Month: April 2023

On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by West Virginia to prevent a transgender student from participating in girls’ sports.  In doing so, a law enacted in 2021 called the ‘Save Women’s Sports Act’ cannot be enforced against a 12-year-old transgender girl, Becky Pepper-Jackson, while litigation continues in the case.

In barring transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports at the middle school, high school and college levels, the law says gender is “based solely on the individual’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” As such, it says, a female is a person “whose biological sex determined at birth as female.” The law was challenged by Pepper-Jackson, then 11 years old, who wanted to try out for the cross country and track teams in her middle school in Harrison County. Pepper-Jackson’s lawyers said in a joint statement: “We are grateful that the Supreme Court today acknowledged that there was no emergency and that Becky should be allowed to continue to participate with her teammates on her middle school track team,”  and called the state’s attempt to enforce the law “a baseless and cruel effort.” During litigation, Pepper-Jackson has participated on her school’s cross country and track teams, where she has been welcomed by teammates and coaches, her lawyers said. She is undergoing puberty-delaying treatment and hormone therapy.

A federal judge initially ruled in Pepper-Jackson’s favor but concluded in January that the law was most likely legal and allowed it to be enforced against her. Pepper-Jackson appealed, and last month the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Richmond, Virginia again blocked the state from applying it. West Virginia’s lawyers said in court papers that if the law is not applied to Pepper-Jackson, “sex-separated sports as they are traditionally understood will be functionally illegal in West Virginia public schools and universities.”

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On Thursday, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed a former assistant district attorney in New York who resigned after leading an investigation into the finances of former President Donald Trump. Mark Pomerantz was one of two prosecutors who resigned in February 2022 after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took office and indicated he had doubts about proceeding with the probe.

Jordan wants Pomerantz, a former federal prosecutor, to appear for a deposition as the committee “is conducting oversight” of Bragg’s conduct, saying in a statement that “Pomerantz’s public statements about the investigation strongly suggest that Bragg’s prosecution of President Trump is politically motivated.”  The subpoena’s cover letter read in part: “Based on your unique role as a special assistant district attorney leading the investigation into President Trump’s finances, you are uniquely situated to provide information that is relevant and necessary to inform the committee’s oversight and potential legislative reforms.”

Bragg’s responded in a statement: “The House GOP continues to attempt to undermine an active investigation and ongoing New York criminal case with an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation. Repeated efforts to weaken state and local law enforcement actions are an abuse of power and will not deter us from our duty to uphold the law.”

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Bob Lee, a technology executive who founded the mobile payment company Cash App, died Tuesday after he was stabbed near downtown San Francisco. The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded to a report of a stabbing around 2:35 a.m. Tuesday on the 300 block of Main Street in the Rincon Hill neighborhood, where they found a 43-year-old man (Lee) with apparent stab wounds. Lee was taken to a San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died.

The killing is being investigated by the department’s homicide unit. San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins tweeted: “I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Mr. Lee’s family members & loved ones for his loss. We do not tolerate these horrific acts of violence in San Francisco. At this time no arrests have been made. Anyone w/ information is asked to call @SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444.”  Police declined to release more information about the crime because the homicide is an active investigation, referring questions about the victim’s identity to the city medical examiner, who said it had “no information to disclose or further comment at this time.”

Bob Lee was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency company MobileCoin. He previously served as chief technology officer of financial tech start-up Square (now known as Block), a digital payment company co-founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. He also worked at Google early in his career, where he was critical to developing Google’s Android operating system. Lee went on to create the money transfer service Cash App.

Joshua Goldbard, the CEO of MobileCoin, said a statement: “Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature. Bob was the genuine article. He was made for the world that is being born right now. Bob was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real. Bob was made for the new world … Bob’s real resume is the hearts and minds he touched in his time on earth. Bob’s legacy is the feeling that you can make a difference if you try, and of course his amazing children.”

Lee is survived by his wife, Krista, and their two children.

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On Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill repealing the state’s nearly century-old abortion ban, that made it a four-year felony to assist in an abortion. Last month, the state’s House and Senate passed HB 4006, a single-sentence bill, which revokes the 1931 law that criminalized abortion. Roe v. Wade had made the 1931 law null and void, until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision in June.

In signing the legislation, Gov. Whitmer called it “long overdue.” Specifically, the bill repealed Section 750.14, which makes it a felony — punishable by up to four years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000 — to administer drugs that induce a miscarriage unless the mother’s life is in danger. It also repealed Section 750.15, which makes it a misdemeanor to advertise, publish or sell “any pills, powder, drugs or combination of drugs” that can cause an abortion.

Whitmer said: “When Roe was overturned, a right afforded to Americans for nearly 50 years was stripped away. It horrified me to think that my daughters would have fewer rights than I did growing up. So, while other states were restricting access, we took steps to protect reproductive freedom.” 

Whitmer has openly expressed her support for abortion access in and out of Michigan and signed an executive order in July refusing to extradite women who come to Michigan from other states seeking abortion and refusing to extradite providers for offering the procedure.  In a statement, the Governor said: “In November, Michiganders sent a clear message: we deserve to make our own decisions about own bodies. Today, we are coming together to repeal our extreme 1931 law banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing nurses and doctors for doing their jobs .. Standing up for people’s fundamental freedoms is the right thing to do and it’s also just good economics. By getting this done, we will help attract talent and business investment too.”

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