Supreme Court lets decision blocking North Carolina abortion ultrasound law stand News
Supreme Court lets decision blocking North Carolina abortion ultrasound law stand

The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday denied certiorari [order list, PDF] in Walker-McGill v. Stuart [docket; cert. petition, PDF], letting stand a decision blocking North Carolina’s abortion ultrasound requirement. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] in December affirmed [JURIST report] a lower court decision that the Woman’s Right to Know Act [text, PDF], which required physicians to display and describe ultrasound images to women seeking abortions, is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment [text]. The state, which passed the law over a veto by then-governor Beverly Perdue, appealed to the US Supreme Court. The court declined to hear the appeal Monday, meaning the law will not be enforced. Justice Antonin Scalia dissented without comment.

Monday’s denial comes in the wake of a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] upholding [JURIST report] some of the strictest parts of a Texas abortion law, which could cause the majority of the state’s abortion clinics to close, leaving only seven open. The decision allows the state to require abortion clinics to satisfy hospital-level operating standards, which include minimum room size and staffing levels. Unless the Supreme Court blocks the decision, Texas could begin to enforce the restrictions in roughly two weeks.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Nuremberg race laws went into effect in Nazi Germany

On September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany became effective, racially defining German citizenship and making Jews outcasts. The Reich Health Office issued the following chart in 1936 to assist in ascertaining the "admissibility of marriage between Aryans and non-Aryans." White circles represented on the chart are "pure Germans" while the circles with black indicate the proportion of Jewish heritage. Review the Nuremberg Laws on Citizenship, German Blood and German Honor, and Hereditary Health.

KKK bombs Alabama Church

On September 15, 1963, members of the Klu Klux Klan bombed a predominantly African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. The blast at the 16th Street Baptist Church killed four young girls and injured twenty other people. Despite an investigation by the FBI, no one was charged with responsibility for the crime until Robert Chambliss was convicted of murder in 1977. His accomplices, Thomas Blaton, Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry, were not tried and convicted until about twenty-five years later. Learn more about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the trials of Blanton and Cherry from NPR.

Nuremberg Laws went into effect in Nazi Germany

On September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany became effective, racially defining German citizenship and making Jews outcasts. The Reich Health Office issued the following chart in 1936 to assist in ascertaining the "admissibility of marriage between Aryans and non-Aryans": white circles represent on the chart are "pure Germans", while the circles with black indicate the proportion of Jewish blood.

Review the Laws for Protection of the German Race on Citizenship, German Blood and German Honor, and Hereditary Health.