DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

March 21 (Reuters) - Oklahoma's highest court on Tuesday ruled the state's constitution protects a right to an abortion to preserve the mother's life, and that a doctor does not need to wait until there is an immediate medical emergency to perform one. In a 5-4 ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court found that a law passed last year that allows life-saving abortion only when there is a "medical emergency" violates the "inherent right to life" under the state constitution. The court did not strike down a separate 1910 abortion ban with an exception for preserving the mother's life that does not require a medical emergency. It also did not address whether the state constitution includes a right to abortion under any other circumstances. Tuesday's decision comes amid widespread uncertainty in states with abortion bans about when doctors can perform the procedure if needed to preserve the mother's life or health.

☆ North Carolina urges US Supreme Court to toss major elections case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court should dismiss a major case from North Carolina that could give more power over federal elections to state politicians because the matter is being reconsidered by a lower court, North Carolina said in a filing on Monday, while the Republican lawmakers at the center of the dispute disagreed. The case began as a legal fight over a map drawn by Republican state legislators of North Carolina's 14 U.S. House of Representatives districts - one that a lower court blocked as unlawfully disadvantageous for Democrats. The justices should "dismiss this case for lack of jurisdiction" given that the "decisions on review are nonfinal," the state said. The Republican lawmakers had urged the U.S. Supreme Court to embrace a once-marginal legal theory now embraced by many conservatives that would remove any role of state courts and state constitutions in regulating presidential and congressional elections. Since its decision invalidating the map, the state court has undergone a change in its ideological makeup.

March 16 (Reuters) - North Dakota's Supreme Court on Thursday refused to revive a strict abortion ban previously blocked by a lower court, finding that the ban runs afoul of a right under the state constitution to abortion if it is needed to preserve the mother's life or health. North Dakota's near-total abortion ban would allow a doctor to be prosecuted for performing an abortion even in order to save the mother's life. A state court blocked the law last year, finding the providers were likely to succeed. The state Supreme Court agreed, rebuffing Wrigley's petition to revive the law, while the case proceeds on the merits in the lower court. Twelve states are currently enforcing abortion bans adopted since last year's Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

March 14 (Reuters) - The special prosecutor handling the case against actor Alec Baldwin in the 2021 "Rust" movie set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins announced on Tuesday she is stepping down, as Baldwin's lawyers had sought. The decision by special prosecutor Andrea Reeb came a month after Baldwin's attorney filed a motion to remove her because she is also a representative in the state legislature. The Baldwin team argued it violates the state constitution for a legislator to serve in another branch of government. "I will not allow questions about my serving as a legislator and prosecutor to cloud the real issue at hand." Gutierrez-Reed has blamed the shooting on potential sabotage, Baldwin's lack of firearms training, and a failure by Halls and Baldwin to call her onto set for extra firearm checks.

The hearing in Raleigh took place after the state Supreme Court's conservative justices agreed to reconsider a 2022 ruling that found partisan redistricting, or gerrymandering, was unlawful under the state constitution. In the same elections, Republicans flipped two Democratic seats on the court, installing a 5-2 conservative majority that weeks later made the extremely unusual decision to rehear the redistricting case. Several conservative justices appeared sympathetic to the Republicans' arguments, while the court's two Democrats expressed skepticism. The Supreme Court's conservative justices appeared to agree during oral arguments in December. But after the North Carolina court's decision to rehear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the various parties in the case to weigh in on whether the court still has jurisdiction over the matter.

☆ Voting-Rights Decisions Get Second Look in North Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Laura Kusisto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

State lawmakers petitioned the state North Carolina Supreme Court to reconsider two of its recent election-law decisions. North Carolina’s highest court this week will reconsider two of its recent election-law decisions that endorsed a broad view of voting rights, an unusual move that comes after the November elections flipped the court to a Republican majority. The cases, involving the swing state’s voter-identification requirements and the shape of its electoral maps, resulted in rulings last year against the GOP-led state legislature. In one, the North Carolina Supreme Court said lawmakers in 2021 unlawfully gerrymandered congressional and state legislative districts for partisan advantage, in violation of the state constitution. In the other, the court ruled the ID law was intended to discriminate against voters of color, who were more likely to struggle to meet the new requirements.

The new court agreed along party lines to rehear the redistricting case, as well as a case in which the previous Democratic majority struck down a Republican-backed voter identification law. In court filings, Republican lawmakers argue that redistricting is inherently political and should be left to legislators, rather than judges. Last year's redistricting decision also prompted North Carolina Republicans to turn to the U.S. Supreme Court in what has become a high-profile case. The Supreme Court's conservative justices appeared sympathetic to the Republicans' argument during oral arguments in December. But after the North Carolina Supreme Court's decision to rehear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the various parties in the case to weigh in on whether the court still has jurisdiction over the matter.

A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based court reversed a lower court ruling in 2021 that the ballot measure, known as Proposition 22, was unconstitutional. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and several gig drivers who challenged Prop 22 will likely appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court, the state's top court. Prop 22 was approved in November 2020 by nearly 60% of voters in California. It exempted app-based drivers from a 2019 state law known as AB5 that makes it difficult to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. "Across the state, drivers and couriers have said they are happy with Prop 22, which affords them new benefits while preserving the unique flexibility of app-based work," West said.

☆ Senate Democrats urge Walmart, Costco, Albertsons and Kroger to sell abortion pill mifepristone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Erin Hooley | Tribune News Service | Getty ImagesSenate Democrats called on Walmart , Costco , Albertsons and Kroger to sell the prescription abortion pill mifepristone and clearly let customers know how to get it at their pharmacies. The companies have not publicly stated yet whether they plan to sell mifepristone at their pharmacies. The 17 senators told Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran and Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen that they are frustrated the companies have not yet publicly indicated whether they will sell mifepristone. Major retailers in the U.S. have been thrust in the middle of the nation's deep divisions over abortion as they weigh whether to sell mifepristone. Walgreens has come under fire after it told the GOP attorneys general that it would not sell mifepristone in their states.

☆ California will not renew $54 million contract with Walgreens over abortion pill policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

California will not renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens over the drug store chain's decision not to sell the abortion pill in some states due to legal restrictions. Walgreens said it will sell the abortion pill, mifepristone, in any state where it is "legally permissible to do so." Republican attorneys general in 21 states warned Walgreens in February that selling or distributing the abortion pill in their states would violate local laws. Walgreens is also not selling the abortion pill in states like Alaska, Kansas or Montana where abortion is protected as a right under the states' constitutions. The drug store will also not sell mifepristone in Iowa, where the state Supreme Court last year overturned state constitutional protections for abortion.

In North Carolina, party activists are seeking to punish Republican Senator Thom Tillis for his support for same-sex marriage rights. North Carolina State Representative Mark Brody, who supports censuring Sen. Tillis, says it is better to address differences directly. Law, who served as a senior member of Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns in Nevada, and the county party did not respond to requests for comment. Although Tillis retains support among the party establishment, Jim Womack, a county party chair, says the Senator’s critics are gaining strength. “The North Carolina Republican party will eventually be decentralized to the point where the grassroots will actually run the party,” Womack said.

The state Supreme Court blocked the Republican map as unlawfully biased against Democratic voters. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the dispute in December but has not issued a ruling in the high-profile case. The justices' order on Thursday cited a federal law giving it jurisdiction over final judgments issued by state supreme courts. Members of the state Supreme Court are elected by voters in North Carolina. In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the North Carolina Republicans contended that the state court usurped the state General Assembly's authority under that provision to regulate federal elections.

☆ Supreme Court signals it could sidestep ruling in major elections case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday sought additional briefings in a major elections case from North Carolina, signaling it could sidestep a ruling on a broad theory that could upend election law nationwide. The brief court order asked the parties involved to file new court papers on the impact of recent actions by the North Carolina Supreme Court. The case before the justices, argued in December, concerns whether the North Carolina Supreme Court had the authority last year to throw out Republican-drawn congressional districts. Since then, the North Carolina Supreme Court has flipped from Democratic to Republican control and the new majority has moved to revisit some of the earlier rulings. Oral arguments in the North Carolina court are scheduled for March 14.

☆ The battle over abortion access could return to the ballot box in four states in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Millions of Americans lost legal access to abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The GOP used state ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage to juice turnout, including in the critical state of Ohio. "The majority of Arizonans support safe, legal abortion, and we need to roll back many of the restrictions that are in place now." Two abortion rights groups are teaming up to put the question before voters in 2024. The ballot box might also be abortion rights advocates' best hope as the unicameral legislature appears to be on the verge of breaking a filibuster to pass a 6-week abortion ban.

☆ Abortion could be a general election trap as Republicans battle for the GOP presidential nomination, with polling for the party's position in the basement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Anti-abortion views could be a major boost in the nomination fightMajorities of most religious groups favor abortions being legal in most or all cases. Only four major religious groups had a majority of followers that did not favor abortion legality. Politico reported that Trump's team thinks it has a way to emphasize Trump's role in the historic decision without getting bogged down by unpopular abortion views. PRRI's polling found that 66% of Ohioans, 64% of Floridians, and 54% of Nebraskans favor making abortion legal in most or all cases. The nation has slowly moved toward supporting making abortion legal in some or most cases.

☆ Ohio Abortion-Rights Coalition Begins Push for Constitutional Amendment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An effort to place a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the ballot is brewing in Ohio. Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights filed paperwork with the state’s attorney general Tuesday in one of its first steps to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

☆ Republican Lawsuit Seeks Vote on New York Judge Pick
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee last month voted down the nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to the New York State Court of Appeals. A Republican lawmaker filed a lawsuit Thursday in an attempt to force Democratic leaders of the New York State Senate to hold a floor vote on a new leader for the state’s top court. State Sen. Anthony Palumbo said in court papers that all 63 senators were required by the state constitution to vote on the nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to the New York State Court of Appeals. Justice LaSalle now runs a midlevel appellate court based in Brooklyn.

Feb 9 (Reuters) - A Republican New York state senator filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to force a Senate vote on Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's pick to be the state's chief judge, after lawmakers blocked the nomination last month. State Senator Anthony Palumbo, who represents a Long Island district, said in a complaint filed in state court that New York's constitution requires the full 63-member Senate to vote on whether to confirm appellate judge Hector LaSalle to the post. Palumbo in the lawsuit said the state constitution, which requires the governor to appoint a chief judge "with the advice and consent of the Senate," was designed to prevent such an outcome. LaSalle is the first nominee for chief judge to be rejected by the Senate committee. New York's chief judge heads the seven-member Court of Appeals, which has the final say in interpreting state laws, and oversees the state's massive court system.

☆ Factbox: Abortion battles in U.S. state capitols to watch in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Gabriella Borter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

KANSAS: Although Kansans voted in favor of state abortion rights on a ballot measure last year, Republican lawmakers have proposed measures including a near-total ban on abortion and prohibitions on prescribing abortion pills over telemedicine. MONTANA: Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking to overturn a 1999 state supreme court ruling, which found that the state constitution protected a right to abortion. SOUTH CAROLINA: Despite the fact that the state supreme court recently struck down a six-week abortion ban in a 3-2 vote, Republicans have introduced a near-total abortion ban and a 6-week ban this year. The success of that legislation may depend on the outcome of the state's appeal of the supreme court decision. PROTECTIONSMICHIGAN: Abortion rights advocates scored big wins in Michigan in the November 2022 election, securing a Democratic majority in the legislature and enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution.

☆ North Carolina Republicans reap reward of judicial wins in redistricting ruling
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

'RAW PARTISANSHIP'In North Carolina, Republican candidates in November won two seats held by Democrats, wresting away the majority. The office of the Republican state Senate leader, Phil Berger, did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling on Monday. That decision led North Carolina Republican lawmakers to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in what has become one of the year's most momentous cases. The North Carolina Supreme Court – whose previous decision gave rise to the U.S. Supreme Court case – could now choose to embrace the notion regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court eventually rules. "We either get Moore v. Harper and it's the Wild West everywhere, or we get a Republican state Supreme Court to overturn it and it's just the Wild West in North Carolina," Hildebrand said.

☆ The overturn of Roe v. Wade has been a catastrophe for Republican attempts to win over Gen Z
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The GOP win in getting the Supreme Court to strip abortion rights didn't sit well with young voters. For the survey, Murmuration polled 3,227 15 to 25-year-olds (members of Gen Z) and 1,036 adults aged 26 or older. The Gen Z survey had a 1.7% margin of error, while the survey of adults aged 26 years or older had one of 3%. Aside from "other," which also garnered 29%, abortion access was by far the most pressing issue amongst Gen Z. Since the Supreme Court punted abortion rights back to a state-to-state basis, referendums and constitutional amendments restricting abortion access will continue to pop up.

☆ New Mexico asks court to overturn cities' abortion bans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Andrew Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The move comes after the New Mexico cities of Hobbs, Clovis and two surrounding counties bordering Texas passed ordinances in recent months to restrict abortion clinics and access to abortion pills. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed an extraordinary writ in New Mexico Supreme Court to block the ordinances which he said were based on flawed interpretations of 19th century federal regulations on abortion medication. Right-to-life activists said the regulations remained valid under federal law and vowed to work on bringing such ordinances to more cities in New Mexico, the only state bordering Texas where abortion remains legal. New Mexico's largest cities of Las Cruces and Albuquerque have become regional destinations for women seeking abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court in June ended the nationwide constitutional right to the procedure. In direct response, New Mexico Democrats have drafted legislation to prevent cities from overriding state laws guaranteeing womens' rights to reproductive healthcare.

☆ Judge Says DeSantis Violated Laws in Suspending Prosecutor, but Doesn’t Reinstate Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A federal judge ruled that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the state constitution and the First Amendment when he suspended a state prosecutor, but said he couldn’t reverse the suspension. Andrew Warren , a Democrat who served as the top prosecutor for the state’s 13th judicial circuit in Hillsborough County, had asked the court to overturn his August suspension.

☆ Judge Says DeSantis Violated Laws In Suspending Prosecutor, But Doesn’t Reinstate Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Judge rules for Florida's DeSantis against prosecutor for abortion stance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DeSantis on Aug. 4 barred Warren from performing any official "act, duty or function of public office." Hinkle found that Warren's suspension violated Florida's state constitution, but the judge said the U.S. Constitution barred him from issuing a reinstatement order "against a state official based only on a violation of state law." The court also wrote that "Mr. Warren's actual performance as a reform prosecutor was conduct, not speech protected by the First Amendment." Lawyers for Warren and a DeSantis representative did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Lawyers for DeSantis argued that the governor suspended Warren from office not over his speech but his conduct as a prosecutor.

Search resuls for: "State Constitution"

25 mentions found