Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The decision from U.S. District Judge David Faber came in a $2.5 billion case brought by the city of Huntington and Cabell County, which at trial sought to show the three largest U.S. drug distributors caused a surge in opioid prescriptions in their communities. On July 4, Biden says freedoms under assault; urges 'principled patriotism' Celebrating U.S. Independence Day, President Joe Biden on Monday said freedoms in America were under assault and urged citizens to engage in "principled patriotism" while the country faced economic challenges and national divisions.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Cheney: Jan. 6 panel could make multiple criminal referrals of Trump

The congressional panel investigating last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters could make multiple referrals to the Justice Department seeking criminal charges against the former president, its vice chair Liz Cheney said. Cheney, in an interview aired on Sunday on ABC's "This Week" program, also said the department does not need to wait for the House of Representatives select committee to make a formal recommendation of charges to take action against Trump.

Basketball-WNBA star Griner makes freedom appeal to Biden

U.S. WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner has made a direct plea to President Joe Biden to stand up for her in an emotional letter sent to the White House on Monday as she remains detained in Russia on drug charges. Griner, who was held at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 when a search of her luggage allegedly revealed multiple cannabis oil vape cartridges, went on trial on Friday and could face up to 10 years in a Russian jail.

After Roe, high stakes for Michigan ballot measure to protect abortion rights

The latest front in the U.S. war over abortion was waged last week during an idyllic summer evening on Michigan's lakeshore. Outside a park where kids ate waffle cones and hundreds of people listened to a concert in the band shell, volunteers collected signatures in support of placing a measure on the November ballot that would amend the state's constitution to safeguard abortion rights.

A polarized U.S. celebrates Independence Day

DeShanna Neal's 7-year-old son stopped standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag in school, questioning whether the United States of America really stood for, as the pledge says, "liberty and justice for all." "He said, 'I will only stand when Black lives matter,'" said Delaware native Neal, 40, a Black, queer mother of two transgender girls and a son she describes as gender non-conforming. Neal is also a candidate for a seat in the state House of Representatives.

Ohio city Akron imposes curfew after protests over police killing of Black man

The Ohio city of Akron declared a state of emergency on Monday, setting a curfew and canceling Independence Day fireworks, after protests over the police killing of an unarmed Black man turned unruly on Sunday night. The protests broke out after police released body camera video that showed eight officers shooting at Jayland Walker, 25, as he fled a traffic stop last week. Walker's body was found to have some 60 gunshot wounds.

Factbox-Mass shootings in the U.S. from Highland Park to Fort Hood

Six people were killed and at least three dozen wounded when a man with a high-powered rifle opened fire from a rooftop at a Fourth of July parade in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Highland Park on Monday, turning a civic display of patriotism into a scene of panicked mayhem. Below is a list of other recent high-profile mass shootings:

U.S. drug distributors prevail in $2.5 billion West Virginia opioid case

McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc are not responsible for fueling an opioid epidemic in a part of West Virginia, a federal judge ruled on Monday. The decision from U.S. District Judge David Faber came in a $2.5 billion case brought by the city of Huntington and Cabell County, which at trial sought to show the three largest U.S. drug distributors caused a surge in opioid prescriptions in their communities.

On July 4, Biden says freedoms under assault; urges 'principled patriotism'

Celebrating U.S. Independence Day, President Joe Biden on Monday said freedoms in America were under assault and urged citizens to engage in "principled patriotism" while the country faced economic challenges and national divisions. "From the deepest depths of our worst crises, we've always risen to our higher heights," Biden said in remarks at the White House. "We've been tested before, just as we're being tested today, but we've never failed because we have never walked away from the core beliefs and promises that define this nation."

Uvalde schools police chief resigns from City Council following shooting

The head of the Uvalde, Texas, school police force quit his City Council seat amid criticism over his response to a mass shooting at an elementary school, according to a resignation letter the city government released on Saturday. Pete Arredondo was elected to Uvalde's City Council a few weeks before the May 24 shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, plunging the small town into grief.

U.S. Supreme Court asks Maryland to bar protests at justices' homes

The U.S. Supreme Court’s top security officer has asked Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to enforce laws barring picketing outside the Maryland homes of high court justices, saying protests and “threatening activity” have increased. Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley made the request in a July 1 letter to Hogan, noting that Maryland law prohibits people from intentionally assembling “in a manner that disrupts a person’s right to tranquility in the person’s home.”