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June 25, 2012 | | SURROGATE As America awaits the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare, Bill Clinton spells out the dire consequences of the law being struck down—and talks about the prospects for Hillary being president and Chelsea giving him a grandchild. UNCONSTITUTIONAL In a 5-4 decision on Monday the Supreme Court struck down automatic life sentences without possibility of parole for juveniles. Mandatory life sentences for persons under the age of 18 constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” in the opinion of the court, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion. Judges could still sentence juvenile convicts to life sentences without parole on an individual basis, but the ruling prohibits state laws that would make such a punishment automatic in murder trials. Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented, along with Chief Justice John Roberts. ESPRIT DE CORPS Bashar al-Assad is becoming an increasingly lonely dictator. Reports from neighboring Turkey said more Syrian military officers defected across the border Monday, raising tensions in the two countries. Turkey is already at odds with its neighbor over Syria’s decision to shoot down a Turkish fighter jet Friday—a response that Syria claims was automatic after the plane entered Syrian airspace. As Turkey, a NATO member, has contemplated its options over the weekend, European leaders have urged caution. “We will obviously be looking to Turkey to be restrained in its response,” European Union foreign-policy head Catherine Ashton told reporters. A general, two colonels, and other Syrian military members crossed the border into Turkey on Monday. TROPICAL STORM Fears of flooding rose in Florida as Tropical Storm Debby ground to a halt in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday. Rain continued to pour down on the state, and at least one person was reported dead as a result of tornadoes spun off by the storm. High winds were replaced by flooding as the first concern along Florida’s coast as residents of low-lying areas were encouraged to head to higher ground—some areas of the state could get as much as 25 inches of rain, according to forecasters. A 32-year-old man is missing after being swept up by rough surf off the coast of Alabama on Sunday. PERSONHOOD Keith Mason and his wife have mounted a national campaign to legally define human embryos as people—which would outlaw abortion and possibly some forms of birth control. He talks exclusively to the Daily Beast’s Abigail Pesta. | | 
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