Texas: Abbot wants to pardon man convicted of murdering protester; juror calls it “a travesty” – National & International News – FRI 14Apr2023

Texas: Abbot wants to pardon a convicted murderer; juror calls it “a travesty”.

DOJ asks Supreme Court to lift limits on abortion pills.

Middle East nations move towards ending costly and catastrophic rivalries, with no help from US.

NATIONAL NEWS

Texas: Abbot wants to pardon a convicted murderer; juror calls it “a travesty”

Last week, a jury in Travis County, TX, (where Austin is located) convicted former Army Sgt. Daniel Perry of murder in the 2020 slaying of an armed protester during Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Jurors delivered the verdict after two days of deliberation, rejecting Perry’s claim that he shot BLM demonstrator Garrett Foster, 28, in self-defense.

During that demonstration in Austin, Foster was pushing his fiancée Whitney Mitchell’s wheelchair. Foster was a full-time caretaker for Mitchell, a quadruple amputee. At some point, Perry attempted to drive his vehicle into the crowd, endangering protesters, Foster, an Air Force veteran who was carrying an AK-47, went to confront Perry. Perry fatally shot him before driving away. Witnesses say Foster never raised his weapon.

Less than 24 hours after the verdict, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted his desire to grant Perry a full pardon. By Texas law, Abbott can only pardon someone after receiving a request for clemency from the parole board. Abbott pushed the parole board to make the request as soon as possible, saying, “I look forward to approving the board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk”.

Perry’s social media posts speak of desire to kill protesters

An alternate juror in the case, who didn’t vote but was present for deliberations, called Abbott’s remarks “a travesty“. Jere Dowell agreed with the verdict and characterized Abbott’s desire to overturn the verdict an “egregious overreach”.

Moreover, newly unsealed court filings in the case suggest that Perry may have been looking for a confrontation that night.

In social media posts, Perry expressed his desire to kill BLM protesters. This was part of a racist rant in which Perry compared BLM protesters to monkeys. “It is official, I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo,” Perry wrote. He likened the BLM movement to  “a zoo full of monkeys that are freaking out flinging their shit”.

The jury convicted Perry without ever having seen these posts as they were not admitted as evidence during trial. Now that they are unsealed, they parole board may consider them as they debate Abbott’s request to pardon him.

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DOJ asks Supreme Court to remove lower courts’ limits on abortion pills

Last week, Federal District Court Judge Matthew Kaczmaryk issued a ruling favoring a challenge from a conservative group to the FDA’s approval of the abortion medication mifepristone. Kaczmaryk also granted the group’s request to put a temporary hold on the FDA’s approval for the drug. Had this order gone into effect, it would have essentially taken mifepristone off the market while the case moves through the courts.

The order has left abortion providers unsure what care they can legally offer their patients. This uncertainty was alleviated, but only slightly, after the Department of Justice appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out Kaczmaryk’s order. The 5th Circuit overturned Kaczmaryk’s order voiding FDA approval of mifepristone in part because the conservative group waited far too long to challenge the drug’s approval. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 and the typical window to bring challenges is 6 years.

Some limits still in place

However, the 5th Circuit said that more recent FDA decisions regarding mifepristone could be subject to review. The court decided to roll back the FDA’s 2016 decision to extend approval for mifepristone up to the 10th week of pregnancy. This now reduces the window to the original 7 weeks, when many women don’t even know they’re pregnant. The court also reinstated a prohibition on sending mifepristone in the mail. A pandemic era rule lifted this restriction before the Biden administration made this rule change permanent.

The DOJ has now asked the Supreme Court to lift these restrictions and restore the previous status quo while the case moves through the courts. Even before the court overturned Roe v. Wade, the justices had rejected requests to provide relief from abortion bans, such as Texas’ Heartbeat Act. Still, there’s no predicting how the court will rule, or if it will rule, this time.

Aside from the havoc created for healthcare providers and patients, a ruling in favor of the anti-abortion group would seriously undermine the FDA’s authority. Kaczmaryk’s ruling has already shaken the confidence of pharmaceutical companies that their right to sell and profit from a drug they developed won’t be taken away at the whim of a politically-motivated judge.

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Related: DeSantis signs bill banning abortion after 6 weeks in Florida (opens in new tab).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Middle East nations move towards ending costly and catastrophic rivalries, with no help from US

Despite all the bad news in the world, recent weeks have brought developments in the Middle East that may put some countries on the path to ending years of war and decades of misery for millions of people. Last week, China helped to broker a deal that may be a first step towards healing a rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Under the pact, the two nations agreed to exchange ambassadors again, resume direct flights and facilitate mutual visa agreements. In a statement, Saudi Arabia and Iran acknowledged the importance of restoring security cooperation, trade and investment between them.

 A thawing of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia could have huge impacts in both Syria and Yemen where the two sides have been fueling proxy wars that have killed and displaced millions and driven a deadly refugee crisis. The war in Yemen certainly isn’t over yet, but a prisoner swap deal between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels shows great promise.

Meanwhile, the horrendous earthquake that gravely impacted both Syria and Turkey has created an opportunity for the Arab League to seek to restore relations with Syria. As part of the relief effort, the US temporarily lifted sanctions on Syria that have been in place since the Obama administration. Renewed ties with countries like Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Egypt could potentially help Syria and its people begin to recover not only from the earthquake but from more than a decade of civil war and crippling economic sanctions.

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