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‘No kings in America’: Biden slams U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting Trump immunity • Rhode Island Current

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‘No kings in America’: Biden slams U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting Trump immunity • Rhode Island Current


Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision granting the presumption of criminal immunity for official actions taken by a president fundamentally altered U.S. democracy, President Joe Biden said from the White House Monday evening.

Speaking for less than five minutes, Biden said the 6-3 decision contradicted the spirit of the country’s founding — set to be celebrated nationwide this week on the Fourth of July — that no one is above the law.

Presidential immunity extends to some official acts, Supreme Court rules in Trump case

“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America,” Biden said. “Each of us is equal before the law. No one — no one — is above the law, not even the president of the United States.”

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The immunity decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts for the court’s conservative majority, undermined that principle, Biden said.

Biden added that the decision would almost certainly mean a jury would not decide the criminal case accusing former President Donald Trump of conspiring to illegally overturn his 2020 loss before November’s election, which Biden called a “disservice to the American people.”

Roberts opinion

The ruling tasked a federal trial court with determining which actions then-President Trump took seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election were conducted as “official” acts of the president. Those actions are entitled to “the presumption of immunity,” Roberts wrote.

The ruling protected the power of an office that itself makes up an entire branch of government, Roberts said, and was consistent with the constitutional framers’ view that the president has broad powers and responsibilities.

“Accounting for that reality — and ensuring that the President may exercise those powers forcefully, as the Framers anticipated he would — does not place him above the law,” Roberts wrote. “It preserves the basic structure of the Constitution.”

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But Biden called the decision “a dangerous precedent” that would give presidents nearly unrestrained power.

“The power of the president will no longer be constrained by the law, even by the Supreme Court of the United States,” he said. “The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone.”

Biden invoked the example of George Washington, who he said restrained the power of the presidency, and pledged he would continue to “respect the limits of the presidential powers.”

But, he said, the ruling empowered future presidents, possibly including Trump, to ignore the law.

Jan. 6 attack

Biden said Trump was responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted the certification of Biden’s defeat of Trump in the 2020 election. Trump’s efforts to undermine the election results, culminating in the Jan. 6 attack, are the subject of the federal indictment the former president challenged by asserting presidential immunity.

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“Four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power,” Biden said. “We all saw with our own eyes. We saw what happened that day … I think it’s fair to say it’s one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Now, the man who sent that mob to the U.S. Capitol is facing potential criminal conviction.”

Biden, whose reelection campaign was still reeling Monday from a debate performance against Trump last week described even by Democrats as poor, called on voters to “do what the court should have been willing to do but would not,” and reject Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, at the ballot box.

The president endorsed Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s forceful dissent in the case, quoting her phrase that the majority opinion fueled “fear for our democracy” and urging voters, too, to dissent.

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Rhode Island

Police ID man hit, killed by car in Cranston

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Police ID man hit, killed by car in Cranston


CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Cranston police have identified the man who was hit and killed by a car on Atwood Avenue Friday evening.

Major Todd Patalano said the man was 80-year-old Richard Viti, of Cranston.

Police were called Friday evening to the area of 700 Atwood Avenue for reports of a pedestrian who was hit by a car. Investigators say Viti was crossing the street to get to the San Bernardo Society.

The driver, who has not yet been identified, faces charges of operating on a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle, according to Patalano.

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There may be more charges the driver is facing as the investigation is still in its early stages, Patalano explained.

Viti was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Patalano said the driver is cooperating with authorities.

Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.

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RI Lottery Mega Millions, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Nov. 14, 2025

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The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 14, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

01-08-11-12-57, Mega Ball: 07

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

14-19-34-42-43, Lucky Ball: 13

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Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Numbers numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

Midday: 2-1-0-8

Evening: 2-6-8-7

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

04-05-12-14-23, Extra: 31

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Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

  • Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
  • Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
  • Winners of the Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.

When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
  • Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
  • Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
  • Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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Newport Hospital earns top ranking – What’s Up Newp

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Newport Hospital earns top ranking – What’s Up Newp


Newport Hospital was among several hospitals in Rhode Island that achieved an A rating from the hospital watchdog group Leapfrog in its fall ratings. Three hospitals – Roger Williams Medical Center, Kent, and South County were awarded C or below, a pattern of declining ratings over the last few years.

Additionally, Women and Infants Hospital declined to participate in Leapfrog’s survey, according to Leapfrog. The group surveys more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide twice a year.

Both Fatima and Roger Williams are owned by California-based Prospect Medical Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy several months ago. There have been efforts to sell the hospitals while maintaining both of them open.

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Women and Infants is part of the Care New England Group, which also includes Kent Hospital, whose safety rating has steadily declined over the last few years.

Leapfrog, which conducted the survey, is a well-respected hospital watchdog group that describes itself as “the nation’s gold standard in evaluating hospital performance on national measures of safety, quality, and efficiency in both inpatient and outpatient areas.”

Hospital safety is critical, with surveys suggesting that as many as 440,000 patients die annually because of hospital safety errors. Studies suggest that preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in America.

Leapfrog assigns rankings, A to F, based on issues involving infections, surgical problems, safety concerns, and practices to prevent errors. Within each of these areas are also several measures.

Earning A ratings for the fall of 2025 were Newport, Miriam, Rhode Island, and Westerly Hospitals. Newport, Miria,m and Rhode Island are part of Brown University Health (formerly Lifespan), while Westerly is part of the Yale/New Haven group. Landmark Hospital in Woonsocket received a B rating; Kent, Fatima and South received C ratings; and Roger Williams Medical Center received a D rating.

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Several trends were also evident. Newport and Miriam Hospitals have been trending up, scoring B in the spring and fall of 2022, but in 2023 reaching an A rating, and remaining there. Rhode Island fell to a C in the fall of 2023, rising to B in both surveys in 2024, and in the two reports in 2025 have achieved an A rating. 

Landmark has been consistently A-rated since 2022, with the only exception being a B in one of the reports in 2024. Westerly has been rising, from a C in the spring of 2022 to an A in 2025. Fatima has been C-rated with only one exception, a B in the fall of 2022. Roger Williams also consistently received a C until this fall, when its ranking dropped to D.

South County had ranged between A and B, falling to C this fall. 

For those hospitals that trended lower, a significant problem appears to be effective leadership to help prevent errors. “Effective leadership to prevent errors: Errors are much more common if hospital leaders don’t make patient safety a priority. Leaders must make sure that all hospital staff know what they need to work on and that they are held accountable for improvements.”

South County, which is Rhode Island’s only independent hospital, experienced a disruption among physicians several months ago, in a rift with the administration that apparently has yet to heal. 

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Leadership, or lack of leadership, was also noted for other hospitals not performing well. 

Meanwhile, other issues remain: healthcare – the lack of primary care physicians (nationwide); the study to determine whether to build a second medical school at the University of Rhode Island; and the threatened closure of Roger Williams and Fatima Hospitals.



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