Mass Appeals
This Week in Democracy
- Last weekend, a man impersonating a police officer attacked Minnesota state lawmakers at their homes. Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, and Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured. Authorities arrested the man the next day. He faces state and federal charges.
“The way we move forward and solve the problems facing our nation is not through hate,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement. “It is not through violence. It is through humility, and grace, and civility.”
“We urge everyone to come together and send a message loud and clear: there is no place in our democracy for violence and fear,” States United CEO Joanna Lydgate wrote.
- President Trump called for a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election in a post on social media. In his post, Trump falsely claimed that he won the election because of election fraud, a widely disproven claim for which there has never been any evidence to support.
- A three-judge panel upheld last year’s recommendation by the California State Bar Court that John Eastman should lose his law license. The State Bar Court last year recommended that Eastman be disbarred for his role in designing the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. States United filed the initial complaint against Eastman with the California Bar in 2021.
➡️ READ: Our press release
- An appeals court allowed Trump to keep control of the California National Guard in his effort to suppress protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies. However, in its decision, the three-judge panel rejected Trump’s arguments that the president can claim control of the National Guard without evidence, and that his decision to federalize the Guard cannot be reviewed by the courts.
“The President is not a king and is not above the law,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens.”
➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About Domestic Military Deployment and State Authority
- A federal judge in Rhode Island blocked the Trump administration from withholding transportation funds from states if they refuse to cooperate with the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. 20 state attorneys general sued Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy in May to block the policy.
➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About State and Local Authority to Set Public Safety & Law Enforcement Priorities
- A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the Trump administration’s cancellation of hundreds of grants from the National Institutes of Health was illegal and ordered the administration to restore the funding. The judge’s ruling was made in consolidated cases challenging the cancelled grants, one of which was brought by a coalition of 16 state attorneys general.
➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About Unlawful Attempts to Freeze Federal Funds
- The American Bar Association (ABA) sued the Trump administration over the president’s executive orders targeting law firms. The ABA is arguing that the orders are part of an “intimidation policy” designed to coerce lawyers and their firms to refrain from challenging the administration in court, in violation of the First Amendment.
“There has never been a more urgent time for the ABA to defend its members, our profession and the rule of law itself,” said William R. Bay, president of the ABA, in a statement.
State of the States
In Florida, a federal judge found state Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court for violating a court order. In April, the judge ordered Uthmeier to stop enforcement of a state law targeting undocumented immigrants. Five days later, Uthmeier told state law enforcement that “no lawful, legitimate order” was stopping them from enforcing the law.
The judge on Wednesday ordered Uthmeier to submit biweekly reports detailing if any law enforcement actions are taken under the blocked law. If he doesn’t comply, the court will consider further sanctions.
In New York, X sued to block a state law that would require it and other social media companies to submit reports about how they monitor disinformation, foreign political interference, extremism, hate speech, and harassment on their platforms. Research has shown a persistent increase in hate speech on X since Elon Musk purchased the company in 2022.
➡️ EXPLORE: Social Media Policies: Mis/Disinformation, Threats, and Harassment
In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of nine Wisconsin voters challenging the state’s congressional map. The voters’ complaint cites data analysis by PlanScore, a nonpartisan organization, which found that Wisconsin’s map to be one of the most gerrymandered in the country. They are asking the state Supreme Court to declare the maps unconstitutional and order new maps to be drawn ahead of the 2026 general election.
States United is serving as co-counsel with the Wisconsin Department of Justice to represent Gov. Evers in the case.
➡️ READ: More about the case
Also in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state’s attorney general does not need to get the state legislature’s approval to settle certain lawsuits. The legislature gave itself that power in 2018, taking it over from the governor and attorney general.
“This unanimous ruling finally puts an end to the legislature’s unconstitutional involvement in the resolution of key categories of cases,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement. “As a result, the Wisconsin Department of Justice will be able to more efficiently resolve the cases that are impacted by this decision, including civil actions enforcing our consumer protection laws and civil actions enforcing our environmental protection laws.”
Recommended Reel
In a new video, States United CEO Joanna Lydgate offers some thoughts for young people on whether the country is in a constitutional crisis and how to stand up for democracy, building on her op-ed in Teen Vogue from last week.
