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    A Constitutional Convention? Some Democrats Fear It’s Coming.

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    Some Republicans have said that a constitutional convention is overdue. Many Democratic-led states have rescinded their long-ago calls for one, and California will soon consider whether to do the same.As Republicans prepare to take control of Congress and the White House, among the many scenarios keeping Democrats up at night is an event that many Americans consider a historical relic: a constitutional convention.The 1787 gathering in Philadelphia to write the Constitution was the one and only time state representatives have convened to work on the document.But a simple line in the Constitution allows Congress to convene a rewrite session if two-thirds of state legislatures have called for one. The option has never been used, but most states have long-forgotten requests on the books that could be enough to trigger a new constitutional convention, some scholars and politicians believe.Some Democratic officials are more concerned than ever. In California, a Democratic state senator, Scott Wiener, will introduce legislation on Monday that would rescind the state’s seven active calls for a constitutional convention, the first such move since Donald J. Trump’s election to a second term.Mr. Wiener, who represents San Francisco, and other liberal Democrats believe there is a strong possibility of a “runaway convention.” They say that Republicans could call a convention on the premise, say, of producing an amendment requiring that the federal budget be balanced, then open the door for a free-for-all in which a multitude of other amendments are considered, including some that could restrict abortion access or civil rights.“I do not want California to inadvertently trigger a constitutional convention that ends up shredding the Constitution,” Mr. Wiener said in an interview.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Harvard’s Black Student Enrollment Declines After Affirmative Action

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      Defying expectations, a Supreme Court decision curtailing race-based admissions still had a relatively small impact at some highly selective schools like Harvard, even as other schools saw big changes.The predictions were dire. In the course of a bitterly contested trial six years ago, Harvard University said that if it were forced to stop considering race in admissions, the diversity of its undergraduate classes would be badly compromised.Now, a year after the Supreme Court struck down the school’s admissions system, effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions everywhere, the numbers are in for the first class to be admitted, and the picture is more nuanced and complex than predicted.The proportion of Black first-year students enrolled at Harvard this fall has declined to 14 percent from 18 percent last year, according to data released by the institution on Wednesday — a dip smaller than the school had predicted, but still significant.Asian American representation in the class of 1,647 students remained the same as last year, at 37 percent. Hispanic enrollment has gone up, to 16 percent from 14 percent. Harvard did not report the share of white students in the class, consistent with past practice, and it is hard to make inferences because the percentage of students not disclosing race or ethnicity on their applications doubled to 8 percent this year from 4 percent last year.The post-affirmative-action demographic breakdowns have been trickling out over the last three weeks, and overall Black students appear to have been most affected. The percentages of Black students declined sharply at some elite schools, although surprisingly, they held steady at others. The suit against Harvard had accused it of discriminating against Asian Americans to depress their numbers, while giving preferences to members of other minority groups. Admissions experts suggested even before the new numbers came out that the most coveted schools, like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, would be best positioned to maintain their Black enrollment because the students who were admitted to them were very likely to accept. So in that view, they are unicorns, part of a highly selective ring of schools that scooped up the top students and remained relatively unaffected by the ban on race-conscious admissions.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Massachusetts 2nd Congressional District Primary Election Results 2024

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      Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press.Produced by Michael Andre, Camille Baker, Neil Berg, Michael Beswetherick, Matthew Bloch, Irineo Cabreros, Nico Chilla, Nate Cohn, Alastair Coote, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Leo Dominguez, Andrew Fischer, Martín González Gómez, Will Houp, Junghye Kim, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Lemonides, Ilana Marcus, Alicia Parlapiano, Elena Shao, Charlie Smart, Jonah Smith, Urvashi Uberoy, Isaac White and Christine Zhang. Additional reporting by Mathew Brownstein; production by Amanda Cordero and Jessica White.
      Editing by Wilson Andrews, Lindsey Rogers Cook, William P. Davis, Amy Hughes, Ben Koski and Allison McCartney. Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press. More

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      Massachusetts 1st Congressional District Primary Election Results 2024

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      Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press.Produced by Michael Andre, Camille Baker, Neil Berg, Michael Beswetherick, Matthew Bloch, Irineo Cabreros, Nico Chilla, Nate Cohn, Alastair Coote, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Leo Dominguez, Andrew Fischer, Martín González Gómez, Will Houp, Junghye Kim, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Lemonides, Ilana Marcus, Alicia Parlapiano, Elena Shao, Charlie Smart, Jonah Smith, Urvashi Uberoy, Isaac White and Christine Zhang. Additional reporting by Mathew Brownstein; production by Amanda Cordero and Jessica White.
      Editing by Wilson Andrews, Lindsey Rogers Cook, William P. Davis, Amy Hughes, Ben Koski and Allison McCartney. Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press. More

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      Massachusetts 4th Congressional District Primary Election Results 2024

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      Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press.Produced by Michael Andre, Camille Baker, Neil Berg, Michael Beswetherick, Matthew Bloch, Irineo Cabreros, Nico Chilla, Nate Cohn, Alastair Coote, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Leo Dominguez, Andrew Fischer, Martín González Gómez, Will Houp, Junghye Kim, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Lemonides, Ilana Marcus, Alicia Parlapiano, Elena Shao, Charlie Smart, Jonah Smith, Urvashi Uberoy, Isaac White and Christine Zhang. Additional reporting by Mathew Brownstein; production by Amanda Cordero and Jessica White.
      Editing by Wilson Andrews, Lindsey Rogers Cook, William P. Davis, Amy Hughes, Ben Koski and Allison McCartney. Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press. More

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      Trucking Company Owner Pleads Guilty in Wreck That Killed 7 Bikers

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      Dunyadar Gasanov admitted he had lied to investigators about how long he had known the driver of the truck and altered drivers’ logs to evade federal regulations.The owner of a trucking company pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday for making false statements after one of the company’s trucks killed seven motorcyclists on a rural road in Randolph, N.H. in 2019, federal prosecutors said.Dunyadar Gasanov, the owner of Westfield Transport in West Springfield, Mass., falsified driving logs, conspired to make false statements to federal inspectors and admitted to lying to inspectors about how long he had known the driver involved in the fatal crash, the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts said in a statement.Mr. Gasanov, 39, who lives in West Springfield, Mass., and is known as Damien, will face up to 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine for the three charges to which he pleaded guilty when he is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 21, 2024. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to recommend “incarceration at the low end” of the sentencing guidelines, according to court documents.In a statement, Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney, said that Mr. Gasanov had “flouted those laws that are critical to public safety.”“We will not forget the lives lost in June 2019 that relate to this conviction,” he said.The crash, on June 21, 2019, killed seven members of a motorcycle club of ex-Marines: Albert (Woody) Mazza Jr., 59; Daniel Pereira, 58; Aaron Perry, 45; Desma Oakes, 42; Michael Ferazzi, 62; and Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, who were 58.The driver of the truck that killed the bikers, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Mass., was acquitted by a jury in 2022 of all charges he faced: seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide and one count of reckless conduct.Mr. Gasanov lied to investigators about how many times he had interacted with Mr. Zhukovskyy, prosecutors said. He had claimed that he had first met the driver shortly before the crash, when, in fact, he had known him for years and was aware that Mr. Zhukovskyy, in 2013, had been charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, according to court records.Mr. Gasanov also underreported the number of hours driven by employees to evade federal regulations designed to ensure the safety of roadways, instructed at least one employee to falsify records, and lied about manipulation of driving logs, according to prosecutors.Westfield Transport ceased operation shortly after the accident, according to court records.Lawyers for Mr. Gasanov did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Dartanayan Gasanov, who, according to The Boston Globe is a brother of Dunyadar Gasanov, worked at Westfield Transport with Dunyadar, has also been accused of falsifying driving logs. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, the prosecutors’ statement said.Kirsten Noyes More

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      Massachusetts court rejects Satanic Temple’s free speech case

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      Whenever the city council of Boston meets, a speaker gives opening remarks: sometimes a sermon, sometimes a poem – but usually a prayer, as the majority of the speakers come from Christian organizations.In 2016, the free speech group that styles itself the Satanic Temple asked to be included, offering to give an “invocation”. When it was denied, the group sued the city, arguing religious discrimination under the first amendment.On Tuesday, an appeals court ruled against it, on the basis that the speakers usually have an established relationship with a council member and are deeply involved in their community, which the Satanic Temple – based in Salem, Massachusetts – did not show.“Not every religious organization performing charitable work in any portion of the Boston community would receive an invitation to speak,” the court added.The judges did, however, offer a “cautionary note” to the city council. Although it rejected the Satanic Temple’s claims, “it is clear that Boston’s customary invocation speaker is admittedly meant to serve the interest of incumbent city councilors”.“Those interests could in the future lead to councilors favoring invitations only to those representing religious electoral majorities and explicitly proselytizing for those views or disparaging minority or unpopular groups,” the judges warned.Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple, told the Boston Globe that the ruling was a “flagrant disregard for fundamental constitutional principles”.“The courts now tell us that technicalities permit public officials to stand outside of the law, and that religious liberty is dependent upon official support from corrupt public office holders,” he said.The Satanic Temple was founded in 2013 as a group to fight the religious right and intolerance. It has filed lawsuits fighting prayer in the classroom, religious holiday displays and distribution of Bibles in schools. It has also advocated for abortion rights. Members say they do not believe in Satan in the literal sense but use Satan as a symbol against authoritarianism. More

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      Martha’s Vineyard Will Have Enough Pot This Summer

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      For the island’s cannabis dispensaries, a sudden change in regulations came just in time.Until recently, Geoff Rose, the proprietor of a cannabis business on Martha’s Vineyard, believed he was in for a bleak summer.That was because his marijuana dispensary, Island Time, had run out of product — and it seemed as if he would be unable to replace it during the busy tourist season on the 96-square-mile Massachusetts island that has long been a haven for vacationers.But on Thursday, state regulators issued an order that would allow cannabis products to be transported across the ocean to licensed businesses.Mr. Rose closed his shop — temporarily, as it turns out — on May 14. At the time, the display cases were empty. No gummies. No tinctures. No pre-rolls. The only item of interest to some of his customers was the chocolate.“I believe there were 14 chocolate bars left,” Mr. Rose said in a phone interview. “They were the last to be sold. More than 14 people came in. Some were disappointed: ‘I don’t want chocolates.’ But some said, ‘OK, I’ll take it.’”The shortage, first reported by The Associated Press, had to do with conflicting laws surrounding the sale and transport of marijuana.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      On a Day of Graduations, Berkeley’s Protests Stand Out

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      At the University of California, Berkeley, hundreds of soon-to-be graduates rose from their seats in protest, chanting and disrupting their commencement. At Virginia Commonwealth University, about 60 graduates in caps and gowns walked out during Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s speech. At the University of Wisconsin, a handful of graduates stood with their backs to their chancellor as she spoke.After weeks of tumult on college campuses over pro-Palestinian protests, many administrators prepared themselves for disruptions at graduations on Saturday. And while there were demonstrations — most noisily, perhaps, at U.C. Berkeley — ceremonies at several universities unfolded without major incident. Many students who protested did so silently.Anticipating possible disruptions, university administrators had increased their security or taken various measures, including dismantling encampments, setting aside free speech zones, canceling student speeches and issuing admission tickets.Some administrators also tried to reach agreements with encampment organizers. The University of Wisconsin said it had reached a deal with protesters to clear the encampment in return for a meeting to discuss the university’s investments.Some students, too, were on edge about their big day — many missed their high school graduations four years ago because of the pandemic and did not want to repeat the experience.In 2020, David Emuze and his mother had watched his high school graduation “ceremony,” a parade of senior photos set to music on Zoom, from their living room in Springfield, Ill. This time, he and his classmates at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign heard that other schools, like the University of Southern California and Columbia University, had canceled their main-stage commencements altogether because of campus unrest.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More