Random News and Notes 23 June

On this day in 1314 Robert the Bruce took on King Edward II at a place called Bannockburn. The Scottish forces were badly outnumbered by the English. They formed schiltrons – large pike blocks – and held off the heavy English cavalry for two days. The Bruce killed English knight Henry deBohun in single combat near the close of the first day.

On the second day, much of the English cavalry met their deaths on the faces of the schiltrons. The English – after suffering horrific losses – retreated in disarray only to be hunted by the Scots.

The victory ensured Scottish sovereignty and kingship for the Bruce

Stand Watie was a Cherokee Indian. He was also a general in the Confederate Army. On this date in 1865 he became the last Confederate General to surrender.

We start the news in the DIstrict where the Supreme Court dropped decisions in 5 cases. Those decisions include:

• Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe: The Court held that federal courts cannot create new causes of action under the Alien Tort Statute for violations of international norms, and neither the ATS nor the Torture Victim Protection Act imposes aiding-and-abetting liability. (Barrett writing, Jackson and Sotomayor authored dissents)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex: In a 6-3 ruling, the justices found that the Helms-Burton Act allows U.S. plaintiffs to sue Cuban agencies for trafficking in confiscated property and overrides certain sovereign immunity protections.(Kavanaugh, Kakan dissent)
• Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections: A 6-3 decision ruled that state officials cannot be sued in their personal capacity under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) without their consent.(Gorsuch, Jackson dissent)
• Pung v. Isabella County: A unanimous Court held that the proper measure of “just compensation” under the Takings Clause for a fairly conducted tax foreclosure sale is the actual auction sale price (minus the tax debt), not the property’s hypothetical fair market value. (Alito)

The most notable case from today is Blanche V Lau. The Court ruled 6-3 today (opinion by Justice Thomas) that immigration officers do not need clear and convincing evidence at the time of reentry that a lawful permanent resident committed a qualifying crime before treating them as an applicant for admission (rather than as already admitted). The Court vacated the Second Circuit’s decision, holding that the INA (Immigration and Naturalization Act) allows the government to regard an LPR (legal perm. resident) as seeking admission based on commission of the offense, with the conviction (or admission) satisfying the inadmissibility ground later in removal proceedings; Justices Jackson, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissented.

Sticking with legal matters, U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, a Bush appointee and Scalia clerk, ruled that six subpoenas issued January 20, 2026, to Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, mayors Jacob Frey and Kaohly Her, and county boards lacked any criminal purpose.

The demands sought records on local responses to the December 2025 Operation Metro Surge, a large ICE deployment in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

On June 14 at Six Flags Over Georgia, the SkyScreamer swing ride halted mid-cycle, leaving riders like David Early dangling high up while he filmed the tense scene despite his fear of heights. The safety feature kicked in as designed, operators checked everything, and everyone returned safely with no injuries.

Early rode it again that day, declaring he’d never do it twice—though the second run went smoothly. The video drew reactions from terror to ride fans calling it routine, amid a recent similar stop at another park.

There was a shooting in Montreal yesterday. A man, now identified as Seth Hatfield, from Alberta, opened fire at police in a Jewish neighborhood killing one police officer. One civilian was killed, but not by the suspect but rather by a female cop who was at the scene.

The civilian has been identified as identified as Michael (Michel) Moshe Mizrahi, a highly respected member of the local Jewish community.

Authorities recovered a 104-page manifesto distributed by Hatfield before the shooting, which called for a violent revolution against modern capitalist society and specifically targeted police, women, pornography, and Jewish people.