Supreme Court of the United States

Indiana, Ohio leading 6th Circuit appeal supporting law regulating Kentucky abortion clinics

February 7, 2019

The Hoosier state has filed its second abortion-related appeal this week, this time urging a federal appeals court to uphold states’ authority to regulate abortion clinics. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill joined forces with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to lead a 16-state coalition in favor of a Kentucky law requiring abortion clinics to maintain transfer-and-transportation agreements with local hospitals and ambulance services.

Indiana GOP seeks abortion ban blocked in 7 other states

February 6, 2019

Indiana Republicans eager for a rare legal victory in their efforts to restrict abortion rights are seeking to outlaw a second-trimester procedure, hopeful an increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court will back a ban that courts have blocked in seven other states.

The woe of Roe: 46 years later, abortion debate still boils

February 5, 2019

To mark the 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, two groups rallied at the Indiana Statehouse Jan. 22, and showed that of the divisions among Americans, the gulf over abortion rights remains among the widest.

Indiana appeals 18-hour ultrasound injunction to U.S. Supreme Court

February 5, 2019

Indiana is again appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking a state abortion law, this one requiring women to get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before the procedure. The provision was included in House Enrolled Act 1337, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence in 2016.

Outcome of SCOTUS case provides window into court’s view of abortion rights

February 4, 2019

The outcome of a fight over a Louisiana law regulating abortion providers could signal whether a fortified conservative majority on the Supreme Court is willing to cut back on abortion rights.

AG Hill joins Indiana as amicus against ‘subjective’ handgun permitting

January 28, 2019

Indiana Attorney General Hill has signed the state on to an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to take a case that could decide the constitutionality of may-issue firearm permits requiring citizens to meet subjective standards to publicly carry a weapon.

Rallies at Statehouse show divide over Roe still wide after 46 years

January 22, 2019

On the 46^th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, supporters and opponents scheduled rallies at the Indiana Statehouse, underscoring the deep divide over the ruling that remains more than four decades later. Advocates of reproductive rights gathered on the fourth floor of the Statehouse Tuesday to begin their push for Senate Bill 589, while Indiana Right to Life had a rally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Supreme Court releases censored appeal by foreign government

January 22, 2019

An unidentified foreign government is asking the Supreme Court to get involved in a case that may be part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The appeal doesn’t identify the country, a company it controls or even the lawyers who are representing it, but it says the justices should make clear that a federal law that generally protects foreign governments from civil lawsuits in the U.S. also shields them in criminal cases.

High court lets military implement transgender restrictions

January 22, 2019

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to go ahead with its plan to restrict military service by transgender people while court challenges continue. The high court split 5-4 in allowing the plan to take effect, with the court’s five conservatives greenlighting it and its four liberal members saying they would not have.

Supreme Court inaction suggests DACA safe for another year

January 21, 2019

The Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation and that President Donald Trump has sought to end seems likely to survive for at least another year. That’s because the Supreme Court took no action Friday on the Trump administration’s request to decide by early summer whether Trump’s bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was legal.

Justices appear ready to void Tennessee alcohol sales law

January 18, 2019

The Supreme Court appeared ready Wednesday to strike down a Tennessee provision that requires people to live in the state for two years before obtaining a license to sell alcohol. But 35 states, including Indiana, and the District of Columbia, are urging the court to uphold the two-year residency requirement.

U.S. Supreme Court again relists Indiana’s abortion petition

January 16, 2019

For the third time, the Supreme Court of the United States has distributed Indiana’s controversial abortion law for conference. The justices are now scheduled to review Indiana’s petition for writ of certiorari Friday.

State, community group urge SCOTUS to reject Lake Michigan access case

January 15, 2019

The state of Indiana and a community group favoring public access to the shore of Lake Michigan have filed briefs urging the Supreme Court of the United States to reject an appeal that could partly privatize the state’s 45 miles of Great Lakes beaches. Briefs filed Friday urge the high court to affirm the Indiana Supreme Court ruling that found the public has a right to walk along the shore of Lake Michigan from the water’s edge to the ordinary high water mark.

Sell here, live here: SCOTUS reviews liquor retailer residency requirements

January 8, 2019

The requirement that alcohol permit holders live in the state where they do business is based on the simple notion that neighbors care more about the well-being of their communities than out-of-towners do. But a Tennessee case challenging that notion in the U.S. Supreme Court could spill over on similar Indiana laws.

Indiana’s abortion petition relisted at U.S. Supreme Court

January 7, 2019

Indiana’s petition for a review of its 2016 abortion law is still pending at the Supreme Court of the United States after the justices relisted the Hoosier state’s writ of certiorari for this Friday’s conference. The state is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of a law that limits when a woman may terminate her pregnancy and mandates how fetal remains should be handled.

High court to take new look at partisan electoral districts

January 7, 2019

The Supreme Court is plunging back into the issue of whether electoral districts can be too partisan. Disputes have arisen in cases involving North Carolina’s heavily Republican congressional map and a Democratic congressional district in Maryland, and the justices said Friday they will hear arguments in March.

Appeals court sides with Trump in transgender military case

January 4, 2019

A federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration Friday in a case about the Pentagon’s effort to restrict military service by transgender people, but the ruling won’t change who can serve or enlist at this point.

Low-key days at Supreme Court may be ending soon

January 4, 2019

The Supreme Court began its term with the tumultuous confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, followed by a studied avoidance of drama on the high court bench — especially anything that would divide the five conservatives and four liberals. But when they gather in private on Friday to consider new cases for arguments in April and into next term, the justices will confront a raft of high-profile appeals.

Roberts’ year-end report focuses on sexual harassment in judiciary

January 3, 2019

Following the year of the #MeToo movement and the retirement of a former 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals judge accused of sexual harassment, Chief Justice John G. Roberts pushed in his most recent end-of-the-year report that more can be done to encourage judicial employees to report misconduct.

SCOTUS to consider Indiana abortion, juvenile life cases in conference

December 27, 2018

Two cases from Indiana, including the controversial fetal remains disposal law, will be on the agenda when the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court meet for their next conference on Jan. 4, 2019.

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