Tag Archives: SCOTUS

Judge grants order allowing exemptions to anti-abortion laws

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Some late Friday breaking news. A Texas judge on Friday issued a temporary exemption to the state’s abortion ban that would allow women with complicated pregnancies to obtain the procedure and keep doctors free from prosecution if they determined the … Continue reading →

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Paxton gets to fight his State Bar case after impeachment

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s just one thing after another. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won’t have to fight an ethics lawsuit over his challenge to the 2020 presidential election results until after his impeachment trial. Paxton’s lawyers on Tuesday asked the Fifth Court … Continue reading →

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Hearing in the lawsuit to clarify exceptions to Texas’s harsh anti-abortion law

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s hoping for some good news. One woman could barely get words out through her tears. Another ran to the restroom as soon as she was done, wordless, wretched sobs wracking her tiny body. A third threw up on the … Continue reading →

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Some data points in the “future doctor shortage” story

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From The 19th: The landscape of American health care has undergone an extraordinary transformation in the past several years, with the end of federal abortion protections allowing states to end access to the procedure, and the concurrent rise in bans … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against anti-trans gender affirming care law

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

No time wasted on this one. Several families with transgender children are asking a judge to block a new Texas law that would stop minors from accessing many types of transition-related health care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapies. The … Continue reading →

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Anti-gay Waco JP’s lawsuit to be considered by SCOTx

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The end of the line one way or the other. The Texas Supreme Court will review a case involving a Waco justice of the peace’s refusal to perform same-sex weddings. McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley sued the … Continue reading →

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Louisiana’s turn to (maybe) fix its racial gerrymander

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

They’re on the clock. The Supreme Court on Monday denied Louisiana’s attempt to block a lower court’s order that it redraw its congressional maps. That court found that the state had likely diluted the power of Black voters in violation … Continue reading →

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The smallest possible loosening of abortion restrictions

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Better than nothing, but not by much. Doctors will have more legal protections to perform emergency abortions under a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, following numerous reports of medical care being delayed due to confusion over the state’s abortion … Continue reading →

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Another look at Texas redistricting litigation after the Alabama SCOTUS ruling

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An explainer from the Trib. The state faces an assortment of legal challenges to its congressional and statehouse maps, including allegations of intentional discrimination, vote dilution and racial gerrymandering. For example: In the Rio Grande Valley, the plaintiffs allege map-drawers … Continue reading →

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A long look at Spring Branch ISD

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Landing goes deep. With only a week left before the May 6 election, school-board candidate David Lopez and a team of volunteers set out to block walk in the Spring Branch neighborhoods north of Interstate 10, trying to accomplish … Continue reading →

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Arkansas law banning gender affirming care ruled unconstitutional

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a big deal. A federal judge struck down Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions. U.S. … Continue reading →

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Will the SCOTUS ruling on Alabama redistricting affect Texas?

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start here. In a surprise win for voting rights activists, the U.S. Supreme Court breathed new life into the Civil Rights Act and may have paved the way to end Texas’s gerrymandered district. The case, Allen v. Milligan, came … Continue reading →

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Buzbee will do Paxton’s defense

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? Tony Buzbee, a high-profile and boisterously outspoken Houston attorney who defended former Gov. Rick Perry against abuse-of-office charges, will lead suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal defense team in his impeachment trial. Buzbee had said on his … Continue reading →

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Two 2024 polls

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I know, it’s all ridiculously early, but what the heck. Here’s poll #1. The 2024 election is still more than a year out, but a new poll by the University of Texas at Tyler shows Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz … Continue reading →

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Paxton’s defense team

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I feel slightly weird about this. Six top officials and employees at the Texas attorney general’s office have taken a leave of absence to help defend suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial this summer. Those employees are … Continue reading →

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More plaintiffs join lawsuit against Texas over abortion restrictions

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing she’d bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in the womb. … Continue reading →

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Bill to ban gender-affirming care sent to Abbott, lawsuit to follow

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The next fight will begin immediately. Texas is on the brink of banning transgender minors from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapies, treatments that leading medical groups say are important to supporting their mental health. The Senate has voted 19-12 Wednesday … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit hears mifepristone appeal

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It went more or less as you’d expect from this dumpster fire of a court. I’ll link to a bunch of straight news coverage in a bit, but what you need is the news with some analysis and snark, so … Continue reading →

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House passes bill to ban gender affirming care for minors

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Friday was a bad day. Texas has taken a major step toward banning transgender minors from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy — care that medical groups say is vital to their mental health — after the state House gave Senate Bill 14 initial approval Friday. Trans Texans and LGBTQ advocates consider … Continue reading →

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An example of how a pro-abortion rights campaign could go

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This was from last week, and I’ve been thinking about it since. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, one of the five women suing Texas for abortion access blamed the state’s Republican senators for her near-death experience … Continue reading →

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Countersuit in the “wrongful death” abortion saga

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wild. A man who is suing his ex-wife’s friends for allegedly helping her get an abortion may have known about her plans and done nothing to stop her, according to a new legal filing. Marcus Silva brought a wrongful-death lawsuit … Continue reading →

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DOJ sues Tennessee over its ban on gender affirming care for minors

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There will be more of these to come, including and especially in Texas. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Tennessee’s recently passed law that bans gender-affirming care for minors, emphasizing it “denies necessary medical care to youth … Continue reading →

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On the (likely) future Biden/Trump matchup

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s way too early to pay any attention to state polling, but there are a few general principles to discuss here. President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid on Tuesday, setting up a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile, in other mifepristone news

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Keep an eye on this. A federal judge said during a Monday hearing that he’s leaning towards ruling in favor of a company that makes generic mifepristone in its quest to prove it has standing to sue over West Virginia’s … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS halts the anti-mifepristone ruling

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Supreme Court ruled Friday to pause lower court rulings that would have imposed restrictions on mifepristone, keeping the drug accessible while the case proceeds. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would not have granted the stay. Despite the … Continue reading →

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Anti-mifepristone order still paused

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

SCOTUS needs a couple more days. The Supreme Court extended its stay on lower court rulings on mifepristone until Friday just before midnight, meaning that the drug will remain accessible and available at least until then. The order, written by … Continue reading →

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Anti-mifepristone litigants respond to SCOTUS appeal

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Today we find out what SCOTUS will do. The anti-abortion doctors who first brought the case seeking to get mifepristone yanked from the markets filed a reply brief Tuesday, starting the clock on the Supreme Court’s response. It’s the latest … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS pauses that anti-mifepristone ruling

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A brief timeout. The Supreme Court granted the Department of Justice’s emergency request to temporarily halt lower court rulings that would have reimposed restrictions on mifepristone that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had lifted in recent years. The stay … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit barely limits ridiculous anti-mifepristone ruling

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

In other words, the Fifth Circuit did Fifth Circuit things. The notoriously right-wing Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld much of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling on mifepristone from late last week in an early Thursday decision that may prompt the … Continue reading →

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The doctors involved in the lawsuit to clarify Texas’ draconian forced birth law

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. Last spring, Dr. Judy Levison started to give her routine answer when a patient, who was 15 weeks pregnant, asked why she should receive a blood test that picks up certain fetal defects. Some women simply want to … Continue reading →

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Tuesday mifepristone update

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First things first, that lawless ruling from the wingnut Texas judge has been appealed. The U.S. Justice Department on Monday asked a federal appeals court to keep the abortion pill mifepristone on the U.S. market as litigation plays out, days … Continue reading →

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We await what’s next with mifepristone

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

“Everything is on the table”, whatever that ultimately means. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said the administration is willing to do whatever it takes to protect access to the abortion drug mifepristone, after a federal judge in Texas suspended the … Continue reading →

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Mifepristone access banned and expanded

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

So as you might have heard, this happened on Friday. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of abortion drug mifepristone nationwide Friday, including in blue states with robust abortion protections. The … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to the inevitable litigation over a trans sports ban

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The feds have weighed in. The Department of Education on Thursday formally proposed a rule change to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools, that would be at odds with anti-trans bills being signed into … Continue reading →

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