Federal judge blocks Florida law defunding Planned Parenthood News
Federal judge blocks Florida law defunding Planned Parenthood

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida [official website] on Thursday permanently blocked [order, PDF] portions of a Florida law that would stop funding to Planned Parenthood [advocacy website] following Governor Rick Scott’s decision to not pursue further legal action. The judge, Robert Hinkle, had previously enjoined the law [JURIST report] on June 30, and held the law harmed Planned Parenthood “based not on any objection to how the funds are being spent…but solely because the recipients of the funds choose to provide abortions separate and apart from any funding.” The proposed law would have prevented any organization that provides abortions from receiving state or local funding, resulting in a loss of $500,000 according to Planned Parenthood officials. Scott and his lawyers could still potentially appeal the decision.

Abortion in general continues to be a highly controversial subject in the US. A federal court judge in Ohio blocked [JURIST report] similar legislation earlier this month. Last month the Alaska Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the state’s parental “notification law” requiring doctors to inform the parents of minors seeking an abortion is unconstitutional, and cannot be enforced. Also in July a federal judge placed an injunction [JURIST report] on an Indiana law that would have banned women from seeking abortion procedures when they are based on race, sex, or the potential for or actual diagnosis of a disability in the fetus. Recently the US Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] that a Texas law [HB2 text] imposing certain requirements on abortion clinics and doctors creates an undue burden on access to abortion, and is therefore unconstitutional [JURIST report]. A collection of Texas abortion providers challenged provisions of HB2 requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and requiring abortion clinics to conform to state standards for ambulatory surgical centers on the grounds that such requirements violated the Fourteenth Amendment as interpreted by the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey [text]. The Indiana statute contained a similar “admitting privilege” provision.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.