Political upheaval alters strategies in US abortion debate
The mood is more sober now a mix of disappointment over Trumps defeat and hope that his legacy of judicial appointments will lead to future court victories limiting abortion rights. The mood is more sober now โ a mix of disappointment over Trumpโs defeat and hope that his legacy of judicial appointments will lead to future court victories limiting abortion rights. Meanwhile, Trump, whose administration took numerous steps to curtail abortion access, has been replaced as president by Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of abortion rights. Bullock supported abortion rights during eight years in office. Becerra and Biden are Roman Catholic, and the new administration's support for abortion rights poses a dilemma for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Supreme Court ruling stops the 2020 Census count
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident from continuing through the end of October. The panel of three appellate judges said that just because the year-end deadline is impossible to meet doesnโt mean the court should require the Census Bureau to miss it. The proposal to extend the apportionment deadline passed the Democratic-controlled House, but the Republican-controlled Senate didnโt take up the request. The Republicans' inaction coincided with a July order from Trump directing the Census Bureau to have the apportionment count exclude people who are in the country illegally. The order was later ruled unlawful by a panel of three district judges in New York, but the Trump administration is appealing that case to the Supreme Court.
NC court strikes down state legislative districts as unconstitutional
People gather in in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as decisions are handed down in Washington, DC. (CNN) - A state court in North Carolina unanimously struck down Republican-led efforts to maintain state legislative districts on Tuesday, holding that they amount to unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders that violate the state's Constitution. Now, in North Carolina, a top Republican state legislative leader told local reporters in a statement that the GOP will not appeal the state court's ruling against state House and Senate districts there. While the US Supreme Court recently declined to step in to decide a separate challenge to federal maps in the state, the North Carolina court observed that provisions of state constitutions "could provide standards and guidance for state courts to apply." The North Carolina Democratic Party, registered Democratic voters and Common Cause brought the lawsuit last year.