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Supreme Court turns away appeal from Black Lives Matter activist facing lawsuit from police officer
Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not take up an appeal from Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, who is facing a lawsuit from a Baton Rouge police officer who was hit in the head with an object during a protest in July 2016.
At issue in the case was whether the leader of a protest, Mckesson in this case, could be held liable for injuries inflicted by an unidentified person when the protest leader didn’t authorize or direct the violent act.
The dispute arose after Alton Sterling, a Black man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was shot and killed by a White police officer outside a convenience store on July 5, 2016. Sterling’s death set off a wave of protests against police brutality, including one that began outside of the Baton Rouge Police Department on July 9, 2016.
During the demonstration, a police officer was struck in the face by a rock or piece or concrete thrown by an unidentified protester, losing teeth and suffering a brain injury, his lawyers said. The officer, identified in court papers as John Doe, sued Mckesson for negligence in federal court, arguing he knew the demonstration would lead to violence and failed to calm the crowd.
Mckesson, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, said the First Amendment protects him from being sued.
The case has been weaving through the courts, beginning with a decision from a federal district court in 2017 that said Mckesson couldn’t be sued. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed that decision and said Mckesson could be liable. He appealed to the Supreme Court, which sent the dispute back for further proceedings on whether state law allows the lawsuit.
After the Louisiana Supreme Court said a protest leader could be sued for negligence, the 5th Circuit ruled in June 2023 that the lawsuit against Mckesson could move forward. The divided appeals court said that Mckesson allegedly created “unreasonably unsafe conditions” by organizing the protest to start in front of the police station and failed to take action to “dissuade his fellow demonstrators” once they began looting a grocery store and throwing items. Mckesson, the 5th Circuit said, also led the protest onto a public highway, a violation of Louisiana law.
The activist turned to the Supreme Court again, which on Monday declined to take up Mckesson’s case. In a statement respecting the denial of the appeal, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court’s decision not to hear the case “expresses no view about the merits of Mckesson’s claim.” But Sotomayor pointed to a First Amendment decision from the Supreme Court last year and said she expects the 5th Circuit to “give full and fair consideration to arguments” regarding that ruling’s impact in future proceedings in Mckesson’s case.
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Why was Naples, Florida, just ranked the best place to live in the U.S.? It has much to do with the beachfront city’s job prospects and overall quality of life for residents, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Naples, a resort city, scored especially high for the value residents get for their money and for the ample job opportunities, which were both weighted more heavily in the publication’s ranking this year compared with previous editions.
“This year’s survey found people are concerned about the economy and want more financial stability, so the value and job market categories were the factors that were most important to people. That’s something that really helped Naples,” Erika Giovanetti, U.S. News and World Report’s loans expert, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Naples — with an ultra-low unemployment rate of just 2.9% as of April, well under the overall U.S. rate of 3.9% — also offers relatively high salaries and boasts one of the strongest job markets in the country. Top local industries in terms of job prospects include tourism and health care.
“There is a big retiree population, so there is a lot of well-paid work for health care employees willing to take care of an aging population in that part of the country,” Giovanetti said.
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U.S. News’ analysis ranks 150 larger U.S. cities based on criteria including the health of the local job market, affordability of housing, value, quality of life and overall desirability. The rankings are designed to help Americans make informed decisions about where to reside based on their priorities, according to the media outlet.
To assess those priorities, U.S. News asked thousands of Americans what matters most to them when choosing place to live. It created four indexes based on respondents’ answers, weighted as follows: Quality of Life (32%), Value (27%), Job Market (22%), Desirability (19%). The latter category takes into account factors such as weather, number of bars and restaurants per capita, and net migration.
This year’s findings reflected rising consumer concerns about career opportunities and a city’s general affordability. Quality of life remains Americans’ top priority, and was therefore most heavily weighted to determine the rankings.
“While inflation has come down in recent months, Americans are still feeling the impact on their wallets, so finding a place that is affordable and where they feel like they have job stability is increasingly important,” Giovanetti said. “We have also seen cooling off in the labor market over the past several years, and more people feel like they have less power with employers, so they want to live in places where they won’t be unemployed.”
Boise, Idaho landed at No. 2 on this year’s ranking, earning high marks for its value while scoring less well in the desirability category, while Colorado Springs, Colorado, ranked third.
Greenville, South Carolina, ranked No. 4, while Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, with the three cities scoring well for their buoyant job market and quality of life.
All cities in U.S. News’ top five “had a good balance of everything” and were especially strong in terms of value, housing affordability and job market, Giovanetti said. “We are really looking for cities that shine in those categories.”
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Not surprisingly, major cities like New York City and Los Angeles, California, faltered in the value category given their high costs of living. New York ranked No. 124 on U.S. News’ list, while Los Angeles came in at No. 130.
“It can be very difficult for big cities to rank well, and a lot of that has to do with the value index, especially with the outsized impact value has on this year’s rankings,” Giovanetti told CBS MoneyWatch.
“Especially for people looking to buy, it’s not reasonable for them to think of finding a place to buy in New York or L.A., even though the higher salaries help to cut into that. It’s not enough to offset the value,” she added
U.S. News’ top 10 best cities to live in the U.S. are below. Click here for the full list.
- Naples, Florida
- Boise, Idaho
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Austin, Texas
- Boulder, Colorado
Pope Francis’ predecessor was the first pontiff in about 600 years to retire, but Francis says he has no plans to resign, and is even considering a possible trip to the U.S.
In a historic Vatican City interview with CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell, the 87-year-old leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics said the idea of stepping down has never occurred to him.
“Maybe if the day comes when my health can go no further,” Francis said. “Perhaps because the only infirmity I have is in my knee, and that is getting much better. But it never occurred to me.”
Francis, who took on the papacy in 2013 at the age of 76, now uses a wheelchair, but he described his health as “fine.”
Past health problems for Pope Francis
As one of the oldest popes in the Church’s history, Francis has dealt with several health issues, including the flu and two rounds of intestinal surgery. The pope also only has one full lung.
Francis, who is from Argentina, had “a good part” of an infected lung removed when he was younger, according to his authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin.
In “Life: My Story Through History,” a memoir released earlier this year, Francis wrote about hospital stays and medical treatments, saying he knows that people speculate about the next conclave and a new pope.
“Relax. It’s human. There’s nothing shocking about it,” he writes.
Last year, the pope was hospitalized for three days for what the Vatican called bronchitis, but the pope later described it as a case of pneumonia. Pope Francis also had abdominal surgery last June to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring.
Benedict XVI, the pope who retired in 2013, cited his declining health before stepping down. He died in 2022 at age 95.
No plans to slow down, with a possible U.S. trip in the future
Pope Francis has kept a busy schedule over the past decade, traveling to more than 60 countries. He has trips scheduled to the Far East and Belgium.
In September, Francis is scheduled to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. The Belgium trip is also scheduled for September.
Francis said he may also visit the United States, “depending on whether I have to go and speak at the United Nations.” He added, “It’s a possibility. I’m not certain.”
O’Donnell asked what he would want to talk about there, and Francis replied, “If I go, it is to talk about peace.”
The possible trip is one of the many topics the pontiff addressed in an hour-long interview with O’Donnell airing Monday at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.