Last Tuesday, voters in six states decisively rejected ballot measures that would have brought ranked choice voting to future elections. In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, RCV <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Results_for_ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)_and_electoral_system_ballot_measures,_2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went down in flames</a>. National groups spent millions on campaigns promising RCV would enhance democracy and empower the people, angling for an election day triumph. Instead, the voters handed them a rout.
Adding insult to injury, Alaska appears on track to repeal RCV after using it for just two years. Missouri, meanwhile, became the first state to ban it at the ballot box, and the eleventh state overall to bar RCV. In fact, the number of states to <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban</a> RCV more than doubled this year.
Ranked choice voting, a complex scheme, seems better suited to a laboratory than a voting booth. It eliminates the “one person, one vote” principle and asks voters to rank multiple candidates for each race. If no candidate gets a majority, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their ballots are redistributed to the voter’s next choice. This process repeats until someone claims a majority.
Voting takes longer with RCV. Voters must learn about and rank numerous candidates in multiple contests on each ballot. Counting ballots also takes longer, as final tabulations can’t begin until all ballots are received, and some states allow mail ballots to arrive after Election Day. Some states lack voting systems that can handle this process; Idaho’s secretary of state estimated the cost to replace the state’s <a href="https://idahofreedom.org/a-40-million-drain-on-taxpayers-ranked-choice-voting-comes-at-a-heavy-price-for-idahoans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">equipment</a> at $40 million.
The results are difficult to audit and just as hard to explain, especially when ranked choice voting catapults candidates who got the second- or third-most votes into office after numerous rounds of elimination. In fact, RCV is so confusing that the wrong winner can be certified. That actually happened in Oakland, California in 2022.
The one thing RCV does reliably is push politics to the left, particularly when this scheme is paired with California-style jungle primaries. That’s the system Alaska uses, and in the special congressional election of 2022, more voters cast ballots for Republicans but Democrat Mary Peltola went to Congress. 
Small wonder, then, that left-wing megadonors decided to push RCV nationwide despite its obvious flaws. They <a href="https://honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HEP-RCV-Factsheet_v2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">built up an array</a> of organizations to lobby, petition, and ultimately to campaign for ranked choice voting. Those efforts culminated in ballot measures in six states, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Results_for_ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)_and_electoral_system_ballot_measures,_2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fueled</a> by an astonishing $99 million, or nearly $30 for every $1 spent in opposition.
Nearly half of that extraordinary sum came from groups tied to liberal billionaire John Arnold and his wife, Laura. The pair <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ranked-choice-voting-ballot-measures-election-863d52ff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent</a> at least $39 million propping up ranked choice voting measures this year alone.
What did these donors get for their millions? Not much. Nearly 70% of Idahoans voted against RCV. Colorado and Oregon, both liberal states, rejected the measures by double-digit margins. And in the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada, ranked choice voting went down harder and faster than Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, nearly 69% of Missourians voted to proactively ban ranked choice voting. In Alaska, the Arnolds and other RCV megadonors poured in almost $15 million to defend the scheme against a repeal effort. Despite that, the repeal vote is winning as ballots continue to come in.
Washington, D.C., was the only bright spot for RCV advocates, where a citywide ballot measure passed by wide margins. That may not be the win proponents imagine. After all, “they use it in the swamp” isn’t much of a rallying cry.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
Is this the end of ranked choice voting? It should be. But with the left, there is no such thing as a permanent defeat. In fact, RCV has endured expensive, high-profile failures before—a $10 million <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Question_2,_Ranked-Choice_Voting_Initiative_(2020)#Campaign_finance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loss</a> in Massachusetts in 2020, for instance—only to rebrand the scheme as “instant runoffs” and “open primaries,” and spend 10 times as much this year.
RCV <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2024/11/election-reformers-try-to-pick-up-the-pieces-00188355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backers</a> are already <a href="https://x.com/NickTroiano/status/1854313594785018148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promising</a> they will be back, even <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2024/11/election-reformers-try-to-pick-up-the-pieces-00188355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">telegraphing</a> they will focus instead on lobbying state legislatures to impose the scheme that voters just decisively rejected. So much for all their talk about “democracy.” Lawmakers would be wise to head that effort off by <a href="https://stoprcv.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning</a> ranked choice voting next year, instead.
Left-wing billionaires spent millions trying to buy a new form of democracy that would cater to their politics and interests. Fortunately, the American people spoke loud and clear: our election system is not for sale.
* * *
Jason Snead is the executive director of Honest Elections Project Action.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-VOTE-POLITICS-ELECTION

Ranked Choice Voting Goes Down In Flames

2024 Election

Arizona

Colorado

Democrats

Elections

Idaho

Montana

Nevada

Opinion

Oregon

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A coffee shop owner who was bullied off the Boise State University campus for being pro-cop has won a $4 million award.
Sarah Fendley, owner of Big City Coffee, was forced to leave the BSU campus in 2020 after she was harassed by students for displaying a pro-police flag following the George Floyd riots, Campus Reform <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/article/boise-state-coffee-shop-owner-forced-support-police-wins-4-million-lawsuit-/26448" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Fendley sued the university, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated, and after a nine-day jury trial in early September, she was awarded $3 million in damages for business losses and another $1 million for punitive damages, The College Fix <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/pro-cop-cafe-owner-wins-4-million-after-boise-state-bullying/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“We’re very grateful,” Fendley’s attorney Mike Roe said, <a href="https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/big-city-awarded-3-million-in-lawsuit-against-boise-state-administrators/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Idaho Ed News</a>. “The system worked and we had a great jury and the clerk was great. Sarah got her day after all of these years. … We’re very pleased.”
Big City Coffee was only operating on campus for four months when it was forced out of its contract with the university due to campus bullying, the Fix <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/boise-state-students-bully-coffee-vendor-off-campus-for-supporting-thin-blue-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in November 2020.
Fendley began supporting The Thin Blue Line organization in 2016 after her police officer partner was shot five times by an escaped prisoner. Her partner lost his leg and is now in a wheelchair. A police K9 unit was also killed trying to protect him.
Fendley has displayed Thin Blue Line flags at her other coffee shop locations ever since without issue, but when she put up the flag at BSU, students revolted.
“Big City is very supportive of the Thin Blue Line which we know is not supportive of people of color,” one student said at a September 2020 Inclusive Excellence Student Council meeting, according to the Fix. “I believe that they should have never been brought to campus and if it can be reversed it should be.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
“I hope y’all don’t go there if you truly support your bipoc peers and other students, staff and faculty,” another student wrote on social media, according to Campus Reform.
The school reportedly panicked and forced the coffee shop off campus, prompting Fendley’s lawsuit.
“I’m thankful that the truth finally came out and grateful to the jury for their time and effort,” Fendley said following the verdict, according to Campus Reform. “It’s been a long four years, and I’m just happy that it’s over.”
BSU plans to appeal and take the case to the Idaho Supreme Court.
“We respectfully but strongly disagree with today’s verdict and plan to appeal,” BSU administrators said, per Campus Reform. “We were honoring the First Amendment rights of all involved.”

Boise State University

Coffee Shop Owner Awarded $4M After Being Bullied Off Boise State Campus For Pro-Cop Views

Coffee Shop Owner Awarded $4 Million After Being Bullied Off Boise State Campus For Pro-Cop Views

Courts

First Amendment

Lawsuit

Police

U.S.

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Idaho Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idaho-governor-signs-law-blocking-taxpayer-funding-for-trans-surgeries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brad Little</a> (R) on Tuesday signed an executive order called the &#8220;Only Citizens Will Vote&#8221; Act to ensure illegals and other non-citizens cannot vote in elections.
The order directs Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane to prevent non-citizens from voting by monitoring county voter rolls. Little said Idaho already has secure elections, but wants to &#8220;keep it that way&#8221; as the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border continues to surge.
“My executive order – the ONLY CITIZENS WILL VOTE Act – directs Secretary of State Phil McGrane to work with local county clerks to scrub our voter rolls and make sure Idaho&#8217;s elections do not fall prey to the consequences of Biden&#8217;s lawless open border,” the governor <a href="https://gov.idaho.gov/pressrelease/gov-little-secretary-mcgrane-make-idaho-first-state-to-take-executive-action-ensuring-only-citizens-will-vote/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement issued Tuesday.
Secretary McGrane praised Little for signing the order and preserving &#8220;election integrity.&#8221;
“Across Idaho’s 44 counties, we have excellent mechanisms in place already to ensure non-citizens do not vote in Idaho, but there is always more we can do to make sure only citizens will vote,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I am proud to work closely with Governor Brad Little to put in place a plan that keeps Idaho ahead of the pack in election integrity.&#8221;
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Per the order, McGrane has been tasked with &#8220;routinely&#8221; reviewing Idaho’s voter rolls in coordination with Idaho State Police and the Idaho Transportation Department, and will also coordinate with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and &#8220;take any steps necessary to verify citizenship status to ensure no non-citizens are participating in Idaho elections.&#8221;
Additionally, the state will not be allowed to provide voter registration materials to non-citizens, &#8220;or coordinate with any federal programs or agencies to provide voter registration material to non-citizens in the State of Idaho.&#8221;
As Idaho moves on the state level, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is leading legislation, called the &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-formally-opposes-bill-requiring-voters-prove-citizenship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility&#8221; (SAVE) Act</a>, to enforce the prohibition of non-citizens voting in federal elections.
“Federal law currently PROHIBITS states from verifying citizenship status during registration for federal elections,” Roy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-formally-opposes-bill-requiring-voters-prove-citizenship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> on X, this week. “The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to register and would remove non-citizens from voter rolls. What are Democrats fearful of?  This is basic stuff, you would think …”
Roy argued in a statement that Democrats don&#8217;t want secure elections and therefore oppose enforcement to stop non-citizens from voting.
&#8220;Secure elections are a key cornerstone for any representative government; without them, we won&#8217;t have a country,&#8221; the statement read. &#8220;Radical progressive Democrats know this and are using open border policies while also attacking election integrity laws to fundamentally remake America.&#8221;
President Joe Biden has strongly opposed the bill, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-formally-opposes-bill-requiring-voters-prove-citizenship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported this week.
“It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections — it is a Federal crime punishable by prison and fines,&#8221; a statement from the administration said. &#8220;The alleged justification for this bill is based on easily disproven falsehoods. Additionally, making a false claim of citizenship or unlawfully voting in an election is punishable by removal from the United States and a permanent bar to admission.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republicans-dismantle-fact-check-on-non-citizens-registering-to-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republicans Dismantle Fact-Check On Non-Citizens Registering To Vote</a>

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Red State Gov Cracks Down On Illegals Voting With Executive Order

Illegal Immigration

Migrants

After the Biden administration attempted to apply federal statute to supersede an Idaho law protecting unborn life, the Supreme Court chose to dismiss Idaho’s cases and allow emergency abortions to take place in the state.
While proponents on both sides of the abortion debate have voiced their opinions on the matter, the decision of the court not to rule is concerning for reasons other than the ethical dilemma of abortion. The court had another serious question before it: Does the federal government have the ability to intervene in state law in this situation?
Nearly two years ago, a lower court <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/06/supreme-court-allows-emergency-abortions-for-now-in-idaho/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> a <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-idaho-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preemptive</a><a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/moyle-v-united-states-2/"> ban</a> on Idaho’s Defense of Life Act as it <a href="https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/united-states-v-idaho-consolidated-moyle-v-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pertained</a> to <a href="https://www.lwv.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/idd-1_2022-cv-00329-00095.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowing</a> emergency procedures under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which <a href="https://www.cms.gov/medicare/regulations-guidance/legislation/emergency-medical-treatment-labor-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requires</a> hospital emergency rooms to accept patients even if they don’t have insurance. The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/moyle-v-united-states-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lifted</a> the ban in January as it took up the cases, but with their most recent decision to dismiss, the ban is back in effect and emergency abortions in Idaho are allowed while lower courts continue proceedings.
While federal law typically preempts state law, the question as to whether or not it does in this instance is an important one. Several of the justices appeared to agree that this question was worth considering, even when they disagreed with one another on the ultimate decision to dismiss.
Justice Samuel Alito <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-726_6jgm.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dissented</a> in the dismissal of the case and in his opinion, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and, in part, Justice Neil Gorsuch, pointed out the concern over states’ rights. He noted, “…it is not necessary to decide whether the Legislature’s theory is correct. At a minimum, however, it provides yet another reason to be wary about interpreting EMTALA to displace the core powers of a nonconsenting State without unmistakable clarity regarding the meaning of the federal law.”
Alito wrote that Congress already addressed the problem of the federal government intervening in state affairs in the Medicare Act, as well as the very wording of the EMTALA. Indeed, the preemption <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1395dd">clause</a> of the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2010-title42/pdf/USCODE-2010-title42-chap7-subchapXVIII-partE-sec1395dd.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EMTALA</a> states, “The provisions of this section do not preempt any State or local law requirement, except to the extent that the requirement directly conflicts with a requirement of this section. [sic]” This shows, he argued, that EMTALA was meant to exist alongside state law.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett came down on the opposite side, but still acknowledged the need for clarity about the federal government’s power. In her concurring opinion in favor of dismissing the cases, she was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-726_6jgm.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> that there is a disagreement between the parties as to whether hospitals are required to administer abortions “or any other treatment forbidden by state law” under the federal statute of EMTALA. Notably, she added that they “also disagree about whether EMTALA, as a statute enacted under Congress’s spending power and that operates on private parties, can preempt state law [sic],” adding that this issue has been brought up now for the first time in the Supreme Court. Barrett wrote this is not the time to “answer these important questions” and “would be imprudent” to do so for various reasons.
She also noted that the Idaho parties are concerned about the role Congress is allowed to play in state governance. The question over whether “Congress, in reliance on the Spending Clause, can obligate recipients of federal funds to violate state criminal law” was not addressed by the lower courts. She wrote that the lower courts should consider and decide on this before the Supreme Court supersedes the typical judicial order. In stating the importance of this issue of federal power versus state autonomy, it appears that Barrett and the justices joining her opinion agree there is a new concern that has been raised in bringing the cases, but still they decide not to act.
Citizens depend on their local elected leaders to pass laws that reflect their own personal beliefs, and they should be able to rely on the courts to keep the federal government in check if it seeks to broaden its power. As Alito pointed out, the “gap between the Idaho law and the Government’s interpretation of EMTALA matters.” Idaho has always allowed abortions to save the life of the mother, he wrote, “but it has not allowed abortions for other non-life-threatening medical conditions.” This differentiation is not meaningless. It is exemplary of how the citizens of Idaho feel about the topic of abortion, he argued – and forcing hospitals to go against this and administer emergency abortions “thwarts the will of the people of Idaho as expressed in law by their elected representatives.”
If states are made to change their laws based on the whims of those currently leading at the federal level, the peoples’ rights will suffer. A nation is only as strong as its foundational structure, and it is the duty of the courts to uphold it.
Note: This article has been edited for clarity.

U.S. Supreme Court Issues Opinions As Term Draws To A Close

The Unanswered Question At The Center Of The SCOTUS Idaho Abortion Decision

Abortion

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Pro-Life Movement

SCOTUS

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A trial date has been set for the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students back in November 2022.
The suspect, who is not being named by The Daily Wire per a policy on mass killers, will face a jury beginning on June 2, 2025, Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/bryan-kohberger-update-new-trial-details-revealed-1918503" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The trial date was set by Judge John Judge of Idaho’s Latah County. The trial is expected to last until August 29, 2025.
The suspect, 29, has pleaded not guilty to the November 13, 2022, killings of Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, as they slept in their off-campus home in the college town of Moscow.
Part of the evidence against him, according to the prosecution, is surveillance footage showing the suspect’s white Hyundai Elantra near the scene of the crime at the time the murders took place.
The defense team has argued that the suspect regularly drove around late at night looking at the stars but was not in the vicinity of the crime.
“[The suspect] was out driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars. He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho,” lead defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/suspected-idaho-killers-defense-claims-cell-phone-data-provides-alibi-on-night-of-killings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a court filing</a> in April.
To back this up, the defense plans to call an expert witness “to show that [the suspect’s] mobile device was south of Pullman, Washington and west of Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022; that [the suspect’s] mobile device did not travel east on the Moscow-Pullman Highway in the early morning hours of November 13th,” according to the court filing.
But Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idaho-killers-alibi-refuted-by-prosecutors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the alibi was too vague and that the defense shouldn’t be allowed to call any witnesses other than the defendant to prove his whereabouts, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/bryan-kohbergers-alibi-ripped-apart-idaho-prosecutors-temper-tantrum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“With the exception of the reference to Wawawai Park (which is new), the defendant is offering nothing new to his initial ‘alibi’ that he was simply driving around during the morning hours of November 13, 2022,” Thompson wrote in a previous filing.
The suspect has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary relating to the killings.
Part of the evidence that led to the suspect’s arrest, mentioned in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-police-captured-the-man-suspected-of-killing-four-university-of-idaho-students" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously unsealed</a> probable cause affidavit, showed that police were able to narrow the timeframe of the crime to between 4:00 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. and reviewed video footage taken in the area in the time before and after the murders are believed to have occurred. Video showed a white Hyundai Elantra without a front license plate (front license plates are required in Washington and Idaho, but not in Pennsylvania, where the car was registered) in the area between 3:29 a.m. and 4:20 a.m.
The vehicle can be seen passing the off-campus residence three times before returning a fourth time around 4:04 a.m. and attempting to turn around on the road. The vehicle was next seen around 4:20 a.m. traveling away from the direction of the off-campus residence at high speed, heading in the direction of a road that eventually leads to Pullman, Washington, where the suspect attended Washington State University (WSU).
Video footage from the WSU campus showed a white Hyundai Elantra leaving the area and heading toward Moscow at around 2:53 a.m. At around 5:25 a.m., this vehicle was again observed on five cameras in Pullman and the WSU campus.
Police pulled records for white Hyundai Elantras registered at WSU on November 29 – just over two weeks after the murders were committed – and found one belonging to the man who was eventually arrested. Police reviewed the owner’s Washington state driver’s license and determined he matched the suspect’s physical description provided by one of the surviving roommates.
Police matched the suspect to the vehicle through two previous traffic stops in the months before the murders. They also learned that the suspect registered his car in Washington and received Washington plates on November 18 – five days after the murders.
Police also reviewed cell phone data to show the suspect’s phone did not ping any cellular towers near the crime scene during the relevant timeframe, but an expanded examination of cell phone data showed the phone stopped reporting data to the network at around 2:47 a.m. At that time, the white Elantra was leaving Pullman and heading toward Moscow. The phone next pinged at 4:48 a.m. in an area south of Moscow, heading back to Pullman. Cell records also showed that the suspect left his home in Pullman around 9:00 a.m. on November 13 and traveled back to Moscow.
Cell records dating back to June 2022 showed the suspect’s phone was in the crime scene area on at least 12 occasions before the murders – all but one in the late evening or early morning hours.

University Of Idaho

Trial Date Set For Man Accused Of Killing 4 University Of Idaho Students

Trial Date Set For Man Accused Of Killing Four University Of Idaho Students

Crime

Murder

Students

The day after its decision was &#8220;inadvertently and briefly&#8221; posted online, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a block on portions of an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/idaho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Idaho</a> abortion law after the Biden administration sued the state, claiming that the pro-life protections violated federal emergency medical treatment laws. 
The court agreed to uphold a lower court ruling blocking Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act,” according to a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-726_6jgm.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a> officially published Thursday. Idaho&#8217;s law prohibits all abortions with exceptions if the mother&#8217;s life is in danger and punishes those who administer abortions with up to two to five years in prison. 
In the 6-3 decision, the majority <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/26/us/politics/supreme-court-abortion-idaho.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declined</a> to rule on the merits of the whole law but wrote that litigation on the law should continue on the lower level while allowing a block on parts of the law to go back into effect. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the decision to uphold a lower court&#8217;s ruling that “will prevent Idaho from enforcing its abortion ban when the termination of a pregnancy is needed to prevent serious harms to a woman’s health.” 
The case revolves around whether the Emergency Medical Treatment &amp; Labor Act, known as EMTALA, conflicts with Idaho’s abortion ban. 
Previously, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said that federal rules requiring emergency medical treatment applied to abortion situations. The Biden administration has argued that federal law would allow doctors to perform abortions in circumstances not allowed by state law. 
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh joined Kagan in the majority. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented.  
Alito argued that the court should have ruled on the broader issues of state abortion laws instead of deferring on procedural grounds. 
“That question is as ripe for decision as it ever will be,” he wrote in the document. “Apparently, the court has simply lost the will to decide the easy but emotional and highly politicized question that the case presents. That is regrettable.”
Alito added that EMTALA “does not require hospitals to perform abortions in violation of Idaho law.”
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Pro-life groups have argued that current federal law cannot be used to force emergency room doctors to perform abortions.
&#8220;Having delivered over 5,000 babies in my 30-year career, I&#8217;ve had the privilege to provide care for both of my patients, the mother and the unborn child,&#8221; Dr. Ingrid Skop with the Charlotte Lozier Institute <a href="https://x.com/LozierInstitute/status/1806051737708429695" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Wednesday after the draft leaked. &#8220;Throughout my career, my ability to provide emergency care under EMTALA has always been clear and never obstructed. There is no conflict between EMTALA and pro-life state laws, as both allow quality care for mothers with pregnancy emergencies.&#8221;
Supreme Court public information officer Patricia McCabe said the court&#8217;s publications unit had &#8220;inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the Court&#8217;s website&#8221; on Wednesday that appeared similar to the final opinion announced on Thursday.

Supreme Court Backs White House On Social Media Post Removal

Leak Confirmed: Supreme Court Rules Against Red State In Pro-Life Case Day After Decision ‘Inadvertently’ Posted Online

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/idaho">Idaho</a> bar owner Mark Fitzpatrick said he’s shocked by the response he’s gotten for introducing &#8220;Heterosexual Awesomeness Month&#8221; in June.
The bar announced they were offering free beer for heterosexual men and discounts for straight couples. The promotion took off when it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idaho-bar-designates-june-as-heterosexual-awesomeness-month-offers-discounts-for-straight-men">publicized online</a>, with many social media users weighing in and voicing their support.
&#8220;I was thinking of a way that we could celebrate the other side of sexuality, heterosexuality, the way God designed it. And that&#8217;s kind of like where I&#8217;m at with people that support us and are like-minded. So we decided to do Heterosexual Awesomeness Month and then launched it and boy, oh boy, did it take off,&#8221; Fitzpatrick told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/idaho-bar-owner-behind-heterosexual-awesomeness-month-speaks-out-boy-did-take-off">Fox News Digital</a>.
The bar owner said he has received several &#8220;crass&#8221; and &#8220;rude&#8221; messages online and phone calls. But he said the reaction has been &#8220;overwhelmingly positive.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve had a whole bunch of people come in, in person, into our saloon. We&#8217;ve had people driving way out of their way. We had a couple come in, they drove 400 miles out of their way on their trip across the country yesterday &#8230; and other people have said they&#8217;re going to fly in from out of state. Other people said that next time they&#8217;re in the state, they&#8217;re going to stop by and support us,&#8221; Fitzpatrick told the outlet.
The business owner said he started the promotion because he is Christian and doesn’t support Pride Month.
&#8220;I&#8217;m Christian. I follow what the Bible says. I love people. I love all types of people and everything. But when you love people, it doesn&#8217;t mean that you have to necessarily get behind everything they decide to do. And, especially with the way things have been going the last few years, as far as how extreme it gets in June,&#8221; Fitzpatrick said.
He added, &#8220;I&#8217;m not just going to sit there and do nothing anymore. I&#8217;m going to be involved. I&#8217;m going to be out there. I&#8217;m going to be rallying people to help do the right thing, celebrate godly things. And I think the rest of the country should do that.&#8221;
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Fitzpatrick said the response proves that many people are fed up.
&#8220;I think, from what I&#8217;m experiencing with people&#8217;s response, is that the country is ready to kind of stand up and say, ‘Hey, what about this? And this is a good thing to celebrate, and let&#8217;s do that,’&#8221; he added.
He also told Fox News he’s &#8220;done being quiet about things.&#8221; 
&#8220;I want the truth,&#8221; Fitzpatrick concluded. &#8220;I know there&#8217;s a lot of deception out there in the world. I want the truth to come out on a lot of things, and I just want to glorify God in everything that I do.&#8221;

Hetero

Idaho Bar Owner Who Started ‘Heterosexual Awesomeness Month’ Celebrates ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ Response

Idaho Bar Owner Who Started 'Heterosexual Awesomeness Month' Celebrates 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Response

LGBTQ

Pride Month

An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/idaho">Idaho</a> bar is bucking the trend and promoting June as “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sexuality">Heterosexual Awesomeness Month</a>” rather than celebrating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pride-month">Pride</a>.
Old State Saloon in Eagle, a town near the state capital of Boise, announced the unique <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OldStateSaloon/posts/pfbid02Pjrm94A84JJaxxeXjyEN4f9khZ8vngLTEdkoKpWseHziYQRFuM8deFuC67QyNB63l">promotion</a> via its Facebook page. The venue has received a ton of support on social media along with the expected vitriol from leftists.
The month’s specials include straight men receiving a free draft beer on Mondays and straight couples enjoying a 15% discount on Wednesdays, the Facebook page adverstised.
Old State Saloon added several updates to the post after its promotion went viral. 
“It seems as though people who are against Heterosexual Awesomeness Month have a hard time commenting without using horrific words, expletives, using the name of the Lord in vain, etc. Make an intelligent comment and stay. Cuss and you are banned. Thanks. We’ve banned about 25 already,” one post said.
Another update said the establishment was “seeking a perfect judge for Mondays in June to determine if men&#8217;s chosen clothing is officially heterosexual.” The advertised pay was set at “$15/hr plus free beer&#8221; for anyone able to “determine straight threads.”
One follow-up included a link for supporters to send donations after the fallout from the promotion resulted in some negative outcomes, per a bar spokesperson. 
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“Since we announced Hetero Awesomeness Month we’ve had some significant backlash: theft of our property, vendors refusing to fulfill our orders for ingredients, wedding catering cancelation [sic], libel, slander &#8211; even the owner being falsely accused of being a sex offender,” a fundraising campaign said. 
“But, to the credit of the community that is rational and reasonable, we’ve also received so much support from like-minded people who want to celebrate “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” with us, and get the concept of it as being about freedom and being true to our personal values.”
&nbsp;

Cheers

Idaho Bar Designates June As ‘Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,’ Offers Discounts For Straight Men

Idaho Bar Designates June As 'Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,' Offers Discounts For Straight Men

Social Issues

The Idaho man convicted of killing his first wife along with his second wife’s children has been sentenced to death.
Chad Daybell, 55, received the death penalty on Saturday, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chad-daybell-triple-murder-idaho-jury-sentence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, just one day after he was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doomsday-book-author-found-guilty-of-killing-first-wife-second-wifes-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges for the deaths of his first wife, Tammy, and his second wife’s children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J.
In May of last year, Chad’s second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doomsday-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-found-guilty-of-murdering-kids-conspiring-to-kill-husbands-former-wife" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> of murdering Tylee and J.J. and conspiring to kill Tammy. She was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doomsday-cult-mom-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-murdering-her-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced to life</a> in prison.
Relatives had been searching for the children since September 2019, when Lori, along with Tylee and J.J., moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Chad, the author of several doomsday books, who said a voice told him to move there for the second coming of Christ. On September 8, 2019, Lori and her brother Alex took Tylee and J.J. to Yellowstone National Park. Tylee was never seen alive again.
Two weeks later, on September 23, J.J., who is autistic, was last seen at his school in Idaho. The next day, Lori informed the school that he would be homeschooled instead.
Shortly after this, Chad’s first wife, Tammy, was found dead in her home. Her death was initially ruled to be natural, but police have since opened an investigation into the matter.
Less than a month after Tammy died, Lori married Chad in Hawaii.
Three weeks later, after Lori and Chad returned to Idaho, police conducted a welfare check on J.J. at the request of his grandmother. According to police, Lori said that J.J. was with friends in Arizona and that Tylee had gone to Brigham Young University-Idaho. People then began to question where J.J. and Tylee had gone, and suddenly, Lori and Chad packed up and traveled to Hawaii on the same day police began searching for the children, court documents indicate.
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Not long after, on December 12, Lori’s brother Alex died in Gilbert, Arizona, due to a reported blood clot. His death was not investigated further, as the condition ran in the family.
On December 20, police in Rexburg, Idaho, officially announced an investigation into the disappearance of J.J. and Tylee. A month later, Lori was served a court order to produce the children within five days.
When the deadline to produce the children passed, police began laying the groundwork to arrest Lori. They did so on February 20, 2020, arresting Lori in Kauai and charging her with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.
It wasn’t until June 9, 2020, when police searched Chad’s property in Idaho, that the bodies of Tylee and J.J. were found. Chad tried to flee the scene but was caught and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.

Chad Daybell Mugshot

‘Doomsday’ Author Sentenced For Killing First Wife And Children Of Second Wife

'Doomsday' Author Chad Daybell Sentenced For Killing First Wife, Second Wife's Kids

Children

A man who wrote several doomsday books and moved to Idaho because a voice told him to for the second coming of Christ has been convicted of murdering his first wife and his second wife’s children.
Chad Daybell, 55, was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges for the deaths of his first wife, Tammy, and his second wife’s children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J., CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/us/jury-deliberations-murder-trial-chad-daybell/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In May of last year, Chad’s second wife, Lori Vallow Daybell, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doomsday-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-found-guilty-of-murdering-kids-conspiring-to-kill-husbands-former-wife" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> of murdering Tylee and J.J. and conspiring to kill Tammy. She was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doomsday-cult-mom-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-murdering-her-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced to life</a> in prison.
Relatives had been searching for the children since September 2019, when Lori, along with Tylee and J.J., moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to be closer to Chad, who said a voice told him to move there for the second coming of Christ. On September 8, 2019, Lori and her brother Alex took Tylee and J.J. to Yellowstone National Park. Tylee was never seen alive again.
Two weeks later, on September 23, J.J., who is autistic, was last seen at his school in Idaho. The next day, Lori informed the school that he would be homeschooled instead.
Shortly after this, Chad’s first wife, Tammy, was found dead in her home. Her death was initially ruled to be natural, but police have since opened an investigation into the matter.
Less than a month after Tammy died, Lori married Chad in Hawaii.
Three weeks later, after Lori and Chad returned to Idaho, police conducted a welfare check on J.J. at the request of his grandmother. According to police, Lori said that J.J. was with friends in Arizona and that Tylee had gone to Brigham Young University-Idaho. People then began to question where J.J. and Tylee had gone, and suddenly, Lori and Chad packed up and traveled to Hawaii on the same day police began searching for the children, court documents indicate.
Not long after, on December 12, Lori’s brother Alex died in Gilbert, Arizona, due to a reported blood clot. His death was not investigated further, as the condition ran in the family.
On December 20, police in Rexburg, Idaho, officially announced an investigation into the disappearance of J.J. and Tylee. A month later, Lori was served a court order to produce the children within five days.
When the deadline to produce the children passed, police began laying the groundwork to arrest Lori. They did so on February 20, 2020, arresting Lori in Kauai and charging her with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children.
It wasn’t until June 9, 2020, when police searched Chad’s property in Idaho, that the bodies of Tylee and J.J. were found. Chad tried to flee the scene but was caught and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.
Chad faces the death penalty for the murders.

Doomsday Book Author Found Guilty Of Killing First Wife, Second Wife’s Children

Chad Daybell Found Guilty Of Killing First Wife, Second Wife's Children

While blue states in the West are losing police officers who are disillusioned with soft-on-crime policies, conservative Idaho is gathering them in great numbers.
The Idaho Peace Officer Standards &amp; Training (POST) reported that between 2019 and 2021, the number of officers from other states applying for certification more than doubled, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/blue-line-getting-thinner-west-coast-states-police-take-refuge-idaho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“They come to Idaho where they can enjoy their career and make a difference,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell stated. “They see that, in large part, our communities are supportive of law enforcement and public safety.&#8221; Lovell stated that officers from other states said they were fed up with policies that defunded police departments or decriminalized drugs.
“The Seattle Police Department has lost more than 700 officers in the past five years and is at its lowest staffing level since the 1990s,” King 5 <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle-police-staffing-shortage-action-needed-councilmembers-say/281-c3f43855-f877-4ba9-a37b-aeaf27e1ec67" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in March.
“We&#8217;re already at critical levels &#8230; We are really struggling to make sure we maintain all the calls that are impacting, not just to maintain the calls, but also investigating those calls and also doing the other type of tactics that actually make for safer outcomes for the community,” Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said.
“I think if rock bottom was ever a thing, we are probably here,” councilmember Rob Saka echoed.
Regarding Portland, Oregon, which has just 1.26 officers per every 1,000 residents, 48th among the nation’s 50 largest cities, the Manhattan Institute <a href="https://manhattan.institute/article/portlands-police-staffing-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posited</a>, “In the short run, the city’s particularly harmful riots following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, as well as its leadership’s embrace of the ‘defund the police’ movement, dealt a massive blow to police morale, driving mass resignations and retirements, which have continued to hamstring operations.”
“The LAPD is hemorrhaging officers, with more leaving the force than are joining it. Police Chief Michel Moore reported last week that sworn staffing had fallen to 9,103, down nearly 1,000 from 2019, the year that preceded the outbreak of COVID-19,” The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/lapd-lost-nearly-1-000-120008003.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in April 2023.
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Former California Highway Patrol officer Seth Horst, who moved to northern Idaho, commented on the tremendous public support for the police in Idaho, saying, “That is so powerful for the men and women in uniform up here to have that backing. It&#8217;s a pretty phenomenal place to do the job.”
He said of the blue states, “The district attorney doesn&#8217;t back them, there&#8217;s too much liability, so the department won&#8217;t let them enforce the law, which is their job. And that bugs a lot of people. They get a job up here, oftentimes taking a huge pay cut because the pay here does not compare to a lot of states. But it&#8217;s worth it to them to raise their families in a place that is safe and has those old-school values.”

City of Moscow Idaho police department

Red-State Idaho Sweeping Up Cops Disillusioned With Blue West Coast States

Defund The Police

Portland

Seattle

Defense attorneys for the 28-year-old man accused of killing four University of Idaho students have now claimed the prosecution has withheld evidence.
Lead defense attorney Anne Taylor argued in court on Thursday that prosecutors didn’t turn over the full surveillance video allegedly placing the suspect’s car near the crime scene. Taylor acknowledged that she has received some of this evidence – but not all of it.
&#8220;The public needs to know that they&#8217;ve withheld the audio,&#8221; Taylor said, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/bryan-kohberger-lawyer-drops-bombshell-claim-against-key-prosecution-evidence">according to Fox News</a>.
The suspect, who is not being named by The Daily Wire, is accused of killing Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, in the college town of Moscow, Idaho. Part of the evidence against him, according to the prosecution, is surveillance footage showing the suspect’s white Hyundai Elantra near the scene of the crime at the time the murders took place.
The defense team has argued that the suspect regularly drove around late at night looking at the stars, but was not in the vicinity of the crime.
“[The suspect] was out driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars. He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho,” Taylor wrote in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/suspected-idaho-killers-defense-claims-cell-phone-data-provides-alibi-on-night-of-killings">a court filing</a> last month.
To back this up, the defense plans to call an expert witness “to show that [the suspect’s] mobile device was south of Pullman, Washington and west of Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022; that [the suspect’s] mobile device did not travel east on the Moscow-Pullman Highway in the early morning hours of November 13th,” according to the court filing.
But Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said that the alibi was too vague and that the defense shouldn’t be allowed to call any witnesses other than the defendant to prove his whereabouts, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/bryan-kohbergers-alibi-ripped-apart-idaho-prosecutors-temper-tantrum">reported</a>.
“With the exception of the reference to Wawawai Park (which is new), the defendant is offering nothing new to his initial ‘alibi’ that he was simply driving around during the morning hours of November 13, 2022,” Thompson wrote in a filing last week.
The suspect has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary relating to the killings.
Part of the evidence that led to the suspect’s arrest, mentioned in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-police-captured-the-man-suspected-of-killing-four-university-of-idaho-students">previously unsealed</a> probable cause affidavit, showed that police were able to narrow the timeframe of the crime to between 4:00 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. and reviewed video footage taken in the area in the time before and after the murders are believed to have occurred. Video showed a white Hyundai Elantra without a front license plate (front license plates are required in Washington and Idaho, but not in Pennsylvania, where the car was registered) in the area between 3:29 a.m. and 4:20 a.m.
The vehicle can be seen passing the off-campus residence three times before returning a fourth time around 4:04 a.m. and attempting to turn around on the road. The vehicle was next seen around 4:20 a.m. traveling away from the direction of the off-campus residence at high speed, heading in the direction of a road that eventually leads to Pullman, Washington, where the suspect attended Washington State University (WSU).
Video footage from the WSU campus showed a white Hyundai Elantra leaving the area and heading toward Moscow at around 2:53 a.m. At around 5:25 a.m., this vehicle was again observed on five cameras in Pullman and the WSU campus.
Police pulled records for white Hyundai Elantras registered at WSU on November 29 – just over two weeks after the murders were committed – and found one belonging to the man who was eventually arrested. Police reviewed the owner’s Washington state driver’s license and determined he matched the suspect’s physical description provided by one of the surviving roommates.
Police matched the suspect to the vehicle through two previous traffic stops in the months before the murders. They also learned that the suspect registered his car in Washington and received Washington plates on November 18 – five days after the murders.
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Police also reviewed cell phone data to show the suspect’s phone did not ping any cellular towers near the crime scene during the relevant timeframe, but an expanded examination of cell phone data showed the phone stopped reporting data to the network at around 2:47 a.m. At that time, the white Elantra was leaving Pullman and heading toward Moscow. The phone next pinged at 4:48 a.m. in an area south of Moscow, heading back to Pullman. Cell records also showed that the suspect left his home in Pullman around 9:00 a.m. on November 13 and traveled back to Moscow.
Cell records dating back to June 2022 showed the suspect’s phone was in the crime scene area on at least 12 occasions before the murders – all but one in the late evening or early morning hours.

Suspect Arrested For The Murders Of Four University Of Idaho Students

Idaho Quadruple Murder Suspect’s Attorney Claims Prosecution Withholding Evidence

Idaho Quadruple Murder Suspect's Attorney Claims Prosecution Withholding Evidence

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