Editor’s Corner

Jennifer Castle

Hello, and happy new year! What a ride the first year as DttP editor has been. Let’s take a quick look at just a few of the major events:

• GODORT celebrated its 50th anniversary.
• January 3—The number of daily infections of COVID-19 exceeded one million for the first time since the start of the pandemic.1
• February 24—Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine.2
• March 29—President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, making lynching a federal crime.3
• April 7—Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice in a 53–47 vote.4
• May 2—The first version of a draft opinion by the Supreme Court of the United States was leaked. Written for the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito wrote a majority opinion overturning the landmark decisions in the cases of both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which would remove constitutional protections for abortion access.5
• June 24—The Supreme Court ruled the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion, thus overruling the 1973 case Roe v. Wade and its related 1992 case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.6
• July 19—The House passed the Respect for Marriage Act, federally prohibiting discrimination against LGBT individuals and repealing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which had banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage.7
• August 12—The Department of Justice won its bid to unseal the search warrant against Donald Trump, revealing that the former president had stored documents regarding nuclear weapons at Mar-a-Lago. This prompted the Justice Department to place him under investigation for alleged violations of federal statutes such as the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Presidential Records Act of 1978.8
• September 14—Mortgage loans hit a nationwide average interest rate of six percent for the first time since 2008.9
• October 13—The Social Security Administration announced an 8.1 percent cost of living adjustment—the largest since 1981—to begin in 2023, citing ongoing inflation.10
• November 30—The House Democratic Caucus elected Hakeem Jeffries to be its leader in the 118th Congress; Jeffries is the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.11
• December 22—The January 6 Committee released its full report on the attack on the Capitol.12

I’m also delighted to announce our new Advertising Coordinator Joseph Yue and our new Book Reviews Editors Dana Piazzon and Brianne Hagen. We’re looking forward to their new and exciting contributions to Documents to the People!

Jennifer Castle (jcastle@tnstate.edu), Instruction and Engagement Librarian, Tennessee State University

Notes

1. Joseph Ax and Lisa Shumaker, “U.S. Reports Nearly 1 MLN COVID-19 Cases in a Day, Setting Global Record,” Reuters, January 5, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-reports-nearly-1-mln-covid-19-cases-day-setting-global-record-2022-01-04/.
2. Jim Garamone, “Russian Forces in Initial Phase of Invasion of Ukraine, Official Says,” U.S. Department of Defense, February 24, 2022, https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2945254/russian-forces-in-initial-phase-of-invasion-of-ukraine-official-says/.
3. Congress.gov, “H.R. 55—117th Congress (2021–2022): Emmett Till Antilynching Act,” March 29, 2022, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/55/text.
4. Congress.gov, “PN1783—Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court of the United States, 117th Congress (2021–2022),” April 7, 2022, https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/1783.
5. Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, “Exclusive: Supreme Court Has Voted to Overturn Abortion Rights, Draft Opinion Shows,” Politico, May 2, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473.
6. Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, et al. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. ___ (Supreme Court of the United States, 2022), https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf.
7. Congress.gov, “H.R.8404—Respect for Marriage Act (Supreme Court of the United States, 2022),” https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8404.
8. “United States District Court Southern District of Florida Case No. 22 ...,” August 12, 2022, https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/DE-102.pdf.
9. Tara Siegel Bernard, “Mortgage Rates Jump above 6% for First Time since 2008,” New York Times, September 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/business/mortgage-rates.html.
10. Mark Hinkle, “Social Security Announces 8.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2023,” Social Security Administration, October 13, 2022, https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2022/#10-2022-2.
11. Deirdre Walsh, “Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Elected as Leader of the House Democrats,” NPR, November 30, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139742011/jeffries-poised-to-make-history-as-first-black-person-to-lead-congressional-part.
12. Bennie G. Thompson et al., “H.R. 117-663—117th Congress (2021–2022): Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,” December 22, 2022, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/pdf/GPO-J6-REPORT.pdf.