Mark Joseph Stern
@mjs_DC

A new emergency application at the Supreme Court asks the justices to halt bans on assault weapons that Illinois and Naperville enacted after a shooter slaughtered seven people with an assault weapon in Highland Park on July 4. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23793879/22a948.pdf

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin says he won’t seek reelection next year, ending a nearly 60-year run in Maryland politics and creating a scramble to fill a rare vacancy in the closely-divided Senate.

“It’s time,” the 79-year-old Democrat told The Baltimore Sun in an interview at his Pikesville home in advance of his anticipated announcement Monday. “I always knew this election cycle would be the one I would be thinking about not running again, so it’s not something that hit me by surprise. I enjoy life. There are other things I can do.”

In his career, Cardin, whose third six-year Senate term ends in January 2025, has emphasized international human rights and assisting Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay.

ACLU
@ACLU
BREAKING: The ACLU of Montana is suing to challenge the censure of state representative Zooey Zephyr.

The efforts to silence her violate both her First Amendment rights and the rights of her constituents to representation in state government.

Mark Joseph Stern
@mjs_DC

Here is a link to the complaint! https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ZZ-Compl.-FINAL.pdf

Gillian Branstetter
@GBBranstetter

The complaint is joined by a TRO application which, if granted, will be immediately delivered to Montana House leadership. The state has already ignored a series of court warnings in our challenge to its ban on birth certificate changes for trans people.

aclu.org
Marquez v. State of Montana | American Civil Liberties Union

A district board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis passed a motion Monday during an emergency meeting to counter-sue Disney.

The lawsuit will be filed in central Florida, Martin Garcia, chairman of the board for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said. It was not immediately clear from Monday's meeting what the basis of the lawsuit would be.

Disney sued the governor and the board last week, alleging that DeSantis and his office have engaged in "a targeted campaign of government retaliation" against Disney that was "orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech."

"We have no choice now but to respond," Garcia said of the motion he put forward, which was supported by the five-member board. "We will seek justice in state court here in central Florida where both it and Disney do business. Yes, we'll seek justice in our own backyard."

The board-backed lawsuit stands in contrast to where Disney filed its lawsuit, in Tallahassee, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found.

The findings, revealed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, are a warning to hospitals around the country as they struggle to reconcile dozens of new state laws that ban or severely restrict abortion with a federal mandate for doctors to provide abortions when a woman's health is at risk. The competing edicts have been rolled out since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion last year.

But federal law, which requires doctors to treat patients in emergency situations, trumps those state laws, the nation's top health official said in a statement.

“Fortunately, this patient survived. But she never should have gone through the terrifying ordeal she experienced in the first place," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “We want her, and every patient out there like her, to know that we will do everything we can to protect their lives and health, and to investigate and enforce the law to the fullest extent of our legal authority, in accordance with orders from the courts.”

The Florida House approved a bill on Friday that would allow Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to remain as governor if he chooses to run for president in 2024, sending it to his for his signature.

The bill passed 76-34 on a party-line vote after passing the state Senate also along party lines on Wednesday, 28-12.

Florida election law states that anyone running for an office needs to step down from a position they hold once they are officially a candidate. If signed, the bill would create an exception that the law would not apply to officials running for president or vice president.

DeSantis has not formally announced if he is considering a run for the GOP nomination for president in 2024, but he is widely speculated to enter the race soon.

Supporters of the bill have said it is not designed for DeSantis and is only a clarification, while Democrats slammed it as a way to ensure DeSantis can remain as governor while running for president.

Apr. 27—DANVILLE — The Danville City Council's Public Services committee voted 3-1 Tuesday night in favor of an ordinance restricting the mailing, delivery and receiving of abortion medication/instruments in the city.

Several audience members, in a crowded city council chambers, clapped after the vote.

The full city council will act on the ordinance at its 6 p.m. May 2 meeting.

Questions remain regarding the legality of the ordinance and potential lawsuits. Aldermen Robert Williams, Ethan Burt and Eve Ludwig voted in favor of the ordinance, alderwoman Tricia Teague voted against it, alderman Rick Strebing abstained from voting and aldermen Sherry Pickering and Darren York were absent due to family matters.

The council heard 31 public comments including emotional audience comments for about an hour Tuesday night. Most people said they are "pro-life" and want to stop a clinic that will offer abortion services from opening on Logan Avenue in Danville.

The council heard from several pastors; persons being faced with abortion decisions; doctors on both sides of the abortion issue; and others.