By Carl M. Cannon
Hello, it’s Tuesday, June 18, 2024. This year’s summer solstice, heralding the official beginning of the season, isn’t until Thursday. But extreme heat arrived ahead of schedule in the Midwest and on the East Coast. And out West, fire season is already upon us: A dangerous wildfire is raging through wine country north of San Francisco.
The California Department of Forestry and Protection, known in the state simply as Cal Fire, reports that the Point Fire in Sonoma County has already burned 1,200 acres and is only 20% contained. The local newspaper, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, reports that wineries in the evacuation zone include Healdsburg’s Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves, Raymond Burr Vineyards, Capo Creek Winery, Martorana Family Winery, Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate, Quivira Vineyards, Mounts Family Winery, A. Rafanelli Winery, and Geyserville’s Dutcher Crossing Winery.
In non-weather news closer to Washington, The Washington Post is reporting that the Biden administration plans to unilaterally change immigration law – apparently with an executive order – to grant citizenship to hundreds of thousands of resident aliens who are married to U.S. citizens. The arguments in favor of this policy are strong (and the politics obvious). One question: Does President Biden have the constitutional authority to take this step?
All I’ll say about that question this morning is that the gridlock, dysfunction, and mutual contempt that characterizes the relationship between the nation’s two major political parties means that the system puts an awful lot of stress on the U.S. Supreme Court to mediate policy matters that should be hashed out via political compromise.
