Judiciary

New York lawmakers began a special legislative session seeking to limit the proliferation of firearms in public after the Supreme Court gutted the state’s century-old handgun licensing law. The court ruled that ordinary citizens have a right to arm themselves in public for self-defense. New rules being rushed through an emergency session of the Legislature would allow many more gun owners to apply for a license to carry a concealed weapon. But they would also seek to set new restrictions on where firearms can be carried. Lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s staff had hoped to have a vote Thursday, but work continued early Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court is letting states set their own standards for meal and rest breaks by airline crews. On Thursday, the court declined to hear an appeal against a California law that gives flight crews that are based in the state meal and rest breaks not required by federal rules. It's a setback for airlines, which favor less-generous working rules set by the Federal Aviation Administration. An appeals court in San Francisco upheld the California law last year, saying that federal regulation of airlines is limited to prices, routes and services.

The Supreme Court’s new climate change ruling is likely to hinder the Biden administration’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade and make the electric grid carbon-free by 2035. In its decision on Thursday, the court  limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The court’s 6-3 ruling declared that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming. Power plants account for roughly 30% of carbon dioxide output. The decision also could have a broader effect on other agencies’ regulatory efforts.

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has denounced a Kentucky law designed to impose a near-total ban on abortions as “extremist.” Beshear pointed to the measure's lack of exceptions for rape and incest victims. In doing so, he pushed back on an issue Republicans have made a policymaking priority. Beshear's comments came after a state judge on Thursday temporarily suspended enforcement of the state’s so-called trigger law. The 2019 measure took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week to end federal constitutional protections for abortions. A ruling Thursday by Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry allowed abortions to resume in Kentucky.

Ketanji Brown Jackson has been sworn in to the Supreme Court, shattering a glass ceiling as the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court. The 51-year-old Jackson is the court’s 116th justice and took the place Thursday of the justice she once worked for. Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement took effect at noon. Moments later, joined by her family, Jackson recited the two oaths required of Supreme Court justices, one administered by Breyer and the other by Chief Justice John Roberts. Jackson says she's “truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation” and extends thanks to her new colleagues for their “gracious welcome.”

A state court is permanently blocking Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to toll as many as nine major bridges on interstates in Pennsylvania, siding with three Pittsburgh-area municipalities that argued that his administration had violated procedures in getting to the advanced stage of considering the idea. A panel of Commonwealth Court judges on Thursday granted the municipalities’ request to effectively declare the plan dead because Wolf’s Department of Transportation hadn't followed the law. Wolf’s push for tolling comes as states increasingly look to user fees to make up for declining gas tax revenue that is not keeping up with the demands of fixing highways and bridges.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a North Carolina case that could dramatically change the way elections for Congress and the presidency are conducted. The case could ultimately hand more power to state legislatures and block state courts from reviewing challenges to the procedures and results. The justices will consider whether state courts, when finding violations of their state constitutions, can order changes to federal elections and the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional districts. The case  is an appeal from North Carolina Republicans. It challenges a state court ruling throwing out the congressional districts drawn by the state’s General Assembly that seemingly would have made GOP candidates likely victors in 10 of the state’s 14 congressional districts.

The dissonant realities of President Joe Biden’s second year in office were on display Thursday as he wound up a five-day trip to Europe that highlighted both the key U.S. role in mounting a strong allied response to Vladimir Putin’s aggression and the domestic turmoil that is dragging Biden down at home. Biden appeared to welcome the time away from Washington as a respite from his domestic predicament, insisting that despite turmoil at home from inflation to gun violence, world leaders still valued America’s — and his — leadership. Biden's success abroad drew rare praise from GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, who said, “Here we have a bipartisan delegation and a president who have a common goal. Back home, maybe not quite as much.'"