Native American child welfare law:Â In a landmark decision and victory for indigenous families, the US Supreme Court rejected challenges to the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The law attempts to correct the disproportionate rate at which public and private agencies take native children from their families. Before the ICWA, agencies took between 25% and 35% of indigenous children from their families. The agencies often placed these children in boarding schools or with white families, amounting to a large-scale forced assimilation project.
Why they challenged it: Texas, some other GOP states, and a few white families challenged the law, arguing the law is racist, puts tribal interest above the wellbeing of children, and gives the federal government too much authority in adoptions. The court called the case a "complicated" issue, but ultimately ruled 7-2 to preserve the protection. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Gonorrhea alert: Have any of your friends been talking about the gonorrhea billboard with the boat hitting an iceberg? Yeah? Well, good. That’s the point. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation paid for some thought-provoking billboards around town in hopes that it’ll get you googling, booking STD tests, and talking to your friends. The Seattle Times has the full story.Â
Now listen to what Ashley has to say about crime… if you could even call it that…
Judge pauses police power to arrest for chalk art: People started reaching out to the Seattle Police Department with “concerns” yesterday after a federal judge paused enforcement of a Seattle property destruction ordinance Tuesday. The judge’s order came out of a lawsuit over SPD officers arresting several people in 2021 for using chalk and charcoal to write “peaceful protest” and other political messages on the eco-blocks surrounding the East Precinct.
In response to the order, SPD released a statement saying cops could do nothing about property damage. Of course, SPD failed to mention the reason for the order—SPD officers blatantly abusing their power to arrest as a way to discourage free speech. In any case, the City Attorney’s office clarified that the order only applies to the part of the ordinance that describes damage done by writing, painting, or drawing on property. People can still complain that the judge decriminalized graffiti.
Alright, now pay attention to me.
Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy: If you liked the weather yesterday, then you’re in luck! You can expect more partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s. Looking ahead at the forecast, today will be the warmest, sunniest, and driest day until Thursday next week.Â
A task FORCE to be reckoned with: As part of the Mayor’s War on Health (yes, you read that correctly), he’s gathered some of the City’s brightest minds to figure out how to solve widespread addiction so they feel less bad about putting people in jail, which does not help anyone. As Washington Coalition for Open Government pointed out, it is unclear if these meetings will be open to the public. I asked the Mayor’s office if we’ll get to watch and I have not heard back.Â
.@CityofSeattle's Fentanyl Systems Work Group consists of 24 officials, including *four* city council members — one short of a council quorum that would constitute an open public meeting. This does not signal transparency. @TheStranger pic.twitter.com/yNjMIsW5fV
— Washington Coalition for Open Government (@WashingtonCOG) June 14, 2023
RIP Jordan Neely: Yesterday, a grand jury indicted Daniel Penny, who was arrested after he held Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man, in chokehold, killing him. According to ABC News, Penny originally got charged with second-degree manslaughter, but the jury’s charges will not be public until later on in the case.Â
Get that bag: Former President Donald Trump got arraigned on Tuesday, but the day wasn’t a total wash. That evening, in the first big fundraiser of his campaign, Trump raised more than $2 million over a candlelight dinner with his richest supporters, Politico reports.Â
Silencing Schiff: House Republicans failed to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in a motion Wednesday. The censure’s champion, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, is mad because Schiff is a key player in congressional inquiries into the former president. Schiff said he won't stop trying to hold Trump accountable, and Luna said she won’t stop trying to censure him for it. See you both in Slog AM in the future, I guess!Â
Shipwreck: After an overloaded boat sank near Greece, more than 70 migrant passengers drowned and hundreds more are missing, possibly dead. As of yesterday afternoon just over 100 people have been rescued.Â
Them's the breaks: A parliamentary committee found that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson "committed contempt" or "deliberately misled" lawmakers after the "Partygate" scandal revealed he broke COVID lockdown rules by partying at Downing Street. The long-awaited report recommended banning Johnson for 90 days and denying him a pass to enter the parliamentary estate, which is customary for former Prime Ministers. Of course, Johnson already left his position last week, nearly a year after announcing his resignation, in anticipation of the embarrassing report and the punishment that came with it. Johnson clapped back, calling the committee a "kangaroo court."
Arts! Mayor Bruce Harrell announced a new director of the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture: Gülgün Kayim. Kayim has led a similar department in Minneapolis since 2011, so she’s got more than a decade of experience under her belt. Harrell said he hired Kayim because of her experience stimulating the creative economy, because why the fuck else would art matter except to revitalize downtown or whatever?
THE groundhog: Former Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio opened up in an interview with the Intelligencer. They covered it all–his run for president, policing, the housing crisis, and most importantly, that time he dropped a groundhog and it died a few days later.Â
Sounds like something a TERF would say: The Associated Press added a new rule to their stylebook, which informs style in newsrooms across the county. Associated Press said reporters should no longer use the term “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” or its shorthand, “TERF,” because it's “vague” and “politicized.” Here’s what I think of that:Â
The AP literally did this meme lol https://t.co/Au5OGN9RAH pic.twitter.com/YU5yqcOMdO
— Trap Queen Enthusiast (@marionumber4) June 14, 2023
Shobhit Agarwal is a virgin: For today’s slog song, I picked Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” because District 3 City Council candidate Shobhit Agarwal said it was his campaign’s anthem. That made me giggle.Â