Women in South Texas facing a 200-mile drive for access to legal abortions learned Wednesday that a local clinic shuttered by a sweeping anti-abortion law would reopen, marking the first tangible effect of a court ruling last week that blocked key parts of the state law.
Whole Woman's Health clinic in McAllen, a city near the Mexico border, closed in March after its doctors said they couldn't obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals as the state now requires. But a federal judge ruled Friday that the law created unconstitutional barriers to abortions in South Texas, and the clinic is now set to reopen later this week, chief executive Amy Hagstrom Miller said.
Questions are now also being raised about whether the ruling had other broader ramifications than first thought.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel made two key rulings in Friday's 21-page decision. He struck down a mandate that required all abortion clinics in Texas to adopt costly hospital-level operating standards and exempted clinics in McAllen and El Paso from an already upheld requirement that doctors who perform abortions obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
A four-day trial last month narrowly focused on the El Paso and McAllen areas because clinics there serve regions where access to abortions would otherwise be particularly difficult. But language Yeakel included in a separate final judgment has left some questioning whether his order — inadvertently or not — banned the admitting-privileges law at all Texas abortion clinics.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Court: US can withhold Guantanamo detainee images
The U.S. government can withhold photographs and videotapes of a Guantanamo Bay detainee identified as the would-be 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan agreed with the government that images of Mohammed al-Qahtani, if made public, "could logically and plausibly be used by anti-American extremists as propaganda to recruit members and incite violence against American interests at home and abroad."
Authorities have said al-Qahtani narrowly missed being one of the hijackers when he was denied entry into the U.S. at an Orlando, Florida, airport a month before the attacks. He was captured by Pakistani forces in December 2001 and taken to Guantanamo, where he remains.
The Center for Constitutional Rights sued the departments of Defense and Justice and the CIA in 2012, saying the release of videotapes and photographs of his interrogation and confinement would serve the public interest. The group has accused FBI and military personnel of subjecting al-Qahtani to isolation and aggressive interrogation techniques in 2002, including the use of a snarling dog, stripping him naked in the presence of a woman and repeatedly pouring water on his head.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan agreed with the government that images of Mohammed al-Qahtani, if made public, "could logically and plausibly be used by anti-American extremists as propaganda to recruit members and incite violence against American interests at home and abroad."
Authorities have said al-Qahtani narrowly missed being one of the hijackers when he was denied entry into the U.S. at an Orlando, Florida, airport a month before the attacks. He was captured by Pakistani forces in December 2001 and taken to Guantanamo, where he remains.
The Center for Constitutional Rights sued the departments of Defense and Justice and the CIA in 2012, saying the release of videotapes and photographs of his interrogation and confinement would serve the public interest. The group has accused FBI and military personnel of subjecting al-Qahtani to isolation and aggressive interrogation techniques in 2002, including the use of a snarling dog, stripping him naked in the presence of a woman and repeatedly pouring water on his head.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
California high court tosses death penalty
The California Supreme Court has tossed out the murder conviction and death penalty sentence of a Riverside County man because of juror misconduct.
The high court ruled Monday that Fred Lewis Weatherton didn't receive a fair trial in 2002 because one of the jurors decided and discussed the case before the start of deliberations. The court said Weatherton is entitled to a new trial.
Weatherton was convicted of shooting to death two neighbors during a 1998 robbery in Indio. A third neighbor who was seriously wounded identified Weatherton as the shooter. Investigators also matched footprints at the scene to shoes Weatherton was wearing when he was arrested shortly after the incident.
The Riverside County District Attorney's office said it hasn't decided how it will proceed.
The high court ruled Monday that Fred Lewis Weatherton didn't receive a fair trial in 2002 because one of the jurors decided and discussed the case before the start of deliberations. The court said Weatherton is entitled to a new trial.
Weatherton was convicted of shooting to death two neighbors during a 1998 robbery in Indio. A third neighbor who was seriously wounded identified Weatherton as the shooter. Investigators also matched footprints at the scene to shoes Weatherton was wearing when he was arrested shortly after the incident.
The Riverside County District Attorney's office said it hasn't decided how it will proceed.
South Carolina Episcopalians take fight to court
About 50 conservative Episcopal churches in South Carolina are in court this week, trying to keep their name, seal and $500 million in land and buildings after they broke away from the national denomination in a wide-ranging theological dispute.
The breakaway group, the Diocese of South Carolina, said it had to leave the national church not just because of the ordination of gays, but a series of decisions it says show national Episcopalians have lost their way in the teachings of Jesus and salvation.
The national church argues the split wasn't properly made, and it is fighting for the 20 or so churches in South Carolina staying under its umbrella.
Property disputes in the Episcopal Church and other Protestant churches have been going on for decades and end with varying results.
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a dispute between the Episcopal Church and a conservative northern Virginia congregation that left the denomination in a rift over homosexuality and other issues. The court left in place a judge's decision siding with the national church, ending a seven-year fight over a church that traces its roots back to George Washington.
The breakaway group, the Diocese of South Carolina, said it had to leave the national church not just because of the ordination of gays, but a series of decisions it says show national Episcopalians have lost their way in the teachings of Jesus and salvation.
The national church argues the split wasn't properly made, and it is fighting for the 20 or so churches in South Carolina staying under its umbrella.
Property disputes in the Episcopal Church and other Protestant churches have been going on for decades and end with varying results.
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a dispute between the Episcopal Church and a conservative northern Virginia congregation that left the denomination in a rift over homosexuality and other issues. The court left in place a judge's decision siding with the national church, ending a seven-year fight over a church that traces its roots back to George Washington.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Suspect sought for death penalty appears in court
The suspect accused of kidnapping and killing a 15-year-old girl in Northern California has appeared in court for the first time since prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against him.
KTVU-TV reports that Antolin Garcia-Torres made a brief appearance in a Santa Clara County courtroom in San Jose on Friday.
It was the his first time since District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced he was seeking capital punishment against Garcia-Torres in the disappearance of Sierra LaMar.
Garcia-Torres is accused of killing the Morgan Hill girl who vanished while on her way to school in March 2012. He was arrested two months later, after authorities say they found Sierra's DNA in his car and his DNA in her handbag.
KTVU-TV reports that Antolin Garcia-Torres made a brief appearance in a Santa Clara County courtroom in San Jose on Friday.
It was the his first time since District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced he was seeking capital punishment against Garcia-Torres in the disappearance of Sierra LaMar.
Garcia-Torres is accused of killing the Morgan Hill girl who vanished while on her way to school in March 2012. He was arrested two months later, after authorities say they found Sierra's DNA in his car and his DNA in her handbag.
Turkish court orders arrest of Israeli commanders
A Turkish court on Monday ordered the arrests of four former Israeli military commanders being tried in absentia over the killing of nine people aboard a Turkish aid ship that tried to break a Gaza blockade in 2010, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.
The court in Istanbul ruled that authorities must seek an international warrant for Israel's former military chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and three other former commanders, the Anadolu Agency reported. Trial was then adjourned until Dec. 9.
Turkish prosecutors are seeking life in prison for the officers. It was unlikely however, that Israel would ever extradite the four to Turkey.
The court's decision, meanwhile, comes despite signs that Turkey and Israel could be close to ending a four-year rift over the deaths.
Turkish officials have said that the two countries are close to sealing a reconciliation pact, while in March, Israel agreed to ease its blockade to allow building materials into the Gaza Strip for the construction of a Turkish hospital.
The reconciliation deal would lead to compensation for the families of the victims and for court cases against Israel over the raid to be dropped.
The court in Istanbul ruled that authorities must seek an international warrant for Israel's former military chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and three other former commanders, the Anadolu Agency reported. Trial was then adjourned until Dec. 9.
Turkish prosecutors are seeking life in prison for the officers. It was unlikely however, that Israel would ever extradite the four to Turkey.
The court's decision, meanwhile, comes despite signs that Turkey and Israel could be close to ending a four-year rift over the deaths.
Turkish officials have said that the two countries are close to sealing a reconciliation pact, while in March, Israel agreed to ease its blockade to allow building materials into the Gaza Strip for the construction of a Turkish hospital.
The reconciliation deal would lead to compensation for the families of the victims and for court cases against Israel over the raid to be dropped.
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