On April 28, 2022, the Oklahoma legislature gave final approval for a bill that would allow private citizens to take action against abortion providers to enforce the law. It comes as one of several bills passed this month by the state’s government to limit abortion access and amid a Republican-led agenda to curtail the procedure.
On February 25, 2022, President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, making history as the first African American woman to serve on the highest court of the land. The judge’s appointment comes after the recent retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, who served on the bench for over twenty-seven years. The justice’s decision to step down allowed Biden to appoint the liberal successor that will serve for years to come.
On February 18, 2022, former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last April.
On January 3, 2022 an Illinois judge reversed his own decision to convict an adolescent accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, stating 148 days in custody in county jail was “plenty of punishment.” Judge Robert Adrian said that it would not be right to sentence the accused 18-year-old, Drew Clinton, to prison for sexually assaulting Cameron Vaughan during a graduation party in May 2021. The magistrate remarked: “By law, the court is supposed to sentence this young man to the Department of Corrections. This court will not do that.
On October 29, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 through 11-years old to further mitigate the spread of the virus. The emergency authorization was issued following the FDA’s detailed and transparent evaluation of the data that included input from independent advisory committee experts who voted largely in favor of making the vaccine available for younger Americans.
On Sunday May 9, 2021, 13-year-old Trystin Bailey was killed by 14-year-old classmate Aiden Fucci in a wooded area near her home in St. Johns county, Florida. After an hours-long search, the police had located her body and announced on Tuesday, May 11 that the teenager had been stabbed to death. Aiden Fucci, who was previously charged with second-degree murder, has now been indicted as an adult on a first-degree murder charge by St. John’s County Grand Jury. According to the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J.
After 15 long months of battling the COVID-19 crisis, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced on May 24, 2021 that the statewide indoor mask mandate and requirement for maintaining six feet of social distancing in indoor and outdoor settings would be lifted on May 28. The Governor also signed Executive Order No. 241 on May 17, which eliminates the requirement of masks in public outdoor spaces. These new executive orders come into effect, as more and more New Jerseyans have gotten vaccinated and the number of COVID-19 cases has continued to decline.
Opening a yearbook is usually a moment of excitement for most students, however for one of Florida’s 1,485 public high schools, 80 students were shocked to see that their portraits had been altered to cover their chests and shoulders. All of the students were female and none were consulted by the school administration in regards to the edits.
As college students return for the fall semester, many universities have required students to get vaccinated due to the ongoing pandemic. Currently, the United States reports 32,713,675 COVID-19 cases and 581,056 deaths.
Since the 2020 Presidential Inauguration, President Biden has made progress throughout his first 100 days in office. From tackling climate change, to establishing the American Rescue Plan, to working on gun reform, the President has made fruitful efforts to restore the nation and unite Americans.
