US Domestic News Briefs: Hunter Biden Case, Juneteenth Celebration

This set of US domestic news briefs covers key events including the start of juror deliberations in Hunter Biden’s criminal gun case, a Juneteenth celebration at the White House, a Massachusetts court ruling on a student’s speech rights, and updates on Donald Trump’s legal issues and campaign activities.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Jurors begin deliberations in Hunter Biden's criminal gun case

The jury began deliberations on Monday in the case of Hunter Biden, the U.S. president's son accused of lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought a handgun in 2018. The 12 jurors deliberated for about an hour after hearing closing arguments. They will resume at 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT) on Tuesday, a court official said.

Biden to celebrate Juneteenth early with White House concert on Monday

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will celebrate the Juneteenth holiday early on Monday with a White House concert that includes singers Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle. Biden signed a law in 2021 that made June 19, or Juneteenth, a federal holiday. It commemorates the day in 1865 - after the Confederate states surrendered to end the Civil War - when a Union general arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform a group of enslaved African Americans of their freedom under President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

Massachusetts school allowed to ban student's 'two genders' shirt, court rules

A Massachusetts public middle school did not violate a student's free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution by requiring the boy to stop wearing a T-shirt that said "There are only two genders," a federal appeals court has ruled. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday issued a ruling siding with educators at Nichols Middle School in Middleborough who last year required Liam Morrison to remove the shirt after concluding its message demeaned the identity of transgender and gender non-conforming students.

Trump tells sweltering rally in Nevada he won't tax tips

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday that he would seek to end taxation of income from tips, a direct appeal to service workers in the swing state of Nevada, which polls suggest is leaning his way ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Trump also once again valorized his supporters convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, calling them "warriors" and suggesting a possible counter-investigation into the event if he were re-elected.

James Lawson, US civil rights leader who championed nonviolence, dies at 95

James Lawson, a prominent civil rights leader whose advocacy of nonviolent protest influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and helped shape the 1960s movement to outlaw discrimination in the U.S., died at 95 on Sunday, his family said. Lawson, who King once described as "the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world," died of cardiac arrest en route to a hospital in Los Angeles, according to the Washington Post, which cited his son.

Trump says he will meet probation officer before hush money sentencing

Donald Trump said on Monday he would be interviewed by a probation officer ahead of his sentencing next month over his historic conviction on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star. In a fundraising email to supporters, the Republican presidential candidate wrote, "I'm actually about to speak to a probation officer after my RIGGED CONVICTION!" Trump did not say when the meeting would take place.

Access fully restored to key channel after Baltimore bridge debris removed

Federal agencies said on Monday they have restored full access for commercial maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore after the removal of 50,000 tons of debris from the March 26 collapse of the Key Bridge. The cargo ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March in Baltimore, killing six people and paralyzing a major transportation artery for the U.S. Northeast. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a survey on Monday certified the riverbed as safe for transit and said the Fort McHenry Federal Channel had been restored to its original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep.

Biden administration ready for court challenges to border policy, Mayorkas says

President Joe Biden's administration is prepared to defend in court the sweeping asylum policy put into place at the U.S.-Mexico border last week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that generally bars migrants who illegally cross the southern border from claiming asylum and allows authorities to quickly deport or send migrants back to Mexico if the daily number of crossings exceeds 2,500. The asylum ban has exceptions for unaccompanied minors, people who face serious medical or safety threats, and victims of trafficking.

Planned Parenthood shooting suspect in Colorado loses appeal over forced medication

A man charged with killing three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2015 can be forced to take anti-psychotic medication in the hope of making him competent to stand trial, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a trial judge's finding that involuntarily medicating Robert Dear, 66, who has been diagnosed with delusional disorder, was substantially likely to restore him to competency was "not clearly erroneous."

US Democrats deploying funds to boost down-ballot candidates in non-battleground states

The national Democratic Party is deploying nearly $2 million to boost down-ballot candidates in 11 states where the presidential election is not expected to be competitive, targeting specific races from the U.S. Senate to state legislative contests in November's elections. The Democratic National Committee said the investments will go to state parties in nearly a dozen traditionally Democratic and Republican states such as Washington and Texas, where down-ballot candidates are unlikely to benefit from campaign visits or advertising by Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)