National Roundup

Missouri
Appeals court rejects language of ballot summary of amendments
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court ruled Tuesday against Republican-written summaries of abortion-rights ballot measures that described several proposed amendments as allowing “dangerous and unregulated abortions until live birth.”

A three-judge panel of the Western District Court of Appeals found the summaries written by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who is running for governor in 2024, are politically partisan.

Ballot summaries are used on Missouri ballots to help voters understand sometimes lengthy and complex constitutional amendments and policy changes.

Ashcroft’s original description of the amendments, which could go on the ballot in 2024 if supporters gather enough voter signatures, would have asked voters whether they want to “allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth, without requiring a medical license or potentially being subject to medical malpractice.”

But the appeals-court panel wrote that allowing unrestricted abortion “during all nine months of pregnancy is not a probable effect of initiatives.”

The judges largely upheld summaries that were rewritten by a lower court judge to be more impartial.

The summaries approved by the appeals court would tell voters the amendments would “establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives” and “remove Missouri’s ban on abortion.”
Ashcroft said he plans to appeal the ruling.

“We stand by our language and believe it fairly and accurately reflects the scope and magnitude of each petition,” Ashcroft said in a statement.

Abortion-rights proponents lauded the Tuesday ruling.

“Today, the courts upheld Missourians’ constitutional right to direct democracy over the self-serving attacks of politicians desperately seeking to climb the political ladder,” the ACLU of Missouri said in a statement. It called the decision “a complete rebuke of the combined efforts from the Attorney General and Secretary of State to interfere and deny Missourian’s their right to initiative process.”

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office is defending Ashcroft’s summary language in court.

“Missourians deserve meaningful access to abortion and the ability to fully participate in the democratic process,” Emily Wales, the president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood’s Great Plains affiliate, said in a statement. “The court rightfully struck down language that is misleading and stigmatizing.”

Missouri is among several states, including Ohio, where abortion opponents are fighting efforts to ensure or restore access to the procedure following the fall of Roe v. Wade last year.

A measure to ensure abortion access is on the November ballot in Ohio after withstanding legal challenges from opponents. That state’s voters in August rejected a measure that would have required at least 60% of the vote to amend the state constitution, an approach supported by abortion opponents that would have made it harder to adopt the November ballot question.

Measures to protect access already have spots in the 2024 votes in Maryland and New York. Legislative efforts or petition drives are underway in a variety of states. There are efforts to protect or expand access in Arizona, Florida, Nevada and South Dakota; and to restrict it in Iowa, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. Drives are on for both kinds of measures in Colorado.

Voters in every state with an abortion-related ballot measure since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, effectively making abortion access a state-by-state question, have favored the side supported by abortion rights supporters.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll earlier this year found that most voters — including those in states with bans on access at all stages of pregnancy — want abortion to be legal early in pregnancy. Most voters also favored some limits.

New York
Hate crime charges filed in death of Sikh man after NYC fender bender
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who beat a 66-year-old Sikh man to death while calling him “turban man” after a fender bender in New York City has been charged with manslaughter as a hate crime, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Gilbert Augustin, 30, also faces charges including assault as a hate crime and unlicensed driving in the Oct. 19 death of Jasmer Singh, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.

Prosecutors said Augustin called Singh “turban man” during an argument that followed their crash on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens.

The family of Singh, who wore a turban as part of his Sikh religious practice, had pushed for hate crime charges to be filed against Augustin.

The altercation began after Singh’s Toyota collided with Augustin’s Ford Mustang. Both men pulled over and Augustin got out of his car and confronted Singh, prosecutors said.

A witness said Augustin said “No police, no police” and referred disparagingly to Singh’s turban as they argued, prosecutors said.

According to witness testimony and video surveillance, Augustin reached into Singh’s car and grabbed Singh’s cellphone. Singh got out of his car and recovered his phone.

As Singh was walking back to his car, Augustin punched him three times in the head and face, prosecutors said. One of the punches knocked the turban off his head, they said. Singh fell backward and the back of his head hit the pavement. He suffered a brain injury and died the next day in a hospital.

After striking Singh, Augustin got back in his car and drove off, prosecutors said. He was arrested the next day.

Augustin has been charged in a 20-count indictment with crimes including manslaughter in the first degree as a hate crime, assault in the second degree as a hate crime, reckless endangerment and unlicensed driving. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

“This is a case of a fender bender immediately escalating to hateful language and then brutal, deadly violence,” Katz said in a news release. “We will show in court that it was a rage inflamed by hate that led to this senseless tragedy.”

Augustin’s attorney, James Neville, said he feels “a lot of empathy” for Singh’s family but added, “However it comes out, my job is to make sure that Mr. Augustin’s rights are protected.”

The fatal confrontation occurred amid an increase in reports of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

Members of the U.S. Sikh community have historically faced violence at the hands of hate-motivated attackers who mistake them for Muslims.