Word: briefing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...rulings. Last week Meese's agency took aim at a favorite target of President Reagan and many of his conservative supporters: the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case, which struck down most legal restrictions on abortion. The Justice Department filed a 30-page amicus curiae brief asking the court to reverse its 7-to-2 decision. "The basis for Roe vs. Wade, " states the brief, "is so far flawed and is such a source of instability in the law that this court should reconsider that decision and on reconsideration abandon...
...friend-of-the-court brief is directed toward two cases to be heard when the court reconvenes this fall. In each case, federal appeals courts had struck down state laws that regulated abortion and imposed constraints on both women and doctors who were contemplating the procedure. The Administration brief holds that states do have the right to control abortion, a persistent contention of right to-lifers, and that there is no explicit constitutional right to abortion...
Critics of the Administration questioned the timing of the action, pointing out that the composition of the court has not changed since 1983, when it handed down three decisions reaffirming Roe. The National Abortion Rights Action League called the filing of the brief "a blatantly political and unprincipled move...
Right-to-life organizations responded to the filing of the new brief with cautious approval. It is a "small but important step," said Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee. Anti-abortion Evangelist Jerry Falwell was more specific: "I feel this is all the Administration can do until a new court is in place. Hopefully there will be two or more court replacements during the next 3½ years...
Nixon's office is much hotter now; the air conditioning is missed. Outside, an early Fourth of July celebrator has set off a brief volley of Chinese firecrackers. By nightfall the East River will be ablaze with rockets...