Nebraska
Nebraska Supreme Court rejects two lawsuits challenging abortion-rights petition • Nebraska Examiner
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:15 p.m. to reflect the latest court action.
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court on Thursday rejected fast-tracking a pair of lawsuits seeking to remove an abortion-rights constitutional amendment from the fall ballot.
Time is short for either effort, one from a Douglas County woman funded by the socially conservative Thomas More Society and one backed by local abortion opponents.
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen has until Sept. 13 to finalize the November general election ballot. He announced on Aug. 23 that the measure qualified for the ballot.
The second lawsuit was filed Wednesday, hours after the Nebraska Supreme Court declined to take up the first. Attorneys for the Douglas County woman, Carolyn LaGreca, tried to correct a mistake on the first lawsuit and refiled it. But the court again rejected the case Thursday.
In the second lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Dr. Catherine Brooks, a Lincoln neonatologist, asked the court to remove the Protect the Right to Abortion measure from the ballot.
Criticizes proposal’s language
The proposed abortion-rights amendment would codify a right to abortion in the Nebraska Constitution until “fetal viability,” as determined by a health care provider, with later exceptions for the mother’s health.
Brooks was the public face of 30-plus medical providers who filed a complaint Monday with Evnen’s office, asking him to administratively reconsider his decision that the measure had legally qualified for the ballot.
In a statement Thursday from her attorney, Brenna Grasz, Brooks criticized the abortion amendment for redefining the viability standard by “extending the meaning into the late stages of pregnancy.” She called the proposal’s language “subjective, confusing and unworkable.”
“It subjects women and medical professionals to vague, unscientific standards, and dangerously expands the scope of abortion practice,” Brooks said.
She said the measure expands who decides viability to a person’s “health care practitioner” and called that “unsafe.” Non-physicians should not be making such determinations “outside the scope of their education, training, and experience,” she said.
Her lawsuit largely mirrored what the complaint letter argued, that the measure put forward by Protect Our Rights contains more than one subject, in violation of a state constitutional rule that ballot measures can cover only a single subject.
It argued that the petition seeks to create a new constitutional right to an abortion at the same time it seeks to define fetal viability and create an exception for a woman’s health.
The filing repeated anti-abortion criticism of the initiative that it also seeks to restrict the state’s ability to legislate and regulate abortion. It also redefines legal terms in ways the lawsuit describes as problematic.
“The Initiative violates this requirement by containing multiple proposals that are dissimilar, unrelated, and separate purposes,” the lawsuit said. “These separate purposes also lack a natural and necessary connection.”
No immediate comment from either side
Protect Our Rights had no immediate comment about the latest lawsuit or the Court’s action.
Allie Berry, campaign manager for Protect Our Rights, has said abortion opponents were “doing everything in their power to undermine the process and lay the groundwork for their ultimate goal: a total abortion ban.”
The group has noted that Evnen certified the measure and said petition organizers had “followed the appropriate processes every step of the way.” Supporters said that the measure is legal and that voters deserve a say on reproductive health.
Brooks’ lawsuit asked the Supreme Court to let it skip the step of going through District Court because time is short, similar to the appeal made in a separate lawsuit from a Douglas County woman that the court rejected for technical reasons.
That lawsuit was refiled Wednesday by the plaintiff’s attorney, who said he corrected a clerical error. The court reconsidered and still rejected it. Funded by the socially conservative Thomas More Society, this lawsuit argues similarly that the ballot measure seeking to cement abortion rights tries to do too much at once, in violation of the Nebraska Constitution.
The court decided not to take either case as a so-called “original action.” Notes on the case files said the two applications were “not supported by affidavit or positively-verified petition.”
If the ballot measure goes forward, Nebraska would be the first state since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade to have competing abortion-related constitutional amendments on the same ballot.
Abortion opponents are supporting a measure that would constitutionally limit abortion to the first trimester of pregnancy and still let the Legislature pass stricter bans than contained in current law.
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The Big Ten is home to some of the best volleyball programs and venues in college athletics. But which teams in the league have the best home-court advantages? Big Ten Network analyst Emily Ehman believes two schools stand out: Purdue and Nebraska.
In a recent interview with NCAA Digital’s Michella Chester, Ehman was asked about the best environments in college volleyball. She was quick to acknowledge Purdue’s Holloway Gymnasium at the top of the list.
“There are some insane gyms,” Ehman said. “Purdue, I think, is the toughest and probably best home-court advantage. No team ever wants to play there. It’s a pretty small arena — I think it fits like 2,500.
“Every time I do a game there, I leave and I actually have hearing problems. It is absolutely insane.”
What is your favorite atmosphere in volleyball? @michellachester and @emilyehman discuss!#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/cVhqEcNlSP
— NCAA Women’s Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) August 28, 2024
Holloway Gymnasium holds a capacity of 2,288 fans. Purdue often plays in front of a sellout crowd, creating an even more intimidating environment.
The Boilermakers have already sold out all 11 home games that will be played at Holloway in 2024.
When it comes to Nebraska, Ehman mentioned the size of the Bob Devaney Center. The venue often welcomes more than 8,000 fans on game nights, one of the largest environments in the country.
“Nebraska is just so intimidating because it’s so massive,” she said. “Players that haven’t played on that kind of stage walk in and you’re automatically thrown off because of just how intense it is.”
The Huskers also have a passionate fanbase, with more than 92,000 fans showing up for last year’s Nebraska vs. Omaha match at Memorial Stadium.
Ehman also mentioned Wisconsin and Penn State having great venues for college volleyball.
PURDUE’S TOUGH NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE: Purdue will face a brutal nonconference schedule in 2024, which includes eight matches away from Holloway Gymnasium. CLICK HERE
PURDUE VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE: Purdue begins the 2024 volleyball regular season on Friday, Aug. 30 with the Stacey Clark Classic and will conclude with a West Coast road trip to play Big Ten newcomers Oregon and Washington on Thanksgiving weekend. CLICK HERE
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has announced the names of four applicants who will receive $10,302,671 of investment in local projects through the HOme American Rescue Plan (HOME ARP) Program.
The Connection Homeless Shelter in North Platte was selected to receive $1 million.
According to a Wednesday morning press release from DED, the funds will support the development of affordable rental housing to assist individuals or households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or members of other vulnerable populations. DED is committed to working closely with the recipients in program development and underwriting to ensure each project is viable for the 15-year period of affordability.
In 2021, the U.S. Congress appropriated $5 billion of American Rescue Plan Act funds to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability. The funds are being administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). The State of Nebraska received funds from HUD through the HOME-ARP Program for use in the Balance of State (all areas of Nebraska outside the city limits of Lincoln and Omaha).
The four HOME-ARP rental development recipients are listed below.
For more information on the HOME-ARP Program, visit the program webpage at https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/housing/home-arp/.
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The Nebraska quarterback room continues to grow more confident as the season nears.
Glenn Thomas, quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator for the Huskers joined the nightly “Sports Nightly” program from the Huskers Radio Network on Wednesday, and shared his personal belief in his newly named starter, Dylan Raiola.
“I think he had a great camp,” Thomas said. “He kind of had some ups and downs but learning opportunities as camp went on and continued to get better. Overall, (he) felt like he gave us the best opportunity – down in and down out – to move the football.”
“He’s becoming more and more confident with that news out there. He can take a step forward from a leadership standpoint because everyone knows the situation. He’s accepted it very graciously and humbly.”
– Glenn Thomas on Dylan Raiola
Thomas added the offense is continuing to “fine tune” the details of the offense – from spacing, timing, and trust building between the quarterbacks and receivers. The former Steelers assistant continued that backups Daniel Kaelin and Heinrich Haarberg have seen reps to further their development and keep up support of their teammates.
“They have been great. They have all been supportive of each other. Obviously a unique situation to not name the starter early, so they were all competing against each other for the same job – but it has been cool to see,” Thomas said. “(They) try to help each other, ask each other questions, trying to get each other better because at the end of the day we’re going to need all of them to be at their best.”
The quarterbacks coach shared his respect for Haarberg in accepting the reserve role, and stated that Kaelin is “humble and eager to learn.”
Thomas discussed several other topics with host Greg Sharpe, including the difference-makers at wide receiver, the in-helmet communication during game day, and what he expects to see from the offense on Saturday against UTEP.
Watch the full episode of ‘Sports NIghtly below:
MORE: Behind the Point Spread: Nebraska vs. UTEP, Georgia vs. Clemson and More
MORE: Big Sports Radio Talks Nebraska Football with Kaleb Henry: Matt Rhule, Dylan Raiola, Difference Makers
MORE: Several Huskers Land on National Football League Rosters
MORE: The Single-Digit Jerseys’ Place Among Husker Football Traditions
MORE: Nebraska Volleyball’s Middles Key to 2024 ‘Race for the Roses’
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
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