk about everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about these intelligent, enigmatic sea giants. Call us with your questions at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Nick Pyenson, curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and author of “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures” (Penguin Random House, 2018)