Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the most significant legal challenge to the rights of unhoused people in decades. On “Post Reports,” we hear from a correspondent who visited the city at the center of the debate.

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In the small city of Grants Pass, Ore., hundreds of people are living outside, with many camping in the public parks. The anti-camping laws in Grants Pass allow the city to fine those living in public spaces. But unhoused people in the city say that the fines are a violation of the Eighth Amendment and amount to cruel and unusual punishment, since the city has no homeless shelters and they have nowhere else to go. 

“The more I've been out here, the more angry I get, because I've noticed that they're trying to push us out altogether,” said Laura Gutowski, who has been unhoused since 2021. “They're just trying to push, push, push until we give up and say, ‘Fine, I'll leave town.’”

Reis Thebault is The Post’s West Coast correspondent and traveled to Grants Pass to talk with unhoused people at the center of the case.

“If the Supreme Court were to agree with the 9th Circuit, then cities across the country would find their hands tied as they work to address the urgent homelessness crisis,” argues Theane Evangelis, the lead attorney for Grants Pass.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Ann Marimow.

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Arguably the greatest bull rider who has ever lived, J.B. Mauney was thrown from a bull in September 2023 and forced to retire. Mauney lives on his ranch in Stephenville, Tex., with his family and the bull that ended his career. The former bull rider has led an uncompromising life. Now, not only has he accepted his fate, but he’s made friends with it. 

This story is part of our Deep Reads series, which showcases narrative journalism at The Washington Post. It was written and read by Sally Jenkins. Audio production and original music composition by Bishop Sand.

Elahe Izadi talks with Aaron Blake and Liz Goodwin about Week 1 of Trump’s first criminal trial, how Israel is dividing Democrats in Congress, and whether GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy to approve aid to Ukraine could cost him his job.

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In Friday’s episode of “The Campaign Moment,” we look back at the political news of the week and dive into how it could shape the 2024 election. This week, senior political reporter Aaron Blake – who also writes The Post’s newsletter of the same name – talks about former president Donald Trump’s first criminal trial in New York with Elahe Izadi and congressional reporter Liz Goodwin. 

They also chat about how foreign policy is dividing both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. President Biden’s approach on Israel continues to be top of mind for many Democrats following Israel’s strike inside Iran on Thursday. And far-right Republicans are threatening to remove GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson after he put forward a plan to send aid to Ukraine this week. 

Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Lucy Perkins. 

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Despite being the world’s wealthiest nation, the U.S. has communities that are still exposed to toxic tap water. Today, we hear how a city in New Mexico has struggled with high levels of arsenic in its water — and how its residents are fighting back. 

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Fifty years after the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is supposed to limit toxins in Americans’ water, many people around the country cannot safely drink from the tap.

Drinking water samples tested in Sunland Park, a small New Mexico city, found illegally high levels of arsenic in each of the past 16 years. In 2016, levels reached five times the legal limit.

The city also reflects parts of the United States — low-income areas and Latino communities — that are particularly exposed to arsenic in their drinking water at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group, even when controlling for socioeconomic factors. 

In Sunland Park, residents’ complaints have mounted in recent months, and some are taking the first steps toward filing a lawsuit. 

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to investigative reporter Silvia Foster-Frau about her reporting from New Mexico and why problems with toxic water there — and elsewhere in the country — persist. 

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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A high-profile prison escape. A TV station takeover. An assault on police. Today on “Post Reports,” how powerful gangs in Ecuador pushed this historically peaceful nation to the brink and led its new president to declare war.

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Ecuador has long been an ecotourism hub and a safe haven, mostly immune from the guerilla violence endured for decades in neighboring Colombia and Peru. But the country has experienced a shift in recent years, becoming a center for drug trafficking and organized crime, as global demand for cocaine surges to new levels.  

On Jan. 9, this new reality came into full focus through coordinated attacks that shook the country to its core, culminating on live TV for all of Ecuador and the world to witness. The Post’s Bogotá bureau chief, Samantha Schmidt, and Ecuadorian journalist Arturo Torres have spent months reconstructing what exactly happened that day: how the chaos unfolded, the extent to which gangs infiltrated institutions, and President Daniel Noboa’s controversial response, giving unprecedented power to the military. 

Piecing together the details through exclusive interviews and footage revealed a deeper truth, Schmidt tells “Post Reports,” which is that the crisis in Ecuador isn’t an outlier. What happened that day and the complicated aftermath represent “a canary in the coal mine” moment and a warning for all of Latin America. 

Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was mixed by Sean Carter and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Maggie Penman, Arturo Torres and Peter Finn.

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On Saturday, Iran directly attacked Israel. Now, Israel’s war cabinet is weighing possible responses as the U.S. and others have called for restraint.

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Ninety-nine percent of the more than 300 missiles and armed drones Iran launched against Israel were intercepted by Israel and its allies, according to the Israel Defense Forces. 

But the direct attack has also raised concerns about a broader war between Iran and Israel, and whether Israel would be able to fight two wars at once, against both Hamas and Iran. Israeli officials say that while they don’t want to, they have the capability to do so.

Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix joins Post Reports to discuss what led to the attack and what could be coming next in the region. 

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was mixed by Sam Bair. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Lucy Perkins.

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Today on Post Reports, we’re on the scene at the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump is facing trial in the first ever criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president.  

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Jury selection began today in the trial to determine whether Trump broke state law in New York by falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment in 2016 to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels quiet about their alleged affair. Isaac Arnsdorf and Shayna Jacobs are at the courthouse and tell Martine Powers what they’ve seen so far.  

Today’s episode was produced by Peter Bresnan and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. It was edited by Lucy Perkins.

It’s Friday, so it’s time for The Campaign Moment — our weekly roundtable conversation to help you keep track of the biggest developments during the 2024 campaign. Senior political reporter Aaron Blake, the author of The Post’s newsletter by the same name, chats with Martine Powers and our Arizona-based democracy reporter, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, about the Arizona abortion ruling threatening to upend the 2024 election. The Arizona Supreme Court this week ruled that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 can go into effect in the state. It’s a big test for Donald Trump, who has taken credit for overturning Roe v. Wade but said that Arizona went too far and that state lawmakers would quickly “bring it back into reason.”

Yvonne, Martine and Aaron also chat about an awkward moment for RFK Jr.’s campaign, and how the N.Y. hush money trial could play for Trump in swing states like Arizona. 

Follow The Campaign Moment in a new feed to hear extra episodes from Aaron and our politics team as the campaign year continues on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Subscribe to Aaron’s newsletter, The Campaign Moment, here. 

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Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Maggie Penman.

O.J. Simpson has died at 76. He became a a football star, but a 1995 murder trial made him infamous. Simpson was eventually acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife and her friend – a verdict that split the public. How will he be remembered?

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Simpson grew up in a poor neighborhood in San Francisco, and eventually rose to NFL stardom playing for the Buffalo Bills and later the San Francisco 49ers. He was one of the most well- known and well-liked personalities off the field, too, and was a sports commentator and appeared in more than 20 movies.

But his private life was much darker. During his marriage to Nicole Brown Simpson, his wife repeatedly called 911 asking for protection. In one incident, police found her with bruises, a cut lip and a black eye, saying, “He’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill me.”

In the mid-1990s, the country watched as Simpson stood trial for the murder of his then ex-wife and a friend. He was ultimately acquitted. Simpson died of cancer on Wednesday. 

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to Robin Givhan, The Post’s senior critic-at-large, about why the trial had legal and cultural repercussions for years. 

Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon with help from Emma Talkoff, Rennie Svirnovskiy, Elana Gordon and Maggie Penman. It was edited by Monica Campbell and Lucy Perkins. Additional thanks to Krissah Thompson.

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For decades, hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been a music powerhouse. He’s now subject to lawsuits alleging abuse, sexual violence and sex trafficking. Today, what we know about the allegations and the ripples in the music industry.

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Late last month, armored trucks, helicopters and swarms of federal agents descended on two homes owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami. 

The searches were part of an ongoing investigation into Combs by the Department of Homeland Security. He is now the focus of six lawsuits alleging physical violence, sexual abuse and sex trafficking stretching back to the beginning of Combs’s career in the early ’90s. 

The artist and producer – who has also been known onstage as Puff Daddy, Puffy and P. Diddy – has denied all allegations against him. The lawsuits claim that many people in Combs’s circle helped facilitate his abusive behavior, implicating a web of high-profile names in the music industry.

Anne Branigin has been watching the investigation unfold. She says the allegations could lead to a larger reckoning about misogyny, violence and the exploitation of women in the music industry.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson with help from Emma Talkoff. It was mixed by Sean Carter and edited by Lucy Perkins.