The Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide, which means that states may pass laws banning or limiting the practice. Advocates of assisted suicide took consolation in the court's caveats: 1) Patients still have the right to refuse treatment. 2) A doctor can still administer drugs that kill the patient, as long as the intent wasn't to kill (e.g., they can increase morphine dosage to relieve pain). 3) If states outlaw such lethal pain-relieving measures, the court might strike down those laws. 4) In the future, depending on the circumstances, the court might grant a specific patient the right to assisted suicide. 5) States are free to pass laws allowing assisted suicide. And regardless of the court's decision: 6) Doctors can still assist suicides secretly and 7) juries might never convict them. (Case in point: Dr. Kevorkian.) Analysts congratulated the court for its balance and flexibility. (6/27)

The court also struck down the Communications Decency Act, which restricted indecent material on the Internet. The rationale: 1) The Internet is more like print than like television--and is therefore entitled to the broadest free-speech protections. 2) The CDA defines indecency too broadly and vaguely. 3) It subjects adults to content restrictions designed for children. 4) Parents can protect their kids from smut by lesser means, such as blocking software. Internet enthusiasts lauded the decision (particularly the first point) and stressed its importance as the court's first marker in cyberspace. Legal experts declared the court's language downright cyberphilic. (6/27)

Russia's Mir space station was seriously damaged when it was struck by a cargo ship during a docking maneuver. The collision tore open one of the station's seven compartments (rendering it unusable) and knocked out solar panels. The two Russians and one American on board are safe for now, but half the power supply has been lost, and repairs will take weeks. American pundits and politicians grumbled that the Mir is a clunker, and said that the United States should stop sending astronauts to staff it. Russia's space-agency chief indignantly observed that the United States hasn't been similarly chastened by mishaps in its space shuttle program. (6/27)

Other Supreme Court decisions: 1) Public schools can send teachers to administer remedial classes in parochial schools. Pundits found the specific policy unobjectionable but worried that the court is chipping away at the wall between church and state. Analysts predict that this decision will embolden advocates of voucher plans that would let parents spend public funds on parochial schools. 2) States can keep violent sex offenders locked up in mental hospitals on the grounds that they're "mentally abnormal" (as opposed to mentally ill) even after they've served their sentences. 3) The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, in which Congress restricted state and local governments' authority to take general actions that might limit religious activity, is unconstitutional because it usurps the courts' authority to set such limits. 4) President Clinton can keep his line-item veto power--at least as long as he doesn't use it. Clinton applauded the decision and promised to use the veto judiciously. (6/27)

The Air Force issued a report ostensibly laying to rest eyewitness accounts of space aliens in Roswell, N.M., 50 years ago. The report translates things people claim to have seen into things the military says it was testing in the desert back then: Flying saucers were really balloons, four-fingered aliens were really disfigured crash-test dummies, and a bulbous-headed alien was really a soldier with a swollen head injury. UFO enthusiasts debated whether this is a flimsier or more diabolically clever cover-up than previous attempts. (6/25)

The Senate voted to raise Medicare premiums for the rich and to postpone (gradually) the age of eligibility from 65 to 67. Observers were amazed that 70 senators voted for the premium hike and that 62 voted for the age hike, given the political firestorm certain to ensue. Editorialists quarreled about the specific proposals--the Washington Post objected to the age hike, while the Chicago Tribune welcomed it--but agreed that the Senate showed refreshing courage. President Clinton and senior citizens' lobbies are already demanding that both changes be withdrawn. (6/25)

Whitewater investigators have begun interrogating state troopers and women in Arkansas about Bill Clinton's alleged extramarital affairs, according to the Washington Post. The Post called it "a sharp departure" from the probe's previous direction. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed that White House lawyers' notes of two conversations with Hillary Clinton are not shielded by attorney-client privilege from independent counsel Kenneth Starr's subpoena. Analysts predict the notes won't hurt the Clintons but that Starr will reinvigorate his investigation by demanding all documents (and perhaps testimony) from every White House lawyer who worked with the Clintons or their aides. (6/25)

Cultural milestones: 1) The New Jersey girl who allegedly dumped her baby in the trash and resumed dancing after giving birth at her high-school prom has been charged with murder. An autopsy showed that the baby was either strangled or smothered. 2) A Wisconsin teen-ager was sentenced to two years' probation on felony sexual-assault charges for consensual sex with his girlfriend. She was 15 at the time; he was 18. After she got pregnant, he offered to marry her and got a job in order to support her. Jurors, citizens, and the media portrayed the conviction as an outrage. 3) Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill to establish the option of "covenant marriage," which can be dissolved only on serious grounds such as abuse, adultery, or desertion. The idea is that while you can still ask for regular marriage, which can be dissolved on lesser grounds, your fiance or fiancee may dump you for being a commitment cheapskate. (6/25)

The whereabouts of former Cambodian dictator and mass murderer Pol Pot remain in doubt. Both of Cambodia's prime ministers agreed with U.N. and Western leaders that if he had, in fact, been captured by a rival Khmer Rouge faction, he should be whisked from the country for an international trial. But China said it would not support U.N. efforts to prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders; and the United States pressed Canada, Denmark, or the Netherlands to take the lead in setting up a war-crimes tribunal. Pundits applauded the opportunity to strengthen international concern about crimes against humanity, but most saw little chance for improvement in Cambodia's corrupt and violent politics. (For a backgrounder, see Slate's "The Gist.") (6/25)

Miscellaneous: Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, died. Commentators marveled that she had withstood her husband's murder and raised six daughters, only to be burned to death by a fire allegedly set by her grandson. Jacques Cousteau died and was remembered for introducing millions of people to the wonders of the sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly defeated a parliamentary no-confidence vote on his government. Critics cited new defections and last-minute deals as evidence that his power is crumbling. A study found that people who socialize are four times less likely than loners to get a cold if they are exposed to cold viruses. However, the study did not assess whether socializers are more likely to be exposed to cold viruses in the first place. Princess Diana put 79 dresses on the auction block for charity. The Washington Post pronounced them "ghastly" and concluded that it's no wonder she's getting rid of them. (6/25)