memeorandum: Texas abortion bill dies as confusion marks end of session (Ed Payne/CNN)

12:15 PM ET, June 26, 2013

Top Items:

Eyder Peralta / NPR:

Court Overturns DOMA, Sidesteps Broad Gay Marriage Ruling … The Supreme Court issued rulings on two highly-anticipated cases on gay marriage today. By 5-4, it ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Applesauce, Poynter, Taylor Marsh, RYOT News, Crooks and Liars and The Hinterland Gazette

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Denying U.S. Benefits to Gay Spouses — WASHINGTON — In a pair of major victories for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits and, by declining to decide a case from California …

Discussion: Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The American Conservative, Hullabaloo and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire

Lawrence Hurley / Reuters:

Supreme Court delivers wins for gay marriage movement — (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed a significant victory to gay rights advocates by recognizing that married gay men and women are eligible for federal benefits and paving the way for same-sex marriage in California.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Outside the Beltway

Carly Schwartz / The Huffington Post:

Supreme Court DOMA Decision Rules Federal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional — WASHINGTON — The Defense of Marriage Act, the law barring the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states, is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by a 5-4 vote.

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, The Daily Banter and NewsHounds blog

Richard L. Hasen / New York Times:

The Chief Justice's Long Game — IN an opinion brimming with a self-confidence that he hides behind a cloak of judicial minimalism, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for a conservative Supreme Court majority in Shelby County v. Holder, cripples Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Discussion: The Hill, Balkinization, Prairie Weather, ACS Blog and Taegan Goddard's …

Joshua Green / Businessweek:
The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Decision Is a Poison Chalice for the GOP

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Poll: 55 percent support same-sex marriage

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Stephen L. Carter / Bloomberg: The Supreme Court Matters Less Than You Think

Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Set to Rule on Gay Marriage

Discussion: Washington Wire, Weekly Standard, Law Blog and The Reaction

Austin American-Statesman:

Screaming protest disrupts vote on abortion bill — Sen. Wendy Davis, speaking to a large and adoring crowd gathered outside the Senate door, thanked her supporters. — “Today was democracy in action,” she told the crowd. “You all are the voices we were speaking for from the floor.”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, Wonkblog, Trail Blazers Blog, PoliticusUSA, Greg's Opinion, Associated Press, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Taylor Marsh, Off the Kuff, The Raw Story, RH Reality Check, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Taegan Goddard's …, First Read and The Agonist

New York Times:

Texas Vote Passing Abortion Bill Is Rendered Moot — AUSTIN, Tex. — Hours after claiming that they successfully passed some of the toughest abortion restrictions in the country, Republican lawmakers reversed course on Wednesday and said a disputed late-night vote on the bill …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Hot Air and Prairie Weather

Becca Aaronson / The Texas Tribune:

Led by Davis, Democrats Defeat Abortion Legislation … The nation watched on Tuesday — and into Wednesday — as Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and hundreds of impassioned reproductive rights advocates stalled proceedings and ultimately defeated controversial abortion legislation in a storm …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Gawker, Shakesville, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, The Week, Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's … and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

U.S. News:

Texas abortion bill fails to pass after epic filibuster — A bill that opponents claimed would virtually ban abortion in Texas failed to pass late Tuesday after lawmakers missed a deadline by just minutes. — There were chaotic scenes after a filibuster attempt fell just short and protesters cheered …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, The Maddow Blog, News Desk, Hit & Run, BizPac Review, National Review, Guardian, The Fix, The Gateway Pundit and Balloon Juice

Ed Payne / CNN:

Texas abortion bill dies as confusion marks end of session — (CNN) — The Texas legislature's special session ended in chaos and confusion early Wednesday, when a marathon filibuster failed — but so did a Republican effort to pass a bill that would have greatly restricted abortions in the state.

Discussion: Associated Press, addictinginfo.org, The Reaction, Althouse, Rare, SQUATLO RANT, Hullabaloo and Washington Post

bigstory.ap.org:
TEXAS ABORTION BILL FALLS AFTER CHALLENGE

Discussion: Slate, The Raw Story, ABC News, The Texas Tribune, Infowars, addictinginfo.org and Boing Boing

The Texas Tribune:
Liveblog: Senators Trying to Determine if Abortion Bill Passed

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Guardian, Gawker, New York Times, Business Insider, Firedoglake and skippy the bush kangaroo

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Obama account tweets support for Texas abortion rights filibuster

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Gawker and Shakesville

Associated Press:
Texas Senate GOP passes restrictive abortion bill

Discussion: BobCesca.com

Associated Press:
Filibuster broken against abortion bill

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Texas Observer, The Daily Banter and Off the Kuff

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:

Republicans Across The South Promise Quick Action After SCOTUS Ruling — ATLANTA (AP) — Across the South, Republicans are working to take advantage of a new political landscape after a divided U.S. Supreme Court freed all or part of 15 states, many of them in the old Confederacy …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Maddow Blog

New York Times:
An Assault on the Voting Rights Act

Discussion: PostPartisan, FiveThirtyEight, First Read, New Republic, msnbc.com and Right Wing News

Ilya Shapiro / Bloomberg: Jim Crow Is Dead. Long Live the Constitution.

Richard A. Posner / Slate:
Supreme Court 2013: The Year in Review

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, American Prospect and The Plum Line

Jonathan Allen / Politico:
President Obama confronts George W. Bush court on voting, gay rights cases

Discussion: CNN, Commentary Magazine, Associated Press and Philly.com

Talking Points Memo:
Eric Cantor Reacts To Voting Rights Act Ruling

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Monthly, The Century Foundation, News Desk, Firedoglake, The Daily Banter, Connecting.the.Dots, ThinkProgress and How Appealing

Wall Street Journal:
Voting Rights Progress

Discussion: msnbc.com and The Atlantic Wire

ESPN:

Aaron Hernandez arrested — NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. — Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday morning, more than a week after an acquaintance of the New England Patriots tight end was found dead in an industrial park near his house. — The Bristol County District Attorney's office released …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Outside the Beltway

CNN:

Player taken into custody — North Attleborough, Massachusetts (CNN) — New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested and booked at a police station in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning. — He will be taken to Attleboro District Court, where he will be arraigned.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, KTLA 5 and RYOT News

CNN:

‘Crossfire’ coming back to CNN — Washington (CNN) - An institution is coming back to CNN. — “Crossfire,” the long-running political debate show that aired on CNN from 1982-2005, is getting a reboot, the news network announced Wednesday. Four new hosts - two on the left, and two on the right - will debut the program this fall.

Discussion: Politico, Libertarian Republican and Business Insider

CNN:

Crossfire Returns — Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp, Stephanie Cutter, Van Jones to Host Debate Program — CNN today announced that Crossfire, previously the longest running political debate program on television, will return to the network this fall. Hosting from the right will be Newt Gingrich …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Passion fades for President Obama among Democrats — A majority of Americans regard President Obama favorably, but his numbers have softened considerably among his fellow Democrats, according to new polling conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News. — Obama's favorability stands at 53 percent …

Discussion: ABC News, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's …, The Week, Hot Air and Associated Press

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Obama ratings suffer as scandals continue

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers and Washington Free Beacon

Alison Rourke / Guardian:

Julia Gillard ousted as Australia prime minister — Julia Gillard confirms she will not contest next parliamentary elections after losing Labor party leadership ballot to Kevin Rudd — Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, has been sacked by her party just months …

Discussion: Libertarian Republican, Samizdata and Outside the Beltway

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2013 (third estimate); Corporate Profits, 1st quarter 2013 (revised estimate) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …