Beyond Roe: With SCOTUS hearings, GOP imagines bleak future for America

By Liza Hearon

Thursday, March 24

GOP SKETCHES TERRIFYING VISION FOR AMERICA GOP senators grilling Ketanji Brown Jackson this week have been critical of what they deem to be her "activist" tendencies. But they are also advocating for the Supreme Court to reverse historic decisions to shift the country back decades in a more conservative direction. It starts with Roe v. Wade, but there are many other rights that Republicans would like to see taken away from Americans, writes Amanda Terkel. Today is the last day of Jackson's confirmation hearing. [HuffPost]

ZELENSKYY CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the world to remain steadfast in its support one month after Russia began its invasion. "Come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life," he said in a video message. President Joe Biden is in Europe this week for a summit with NATO allies and the European Union to hash out new sanctions against Russia and discuss further military aid. [HuffPost]

SUPREME COURT QUIET ON CLARENCE THOMAS' HOSPITALIZATION The Supreme Court declined to say whether 73-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas remains in the hospital, though he had been expected to be released by Tuesday evening. He was diagnosed with an infection after experiencing "flu-like symptoms." [AP]

'NO DOUBT' TRUMP GUILTY, PROSECUTOR WRITES IN RESIGNATION LETTER A prosecutor investigating Donald Trump's business dealings wrote that there was "no doubt" the former president committed "numerous" felonies, according to his resignation letter. David Pomerantz wrote the letter after reportedly failing to convince Manhattan's new district attorney to file criminal charges against Trump. [HuffPost]

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U.S. EMBASSY MAKES CONTACT WITH WNBA STAR DETAINED IN RUSSIA An American official found Brittney Griner is in "good condition" after the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was granted consular access to the basketball star, who is being detained in a Russian prison on drug charges. Russian state news agency Tass said Griner would be detained until May 19, pending further investigation. [HuffPost]

U.S. HAS PROOF OF RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES, BLINKEN SAYS U.S. intelligence shows that Russia has committed war crimes in its assault on Ukraine, harming civilians and violating international law, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken highlighted a Russian attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol and a United Nations estimate that the war has killed at least 2,500 Ukrainian civilians, and likely many more. [HuffPost]

LOUISIANA DIGGING OUT AFTER TORNADOES PLOW THROUGH HOMES Residents in the New Orleans area were digging out and assessing damage after tornadoes lashed the region, flipping vehicles, ripping off rooftops and depositing a house with a family inside in the middle of their street. Two people were killed and multiple others were injured as the storm front blew across the South. [AP]

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT DEAD AT 84 Madeleine Albright, the first woman to have served as U.S. secretary of state, has died at age 84. The cause was cancer. The tireless champion of democracy continued to be politically active in her later years, and maintained her belief in the goodness of the United States. "I am, in case you haven't noticed, an optimist," she said in 2020. "But I'm an optimist who worries a lot." [HuffPost]

WHITE HOUSE REMOVES DR. OZ, HERSCHEL WALKER FROM PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL The White House asked two Republican Senate candidates to resign from their positions on a presidential council or be removed, as it is against policy for political candidates to serve on presidential boards. Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker were appointed in 2018 by then-President Trump to serve on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. [HuffPost]