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US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Idaho abortion ban case

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US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Idaho abortion ban case


The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case concerning whether a 1986 federal law preempts Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. The Idaho statute criminalizes performing or attempting to perform an abortion unless not doing so would result in the mother’s death. The Biden administration argues that the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) preempts the Idaho law. The case is an appeal from a Ninth Circuit decision that halted Idaho’s ban.

Attorney Joshua Turner argued on behalf of the petitioners. Turner asserted that states are responsible for licensing doctors and setting the scope of their professional practice and that the Biden administration misreads EMTALA. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson wrestled with Turner on the scope of EMTALA and what it tells hospitals to do.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Turner on what the Idaho law tells doctors to do in an emergency. Sotomayor also compared the Idaho law with real-life scenarios, including a situation in Florida where a woman was denied medical care when she was experiencing pregnancy complications because the doctors could not conclude that she would die from the complication. The next day, the woman experienced bleeding, and doctors treated her because she could have died from the bleeding. Justice Amy Coney Barrett also asked how the Idaho law would impact a woman in this scenario. 

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued on behalf of the US. Prelogar asserted that Idaho cannot criminalize the medical care that EMTALA requires. Justice Samuel Alito asked Prelogar how EMTALA’s standard of care impacts women at different stages of their pregnancy differently. Additionally, Alito had Prelogar define several terms with EMTALA to better understand the standard it sets for hospitals treating patients in emergency scenarios, including “serious jeopardy.” Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned Prelogar on the scope of Congress’s spending power and if this limits EMTALA’s ability to regulate hospitals. Lastly, Chief Justice John Roberts asked Prelogar if EMTALA requires religiously affiliated hospitals to perform abortions, to which Prelogar responded, “No.”

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EMTALA sets conditions for hospitals to receive Medicare funds and mandates that hospitals have to “stabilize” patients with emergency conditions in hospitals.

In response to the arguments, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated:

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) plays a critical role in ensuring that patients across the country have access to emergency medical care and lifesaving interventions. For pregnant people, abortion may be the lifesaving intervention needed. It is therefore essential that abortion care be covered by the federal protections afforded by EMTALA. We urge the Supreme Court to preserve EMTALA’s protections for emergency abortion care even in states where abortion is otherwise banned or restricted.

Abortion continues to be a divisive issue in the US since the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There, the court ruled that abortion was not a constitutional right but a state-level issue, laying the foundation for states to ban abortion entirely or at specific gestational milestones. Earlier this month, Arizona’s Supreme Court found that a 159-year-old law prohibiting abortion is enforceable. After this, the Arizona House of Representatives erupted into chants of “shame” after Republican members voted to adjourn instead of discussing a bill that would repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban.



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Original sketches and blueprints for iconic Boise buildings on display at Idaho State Archives

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Original sketches and blueprints for iconic Boise buildings on display at Idaho State Archives


BOISE, Idaho — Hummel Architects donated a collection of over 4,000 individual items to the Idaho State Archives, many of which are plans for some of Boise’s most iconic buildings. An exhibit at the archives is now showcasing some of those original sketches, blueprints and building plans for the public to enjoy.

  • Portions of the Hummel Collection are on display in an exhibit at the Idaho State Archives.
  • Parts of the collection that are not on display can be requested for viewing in the archive’s reading room.

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

“I think these are hand drawn… 1920, certainly,” says Angie Davis, the Collections-Outreach Archivist at the Idaho State Archives.

The team at the Idaho State Archives has a lot of work to do.

“But this is the to-do pile … very big,” says Davis.

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Hummel Architects donated a collection of over 4,000 individual items to the archive, many of which are plans for some of Boise’s most iconic buildings.

“So these are the original drawings from the Egyptian theater,” Davis said.

Hummel Architects originally donated the plans for the Idaho state Capitol in March of 2023. Since then, they have decided to give the rest of their archive a new home.

“We spent the majority of the year last year between March and December moving the Hummel archive from their vault to our location,” Davis said. “It’s wonderful that they trusted us to take care of these and provide access to the material.”

She tells me that the collections at the archives can be easily seen by the public.

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“Anytime somebody wants to request these, we will pull them,” Davis said. “We will make them available in the reading room and make sure that they’re safe.”

Davis says that collections like this can help people understand the history of Boise.

“After 128 years building some of the most iconic buildings in Boise and in Idaho, you’re going to find treasures, you’re going to to find them,” Davis said.

“One of my favorite parts about this collection is that they have been a working collection, so I imagine the architects on these projects shoving the roll plans under their arms and running around the site and now they’re safe,”Davis said. “They won’t be exposed to coffee rings.”

Portions of the collection are on display in their exhibit gallery, but the majority of the materials are kept safe in vaults, available to view upon request.

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“Getting to engage with originals is not always something that everybody gets to do, so if you have the opportunity, come see it,” says Davis.





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‘This case is turning into a hamster wheel’: Family of slain University of Idaho student frustrated at pace of murder trial – East Idaho News

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‘This case is turning into a hamster wheel’: Family of slain University of Idaho student frustrated at pace of murder trial – East Idaho News


(CNN) — The family of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves on Thursday expressed their frustration at the pace of the murder trial for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing their daughter and three other students.

“This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions,” the Goncalves family said in a statement following the latest court hearing in the case. “Can we all just agree that this case needs to move forward and the Judge needs to start setting hard deadlines in this case?”

The Idaho judge overseeing Kohberger’s quadruple murder trial ruled Thursday that an upcoming evidentiary hearing about certain evidence with witnesses will be closed to the public.

“I want to see what all the issues are, the arguments from both sides, so I can make the more fair decision. So, I’m going to close the hearing. At some point in the hearing, maybe we can open up part of it, but I need to dig in, and you need to dig in to exactly what is the problem with each one of these issues,” Latah County District Court Judge John Judge said.

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Kohberger’s defense had asked for the hearing to be made public, while the prosecution asked that it be sealed, arguing “the need to protect the privacy and the sensitive information and ultimately protect the state and defendant’s rights to a fair trial outweighs the right to a public hearing.”

“This hearing needs to be in the public eye,” said defense attorney Anne C. Taylor. “For the court to allow the prosecution to say we need to keep this all private for a fair trial really ignores the public nature of this case.”

Taylor added the hearing – and those going forward – should be public “so people can start to wonder if Bryan is innocent. Your honor, Bryan is innocent and he has an absolute sixth amendment right to have his hearings in public.”

Kohberger, 29, faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the killings of Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, at a home just off the university’s main campus in Moscow. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

The hearing is the latest turn in the high-profile case against Kohberger, who is accused of fatally stabbing the four college students early on November 13, 2022. A not guilty plea was entered last May on his behalf, and his attorneys have indicated he intends to present an alibi as part of his defense.

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Due to a wide-ranging gag order, prosecutors, defense lawyers and attorneys for victims’ families and witnesses are prohibited from saying anything publicly, aside from what is already in the public record.

In their statement, the Goncalves family said, “Not every motion needs a hearing. Not every decision needs to take a month to decide.”

“Discovery, discovery, discovery! You have what we want… no I don’t, yes you do… no I don’t, let’s have a new hearing….Hit repeat. This banter has been going on for 17 months. Then once you get a hearing, you have a hearing about the decision that was made at that hearing before the last hearing and there needs to be another hearing,” the statement said.

“I know our statement sounds as if we are incredibly frustrated and we are!” the statement continued. “We understand the Justice system and we want a fair trial for the Defendant, but turning the case into a delay game serves no one’s interests other than the Defense. Once again thank you for all your kindness and prayers for our Family!”

Kohberger’s alibi defense was filed last month, after the judge had repeatedly extended the submission date.

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According to his alibi defense, Kohberger was out driving west of Moscow the night of the slayings “as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars.” The defense plans to offer a cell phone tower and radio frequency expert to partially corroborate this account, according to the document.

His public defenders have pointed several times to their client’s purported penchant for taking long drives alone late at night. In an August filing, they wrote of the night of the killings, “Mr. Kohberger is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time.”

In response, the prosecution asked the court to deny Kohberger the opportunity to add to his alibi and stop anyone other than the defendant from testifying as to his whereabouts on the night of the killings.

The state argued the cell tower and radio frequency expert’s testimony “doesn’t rise to the level of an alibi.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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Boise National Forest campgrounds expected to be open by Memorial Day weekend • Idaho Capital Sun

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Boise National Forest campgrounds expected to be open by Memorial Day weekend • Idaho Capital Sun


Boise National Forest officials project most developed campgrounds and rental cabins will be open by Memorial Day weekend.

Recreation staff are inspecting facilities, testing water, removing hazard trees and cleaning sites to ensure public safety at over 70 developed campgrounds in the forest, according to a U.S. Forest Service press release.

Key takeaways from the Explore Act, one of the largest outdoor recreation bills ever

A list of developed campground projected date openings can be found on the Boise National Forest’s website. About half of the campgrounds can be reserved by visiting the Recreation.gov website.

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Cartwright Ridge and Shady Pines (formally Antelope Annex) campgrounds, located near Sage Hen Reservoir, will be closed beginning May 28 through the rest of the year due to reconstruction. Work will include new roadways, vault toilets, furniture, signage and relocating infrastructure to better accommodate camping trailers. The four other Forest Service campgrounds surrounding Sage Hen Reservoir area will remain open, according to the release.

Forest visitors are encouraged to plan ahead and prepare by bringing extra food, water and warm clothing.

“Be prepared to pack out your trash and strive to leave no trace. Tell a friend where you are going and when you will be back as many areas of the forest have no reliable cell phone coverage,” the press release said.

Other safety tips for accessing public lands can be found at Recreate Responsibly Idaho.

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