Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The obvious call: “A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately release Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk from custody, after finding scant evidence from the federal government to justify her detention. At a Friday bail hearing, U.S. District Judge William Sessions III said the government had not produced any justification for Öztürk’s ongoing detention other than her op-ed in a student newspaper that criticized Tufts’ response to Israel’s war in Gaza.”
* In New Jersey: “Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, was arrested Friday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility on trespassing charges. ... Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, said in a post on X that Baraka trespassed and ‘ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security’ officials to ‘remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon.’”
* Speaking of unsettling developments in the Garden State: "Radar screens serving Newark Liberty International Airport went black early Friday morning, raising more air traffic safety concerns at the busy New Jersey hub, federal authorities said. The outage shortly before 4 a.m. EDT lasted only 90 seconds on a limited number of sectors, the FAA said, but the blackout is still a troubling development in the wake of revelations that controllers lost radio contact with pilots flying into the airport in recent months."
* Maybe he was wrong about trade wars being easy to win? “President Donald Trump has signaled a willingness to drastically cut the U.S.’ current 145% tariff rate on China ahead of trade talks between the two countries. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning: ‘80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,’ appearing to refer to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.”
* The latest in a series of power grabs: “President Donald Trump moved late Thursday to fire the three Democratic commissioners on the five-person Consumer Product Safety Commission, his administration’s latest test to the limits of presidential power over independent agencies.”
* An avoidable public health problem reaches a new milestone: “The measles outbreak has surpassed 1,000 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Friday, a grim milestone that has only been achieved twice in the last 30 years.”
* Someone apparently wants attention again: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised tests of short-range ballistic missile systems that simulated nuclear counterstrikes against U.S. and South Korean forces, state media said Friday, as the North continued to blame its rivals for escalating tensions through their joint military exercises.”
* USPS news: “The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors said Friday that it had selected former Waste Management CEO David Steiner as postmaster general. Steiner, who is a board member of shipping giant FedEx, will succeed former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March, and current acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino. Steiner, who is expected to formally join the USPS in July, will leave the board of FedEx, where he has served some 2009.”
* As usual, Sotomayor is correct: “As the Trump administration continues to target law firms and defy the rule of law, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had some rallying remarks for lawyers at an event in Washington. Speaking Thursday at a meeting hosted by the American Bar Association, Sotomayor urged lawyers to steel themselves for difficult fights ahead.”
* And as the nation mourns the passing of former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, I’m reminded of prescient remarks he delivered in 2012 about “the way democracy dies” — and the degree to which his warnings remain highly relevant 13 years later.
Have a safe weekend.