The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and the Senate passed its version of a massive immigration reform bill.
On the international stage, a Vatican accountant was arrested on charges of fraud and corruption related to a $26 million money-laundering scheme.
Here a recap, or wrap, of the week that was from The Washington Times.
• White House launches website, enlists NFL as part of Obamacare blitz
The Obama administration launched its promotion of the new health care law in earnest Monday, revealing that it has asked the National Football League to advertise insurance options as it rolls out a glossy new website and a 24-hour call center to clear up confusion about the law.
• Paula Deen fans strike back: Supporters vent outrage at Food Network for dumping star
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Watching Paula Deen’s cooking show was a weekend ritual for Marilynne Wilson, who says she’s furious at the Food Network for dumping the comfort-food queen after she acknowledged using racial slurs in the past.
“I was shocked. I thought she’d get a fair trial,” Wilson, a nurse from Jacksonville, Fla., said Saturday after stopping to buy souvenirs at the gift shop Deen owns next to her Savannah restaurant. “I think the Food Network jumped the gun.”
• Supreme Court says Voting Rights Act of 1965 is no longer relevant
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states no longer can be judged by voting discrimination that went on decades ago, a decision that argues the country has fundamentally changed since the racially motivated laws of the civil rights era.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that mainly Southern states must undergo special scrutiny before changing their voting laws is based on a 40-year-old formula that is no longer relevant to changing racial circumstances.
• Democratic lawmaker hits justice as ‘Uncle Thomas’
A Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota criticized Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act by calling Justice Clarence Thomas “Uncle Thomas,” then saying he didn’t know “Uncle Tom” was a racist epithet.
On his Twitter account Tuesday, state Rep. Ryan Winkler called the justices’ 5-4 ruling striking down a part of the law racist, and the work of “four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas.” Justice Thomas, who is black, was one of the five justices in the majority.
• Pediatricians have a new mission: Fight ‘homophobia’
In its first sexual-orientation policy update in nearly a decade, the nation’s largest pediatricians group said its members should do more to fight “heterosexism” and “homophobia,” as well as step up their care of teens with same-sex attractions.
“Sexual-minority youth should not be considered abnormal,” the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in its new materials on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youths, released Monday.
• Alec Baldwin on Twitter rant as wife accused of tweeting at Gandolfini funeral
Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria was accused of sending out live tweets during “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini’s funeral on Thursday morning — and Mr. Baldwin, known for explosive outbursts that make national headlines, didn’t disappoint.
He sent out an expletive-laced Twitter rant against the media outlet that reported his wife’s alleged social faux pas, The Huffington Post reported.
• Gay couples can immigrate under DOMA ruling
The Supreme Court’s ruling that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional should immediately open up immigration benefits to same-sex partners in states where their unions are recognized as marriages.
The 5-4 decision ruled that federal benefits pertaining to marriage couples cannot be denied to same-sex couples who are married, and that states can recognize those marriages. The issue at hand was an inheritance case, but analysts said the ruling signals the same principle applies to all federal benefits such as Social Security and taxes.
• MILLER: New taxes penalize gun owners, threaten Second Amendment
Liberals are trying every tool at their disposal this year to go after guns. They have failed on Capitol Hill to restrict the Second Amendment, so they are moving through the states to enact their agenda.
The latest maneuver is to hike the tax on guns and ammunition to dissuade the law-abiding from buying firearms. It’s the perfect storm of liberalism — more revenue for a bigger government and fewer people keeping and bearing arms.
• Immigration bill clears Senate, faces uncertain future in House; historic day for immigrants
Vowing that they have learned the lessons from the 1986 amnesty, the Senate on Thursday approved the biggest changes to the immigration system in a generation, promising this version will prevent another wave of illegal immigrants while granting a pathway to citizenship to most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
• Busted: Teen witness in George Zimmerman trial can’t read own letter
A teenage girl who was called to testify in the prosecution of George Zimmerman for second-degree murder was caught in a curious predicament Thursday after it became evident she couldn’t read from the very letter she claimed to have written to the mother of her friend Trayvon Martin.
In court, Rachel Jeantel was trying to read from what she said was a letter she sent to Martin’s mother describing the last few moments of his life, which she claimed she heard on the phone. But she stumbled badly, ABC reported.
Mr. Zimmerman’s defense attorney, Don West, finally asked, “Are you able to read that at all?”
Ms. Jeantel, 19, said in a whisper with her head down: “Some but not all. I don’t read cursive.”
The courtroom quieted in shock, ABC said.
• Vatican accountant arrested in $26M plot
A Vatican accountant has been arrested on charges of fraud and corruption related to a money-laundering scheme to bring $26 million from Switzerland into Italy aboard an Italian government plane, authorities said.
• Aaron Hernandez charged with murder in Odin Lloyd death
ATTLEBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in the shooting death of a friend prosecutors say had angered the NFL player at a nightclub a few days earlier by talking to the wrong people.
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