Vaxxed

Good morning!

Courts: The New Jersey Supreme Court took Seaside Park to task Monday for its lack of candor when it comes to eminent domain. Though the 6-1 ruling sided with the Ocean County borough by saying state law does not require towns to say why they need land they seek to seize, the justices in the majority tsk-tsked borough officials for not doing so: “The Borough has spent the last four years involved in a matter that likely could have been resolved by simply disclosing the intended public use at the earliest reasonable point.”

Prisons: A state panel that reviews prison sentences is recommending that New Jersey update its compassionate release law to allow prisoners who have 18 months to live are allowed to die at home. Current law is six months, but the panel says that amount of time allows too many eligible prisoners to die behind bars as they’re waiting to be released. “I don’t think that’s the result that anyone wanted,” said Christopher Porrino, a former New Jersey attorney general and the commission’s chair. “We’re just proposing a tweak to try and bring the goal in line with reality and the practice.”

Abortion: Anti-abortion organizations wrote to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche urging him to review the U.S. Department of Justice’s authority to use a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law to prevent people from obtaining abortion medication or other related materials through the mail.

Trump: President Donald Trump on Monday signed an order intended to reshape guidance surrounding childhood vaccines. The order calls on federal programs and funding to “support maximal parental choice over childhood vaccines,” and it came as Trump continued to erroneously connect vaccines with autism. GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and chairman of the Senate’s health committee, rebutted the new order on social media. “I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes,” Cassidy said. “Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism.”