Latest 2 Cases: Commonwealth v. Hall (Civil Rights), Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement v. Grullon (Family Law)

Stay the Course: The Supreme Court Respects Abortion Rights Precedent

JOANNA L. GROSSMAN

SMU Dedman School of Law professor Joanna L. Grossman comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June Medical Services v. Russo, in which a 5-4 majority of the Court struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion providers. Grossman describes the history of abortion decisions that got us to this place today and explains why the core right to seek a previability abortion without undue burden from the government remains intact.

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What Chief Justice Roberts’s June Medical Concurrence Tells Us About the Future of Abortion

JAREB GLECKEL

Jareb Gleckel assesses what Chief Justice John Roberts’s concurrence in the June Medical decision might tell us about the future of abortion in the United States. Gleckel suggests that the concurrence suggests that the Chief Justice will not vote to overrule Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey but cautions that the test the Chief Justice embraces could provide a roadmap for anti-abortion states going forward.

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Commonwealth v. Hall

Docket: SJC-11952

Opinion Date: June 26, 2020

Judge: Kafker

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's conviction for kidnapping but affirmed all other convictions, holding that the verdicts of murder in the first degree were consonant with justice but that Defendant's kidnapping conviction must be vacated because it was based on an inveiglement theory previously dismissed by the motion judge. Defendant was found guilty of three counts of murder in the first degree, kidnapping, and witness intimidation. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that his conviction of kidnapping based on a 2010 incident must be vacated because the theory of kidnapping was invalid or foreclosed by the superior court judge's ruling on a pretrial motion to dismiss. The Supreme Judicial Court agreed, holding (1) Defendant's 2010 kidnapping conviction must be reversed, as the theory on which the prosecution proceeded at trial had previously been dismissed by the court; (2) Defendant was not entitled to relief on his remaining allegations of error; and (3) there is no reason for this Court to exercise its authority under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to order a new trial or direct the entry of verdicts of a lesser degree of guilt.

Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement v. Grullon

Docket: SJC-12784

Opinion Date: June 25, 2020

Judge: Cypher

Areas of Law: Family Law

In Father's appeal from a civil contempt order and subsequent judgment on a complaint for unpaid child support filed by Mother, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the judge abused her discretion in holding Father in civil contempt. Mother filed a pro se complaint for civil contempt in the probate and family court alleging that Father, the noncustodial parent, was $3,690 in his child support payments. Father filed an answer and counterclaim for modification, claiming that his past incarceration and subsequent difficulty obtaining employment made past and future payments at the set rate impossible. The judge held Father in contempt and then entered judgment on Father's complaint for modification, reducing his ongoing child support obligation to his requested amount. The Supreme Court vacated the civil contempt judgment against Father, holding (1) Father's case should not have reached the civil contempt hearing stage, (2) the Department of Revenue failed to follow the Federal regulations and its own procedures in failing to assist Father, and (3) the judge failed to provide Father with sufficient procedural safeguards.