Democrats eyeing the presidency have raised their voices to denounce the death penalty, a departure from their predecessors who were wary of appearing weak on crime. President Barack Obama never called for getting rid of the death penalty, and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and Bill Clinton all supported keeping it. Today’s Democratic presidential hopefuls, by contrast, say the punishment is morally wrong and is applied with racial bias. This shift in position comes as support for the death penalty has fallen from 80 percent in the 1990s to about 50 percent today. But still, some argue Democrats are walking a tightrope by trying to take a position on capital punishment, which is “despised by the party’s progressive base but is far more popular in the crime-and-order Heartland,” Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, wrote in a recent column. [NYTimes]
Happy Monday!
Topping the news: Students from the four colleges owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are posting on an anonymous Instagram about how they were mistreated by the schools’ Honor Code offices. The Instagram account’s popularity has skyrocketed, and a petition calling for the Honor Code to be reformed is making the rounds in the Latter-day Saint community. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
-> Construction on the new state prison in western Salt Lake City is about 18 months behind schedule and is on track to run around 20% over budget. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [ABC4]
-> Hill Air Force Base in Utah is ranked the most threatened by climate change out of any military base in the U.S., according to a letter to Congress written by members of the Pentagon. [Trib] [ABC4]
Tweets of the day: @SpencerJCox: “If you didn’t get to watch this yesterday, please do. Brent and Jennie Taylor are two of the greatest people I’ve ever met. Their story—and ultimate sacrifice—is something we must never forget.”
-> @ccjones13: “One of my students is currently writing about @MittRomney’s ancestors who fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution as polygamists, then returned to the US to escape the violence of the 1912 Mexican Revolution, then returned once the war ended.”
-> @JoeBiden: “I see that you are on the job and presidential, as always.”
-> @BenWinslow: “Something something First Amendment right to redress grievances something something... #utpol.”
-> @jessicaxfoard: “Alright, I’m just gonna say it: Utah, y’all messed up by re-electing Stewart and not replacing him with @ShireenGhorbani She’s worked harder in the last month than Stewart has in the last year. This woman cares about our community. You’ll see. She’s making change happen.”
In other news: U.S. Rep. John Curtis of Utah on Friday argued for continuing U.S. foreign aid. While some see the funding as solely benefitting other countries, it also helps the U.S. because it stabilizes other governments, prevents wars and leads to increased trade opportunities, Curtis said. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Utah Sen. Mitt Romney on Sunday remarked that the U.S. has become an “asylum magnet” and that Republicans and Democrats will need to come together to solve the pressing problem of immigration. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Brigham Young University’s law school and the dating website Match.com are coupling up, using a personality algorithm to pair students with alumni mentors. [Trib]
-> Gov. Gary Hebert declined to sign a bill that will increase monthly cellphone and landline costs by 16 cents but let it go into law without his signature. Money generated by the bill is intended to cover the costs of a massive upgrade to the state’s 911 system. [Trib]
-> Phil Lyman, a Republican state representative convicted of a misdemeanor for heading a protest ATV ride through a canyon in 2015, is arguing that increasing his monthly restitution payments from $100 to $500 is unfair. Now, federal prosecutors are defending the proposed monthly price increase and dismissing Lyman’s accusations that they collude with the news media. [Trib]
-> After the completion of an effort to double track a section of the Sugarhouse streetcar line, officials celebrated the project as providing additional service and helping with economic development. [Trib] [Fox13]
-> It’s the season for potholes on Utah’s roads, thanks to the icy water that slips into cracks in the street during the winter. [Trib]
-> Utah’s chapter of March For Our Lives met on Saturday to honor victims of gun violence, advocate for policy changes and raise more than $4,500 that will fund creative opportunities for people who are disabled or marginalized, scholarships for student activists, suicide prevention training and the organization itself. [Trib]
-> Critics of the planned inland port in northwest Salt Lake City have sharpened their opposition to the project. [Trib]
-> State lawmakers have agreed to help transition disabled adults from institutional housing to community settings to allow them to exercise more freedom and independence, potentially settling a lawsuit filed by the Disability Law Center. [Trib]
-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley played around with the new planned prison’s cost overruns announced last week. [Trib]
Nationally: Following several weeks of tumultuous conversations over border security with President Donald Trump, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned on Sunday. The president had asked her to stop accepting asylum seekers and close the entry ports along the Mexico border — ideas Nielsen opposed. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
-> President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that Kevin K. McAleenan, current commissioner of the United States Customs and Border Protection, will step in as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. [NYTimes]
-> Joe Biden, 2020 presidential hopeful and former vice president, joked around during a speech Friday about having permission to hug a woman, a possible effort to move past recent controversy over several women’s complaints that his touching made them feel uncomfortable. [NYTimes] [Politico]
-> Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, announced that President Donald Trump’s tax returns will never be made public nor will they be released to congressional Democrats, as the issue was already settled during the 2016 presidential election. [Politico] [WaPost]
-> Cory Booker, presidential hopeful and New Jersey senator, announced that he has raised at least $5 million in the first quarter of the year for his presidential campaign — a significantly smaller figure than other Democrat frontrunners like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Kamala Harris. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
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-- Bethany Rodgers and Sahalie Donaldson
https://twitter.com/BethRodgersSLT, https://twitter.com/SahalieD
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