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* South Carolina…
South Carolina’s new all-male Supreme Court reversed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a ban on most such procedures after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, who reached the state’s mandatory retirement age.
The 4-1 ruling departs from the court’s own decision months earlier striking down a similar ban that the Republican-led Legislature passed in 2021. The latest ban takes effect immediately.
Writing for the new majority, Justice John Kittredge acknowledged that the 2023 law also infringes on “a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy,” but said the state Legislature reasonably determined this time around that those interests don’t outweigh “the interest of the unborn child to live.”
* Florida…
The Florida State Board of Education is expected to vote Wednesday on new rules at state colleges for transgender employees and students that are intended to comply with a law, passed in May, restricting access to bathrooms.
According to the board’s proposal, colleges will be forced to fire employees who twice use a bathroom other than the one assigned to their sex at birth, despite being asked to leave.
The proposal also states that the bathroom restrictions apply to student housing operated by the colleges, meaning that transgender students living in dorms may be required to use only the bathrooms that align with their sex at birth.
The proposed new regulation shows that colleges, like K-12 schools, will be caught up in the new restrictions and the bureaucracy required to enforce them.
* More from Florida…
Parents of Black students in the fourth and fifth grades at Bunnell Elementary in Flagler County are upset, saying their children were targeted for underperforming on standardized tests.
Only Black students, whether low scoring or not, were called into an assembly Friday. […]
The students were presented with a PowerPoint the district shared with WESH 2. One page is called the problem: “(African Americans) have underperformed on standardized assessment for the last past three years… Only 32% are at Level 3 or higher.” […]
The parents say they were not told anything about the plan to single out students of color as though they and only they are what’s bringing the school down. The mother we spoke to on-camera says her daughter scored 4 and 5 on recent assessments.
“It became racial for me when they included and boxed all of the Black children together no matter if they were below average, average or above average,” the mother said.
* Tennessee…
Tennessee House subcommittee members had state troopers physically remove gun safety activists who quietly held signs from a hearing.
We bow down to this woman who - visibly shaking - said: “You will have to drag me out.”
Moms will win. pic.twitter.com/aJSKdwiVUk
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 22, 2023
The signs returned to the Tennessee statehouse after a judge blocked the House GOP rule…
People held signs without problems at the Tennessee Capitol complex Wednesday after a judge agreed to temporarily block a new rule advanced by House Republicans that had banned the public from doing so during floor and committee hearings.
The ruling came in a lawsuit that was filed after state troopers removed three people Tuesday who held small signs urging gun control at a hearing on the same statehouse grounds where Republicans also drew attention this year for expelling two young Black Democratic lawmakers for breaking procedural rules.
This week’s removals came at the order of a GOP subcommittee chair, who later instructed troopers to kick the rest of the public out of the committee room after deeming the crowd too unruly. That included grieving parents closely connected to a recent Nashville school shooting, who broke down in tears at the decision.
The emotional and chaotic scene irked both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, while others pointed out that although signs were banned, the public could still freely carry firearms inside the legislative office building. Signs were present during a House committee hearing Wednesday morning.
* Wisconsin…
After conservatives took over Wisconsin's Supreme Court in 2008, they adopted a recusal rule that didn't even require it in cases involving their own campaign donors, & they again rejected such a requirement in 2017 https://t.co/ldk4llTMmi
Now they're in the minority, & … https://t.co/63B2Yf4jum
— Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) August 23, 2023
* Missouri…
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association this month launched the latest volley in the battle over environmental, social and governance investment factors, filing a federal lawsuit over Missouri’s first-of-its-kind ESG securities rules.
The Show Me State’s new rules require advisors and broker-dealers to obtain written consent from customers to buy or sell an investment produced based on social or other non-financial objectives. The disclosure would require an acknowledgment that incorporating ESG considerations “will result” in investments and advice “that are not solely focused on maximizing a financial return for the client.”
SIFMA named Missouri Secretary of State John “Jay” Ashcroft, who has jurisdiction over the state’s securities, and Missouri Securities Commissioner Douglas Jacoby in the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of Western District of Missouri, Central Division.
* Georgia…
Georgia’s second-largest school district says that it has removed two books from 20 school libraries, saying the books had “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”
The announcement, sent in an electronic message to parents in some Cobb County schools on Monday, comes days after the Republican-majority school board voted 4-3 along party lines to fire a teacher for reading a book about gender identity to fifth-grade students.
Although not new, book removals have surged since 2020, part of a backlash to what kids read and discuss in public schools. Conservatives want to stop children from reading books with themes on sexuality, gender, race and religion that they find objectionable. PEN America, a group promoting freedom of expression, counted 4,000 instances of books banned nationwide from July 2021 to December 2022.
Cobb County, with 106,000 students, said Tuesday that 20 libraries had contained “Flamer” by Mike Curato or “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews, or both. “Flamer” is a graphic novel about a boy who is discovering he is gay and how he is treated at summer camp. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” contains some discussion of sex and a lot of profanity, but is mainly about two high school boys who befriend a girl dying of cancer. Both were among the most challenged books of 2022, according to a list published by the American Library Association.
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 8:23 am
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==Writing for the new majority, Justice John Kittredge acknowledged that the 2023 law also infringes on “a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy,” but said the state Legislature reasonably determined this time around that those interests don’t outweigh “the interest of the unborn child to live.”==
They can just say it all out loud now since Roe got overturned. Wonder what they’ll be emboldened to say out loud next.
Comment by Roadrager Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 8:31 am
A school district held an assembly and invited only the students of color? What did everyone else do during that assembly?
Lots of somebodies are about to get fired. That lawsuit is a slam dunk.
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 8:32 am
Nation wide, America’s political system has likely crossed the Rubicon & is beyond repair.
Comment by sal-says Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 8:32 am
Women are merely vessels to the rights of having pregnancies go to term.
Women have no rights to their bodies, decided by an all male Supreme Court.
Vote. Accordingly.
It can happen… anywhere.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 8:35 am
So, if I understand this correctly and I think I do… in Tennessee the legislature thinks paper is more dangerous than guns.
Autocrats are typically cowards and these people have it bad. I thought they were all about Freedoms and such?
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 8:46 am
= in Tennessee the legislature thinks paper is more dangerous than guns. =
As the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword.
Comment by JoanP Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:01 am
If I wasn’t so disgusted by the hate campaign against Trans people, I’d laugh at the snowflakes worried about their bathrooms being used by a Trans woman. I’d like to know how many women using the bathroom have seen another woman’s genitalia. The answer is none. So even if a Trans hasn’t fully transitioned, they are not going to whip out the unmentionable while not in a private stall.
I went in a lot of bathrooms helping my disabled wife and didn’t see anything other than women washing their hands.
Stop with this MAGA stupidity.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:07 am
Cruelty is the point.
Comment by Loyal Virus Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:13 am
==counted 4,000 instances of books banned nationwide from July 2021 to December 2022.==
That fact should absolutely disgust everyone. These are the same people that are shouting “parental rights” while at the same time trampling on my rights by telling me what is or isn’t appropriate for my kid to read. Disgraceful.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:28 am
It is called Federalism.
Different states are going to have different laws based upon their political cultures.
A few decades ago, there were Illinois municipalities that continued to ban alcohol forty years after the repeal of prohibition in 1933 because their locals wanted.
Comment by Gravitas Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:32 am
Still wondering how they plan on enforcing the bathroom laws. Who will do the checking? What training will they receive? Will they check everyone entering the bathroom, or just a random sample? Will they be allowed to check anyone that “appears different”? If someone is accused of being in the wrong bathroom, how do they prove they belong?
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:33 am
How far are red states going to go economically in the long run, when they are reduced to the fear and bigotry of the GOP base?Demographics are inexorably changing. Florida is reportedly losing more conventions. There are no GOP moderates to put a stop to their party doing this, and the long-term potential damage.
Billionaire right wing funders are sure getting what they wanted: a voting population steeped in its fear and bigotry and living on the cheap, with much less unionization, fewer job protections, no ACA expansion, against public health measures, disbelieving in climate damage, etc.
Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:38 am
===ban alcohol===
So you agree women should be banned from making a choice for themselves and their body, being required to be a vessel to a full term pregnancy?
I sincerely hope Republicans in competitive districts agree with you, and say that out loud, every chance they get.
Ban isn’t the word you want. Ban is the word Dems will gladly frame it.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:40 am
== A school district held an assembly and invited only the students of color? What did everyone else do during that assembly?
Lots of somebodies are about to get fired. That lawsuit is a slam dunk.==
It’s Florida, I’m sure those students of color learned some skills that could be applied for their personal benefit.
Comment by Henry Francis Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:41 am
===Different states are going to have different laws based upon their political cultures===
Gee, thanks so much for the mansplainin’!
We’re all very aware of the concept, thanks.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:47 am
It’s important to note that Republicans want to ban women their rights, but refuse to ban any type of guns that may be used, in some cases in mass casualty and death incidents, making the Republicans dangerous to women, children, families… because obscure ideas of who deserves rights, and some choices may lead to “regrettable” deaths… which are acceptable.
That’s just how the GOP feels about rights. They also embrace insurrectionists.
Dangerous “Democracy” by choosing rights over the majority’s thoughts… that’s the GOP.
Hobbs and states.
Women are truly not equal everywhere in America.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:49 am
@Gravitas - Federalism would be easier to accept if many of these states weren’t gerrymandered so as not to accurately represent the views of the electorate. (And yes, Illinois is guilty of that too, but there’s clear evidence with the MAGA moves that when the voters get a straight up/down vote on issues like abortion bans, the legistlature/governor is rejected).
Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:51 am
If it’s truly “state’s rights”….
When did it become the state’s right to ban any soul who has the unpleasant luck to be a resident that they can’t go to another state under the fear of what *they freely and legally do* in that state makes them a criminal upon their return.
How it’s not true that women are now prisoners of their zip codes and state residencies… because travel is first required for health care… and said travel could be criminal for said health care?
How is that state’s rights?
Sounds like prisoners OF the state, and the misfortune of that imprisonment.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:55 am
– state Legislature reasonably determined this time around that those interests don’t outweigh “the interest of the unborn child to live.” –
So… rational basis. Or perhaps my personal favorite: “Intermediate scrutiny.”
The same standards used by judges all over the country all the time to allow states to limit all manner of constitutional rights.
This conclusion will likely be echoed elsewhere. It was inevitable once the Supreme Court ended the strict scrutiny legal fiction that was enforced under Roe and Casey.
Comment by JB13 Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:56 am
New internet sensation: Florida School
Comment by Proud Papa Bear Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 9:57 am
-How is that state’s rights?-
You point is well taken. The U.S. Supreme Court says no to states rights on guns but yes to the abortion question. That 14 Amendment is pretty amazing!
Comment by Steve Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:07 am
===states to limit all manner of constitutional rights.===
No.
In the instance of abortion it’s that women do not have equal rights in this country to their bodies.
Women’s rights are restricted by zip codes and state borders, under a guise of “rights”
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:07 am
==How far are red states going to go economically in the long run, when they are reduced to the fear and bigotry of the GOP base?==
At some level, the states peddling the fear and bigotry to their own immediate financial detriment are aware that this country has about a 155-year track record of providing bailouts for such behavior.
Remember all the major business fallout for North Carolina after putting HB2 into law? How’s that holding up nowadays?
Comment by Roadrager Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:14 am
===Women’s rights are restricted by zip codes and state borders, under a guise of “rights”===
“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
Governor George Wallace (R-Opposite Land). 1963.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:18 am
=== Still wondering how they plan on enforcing the bathroom laws. ===
No plans. Just following the hate agenda set out by the MAGA GOP.
Enforcement actions will occur when Karens target known Trans, or people who dress in a nonconformist manner.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:32 am
- 47th Ward -
Are you reading my comments again?
:)
When you think about Alabama, the “School House Door” in Tuscaloosa, the buildings still named for Klan leaders…
… it’s these states too, in a bigger pool of states, that now want to make women’s right randomly different to the whims at times to all male state Supreme Courts.
These states are deciding that genders are unequal to where one has different rights.
It’s no accident that women needed to enshrine voting in the Constitution… not for the beauty, but solely for the protection of it standing…
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:33 am
=It is called Federalism.=
Actually, it is not. Federalism does not allow states to cross state lines to prosecute a person for something that is legal in the state where it occurred.
Also, Federalism does not allow violations of the US Constitution.
If you need a refresher on Federalism I would recommend reading the Federalist Papers.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 10:50 am
==How far are red states going to go economically in the long run, when they are reduced to the fear and bigotry of the GOP base?==
Genuinely curious the answer to this. I have a few friends in central Illinois put their homes up for sale, with plans to move to Alabama and Florida. They say they’ll deal with the crazies as long as their taxes are lower. As one said, “Sure, Florida is going insane, but not having to pay income tax is more than enough for me and my family.”
Comment by Treefiddy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 11:03 am
===“Sure, Florida is going insane, but not having to pay income tax is more than enough for me and my family.” ===
It’s a lure, that’s for sure. They may find, though, that the pressure of hurricane damages on flood insurance prices and availability might eat into that a bit.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 11:10 am
omg, Tennessee. makes me ever more thankful that in Illinois we have top leaders and deeply determined legislators who look for every way to keep women’s bodily agency.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 11:19 am
==the state Legislature reasonably determined this time around that those interests don’t outweigh “the interest of the unborn child to live.”==
I’m looking forward to the judge/legislator looking women in the eye and saying, “Sorry about the rape (or lethal fetal abnormality), but rules are rules.”
Comment by Jocko Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 11:19 am
==”These states are deciding that genders are unequal to where one has different rights.
It’s no accident that women needed to enshrine voting in the Constitution… not for the beauty, but solely for the protection of it standing…”==
This is why the ERA is a needed amendment to the Constitution. Women cannot count on having their equal rights protected unless the Constitution specifically says so. Laws can be overridden by future law. Amendments are hard to get rid of.
Publish the ERA now (banned punctuation X 10)
Comment by Teacher Lady Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 11:34 am
=== A few decades ago, there were Illinois municipalities that continued to ban alcohol forty years after the repeal of prohibition in 1933 because their locals wanted ===
FWIW … dry townships are still a thing.
Comment by someonehastosayit Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 12:18 pm
=the pressure of hurricane damages on flood insurance prices and availability might eat into that a bit.=
Yep. My brother in law lives near Ft. Lauderdale, on the intercoastal and we’ve compared our car and home insurance costs. His home is about triple mine (and that doesn’t include separate flood insurance)–and my house is about double the size of his. His car insurance is about double mine. His RE taxes are greater than mine. I’m in Springfield–I’ll take paying my 4.95% income tax, thank you.
Comment by Steve Rogers Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 12:44 pm
I hope the White Sox move to Nashville so I can witness the interaction between true WS fans and true Tennesseans.
Comment by Lurker Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 3:25 pm
none of this pertains to Illinois, none of it will come to Illinois… the mouth breathers of capital fax merely need group therapy, that is my take from these posts…
Masks will be back in 2 weeks and all of you will be joyful as you are on your birthdays!
Its a republic… if you can keep it…
Comment by An Idea Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 3:49 pm
===Masks will be back in 2 weeks===
Dude, you really need to seek help.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 3:51 pm
===none of it will come to Illinois===
Voters are making choices, here and elsewhere.
According to supporters of such things in this post it’s because Illinois gerrymanders that none of this is here, yet Republicans are 0-8 statewide too.
Nothing should be taken for granted. That’s the lesson.
If *GEORGIA* is a lesson for the GOP?
The Trumpkins have lost when the GOP stands up in the primaries, and the general elections take care of the rest.
Illinois GOPers haven’t learned that. Yet.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 25, 23 @ 4:00 pm