memeorandum: Majority of U.S. Veterans Say Access to VA Care Difficult (Jeffrey M. Jones/Gallup)

7:45 AM ET, July 2, 2014

Top Items:

Justices act in other health law mandate cases Associated Press 11 mins ago — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed that its decision a day earlier extending religious rights to closely held corporations applies broadly to the contraceptive coverage requirement …

Discussion: The Seattle Times, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, The Dish, Hollywood Reporter and News Desk

Politico:

Changed America This Year — Nineteen legal thinkers run down the court's most important decisions. — The justices have retired their robes for the summer (and the interns, their running shoes), after handing down decisions on issues ranging from Obamacare to affirmative action, campaign finance to school prayer.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Abby Haglage / The Daily Beast:
After Hobby Lobby, These 82 Corporations Could Drop Birth Control Coverage

Discussion: LifeNews.com, New York Times, American Spectator, Daily Signal, Jezebel, National Review, NOLA River, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Sasha Volokh / Washington Post:
Is RFRA unconstitutional? — I basically agree with my co …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Bleeding Heart Libertarians and Alas, a Blog

Emma Green / The Atlantic Online:
The Supreme Court Isn't Waging a War on Women in Hobby Lobby

Discussion: The Federalist, msnbc.com, New York Times, Hot Air, National Review, The Dish, The Week, Becket Fund and Washington Post

Sandra Fluke / Washington Post:
The Hobby Lobby case is an attack on women

Discussion: Daily Kos

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Wider impact of Hobby Lobby ruling?

Discussion: RH Reality Check, Balloon Juice and The Moderate Voice

Ben Domenech / The Federalist:
OTC Birth Control: Your Body, Your Choice, Your Responsibility

Discussion: Hot Air, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Forbes and Vox

The Hill:
Obama weighs executive hammer

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Elias Isquith / Salon:
John Roberts, abysmal failure: How his court was disgraced by corporations and theocrats

Discussion: The Week, Mother Jones, NewsBusters, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, Slate and Balkinization

Jonathon M. Seidl / TheBlaze.com:

Wait Until You See the Picture Frame NBC's Cameras Found in Valerie Jarrett's Office — Editor's Note: — Be sure to read to the bottom to see Jarrett's explanation. — Don't blink or you might miss it. — Earlier this week during NBC's exclusive peek inside the world of Valerie Jarrett …

Discussion: BizPac Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Truth Revolt and Business Insider

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
What's Going With This Photo In Valerie Jarrett's Office?

Discussion: Althouse

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

NM police boot Fox's Jesse Watters from women's conference after ‘sexist’ comments — Fox News reporter Jesse Watters said on Monday that Albuquerque police had escorted him out of the 2014 National Organization for Women (NOW) conference after he made sexist comments and failed to obtain a press pass.

Jesse Watters / Fox News Insider:
WATCH: Police Kick Watters Out of NOW Conference

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post and Progressives Today

Lina Khan / Washington Monthly:

Thrown Out of Court — How corporations became people you can't sue. — Late last year a massive data hack at Target exposed as many as 110 million consumers around the country to identity theft and fraud. As details of its lax computer security oversight came to light …

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

More on the IRS's Illegal Destruction of Evidence — Scott wrote earlier today about the motion that True the Vote is bringing against the IRS in the federal court in the District of Columbia. The motion asks for expedited discovery with respect to the IRS's destruction of evidence relevant …

Juan Williams / The Hill:

GOP has lost O-Care fight — Republicans bet the house that ObamaCare would be a disaster. They lost. — After a four-year feast criticizing ObamaCare, Congressional Republicans are now left picking at the crumbs of minor complaints. Their longstanding predictions of failure have come up empty.

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Majority of U.S. Veterans Say Access to VA Care Difficult — Fifty-five percent say it is difficult to access care; 30% say it is easy — This article is part of a weeklong series analyzing the veteran experience in the United States, especially how returning veterans transition from the military to civilian life.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Washington Post

Geoff Pender / The Clarion-Ledger:

Cochran campaign denies vote-buying reports — The U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran campaign is denying reports from a conservative blogger that it was trying to buy votes in Lauderdale County. — Blogger Charles C. Johnson of GotNews.com is reporting that Stevie Fielder says the Cochran campaign told …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Doug Ross, Little Green Footballs, The Daily Caller, BarbWire.com, The Gateway Pundit, BREITBART.COM and The Other McCain

Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:

Chief Justice Courts Liberals In Search of Middle Ground — Supreme Court's Leader Joined Liberal Colleagues to Achieve Some Major Decisions This Term — WASHINGTON—In the Supreme Court term that just concluded, Chief Justice John Roberts joined with liberal colleagues to draw some of the court's major decisions toward the middle.

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Privacy board backs NSA's foreign spying — A federal privacy watchdog is largely putting its support behind a major pillar of the National Security Agency's foreign snooping. — A draft version of a new Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) report released late Tuesday …

Discussion: Politico

Pete Yost / Associated Press:

US: Libyan Militant Motivated by Extremism — In the days before the Benghazi attacks, the Libyan militant now in U.S. custody voiced concern and opposition to the presence of an American compound in Benghazi, the government said Tuesday in a court filing. — Ahmed Abu Khattala was motivated …

Discussion: Politico

Hannah Kuchler / Financial Times:

UK data regulator probes Facebook over psychological experiment — A UK data regulator is investigating whether Facebook broke data protection laws when it allowed researchers to conduct a psychological experiment on users of the social network. — The Information Commissioner's Office …

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, Daily Signal, Forbes, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Al Jazeera America:

Japan relaxes pacifist constitution, will allow fighting overseas — Major policy shift from post-WWII charter has alarmed regional rival China — Japan's Cabinet has agreed on a proposal to end a ban on its military fighting abroad, a major shift away from the country's postwar pacifism and a move that is riling China.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The Moderate Voice

Jon Clifton / Gallup:

Americans Less Satisfied With Freedom — Perceived widespread corruption in U.S. government on the rise — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fewer Americans are satisfied with the freedom to choose what they do with their lives compared with seven years ago — dropping 12 percentage points from 91% in 2006 to 79% in 2013.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, Real Clear Politics and The Federalist