Monday, January 20, 2014

3 Court rulings on Abortion Rights, Voter ID, and a Murderer's right to have a Sex Change Operation in Prison

Judge declares North Carolina abortion ultrasound law illegal:
A North Carolina law requiring women who want an abortion to have an ultrasound and then have a medical provider describe the image to them is a violation of constitutional free-speech rights, a federal judge ruled Friday. 
U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles ruled that states don't have the power to force a health care provider to be the bearer of what she called an "ideological message in favor of carrying a pregnancy to term." 
Eagles, who was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama, had put the law on hold a few months after the Republican-led state legislature passed it in 2011.
Read the rest HERE.

Judge strikes down photo ID requirement for Pennsylvania voters:
A Pennsylvania judge on Friday struck down a requirement that nearly all of the state's 8.2 million voters show photo identification at the polls, saying it imposes an unreasonable burden on the right to vote and that officials failed to demonstrate the need for it. 
"Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," state Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. 
McGinley wrote in a decision that set the stage for a potential courtroom showdown before the state's highest court. McGinley, a Democrat, said the law is not constitutional because it does not require that a valid photo ID be convenient and available to voters.
Read the rest HERE.

Court affirms Mass. murderer's right to get sex change in prison:
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a judge's ruling granting a taxpayer-funded sex change operation for a transgender inmate serving a life sentence for a murder conviction, saying receiving medically necessary treatment is a constitutional right that must be protected "even if that treatment strikes some as odd or unorthodox." 
U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled in 2012 that the state Department of Correction must provide sex reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, who was born as Robert Kosilek and is serving a life sentence for the killing of his wife in 1990.
Read the rest HERE.

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