memeorandum: Exonerated convict Glenn Ford succumbs to lung cancer at 65 (Ken Daley/New Orleans Times-Picayune)

1:45 PM ET, June 29, 2015

Top Items:

Sen. Rand Paul / TIME:

Rand Paul: Government Should Get Out of the Marriage Business Altogether — Paul is the junior U.S. Senator for Kentucky. — While I disagree with Supreme Court's redefinition of marriage, I believe that all Americans have the right to contract. — The Constitution is silent on the question …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Towleroad, Mock Paper Scissors, Hit & Run, Real Clear Politics, The Week, Vox Popoli, Bloomberg Business, Instapundit, PinkNews and The Daily Caller

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:

Attorney General Paxton: Religious Liberties of Texas Public Officials Remain Constitutionally Protected After Obergefell v. Hodges — Attorney General Ken Paxton today made the following statement and issued an opinion in response to questions about the impact of Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that redefined marriage:

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Trail Blazers Blog, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Guardian, Shakesville, Above the Law, Off the Kuff, Towleroad, TFN Insider, Outside the Beltway, Mashable, Hinterland Gazette, Politico and Wall Street Journal

Austin American-Statesman:

Texas AG: County clerks can refuse gay couples — County clerks can refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on religious objections to gay marriage, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Sunday. — Paxton noted that clerks who refuse to issue licenses can expect to be sued …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Refinery29, Hot Air, The Last Tradition, Weekly Standard, Althouse, Walid Shoebat, Daily Kos and Wall Street Journal

Lauren McGaughy / Houston Chronicle:
Texas AG tells clerks they can flout Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Texas Tribune and Balloon Juice

Karim Zidan / Bloody Elbow:
On Yoel Romero, intolerance, and the discrimination against equality for religious purposes

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Business:

States Seeking Voter Citizenship Proof Denied by U.S. Supreme Court — The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider letting states require evidence of citizenship when people register to vote for federal elections, rejecting an appeal from Arizona and Kansas.

Discussion: Politico, Election Law Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hinterland Gazette and Political Wire

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Business:

Independent Redistricting Panel Upheld by U.S. Supreme Court — The 5-4 ruling is a setback to Arizona Republicans. — The U.S. Supreme Court bolstered efforts to make federal elections more competitive, upholding an independent commission set up by Arizona voters to draw congressional districts.

Discussion: Election Law Blog

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Supreme Court Blocks Obama's Limits on Power Plants

Discussion: Guardian, Reuters, Detroit Free Press, Fusion and Political Wire

Washington Post:
Supreme Court: EPA erred in rule on toxic emissions from power plants

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Hot Air

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Business:
BP, Anadarko Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court on Gulf Spill Fines

Discussion: The Week

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Will He Run? Biden Speculation Mounts — Both sons urged the vice president to enter 2016 presidential race, but so far a bid doesn't seem imminent — When deciding whether to run for office, Vice President Joe Biden has made it a practice to seek his family's counsel.

Discussion: Philly.com, Moe Lane, OnPolitics, Daily Mail, Washington Post and Politico

Juan Williams / The Hill: The pollution of politics — When President Obama lobbied …

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: What The GOP Is Saying About SCOTUS

Discussion: US News, Slantpoint and NBC News

Todd J. Gillman / Trail Blazers Blog:

Updated: Spat escalates as Ted Cruz dusts off 2009 email to rebut Karl Rove denial on Bush41 endorsement episode — Republican strategist Karl Rove speaking in Sacramento on March 2, 2013 — Sen. Ted Cruz at the Capitol on Sept. 23, 2013. — updated 9:45pm

Discussion: Washington Post

Karl Rove / Medium:
A Time for Setting the Record Straight

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Fox News, Washington Post and Cruz for President

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:
Exclusive — Cruz's New Book : Rove Thought Bush '41 ‘Too Old to Have Good Judgment’

Discussion: New York Times and Politico

New York Times:

Puerto Rico's Governor Says Island's Debts Are ‘Not Payable’ — Puerto Rico's governor, saying he needs to pull the island out of a “death spiral,” has concluded that the commonwealth cannot pay its roughly $72 billion in debts, an admission that will probably have wide-reaching financial repercussions.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Telegraph, Washington Post, The Last Tradition, Bloomberg View, Politico, Reuters, NBC News, Bloomberg Business and The Week

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Chief Justice Roberts' Marriage Equality Dissent Has A Hidden Message For Conservatives — Friday's landmark victory for marriage equality was handed down over the dissents of four justices, each of whom wrote their own dissenting opinion. Of these, by far the most thoughtful …

Discussion: Shakesville, Washington Post, Hit & Run and Hot Air

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Chris Christie's nothing-left-to-lose campaign — The New Jersey governor's campaign is far less ambitious than anyone could have predicted a year ago. But that also makes him an unpredictable force in the GOP presidential primary. — When Chris Christie launches his presidential campaign Tuesday …

Mike Allen / Politico:
Chris Christie: No teleprompter for launch

Discussion: Slantpoint

Kim Bellware / The Huffington Post:

Supreme Court Upholds Oklahoma's Use Of Lethal Injection Drug — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in a 5-4 vote that Oklahoma may continue to use a controversial lethal injection drug during executions. — The Oklahoma death row prisoners who brought the matter to court …

Discussion: Business Insider and Daily Kos

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed: Supreme Court Rules Controversial Drug Can Be Used In Executions

Mark Oppenheimer / TIME:

Now's the Time To End Tax Exemptions for Religious Institutions — Mark Oppenheimer writes the biweekly “Beliefs” column for The New York Times and is editor-at-large for Tablet. He also reports for The Atlantic, The Nation, This American Life, and elsewhere.

Discussion: Power Line, The Federalist and RedState

Washington Post:

Jeb Bush dogged by decades of questions about business deals — In early 1989, seven weeks after his father moved into the White House, Jeb Bush took a trip to Nigeria. — Nearly 100,000 Nigerians turned out to see him over four days as he accompanied the executives of a Florida company …

Discussion: The Week

Stephen Rex Brown / New York Daily News:

Subway vigilante Bernie Goetz fighting the possible eviction of his pet squirrel — Notorious subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz is going nuts over the possible eviction of his beloved three-legged squirrel. — The eccentric gunman's pet, named Glinda's Sister, has had a rear leg amputated, and the other is paralyzed.

Dave Urbanski / TheBlaze.com:

Well-Known Priest's Amazing Response After He Said Two Men Spat on Him in Midst of NYC Gay Pride Parade — Fr. Jonathan Morris is likely a familiar face to readers of TheBlaze — the Catholic priest based in the Bronx also has been a longtime analyst for Fox News.

Discussion: Mediaite and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Ken Daley / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Exonerated convict Glenn Ford succumbs to lung cancer at 65 — Glenn Ford, who spent nearly 30 years on Angola's death row for a murder that prosecutors eventually conceded he did not commit, died in New Orleans early Monday (June 29), supporters announced. He was 65.

Discussion: Raw Story and Guardian