Making sense of a torrent of news from Washington

+ Brittany Griner as a political pawn; a digital iron curtain US Edition - Today's top story: State courts from Oregon to Georgia will now decide who – if anyone – can get an abortion under 50 different state constitutions [View in browser]( US Edition | 30 June 2022 [The Conversation]( Reviewing a week that saw the overturning of the constitutional right to an abortion, stunning testimony by a young, former White House aide about former President Trump’s impulsive and even violent behavior on Jan. 6, the first bipartisan gun control legislation in a generation signed into law and a consequential Supreme Court decision that a public school coach had a right to pray on the football field after the game, I had a hard time figuring out how to focus this newsletter. What stood out? Everything stood out. Talking last night with my husband, also a longtime journalist, we reflected about how there have always been “A” stories that dominate the news. They come along every few weeks, and sometimes a newsroom has to put many reporters on the big story. But usually, your coverage has “B” and “C” level stories that are important, yet not screaming-headline important. That’s not the case anymore, and really hasn’t been since the 2016 presidential election. (I’ve likened my job since then to being in labor for six years.) Not all the stories have been politics – think pandemic, climate change-connected flooding and fires, mass shootings. But somehow, it’s as if time accelerated these past few months, and the consequential, A-level stories have been relentlessly breaking, one after another, one on top of another. All of which is to say that, over the past week, we’ve done a lot of what we aim to do here at The Conversation, which is to take stories in the news and give you deeper coverage from experts who explain the background to the headlines, and provide unique insights from their scholarship. Stefanie Lindquist, a legal scholar from Arizona State University, advanced understanding of Roe’s reversal, [writing about how state supreme courts]( are now going to be a prime battleground for abortion rights. April M. Zeoli, a criminal justice scholar at Michigan State, zoomed in on one aspect of the gun control legislation, [looking at whether closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole”]( would save lives. And Claire Leavitt, a scholar of government accountability, wrote for us about how, while the Jan. 6 committee hearings have made a big splash, especially with aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony on June 28, [the committee’s hearings represent only a fraction of the oversight]( work done by Congress. Have a good July Fourth, and fingers crossed that we have a few weeks before the next “A” story breaks. Naomi Schalit Senior Editor, Politics + Society Temporary security fencing surrounds the U.S. Supreme Court building, ahead of its decision on abortion. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images [State courts from Oregon to Georgia will now decide who – if anyone – can get an abortion under 50 different state constitutions]( Stefanie Lindquist, Arizona State University State supreme courts have a relatively low profile in the US. That’s going to change now that they will be under political pressure to decide whether abortion is protected in state constitutions. Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack listen during the fourth hearing on June 21, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images [Jan. 6 hearings are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to important congressional oversight hearings]( Claire Leavitt, Grinnell College Congress has the power to make sure government serves the public interest. Conducting investigations is one way lawmakers do that. President Calvin Coolidge stands with members of a nonprofit group called the Daughters of 1812. Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images [Let’s spare a few words for ‘Silent Cal’ Coolidge on July 4, his 150th birthday]( Chris Lamb, IUPUI US President Calvin Coolidge hasn’t gone down in history for his triumphs or failures as president during the 1920s – but his dry sense of humor carries on. - [WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release still uncertain as her trial begins in a Russian court]( Rokeshia Renné Ashley, Florida International University WNBA star Brittney Griner is scheduled to appear in Russian Court on July 1, 2022, after US officials determined she had been wrongfully detained. - [More states will now limit abortion, but they have long used laws to govern – and sometimes jail – pregnant women]( Wendy Bach, University of Tennessee Tennessee and Wisconsin are among the states that can jail pregnant women because of illegal substance use, despite major medical groups saying that this practice isn’t effective. - [The Supreme Court has overturned precedent dozens of times, including striking down legal segregation and reversing Roe]( David Schultz, Hamline University The justices who decided to overturn the abortion rights precedent of Roe v. Wade explained their reasoning, and signaled other precedents could be reversed as well. - [Kremlin tightens control over Russians’ online lives – threatening domestic freedoms and the global internet]( Stanislav Budnitsky, Indiana University For more than a decade, the Russian government has been putting teeth into its doctrine of ‘digital sovereignty’ by steadily increasing censorship of content and control over internet access. - [Jan. 6 hearings highlight problems with certification of presidential elections and potential ways to fix them]( Derek T. Muller, University of Iowa The attempt by Donald Trump’s supporters to reverse the 2020 presidential election results shows the need to update the nation’s landmark law for counting presidential votes. - [Racial wealth gaps are yet another thing the US and UK have in common]( Calvin Schermerhorn, Arizona State University The legacy of racism in both the United States and the United Kingdom has impacted the ability of Blacks and other ethnic groups to accumulate wealth. - [American gun culture is based on frontier mythology – but ignores how common gun restrictions were in the Old West]( Pierre M. Atlas, Indiana University A scholar of gun culture looks at the roots of Americans’ love affair with firearms – and their willingness to accept gun violence as a price of freedom. - [Online data could be used against people seeking abortions now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned]( Nora McDonald, University of Cincinnati Data privacy is an abstract issue for most people, even though virtually everyone is at risk. Now that abortion may become illegal in some states, digital surveillance could take an even darker turn. - [Why the Supreme Court’s football decision is a game-changer on school prayer]( Charles J. Russo, University of Dayton Kennedy v. Bremerton, a case about a public school teacher’s prayer, helps close out a Supreme Court term in which religion was often in the spotlight. - [Why Roe v. Wade’s demise – unlike gay rights or Ukraine – isn’t getting corporate America to speak up]( Alessandro Piazza, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University In contrast to their reaction to gay rights or the war in Ukraine, relatively few companies have openly criticized the Supreme Court ruling ending a constitutional right to abortion. - [Donating to help women get abortions is a First Amendment right – protected by Supreme Court precedents]( Lucinda M. Finley, University at Buffalo Even in states that ban abortion, legal precedents indicate that donating to, and receiving assistance from, abortion funds is an expression of free speech. Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails: [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Weekly Highlights]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](