The polls are open in Mexico as the country votes for its new President. Enrique Pena Nieto of the PRI is expected to win.

Heat waves and power outages on the East coast, fires burning in Colorado and the West.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Thanks to DiwataMan2 for his You Tube posting of a very clear audio of the 2 and 1/2 hour bond hearing yesterday in the George Zimmerman case. It begins with the media arguments. The bond hearing begins at 11:18. O'Mara's closing arguments begin at 2:03.

In between, are the witnesses who were the subject of much discussion yesterday and don't need rehashing, and O'Mara's introduction of evidence: All 11 of George Zimmerman's statements and interviews, and all of the recordings and written statements of Witnesses 6, 11, and 20, all of whom help Zimmerman. The state introduced no witnesses or evidence.

While I linked to the video of the final hour yesterday, the audio in it wasn't clear. DiwataMan2's version is crystal clear, including the Judge's brief comments. [More...]

Tour de France has commenced today.

Open Thread.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has released its annual report on the use of federal and state wiretaps and electronic surveillance. The summary is here, and the page with all the appendixes and charts is here. Some highlights:

• 85% of the federal wiretaps were in drug cases.
• The average cost for a federal wiretap was $71,748, a 13 percent increase from 2010.
• Telephone wiretaps accounted for 96 percent (2,092 cases) of the intercepts installed in 2011, the majority of them involving cellular telephones.
• During 2011, a total of 4,006 arrests, 2,700 convictions, and additional costs of $51,874,823 arose from and were reported for wiretaps completed in previous years.

[More....]

It looks like the end for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair. As the new editor for the French edition of the Huffington Post, she gets a life of her own, and as she puts it, "a chance:"

“This is a chance for me,” Ms. Sinclair said. “The Huffington Post gave me a chance.”

In the interview later with Elle, she said, “I am neither a saint nor a victim. I am a free woman.”

Dominique, by contrast, is unemployed, facing criminal investigation in France, and becoming something of a pariah, according to the Times. [More...]

Spain-Italy in the Euro2012 final Sunday. VAMOS ESPANA!!! Our banks are broker than yours!!!

Tour de France starts tomorrow. Wiggins the favorite. I took a flyer on Valverde at 33-1.

Open Thread.

Upholding ACA, laying groundwork to strike down New Deal

Yesterday, a happy day for many of us, where the Affordable Care Act was upheld in a 5-4 decision (PDF) authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, there is a dark cloud attached. The Chief Justice accepted the federal government's argument that Congress had exercised its taxing power in enacting the mandate. But rather than being a judicial minimalist and deciding only those constitutional questions that must be decided, the Roberts Court bulled on to decide issues that need not have been addressed—whether the mandate exceeded the Congress' Commerce and Necessary and Proper power.

And the Roberts opinion on the scope of the national government's power to address national problems is a shot across the bow to the Supreme Court's New Deal jurisprudence that underpins our modern national government.

(Continue reading below the fold)

Update: The second hour of the bond hearing can be watched here on YouTube.

As the judge today considers whether to grant George Zimmerman bond, the City of Sanford is reeling from the costs of the investigation and prosecution to date. It's asking that the State of Florida chip in.

The costs so far: $385,000, including:

* $96,000 in overtime
* $182,000 in regular time
* $106,000 in other expenses

These costs don't include expenses of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state attorney's office or the special prosecutor.

[The vote to hold him in contempt] "may make for good political theater in the minds of some, but it is - at base - both a crass effort and a grave disservice to the American people."

"Whatever the path that this matter will now follow, it will not distract me or the men and women of the Department of Justice from the important tasks that are our responsibility," Holder said. "A great deal of work for the American people remains to be done - I'm getting back to it. I suggest that those who orchestrated today's vote do the same."

The House has approved a civil contempt of Congress resolution against Holder. The vote was 258-95. Earlier, via Politico:

The House has voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, the latest fallout from the "Fast and Furious" scandal. The vote was 255-67, with 17 Democrats joining the majority Republicans in voting yes.

The opinion is here.

Here'a a new thread to discuss the Supreme Court decision and related topics. (I haven't read it yet, I just got out of court. I'll chime in later, I'm sure.)

BTD - Radio most of the day but I promise to discuss ACA here at Talk Left tomorrow if anyone is still interested.

The New Zealand High Court has invalidated the search warrants executed on #Kim DotCom and his co-defendants. The raid on the Dotcom Mansion was illegal and based on invalid search warrants. The Judge also found that it was "unlawful for clones of digital material seized to be sent to the FBI."

Dotcom wiped tears from his eyes and left court as Mr Davison said his client had been "ripped from his family'' and was now before the court asking for the legitimacy of the police actions to be looked at.

Summary of Findings, from the 56 page decision: [More...]

BTD will be on the radio (please join him), and I'll be getting ready for court when the Supreme Court releases its historic decision on the Affordable Care Act. The decision will be available on the court's website.

According to C-Span, these are the four issues:

• Whether the court has jurisdiction over a tax law that has yet to take effect,
• Whether the individual mandate is constitutional,
• Whether the court can strike down only part of the law without striking down the law in its entirety,
• And whether the law's extension of Medicaid is constitutional.

Put even simpler, the decision will address jurisdiction, the individual mandate, the fate of the rest of the law — and separately, the Medicaid provision.

For the legal-minded among you, check out ScotusBlog. It's plain English version (which maybe should be called plain English for lawyers) is here. Here are some potential scenarios in plain English as to the effects of the ruling should it go one way or the other.

Here's a thread to discuss all aspects of the decision and the potential effects -- legal, economic, political, and personal.