Abortion

Chemerinsky: Precedent seems to matter little in the Roberts Court

How much weight does the Roberts Court give to precedent? This is the crucial underlying question now that the U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which puts the fate of Roe v. Wade before the justices. The case concerns a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.

Jun 3, 2021 11:37 AM CDT

June 15, 1992: Supreme Court upholds DEA’s kidnapping of Mexican doctor

On Feb. 7, 1985, while on a short walk to meet his wife for lunch, Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar disappeared from a street near the U.S. consulate in the fabled Mexican city of Guadalajara. His body was found a month later on a ranch in Michoacán. There were signs of…

Jun 1, 2021 12:10 AM CDT

SCOTUS abortion case complicates Breyer retirement speculation

Speculation about whether U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer might retire at the end of this term had been running rampant among legal observers this spring when the court itself threw in a wrinkle.

May 20, 2021 3:34 PM CDT

After prosecutor declines to bring rape charge, accuser uses unusual law to convene her own grand jury

A Kansas woman is taking matters into her own hands after she was unable to persuade a prosecutor to bring a rape charge against the man she accused of strangling and slapping her during sex.

May 20, 2021 9:51 AM CDT

What is the potential impact of the abortion case before the Supreme Court?

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday to review Mississippi’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy has raised hopes and fears that Roe v. Wade will be overturned and its viability standard eliminated.

May 19, 2021 11:26 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Future civil rights lawyers win scholarships; LSAC-funded pipeline program seeks requests for proposals

Future civil rights lawyers receive scholarships The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has named the first 10 “Marshall-Motley Scholars,” who will receive law school scholarships in exchange for a commitment to serve as civil rights lawyers based in the South for eight years. The scholars include former interns in…

May 18, 2021 3:52 PM CDT

In challenge to Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court will consider ban on abortions before viability

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider the constitutionality of Mississippi’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The high court agreed to consider one question in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: whether all previability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.

May 17, 2021 9:47 AM CDT

Chemerinsky op-ed calls on Justice Breyer to retire now

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg didn't heed calls to resign when law dean Erwin Chemerinsky wrote a March 2014 op-ed making that plea.

May 11, 2021 10:15 AM CDT

Full 6th Circuit upholds ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law punishing docs who perform Down syndrome abortions

The en banc 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati has refused to block an Ohio law that bans doctors from providing abortions when they know a woman wants the abortion because of a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis.

Apr 13, 2021 4:45 PM CDT

In rare move, full 6th Circuit will hear initial arguments in abortion case; dissent blasts ‘procedural hopscotch’

In an unusual move, the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati will consider the constitutionality of a Tennessee abortion law without an initial ruling by a three-judge panel.

Apr 13, 2021 1:33 PM CDT

Suit says disciplinary counsel was wrongly fired for pro-Trump tweets about Muslims

A former disciplinary counsel in Tennessee says he was fired for the content of political tweets, rather than his conduct in the job.

Apr 7, 2021 11:31 AM CDT

Breyer says expanding Supreme Court could erode trust, proponents should ‘think long and hard’

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Tuesday proponents of expanding or changing the structure of the U.S. Supreme Court should “think long and hard before embodying those changes in law.”

Apr 7, 2021 10:04 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge admonished partly for remote hearing impatience; ABA files brief opposing rigid cash bail

Judge admonished for impatience, guilt remark A California judge has been admonished for a “display of impatience and irritation” and a remark about an acquitted defendant’s guilt. Judge Patrick E. Connolly appeared irritated during a remote hearing because defense lawyers could not show him paperwork, according to the California Commission…

Apr 6, 2021 4:14 PM CDT

May 18, 1926: The strange disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson was used to being noticed. Between her faith-healing tent revivals, her Sunshine Hour radio broadcasts beamed from Los Angeles and the pageantry of her “illustrated sermons” at her Angelus Temple, “Sister Aimee” was one of the most recognizable women in America. So when she vanished while swimming…

Apr 1, 2021 12:10 AM CDT

Supreme Court will decide whether Kentucky AG can pick up defense of invalidated abortion law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron can intervene to defend an invalidated state abortion law after no other state official would continue to defend it.

Mar 30, 2021 11:10 AM CDT