Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion
The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump. The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step. It puts the court at odds with a majority of Americans who favored preserving Roe, according to opinion polls. Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong the day they were decided and must be overturned. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” Alito wrote. Authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, not the courts, Alito wrote. Joining Alito were Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The latter three justices are Donald Trump appointees. Thomas first voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago. Chief Justice John Roberts would have stopped short of ending the abortion right, noting that he would have upheld the Mississippi law at the heart of the case, a ban on abortion after 15 weeks, and said no more. Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan — the diminished liberal wing of the court — were in dissent. “With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,” they wrote. The ruling is expected to disproportionately affect minority women who already face limited access to health care, according to statistics analyzed by The Associated Press. Thirteen states, mainly in the South and Midwest, already have laws on the books that ban abortion in the event Roe is overturned. Another half-dozen states have near-total bans or prohibitions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. In roughly a half-dozen other states, the fight will be over dormant abortion bans that were enacted before Roe was decided in 1973 or new proposals to sharply limit when abortions can be performed, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. More than 90% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than half are now done with pills, not surgery, according to data compiled by Guttmacher. The decision came against a backdrop of public opinion surveys that find a majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe and handing the question of whether to permit abortion entirely to the states. Polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and others also have consistently shown about 1 in 10 Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases. A majority are in favor of abortion being legal in all or most circumstances, but polls indicate many also support restrictions, especially later in pregnancy. The Biden administration and other defenders of abortion rights have warned that a decision overturning Roe also would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and, even potentially, contraception. But Alito wrote in his draft opinion that his analysis addresses abortion only, not other rights that also stem from a right to privacy that the high court has found implicit, though not directly stated, in the Constitution. Abortion is different, Alito wrote, because of the unique moral question it poses. Whatever the intentions of the person who leaked Alito’s draft opinion, the conservatives held firm in overturning Roe and Casey. In his draft, Alito dismissed the arguments in favor of retaining the two decisions, including that multiple generations of American women have partly relied on the right to abortion to gain economic and political power. Changing the composition of the court has been central to the anti-abortion side’s strategy. Mississippi and its allies made increasingly aggressive arguments as the case developed, and two high-court defenders of abortion rights retired or died. The state initially argued that its law could be upheld without overruling the court’s abortion precedents. Then-Gov. Phil Bryant signed the 15-week measure into law in March 2018, when Justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were still members of a five-justice majority that was mainly protective of abortion rights. By early summer, Kennedy had retired and was replaced by Justice Brett Kavanaugh a few months later. The Mississippi law was blocked in lower federal courts. But the state always was headed to the nation’s highest court. It did not even ask for a hearing before a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately held the law invalid in December 2019. By early September 2020, the Supreme Court was ready to consider the state’s appeal. The court scheduled the case for consideration at the justices’ private conference on Sept. 29. But in the intervening weeks, Ginsburg died, and Barrett was quickly nominated and confirmed without a single Democratic vote. The stage now was set, although it took the court another half year to agree to hear the case. By the time Mississippi filed its main written argument with the court in the summer, the thrust of its argument had changed, and it was now calling for the wholesale overruling of Roe and Casey. The first sign that the court might be receptive to wiping away the constitutional right to abortion came in late summer when the justices divided 5-4 in allowing Texas to enforce a ban on the procedure at roughly six weeks, before some women even know they are pregnant. That dispute turned on the unique structure of the
Alabama leaders respond to Supreme Court ruling on conceal and carry gun rights
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. The decision came out as Congress and states debate gun-control legislation. The decision struck down a New York law that required people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry a gun in a concealed way in public. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his opinion, “Nothing in the Second Amendment’s text draws a home/public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.” President Joe Biden said in a statement he was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court ruling. It “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all,” he said. Alabama leaders and lawmakers are responding to the decision. Rep. Barry Moore stated on Twitter, “The right to bear arms is not a second-tier right! An attack on #2A is an attack on ALL our constitutional rights. This decision makes clear: no state can require an American citizen to petition their government for permission to exercise a right guaranteed by the Constitution.” Rep. Terri Sewell expressed dismay over the ruling. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling on gun violence defies the Constitution and common sense! As our nation mourns a string of senseless killings, the Court is making it more difficult for local governments and law enforcement to keep Americans safe from gun violence,” Sewell stated on Twitter. “This ruling only makes it more critical for Congress to act quickly. I look forward to considering the Senate’s bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation. Our communities are counting on us!” Rep. Jerry Carl stated, “Today’s ruling is good news and ensures all law-abiding Americans have the right to defend themselves and their families without the government interfering.” Rep. Robert Aderholt also spoke out in favor of the Supreme Court ruling. Rep. Mike Rogers stated, “I’m thrilled that SCOTUS upheld our second amendment rights in their ruling today. The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Gov. Kay Ivey said the ruling was a win for common sense and for gun rights. “It’s time folks keep a level head on issues dealing with our constitutional rights as Americans, and that is exactly what our U.S. Supreme Court did through its decision today,” Ivey stated on Twitter. “While we Alabamians do not have to worry about our rights being infringed upon, law-abiding citizens in states like New York are fighting simply for their right to bear arms. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment means exactly what it says: A citizen’s right to carry a firearm in public should not be subject to the whims of a government bureaucrat. This is a win for the Second Amendment and win for common sense.” California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all have similar laws to New York’s. Those laws are expected to be quickly challenged.
Alabama OKs $725M bond sale to build 2 supersize prisons
Alabama officials approved a $725 million bond sale on Thursday to help finance construction of two supersize prisons, housing up to 4,000 inmates each, as part of a building plan that also relies on a portion of the state’s pandemic relief dollars. The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority, which is chaired by Gov. Kay Ivey, met briefly at the Alabama Capitol to approve the sale of the bonds. That money will be added to $135 million in state funds and $400 million in pandemic relief dollars that the state already agreed to put toward the project. Alabama officials are pursuing construction of new prisons to replace aging facilities, calling that a partial solution to the state’s longstanding troubles in corrections. The U.S. Department of Justice has an ongoing lawsuit against the state over prison conditions. Critics of the construction plan argue the state is ignoring the bigger issues — prison staffing levels and leadership — to focus on buildings. State officials maintain the new facilities will replace aging and expensive-to-maintain prisons and provide a safer environment for both inmates and staff. “We are not adding beds. We are not adding, rather we are replacing and modernizing with facilities that will utilize modern design to meet modern prison standards We will have enhanced health care and mental health facilities. We will have enhanced vocational facilities,” Finance Director Bill Poole told reporters after the meeting. He said the state will go to the bond market next week. Alabama lawmakers approved the construction plan in October, including tapping $400 million from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan funds to help pay for the work. The two new prisons are to be located in Elmore and Escambia counties. Some site work has gotten underway using the available funds. “We have some simple dirt work underway with the projects and we’ll be excited to move up with the ground-up construction as soon as possible,” Poole said. The approval comes after the construction plan — which was pursued under two different administrations — hit various snags over the years. An earlier version of the plan would have seen the state lease prisons built and owned by private companies. But that fell through after underwriters withdrew under pressure from activists to not be involved with private prison companies. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Alabama over a prison system it says is riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence. The Justice Department noted in an earlier report that dilapidated facilities were a contributing factor to the unconstitutional conditions but wrote “new facilities alone will not resolve” the matter because of problems in culture, management deficiencies, corruption, violence, and other problems. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Ron DeSantis signs bill prohibiting government from contracting with transporters of illegal immigrants to Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law prohibiting governmental entities, including state agencies and local governments, from contracting with carriers that “knowingly transport illegal aliens into Florida,” he announced Thursday. After signing the bill, DeSantis directed the Department of Management Services to immediately begin the rulemaking process to implement the provisions of the new law. He also directed executive agencies to review all current contracts, notify all applicable vendors of requirements of the law, and communicate to any vendors that are currently transporting illegal immigrants into Florida that their contracts will not be renewed or amended unless they comply with Florida law. “Floridians’ tax dollars should not go to corporations that facilitate the international human smuggling operation encouraged by the Biden administration,” DeSantis said in a statement. Signing SB 1808 into law will “protect our state from the effects of Biden’s Border Crisis,” he said. SB 1808 prohibits governmental entities, including state agencies, counties, municipalities, and others “from executing, amending, or renewing contracts with a person, firm, or corporation that transports a person into Florida knowing that the person is an illegal alien, unless it is to facilitate the detention, removal, or departure of the person from Florida or the United States.” It requires all contracts, including grant agreements and economic incentive programs entered into by state, county, local governmental entities with carriers or contracted carriers to include an attestation that the carrier will comply with the law. The law also requires such contracts to be terminated for cause if the carrier violates it. The law goes into effect October 1, 2022. DeSantis has been pushing back against what he calls the Biden administration’s “reckless open border policies” that have enabled foreign nationals to enter and remain in the U.S. illegally who then go on to allegedly kill Floridians. Last October, a Jacksonville father of four was murdered allegedly by a Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally and reportedly provided false identification to remain in the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor. The federal government, working with non-governmental organizations and commercial carriers and contractors has been facilitating the housing and transportation of illegal immigrants throughout the country instead of complying with the Remain in Mexico policy or deporting the majority of those who are ineligible to enter the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement failed to verify the Honduran’s true identity and age prior to him being transported to Florida. It wasn’t until the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office got involved that the man’s true identity and age was uncovered. A few months later, a Dominican national also in the U.S. illegally killed a 25-year-old St. Augustine man and was charged with driving under the influence manslaughter. In March, a Daytona Beach couple was murdered allegedly by a Haitian man also in the U.S. illegally. He was charged with first-degree murder. Last month, the first guilty verdict issued in Texas as a result of its border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, was of a man who’d graduated high school in Florida. Brought there illegally by his parents when he was a child, he would later build an extensive criminal history, including a home invasion charge in Florida. He was arrested in Kinney County, Texas, for criminal trespass after he had re-entered the U.S. after he’d voluntarily returned to Honduras to avoid deportation after having served jail time in California and Florida. A jury comprised solely of Hispanic jurors reached a unanimous guilty verdict. Florida will soon have access to $12 million to reroute incoming illegal immigrants north, DeSantis vowed at a recent news conferences, including to Delaware, the home state of President Joe Biden. “If he sends a caravan [of illegal immigrants] to Florida,” DeSantis said of the president, “we’re rerouting it to places like Delaware and other sanctuary states.” While the Biden administration maintains the southern border is closed, a record number of people from over 150 countries continues to pour through. Since Biden took office, more than 3 million people have been encountered/apprehended entering the U.S. illegally from over 150 countries, according to Customs and Border Patrol data. This number doesn’t include “gotaways,” the term CBP uses to describe those who enter the U.S. illegally and evade capture. CBP doesn’t report the number of gotaways publicly, but former and current Border Patrol agents who’ve spoken to The Center Square estimate this number is easily more than one million since Biden took office, resulting in more than 4 million people entering or attempting to enter the U.S. illegally in the past 17 months. That number is greater than the individual populations of 23 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
