U.S. Supreme Court Sends Back Ohio Redistricting Case

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s highest court must reconsider the congressional districting of the state that the Ohio Supreme Court previously ruled unlawful.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a summary judgment, a decision made without listening to oral arguments, reversing the Ohio Supreme Court’s judgment from last July that the congressional districting process unfairly favored the Republican Party.

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Commentary: New Hampshire U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s Very Un-American Fourth of July

by Michael Graham   If you’re at one of the many Fourth of July celebrations across New Hampshire this week and happen to spot Congresswoman Annie Kuster in the crowd, please loan her your copy of the Declaration of Independence. In particular, this part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Kuster does not concur. Instead, Kuster declared on the eve of Independence Day weekend that she believes some people are more equal than others. Kuster made the statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling that racial preferences violate the “all men are created equal” principles of the Constitution. Rather than celebrate equal treatment, Kuster attacked the Court and defended the race-based policies Harvard and the University of North Carolina used to reject qualified applicants based on their skin color. In particular, Kuster supports the policy of turning away qualified Asian students in the name of “diversity.” Why does Annie Kuster support anti-Asian discrimination? You’ll have to ask her. (Kuster will not respond to questions on the topic from NHJournal.) It’s…

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Constitutional Experts Welcome Supreme Court’s Takedown of Affirmative Action but Warn of Universities’ Attempts at ‘Workarounds’

Many of those who are applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday that struck down affirmative action are also warning that universities that have been steeped for decades in “equity” and “diversity” ideology are not likely to go quietly.

“My elation regarding the opinion’s vindication of the rule of law and  rejection of racial discrimination is tempered somewhat by the fact that the Left began preparing for this result a couple of years ago by abandoning objective admissions measures such as the SAT, etc., Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said in comments to The Star News Network following the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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Christian Organizations Celebrate Supreme Court’s Ruling Against Forcing Web Designer to Work for Same-Sex Weddings

Christian groups applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that held “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.”

Organizations, including the Catholic League, Family Research Council, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, submitted friend of the court (amici) briefs in support of 303 Creative, the custom website design business owned by Lorie Smith.

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Biden Education Secretary Claims Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling ‘Takes Our Country Decades Backward’

Secretary of the U.S. Education Department Miguel Cardona reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the use of race in weighing college admissions with the claim the ruling “takes our country decades backward” because such discrimination based on the color of skin has served as “a vital tool that colleges have used to create vibrant, diverse campus communities.”

Cardona said in a press statement the Court’s 6-3 ruling Thursday in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College is “yet another blow to the fight for equal opportunity.”

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Commentary: The Democrat-Funded ProPublica ‘Investigations’ into Conservative SCOTUS Justices Is Retribution for Overturning Roe

ProPublica launched a partisan “investigation,” this time targeting another conservative U.S. Supreme Court member.

As if on cue, mainstream media outlets jumped on the bandwagon, relishing in the prospect of free content for their publications — content that undermines conservative jurists, and conservative lawmakers by association. This is purely political payback for the Dobbs decision of 2022.

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Lawsuit Against Virginia Tech Bias Response Team May Land Before Supreme Court

A recent federal court ruling siding with Virginia Tech’s bias response team has prompted center-right watchdogs to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case to protect free speech in higher education.

The controversy centers on a 2021 complaint from Speech First, a nonprofit committed to safeguarding freedom of speech on college campuses, which argued Virginia Tech’s Bias Intervention and Response Team policies and procedures infringe on students’ ability to speak freely about controversial issues.

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Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Administration Sued for Discrimination Against Catholic Schools

St. Dominic Academy in Auburn, Maine filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the administration of Gov. Janet Mills (D) and the Maine Human Rights Commission that alleges the state has continued to “outmaneuver” the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Carson v. Makin by excluding religious schools from its longstanding program whereby students residing in districts without a public school are given the opportunity to attend the public or private school of their family’s choosing.

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18 State Attorney Generals Sign on to Brief in Support of Overturning Preliminary Injunction on Ohio’s Heartbeat Act

Eighteen state attorney generals have signed onto a brief filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost trying to overturn a lower court’s preliminary injunction on the state’s Heartbeat Act which blocks the majority of abortions once a fetal heartbeat is found.

Yost filed the 20-page brief on Monday at the Ohio Supreme Court saying that the high court should dismiss the preliminary injunction on enforcing the state’s Heartbeat Act because the plaintiffs are clinics and not patients.

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Ohio Supreme Court Accepts Attorney General Yost’s Appeal in ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban Case, Won’t Rule on Constitutional Question

The Ohio Supreme Court has formally accepted an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a case involving the state’s six-week abortion ban.

The court announced on Tuesday morning that it will only consider two of the three legal issues Yost asked the court to consider: whether he has the right to appeal a lower court’s decision to put the heartbeat law on hold and whether abortion clinics have “standing” or the legal authority to challenge the law in the first place.

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Retired Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor to Spearhead Ohio Redistricting Reform in 2024

According to former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor , a group seeking to overhaul Ohio’s redistricting procedure plans to put a constitutional amendment before voters in November 2024.

Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected maps produced by Ohio’s Redistricting Commission on numerous occasions. O’Connor sided with the Democrats in redistricting lawsuits despite the GOP holding a one-seat majority.

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Minnesota Democrats Celebrate New Law Enshrining Abortion at Anytime During Pregnancy

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) signed legislation Tuesday that has been condemned by the pro-life community as the most extreme abortion measure in the nation, one that creates a “fundamental right” to abortion at any time during pregnancy, and denies parents the right to know if their minor daughter undergoes an abortion.

Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act to enshrine in state statute a “fundamental right” to abortion, without any restrictions, and to contraception, sterilization, fertility treatment.

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Ohio City’s Sanctuary City for the Unborn Goes into Effect After Abortion Activists Drop Lawsuit

After pro-abortion groups decided to abandon their lawsuit, the city of Lebanon, Ohio may start implementing its Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance once more.

In May of 2021, Lebanon, Ohio became the first in the state to enact a measure outlawing abortion and declaring itself “a sanctuary city for the unborn.” According to the Sanctuary City for the Unborn website, more than 60 other cities across the U.S. have passed similar ordinances.

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Supreme Court Agrees with Republican States Led by Arizona AG Brnovich, Keeps Title 42 Border Restrictions in Place

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s lawsuit that keeps Title 42 restrictions in place until the justices hear a challenge in February. Brnovich led a coalition of 21 Republican states in trying to keep the Trump-era rule in place.

Title 42, named in reference to a 1944 public health law, is a policy implemented under the Trump administration in 2020 which allows immigration officials to turn illegal immigrants back at the border due to COVID-19. In the interests of public health, they are not allowed to apply for asylum. Multiple efforts have been made to halt it but have faced stiff opposition from proponents like Brnovich.  

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Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany on His Border Security Bill

Title 42 remains in place — at least for now.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week temporarily blocked the lifting of the Trump-era rule that provided at least some check on the Biden administration’s failure to secure the U.S. southern border. Put in place in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, the rule curtails general asylum for illegal immigrants, quickly expelling them to stop the spread of COVID-19.

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Toledo Catholic Diocese Speaks Out Against City Council Proposal to Use Federal Relief Money to Transport Women Out of State to Have Abortions

The Toledo Diocese took a stand against a proposed Toledo city ordinance that would provide funds to transport women seeking abortions out of state.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilmembers Nick Komives, Theresa Gadus, and Michele Grim, calls for the appropriation of $100,000 from the COVID relief money provided to the city through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) taxpayer dollars intended to address the public health and negative economic impacts of COVID-19.

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Religious Liberty Christian Group: Same-Sex Marriage Bill Will ‘Create Perfect Scenario’ for Supreme Court to Overturn Obergefell Ruling

President Joe Biden signed the Democrats’ same-sex marriage bill amid fanfare and celebration, but an attorney-led Christian ministry that says it won nearly 50 cases defending marriage as between one man and one woman before the Obergefell decision asserts the passage of the legislation can now “actually create the perfect scenario to overturn” the Supreme Court’s 2015 5-4 ruling.

Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) Tuesday.

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Toledo City Council Proposes Use of Federal Relief Money to Transport Women Out of State to Have Abortions

The Toledo City Council plans to consider a resolution to co-opt COVID relief funds to transport women out of the state to have abortions.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilmembers Nick Komives, Theresa Gadus, and Michele Grim, calls for the appropriation of $100,000 from the COVID relief money provided to the city through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) taxpayer dollars intended to address the public health and negative economic impacts of COVID-19.

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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Colorado Case Pitting Speech Rights Against Minority Groups’ Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments starting next week in what could be a landmark case centered on a Colorado small business owner’s free speech rights.

Lorie Smith, owner of graphic design company 303 Creative in Littleton, Colo., is challenging the state’s public-accommodation law, which she argues is compelling her speech. Smith wishes to create wedding websites only for straight couples, citing her religious beliefs.

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Pending SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling Could Affect Virginia College Admissions

As the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule on the constitutionality of certain affirmative action policies in college and university admissions, a change to current precedent could affect admissions in Virginia.

Current Supreme Court precedent allows higher education institutions to give some weight to an applicant’s race, but that consideration cannot be the determinative factor in the student’s admission or non-admission. Although the commonwealth’s colleges and universities abide by this standard, many analysts expect that the Court, which now has a 6-3 conservative majority, could overturn or scale back that affirmative action precedent.

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Before FBI Seized Privileged Trump Memos, DOJ Filter Teams Already Tainted by Legal Controversy

The Justice Department’s admission Monday it improperly collected attorney-client privileged documents during a court-ordered search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate was quickly followed by assurances it was no big deal because the department has a process to segregate privileged material.

But that process — known as filter teams or “taint” teams — has itself been tainted by a string of recent legal controversies over the seizure of attorney-client privilege protected materials in other cases.

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Judge Declines Request to Block Georgia’s Fetal Heartbeat Law That Bans Some Abortions

A Fulton County Superior Court judge declined a request to block Georgia’s fetal heartbeat law that bans most abortions after six weeks.

Georgia lawmakers passed House Bill 481, the Living Infants Fairness Equality Act, in 2019. However, a federal judge initially blocked the law, commonly called the “Heartbeat Bill,” because the U.S. Supreme Court had previously upheld the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

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Democrats Ask SCOTUS to Allow Harvard to Continue Race-Based Admissions

The chairman of a top House education committee along with 64 Democrats are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to maintain “race-conscious admission policies” at Harvard University and University of North Carolina, according to a brief.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), a non-profit that fights race-based policies, petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to overturn Grutter v. Bollinger, a ruling that kept race-conscious admissions polices in place at higher education institutions. U.S. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott of Virginia filed an amicus brief asking SCOTUS to uphold affirmative action and dismiss the cases next term.

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Sixth Circuit Court Grants Restraining Order Against Michigan Abortion Law

The Oakland County 6th Circuit Court late Monday issued a temporary restraining order against the Michigan Court of Appeals’ ruling earlier the same day allowing county prosecutors to enforce Michigan’s 1931 abortion law.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested the emergency ex parte restraining order after the Court of Appeals decision, which was rendered after the state’s 1931 law banning abortion was triggered after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling in June.

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OB/GYN Dr. Christina Francis: ‘Abortion Supporters Have No Scientific Evidence’ to Back Up Their Position

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, the abortion industry and its allies in the media and the medical field “are having to defend their actual position” regarding their claim that women are in danger as a result of the ruling, but “have no scientific evidence to back it up,” leaving them to “rely on spreading” lies, OB/GYN Dr. Christina Francis told The Star News Network in an interview Thursday.

Francis, a board member and CEO-elect of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), testified Tuesday before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce in a Democrat-led hearing titled “Roe Reversal: The Impacts of Taking Away the Constitutional Right to an Abortion.”

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Court Rules Georgia Heartbeat Law May Take Effect

A three-judge panel of a federal appeals court ruled unanimously Wednesday that Georgia’s 2019 Heartbeat law that bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected may take effect.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled the Georgia law (HB 481), known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act may proceed to take effect after a federal judge blocked it in a decision that found the law violated the right to abortion created by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

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Telemundo: Alleged Rapist of 10-Year-Old Confirmed to Be in ‘Domestic Relationship’ with Victim’s Mother

Telemundo confirmed Friday the alleged rapist of a 10-year-old girl who underwent an abortion is in a “domestic relationship” with the victim’s mother who reportedly is also pregnant with his child.

“It is, in fact, a domestic relationship – and there are additional children in the household,” said Jorge Bonilla, director of Media Research Center (MRC) Latino. “Horrendous.”

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Liberal Group Offers Cash Payouts to Workers Who Identify Locations of Conservative SCOTUS Justices

As the political fallout over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade continues, a hard-left activist group is offering cash payouts to D.C.-area workers who inform on the locations of conservative Supreme Court justices.

ShutDownDC issued the lucrative offer in a tweet last week, offering big payouts to “DC Service Industry Workers” who inform the group on the whereabouts of the justices.

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Biden Attempts to Undermine Supreme Court by Imposing Full Access to Abortion Nationwide With Executive Order

Joe Biden attempted to undermine the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision two weeks ago in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization by signing an executive order Friday that seeks to impose abortion on demand on the nation.

Pressed by radical pro-abortion leftists still reeling after the Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the White House has produced a “fact sheet” about the executive order it claims will “protect access to reproductive health care services” until Congress enshrines the tenets of Roe into federal law.

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National Education Association President: ‘Radicalized Supreme Court Issuing Decisions That Do Not Reflect Views or Values of America’

The president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union told union delegates at the start of the Representative Assembly (RA) Sunday that 2016 was the year of a “fateful election,” one that made clear the U.S. Supreme Court would become “radicalized.”

In her keynote address Sunday in Chicago, National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle targeted former President Donald Trump for his choices in appointing Supreme Court justices.

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Republicans Point at Local and Federal Law Enforcement After Supreme Court Marshall Asks Youngkin to Respond to Protests at Justices’ Homes

The U.S. Supreme Court marshall has asked Governor Glenn Youngkin to enforce state law in response to protesters outside justices homes, according to ABC News but Youngkin’s office placed the main responsibility on local authorities in statements to the media.

In a new statement Tuesday, Youngkin spokesperson Christian Martinez said, “Governor Youngkin has condemned picketing at the homes of the Supreme Court Justices. At the direction of the Governor, Virginia State Police have been at the ready and in constant coordination in the protest response which is led by the local primary authorities, the Fairfax County Police Department. The Governor remains in regular contact with the justices themselves and holds their safety as an utmost priority. Governor Youngkin will continue to push for every resource of federal law enforcement, including the U.S. Marshalls, to be involved while the Justices continue to be denied the right to live peacefully in their homes.”

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Commentary: Attacks on Pregnancy Centers Are More than Mere Protests

There is great irony in the violence directed against pregnancy centers since the leak and then official release of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision. Reports of vandalism and destruction include graffiti such as “if abortions aren’t safe neither are you” and firebombing.

Pregnancy centers across America offer many services to women and men, their unborn children, and children post-birth—including pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease testing, ultrasounds, counseling, diapers, clothing, medical referrals for healthcare or community resources, and parenting classes. These services are provided free and funded by donations. 

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Ohio Supreme Court Allows Heartbeat Law to Remain in Effect, Denies Abortion Providers’ Request to Allow Procedure to Continue

The Ohio law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, generally at six weeks’ gestation, will remain in effect while a lawsuit filed by abortion providers continues against it.

The law took effect after the state Supreme Court denied a request by abortion providers for an emergency stay on the legislation to allow abortions to continue while the lawsuit proceeds.

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Minnesota Companies to Cover Travel Expenses for Abortions

Some Minnesota businesses are joining a growing list of companies offering travel benefits to employees who want to terminate their unborn babies. This new policy comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Target Corporation 

According to multiple sources, Target Corporation will expand its existing health care travel reimbursement policy to include costs for “reproductive services” for employees in states that ban abortion. Benefits are expected to begin this month.

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Manchin, Sinema Defy Biden on Removing Filibuster for Abortion Law as Republicans Rally Opposition

U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., both told news outlets Thursday they would not go along with President Joe Biden’s request that Congress remove the Senate filibuster to “codify Roe v. Wade.”

At a news conference in Spain Thursday during Biden’s last day of an overseas trip, Biden called on Congress to codify abortion protections in response to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, but before his plane landed in the U.S. later that day, the two Democratic senators had already stopped his plan dead in its tracks.

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Commentary: A Win over Green Tyranny

The left-wing assault on American energy was just dealt a swift defeat by the United States Supreme Court. And President Donald Trump’s confirmations to the bench paved the way for it to happen. 

Never in my life would I think that gas prices would rise so steeply in such a short period of time that stations would run out of space on the pump screen to display the price. But the Biden Administration’s assault on American energy is simply unprecedented. They will try to pass the blame, but the American people know what’s happening. Green New Deal advocates are pushing for a great energy reset in America, and they don’t care how much it hurts you. 

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Senator Blackburn Celebrates Roe Reversal, Looks to Shifts in State Laws to Limit Abortion

In an interview with The Tennessee Star, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn shared her jubilance at the victory won by pro-life advocates when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, what happens now in the wake of that decision, and what remains to be done at the federal level.

“First of all the overturning of Roe, setting that aside, is something that is a victory for all the pro-life volunteers that have worked tirelessly for decades. They have worked to create a culture of life. They have worked to educate people,” she said. 

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HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Laughs While Suggesting American Taxpayers Could Foot the Bill for Transporting Women to Pro-Abortion States

Biden Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra laughed Monday as he suggested his agency is considering using taxpayer funds to transport women to pro-abortion states so they can end the lives of their unborn babies.

During an interview with NBC News following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the issue of abortion to the states, Kate Snow asked Becerra, “What are you doing concretely in response to the Court’s decision, to try to help women?”

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MSNBC Contributor Slams Democrats as ‘Too Weak’ to Handle SCOTUS Fallout

A MSNBC contributor told “ReidOut” host Joy Reid Monday night that Democrats were “too weak” to attack Republicans over Supreme Court rulings on abortion and guns.

“Of course Democrats will be to too weak to handle this,” Jason Johnson, a political scientist and professor at Morgan State University, told Reid. “Here’s the thing, Joy, I have one slight disagreement here. I don’t think the Democrats need to convince the American people that this is a theocratic power grab. They need to convince their own party.”

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Arizona ACLU Sues to Block ‘Personhood’ Abortion Law After Roe Is Overturned

The Arizona affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a motion Saturday that seeks to block the state’s “personhood” law which, they argue, could make all abortions illegal in the state.

The abortion rights groups filed an emergency motion one day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, returning decisions about abortion to the states.

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U.S. Supreme Court Upholds First Amendment Rights of Praying Football Coach

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 opinion the expressions of a high school football coach who prayed by himself at midfield after games are protected by both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District that coach Joseph Kennedy was fired “because he knelt at midfield after games to offer a quiet prayer of thanks.”

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