Politics and views in the United States.

The Supreme Court rules funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is okay, election deniers hold key voting oversight positions in swing states, and North Carolina lawmakers vote to ban people from wearing masks in public.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

The CFPB is the cop on the beat for the finances of America's families.

And it reminds every lender that if they cheat, there is a serious chance that they could get caught.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren calls the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau the little agency that could, having already forced lenders to return more than $17 million to customers.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected a case brought by payday lenders and based on a conservative legal theory which could have undermined the Bureau.

The justices, led by conservative Clarence Thomas, ruled 7-2 that the way the agency is funded is constitutional.

Meanwhile, the court's turning away a case on the rights of protest organizers in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Cicely Gay with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation says that leaves a Fifth Circuit decision in place, allowing protest organizers to be held liable for the actions of protesters.

This case without question infringes upon all of our First Amendment rights.

It's incumbent upon us to reject its premise and its intention, which is frankly to scare champions of justice and organizers away from mass protest.

The Supreme Court is also saying Louisiana's new congressional map can remain in place for now.

A lower court struck the map down as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, but that ruling is still being appealed.

The state will likely go into the election with two majority black districts instead of the previous one.

A CBS News investigation finds nearly 80 election oversight officials in seven swing states have publicly said the 2020 election was stolen.

That worries Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar.

We are in a national election.

That national election is being run at the local level.

And at that local level, they can completely shut down the election for the state and for the nation.

The North Carolina Senate has approved legislation to ban anyone from wearing masks in public.

Supporters say it will help police crack down on demonstrators using the masks to hide their identities.

But state Senator and cancer survivor, Sidney Batch, says the bill puts health and lives at risk.

I should have the freedom, my children should have the freedom, and my husband should have the freedom to wear a mask in order to protect and save my life.

Governor Roy Cooper has not said if he'll sign the bill, but Republicans' legislative supermajority could override any veto.

Maryland is the first state to establish a statewide center for gun violence prevention.

That's in coordination with a new federal center overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Governor Wes Moore says it will treat gun violence as a public health issue.

Gun violence is tearing apart the fabric of our communities, not just through mass shootings, but through shootings that are happening in each of our communities far too often.

I'm Catherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.