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Happy Labor Day! No matter how you’re spending this well-deserved long weekend, all of us at Mission: Democracy wish you a healthy and safe holiday, as we celebrate the hard work and dedication of American workers. We’ll be back next week with fresh commentary from the team.
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Banning the bans
There’s some good news on the democracy front as it relates to book bans. As you probably know, book bans in schools and public libraries have been on the rise in recent years. Threats of violence against librarians have also risen, leading to staffing shortages and other challenges for libraries. Overall, not a pretty picture, as 1st Amendment rights come into conflict with people’s personal moral preferences.
But it’s not all bad news. In Texas, which leads the country in book bans, Federal Judge Alan D. Albright has issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Texas's controversial new book rating law, a day before the law was set to take effect. And Pennsylvania may soon follow in the footsteps of Illinois, which in June became the first state in the nation to outlaw book bans. Bravo!
Amid record demand to ban books nationwide, Wisconsin libraries see efforts to remove certain works —Wisconsin Public Radio
Grandparents for Truth mobilizes against book banning and censorship —People for the American Way
The Trump trials
It was another busy week for Donald Trump and his legal defenders. Despite shamelessly citing the infamous 1931 Scottsboro Boys case to support the argument that Special Counsel Jack Smith isn’t giving them enough time to prepare a defense, Team Trump lost its bid to postpone one of the upcoming Trump trials until 2026. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan scheduled the D.C. trial on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election for March 4, 2024.
In state-level suits against Trump, he pleaded not guilty yesterday in the case brought by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office in Georgia. Trump’s plea also waived arraignment, meaning he won’t have to show up for the Sept. 6 arraignment hearings for his 18 co-defendants. A trial date has not yet been set, but it will be televised and live-streamed, a judge said. Meanwhile, in an unrelated New York case, for which Trump is scheduled for civil trial in October, his attorneys are seeking a dismissal. No decision on that yet. Stay tuned.
Making a federal case of it —The Dispatch
Rudy Giuliani loses defamation lawsuit from two Georgia election workers —CNN
Two more Proud Boys sentenced in Jan. 6 sedition case —The New York Times
Peter Navarro says Trump told him to assert privilege during Jan. 6 committee investigation —CBS News
Nearly half of likely GOP caucusgoers are ‘MAGA,’ Iowa Poll shows —Des Moines Register
14th vs. 45
Could the Constitution keep Donald Trump off the presidential ballot in 2024? Some states are exploring that possibility. Secretaries of state from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Maine have been having discussions about potential challenges to his candidacy for a year. And the advocacy group Free Speech For People sent letters this week to election officials in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and New Mexico, asking them to use their authority to exclude Trump from the ballots based on the 14th Amendment.
Section 3 states that no one should hold office in the U.S. if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [U.S.], or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” But so far, results are mixed. Among states that have responded, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is “carefully reviewing the legal issues involved,” while a judge in Florida has rejected a lawsuit to disqualify Trump based on the amendment.
Here’s what else happened this week:
Biden says he'll travel to Florida on Saturday following Hurricane Idalia —CNN
McConnell's second freeze raises age limit questions for Congress —Axios
Now-released forms reveal more trips gifted to Justice Clarence Thomas by Harlan Crow —NPR
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faces Black leaders’ anger after racist killings in Jacksonville —Associated Press
Texas highways targeted by antiabortion activists seeking to block interstate travel —The Washington Post
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One more thing…
The possibility of an impeachment inquiry against President Biden appears to be growing, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy signaling that one could be launched this month. The White House is confident that an investigation that centers on the Biden family’s finances will hurt Republicans more than Biden. “Don’t take our word for it: just listen to the chorus of…Republicans who admit there is no evidence for their false allegations, and that pursuing such a partisan stunt will ‘backfire,’” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said this week.
That didn’t faze MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is now threatening not to vote to fund the government unless the House opens an impeachment inquiry. Greene announced yesterday that she will risk a government shutdown if she doesn’t get her way. Other conditions on her vote include ending funding for the war in Ukraine, eliminating funding for what she called the “weaponization” of government, and eliminating coronavirus-related mandates.
White House asks Congress to pass short-term spending deal, boost food aid —The Washington Post
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A historic change
Georgia’s oldest city has made a historic break with its slavery-era past. Savannah’s city council voted to rename a downtown square in honor of Susie King Taylor, an emancipated Black woman who taught formerly enslaved people to read and write. It’s the first time in 140 years that Savannah has approved a name change for one of the 23 picturesque, park-like squares that are treasured features of the original plan for the city founded in 1733. Taylor is the first person of color to be so honored.
“It’s one thing to make history. It’s something else to make sense. And in this case, we’re making both,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said. He noted that five Black women sit on the nine-member city council, something people of Taylor’s era “never would have fathomed.” Now that’s progress. —Associated Press
It’s nice to get reminders that, at its best, government can still work for the public interest. Share a story of hope from your community for a future issue of Democracy Defender. Please include your name and state with your submission. Thank you!
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Don’t mess with Georgia
“The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia, as long as I’m governor, we’re going to follow the law and the Constitution, regardless of who it helps or harms politically. In Georgia, we will not be engaging in political theater that only inflames the emotions of the moment.” —Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp denunciating efforts by fellow Republicans to punish Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, August 31, 2023
Democracy Defender is the weekly newsletter of Mission: Democracy, a political action committee founded to defend democracy against extremists in Congress. To learn more about Mission: Democracy, please visit our website at www.missiondemocracy.org.
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