It was another weekend of violence and disorder in Chicago. "At least 32 shot, 8 fatally, in weekend violence across city," read one headline on the WLS-TV news website. Another headline said, "15 arrested in connection with Loop chaos after 2 teens shot." That story went on to report that a "large disturbance," more accurately a small riot, took place in the city's downtown area. Videos of the incident showed crowds of young people jumping on cars and buses. Later, at least one person pulled out a gun.

There are now five candidates who have either joined the 2024 Republican presidential race or have taken official steps toward doing so: Former President Donald Trump; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, also the former South Carolina governor; entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR); and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).

National security circles in Washington are aghast at a new leak of classified U.S. military documents. Apparently originating in the Pentagon, the leak is said to include around 100 documents and focuses mostly on U.S. assistance to Ukraine and American assessments of Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion.

The United States Constitution and all the state constitutions establish legislatures and give those legislatures the authority to set their own rules. The constitutions also give lawmakers the authority to punish members for violating those rules.

The Tennessee House of Representatives spent Thursday debating the expulsion of three members, all Democrats, who hijacked the House floor for nearly an hour on March 30, using a bullhorn to shout at and harangue their fellow legislators in tandem with noisy anti-gun protesters who filled the galleries. House Republicans, who hold a huge 75-24 majority in the chamber, filed a resolution to expel state Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson for "knowingly and intentionally bring[ing] disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions." Thursday, they debated and voted.

Something odd happened in the days leading up to the New York indictment of former President Donald Trump. Nobody outside a small group of prosecutors knew what the sealed indictment said. But on the basis of leaks — there were a lot — as well as indicators of what the grand jury was doing, observers could sketch out what the indictment would likely be. And it seemed...weak.

Alvin Bragg, the local district attorney in Manhattan who has led the effort to indict former President Donald Trump, is an elected official. He ran for his current office in 2021. In that campaign, he won a Democratic primary crowded with fellow Democrats who promised that, if elected, they would go after Trump. Now, having been elected, Bragg is going after Trump.

Everyone in the universe knew that an indictment of former President Donald Trump would be an explosive event in the political, legal, and media worlds. It would be something everybody talked about, dominating television, the internet, social media, radio, everything. And indeed, that has turned out to be the case.

An amazing statistic has been circulating among people who follow crime in Washington, D.C. In 2022, the U.S. attorney in Washington, appointed by President Joe Biden, declined to prosecute 67% of all arrests in the city. That's not 67% of all crimes committed. It's 67% of instances in which police have identified, captured, and charged a suspect. Prosecutors just let them go.

It looks like there has been another delay, possibly a long one, in the local New York prosecutor's drive to indict former President Donald Trump. After great expectations 11 days ago — Trump's statement on Saturday, March 18, that he expected to be arrested the following Tuesday — the grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has heard additional witnesses in the Trump matter and has also moved on to other, unrelated cases without taking action on Trump. Now, there are reports the grand jury will not consider Trump for the rest of this week — and possibly most of next month.