Power

Gavel Drop: Supreme Court Hears Contraception Fight, Again

Conservatives on the Supreme Court don't appear to understand insurance, contraception, or women's agency generally.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell. Lauryn Gutierrez / Rewire

Welcome to Gavel Drop, our roundup of legal news, headlines, and head-shaking moments in the courts.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in Zubik v. Burwell last week, the second direct challenge to the birth control benefit. Despite conservatives’ insistence that the case is about the Obama administration forcing nuns to pay for birth control, the American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees.

So do aid-in-dying advocates.

After facing a federal lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the city of Surprise, Arizona, has agreed to repeal a “nuisance law” that pressured landlords to evict tenants for two crimes occurring at their property at any time or for placing more than four calls to police in 30 days—even if the tenant is the victim of the crime, as in domestic violence situations.

A judge in Maine has let a lawsuit go forward against an abortion clinic protester. The lawsuit, filed by the state’s attorney general, alleges the protester violated the Maine Civil Rights Act by yelling so loudly during a protest that he “interfered with the delivery of health services.”

The Hill has this quick hit on the judicial record of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

A new group of reproductive rights and justice lawyers have teamed up to address the increasing epidemic of patients attempting to self-terminate a pregnancy and being criminalized for it.

The finances of the pressure group behind North Dakota’s failed Measure 1, which would have defined life as beginning at conception and effectively re-criminalized abortion, are under scrutiny now that its former leader is running for the state senate.

A federal court ruled that the gerrymandering around a prison in a Florida county was unconstitutional because it violated the “one person, one vote” principle of the 14th Amendment.

Kansas officials proposed offering up bribes to students for turning in classmates who “use the wrong bathroom.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Terkel notes that bathroom panic has always been part of the push back against equal rights.

Here’s what a Trump Supreme Court nominee would likely mean.

The ACLU sued the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, saying it refuses to provide reproductive health care to trafficking victims.

Federal courts are backlogged generally, but immigration courts are among the worst.

Two more Planned Parenthood affiliates joined the lawsuit against David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress.