As SCOTUS prepares to hear abortion case, both sides hope to sway Kennedy by using personal stories

Anthony Kennedy can expect a full-court press from both pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion advocates as the Supreme Court prepares to hear its first abortion case in almost a decade. Reuters reported on Monday that both sides have been gathering personal stories and accounts in an effort to sway the justice,…

Jan 4, 2016 11:45 AM CST

Planned Parenthood shooting suspect makes his first court appearance via video

The man accused in the mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was informed that he will be charged with first-degree murder when he made his first court appearance Monday afternoon via video link from jail, Reuters and the Associated Press report. Robert Lewis Dear, 57,…

Nov 30, 2015 5:10 PM CST

Northern Ireland’s abortion prohibitions violate human rights, Belfast judge rules

A judge on the Belfast High Court in Northern Ireland ruled Monday that the region’s prohibition of abortions in cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormality violates the human rights of women, Reuters reports. Judge Mark Horner upheld arguments by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission that the prohibition went…

Nov 30, 2015 12:55 PM CST

7th Circuit overturns abortion regulation; Posner says health benefit is ‘nonexistent’

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a Wisconsin abortion law that required abortion doctors to have admission privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Writing for the majority in the 2-1 opinion (PDF), Judge Richard Posner said the law would shut down one of the…

Nov 24, 2015 7:30 AM CST

SCOTUS to consider Virginia redistricting suit; do GOP lawmakers have standing?

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider a Virginia redistricting case challenging the state’s only congressional district with a majority-black population. The Virginia case, Wittman v. Personhuballah, was brought by Mark Elias, the general counsel to the Clinton presidential campaign, the Washington Post reports. Funding was provided by…

Nov 16, 2015 8:00 AM CST

Supreme Court will review Texas abortion law

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a Texas abortion law that imposed new requirements on abortion clinics and doctors. The court granted cert Tuesday, the New York Times, SCOTUSblog, USA Today and the Washington Post report. The case is Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole. The Texas law requires…

Nov 13, 2015 1:37 PM CST

Is SCOTUS ready to reconsider abortion rights?

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering cert petitions asking it to rule on new abortion restrictions. In one case, the Supreme Court dropped “a fairly vague hint” that it may be interested in a case challenging the viability standard established in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, SCOTUSblog reports. The…

Nov 13, 2015 7:27 AM CST

SCOTUS will hear challenge by nonprofits objecting to contraceptive-coverage opt-out procedure

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the opt-out procedure for religious nonprofits that don’t want to provide contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The consolidated case is the fourth time in five years that the Supreme Court will consider a legal challenge to the…

Nov 6, 2015 1:03 PM CST

Litigation is no laughing matter to your clients

Humor is the lubricant that enables us to slide through the obstacles life places in our way. That's why we say: "If I didn't laugh, I'd cry." But for lawyers, in the serious business of helping our clients, humor is a no-no. I don't mean in your personal life. I…

Nov 1, 2015 2:10 AM CST

Public officials with moral qualms about laws should resign or enforce the law, Justice Kennedy says

The rule of law requires public officials performing their legal duties to enforce the law or resign, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy told Harvard law students last Thursday. Kennedy spoke in response to a student’s question about the authority of federal officials, outside the judiciary, to act according to their own…

Oct 28, 2015 7:12 AM CDT

Seeking to regain his law license, former Kansas AG files federal civil rights suit

Back when former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline was defending a legal ethics case over his handling of abortion-related matters, he sought and got the recusal of several justices on the state’s top court. But in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Sunday, the former AG is now challenging the…

Oct 19, 2015 2:55 PM CDT

Judge temporarily preserves federal funds flowing to Planned Parenthood in Utah

A federal judge on Thursday extended a temporary restraining order that bars Utah’s governor from defunding Planned Parenthood in the state. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said a decision would be issued later, but he refused to lift the order that keeps federal funds flowing through the state to Planned…

Oct 16, 2015 9:23 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: New term’s most important cases—so far

At 10 a.m. Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court began its October term for 2015, and many of the cases before it present issues that court has dealt with in recent years. The court granted certiorari in 34 cases for the term before it went on its summer recess and granted…

Oct 8, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

John Paul Stevens praises Chief Justice Roberts’ style

Oct 1, 2015 6:50 AM CDT

Anti-abortion group loses bid to stop discovery in lawsuit over secret video

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday turned down a bid to stop discovery in a lawsuit over a controversial abortion-related video, the Recorder reported. The high-profile case centers around undercover videos created by an anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress. The videos have sparked…

Sep 24, 2015 4:56 PM CDT