Supreme Court shelves April arguments
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday announced it is postponing arguments scheduled for April because of the coronavirus, but the court didn't rule out hearing some arguments within months.
The announcement means that a total of 20 arguments scheduled for March and April, including fights over subpoenas for President Donald Trump's financial records, have now been postponed. The court said in a statement that it would consider rescheduling some cases before the end of the term "if circumstances permit in light of public health and safety guidance at that time."
The court typically stops hearing arguments in April but continues to issue opinions in May and June before taking a break for the summer. "The Court will consider a range of scheduling options and other alternatives if arguments cannot be held in the Courtroom before the end of the Term," the statement said.
The court's announcement follows Trump's decision to extend social-distancing guidelines through the end of April.
The court building itself has been closed to the public since mid-March. The justices have still been meeting for private discussions of cases, including a meeting Friday, though that meeting has been by phone rather than in person. And for the past two weeks the court has posted new opinions online, but the justices haven't taken the bench to issue them in a public session.
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Six of the nine justices are in the group considered higher risk of getting sick from the coronavirus since they are age 65 and older. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg said Friday that all the justices are healthy.
Search on for 2 Kennedy family kin
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Authorities searched Friday for the daughter and a grandson of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend after they didn't return to shore from a canoe trip in the Chesapeake Bay.
Gov. Larry Hogan identified the missing relatives as Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and McKean's 8-year-old son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean.
Kennedy Townsend, who served two terms as Maryland's lieutenant governor, is the eldest daughter of the late U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and niece of the late President John F. Kennedy.
The search started Thursday afternoon after the state Natural Resources Police responded to a report of two people on a canoe in the Chesapeake Bay who appeared to be overtaken by strong winds.
A statement from the agency said an overturned canoe matching the one used by the missing people was found Thursday night, the agency said.
The Maryland State Police, U.S. Coast Guard, and local police and fire departments joined in the search.
Porn warning-label bill made law in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY -- Pornography will have to come with a warning label in Utah after Gov. Gary Herbert allowed the measure to become law over protest from the adult-entertainment industry.
If producers don't include a one-sentence warning label on obscene materials about potential harm to minors, they could face a $2,500 penalty per violation. Herbert allowed the measure to become law without his signature on Wednesday.
The measure is aimed at helping people worried about the widespread availability of porn online, Republican sponsor Rep. Brady Brammer has said.
After criticism that the measure could be unconstitutional, it was aimed at porn deemed to be legally obscene. While most porn doesn't qualify, some hardcore material declared obscene doesn't have constitutional protections.
The Free Speech Coalition, an adult-entertainment trade group, has said the law could still unfairly force porn producers to defend themselves in court because it allows private citizens as well as the state to file complaints.
NRA sues N.Y. over gun shop closures
The National Rifle Association sued New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for closing gun shops during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the restriction is unconstitutional and leaves citizens defenseless while prisoners are being released early as a result of the crisis.
Cuomo's March 20 executive order that included firearms retailers as non-essential businesses which must close is a "pointless and arbitrary attack on the constitutional rights of New York citizens and residents," the NRA said in a complaint filed late Thursday in Syracuse, N.Y.
New York ordered most businesses to close to prevent the spread of the virus, but deemed grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies and restaurants that do take-out as essential and allowed them to remain open. Gun shops around the country have reported surges in sales.
The New York lawsuit follows similar action the NRA took in Northern California, where it sued several cities for ordering gun stores to close. Earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy lifted a temporary ban on the sale of guns in the state after the NRA filed suit to block it.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said before the lawsuit was filed that she'd defend the state's decision.
A Section on 04/04/2020