Supreme Court rejects case of veteran put in chokehold – National & International News – TUE 25May2021

SCOTUS rejects qualified immunity case. GOP makes $1 trillion infrastructure counter proposal. Iran nuclear talks resume amid high stakes and tensions.

NATIONAL NEWS

SCOTUS rejects qualified immunity case

The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging the controversial qualified immunity of US law enforcement. Jose Oliva, the plaintiff in the case, is himself a former federal agent. Oliva, then 70, was put in a choke hold and suffered serious injuries in an encounter officers at a VA hospital.

Qualified immunity has recently been a hot topic in the debate on police reform. 50 years ago, the Supreme Court granted broad immunity from lawsuits to law enforcement officials. This makes it nearly impossible to bring civil lawsuits against individual officers or law enforcement agencies when constitutional violations are committed or deadly force is used, even if those actions actions prove not to be justified. This means that municipalities are usually on the hook for any civil settlements. Many states and municipalities are already passing their own limitations on qualified immunity for law enforcement, including New York City.

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GOP makes $1 trillion infrastructure counter proposal

President Biden has been in private talks with Republicans for weeks to hammer out an infrastructure deal. The GOP are putting together a counter offer to Biden’s proposal, which would cost nearly $3 trillion and be funded by a rise in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.  The Republicans’ counteroffer has a much smaller price tag, about $1 trillion, and rules out any rise in the corporate tax rate.

The Republicans have not released the full details of the plan or its financing. However, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) has confirmed that it would not raise corporate taxes, and said that part of the payment scheme involves re-appropriation of COVID relief funds. Wicker also said there would be “hardly anything” in user fees. User fees can include things like tolls on newly-built roads and bridges, and it’s difficult to quantify what Wicker means by “hardly anything”. Previously, Republicans have said they wanted a significant portion of the plan to be paid for by user fees. 

Democrats wholly oppose any user fees. Since corporations will be the biggest beneficiaries of infrastructure spending, Democrats argue they should be the ones to pay the lion’s share. Despite GOP resistance, executives have voiced little opposition to raising their current historically-low tax rates to get a deal, saying only they’d prefer a 4% rise to a 7% rise. 

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Iran nuclear talks resume amid high stakes and setbacks

The US and Iran have resumed talks in hope of restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Other state signatories to the deal are mediating the talks. The stakes for restoring the deal are rising day by day. Iran is due for general elections this month, with one of the hardliners in contention likely to take the country’s presidency. If the US and Iran have not yet reached a deal by then, hopes will dim considerably. 

The reconciliation efforts have suffered numerous setbacks, in part due to tension over US sanctions. The Israeli government, which opposes the restoration of the deal, has created even more obstacles. Aside from rhetorical attacks, Mossad agents have reportedly carried out numerous attacks on Iranian’s nuclear facilities, including the recent assassination of a key scientist. The attacks seem to have sparked a deadly tit-for-tat between the two countries. Israel recently accused Iran of supplying weapons and drones that Hamas used in the latest hostilities with Gaza. An explosion at an Iranian drone factory over the weekend was likely an act of retaliation.

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