Court blocks rules on birth control
SAN FRANCISCO — A divided U.S. appeals court Thursday blocked rules by President Donald Trump’s administration that allowed more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control.
States were likely to succeed on their claim that the changes to President Barack Obama’s health care law were made without required notice and public comment, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 decision.
The majority upheld a preliminary injunction against the rules issued by a lower court judge last year. It, however, limited the scope of the injunction, applying it only to the five states in the lawsuit and not the entire country. California filed a lawsuit to block the changes that was joined by Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia.
Obama’s health care law required most companies to cover birth control at no additional cost, though it included exemptions for religious organizations. The new policy allowed more categories of employers, including publicly traded companies, to opt out of providing free contraception to women by claiming religious objections. It also allowed any company that is not publicly traded to deny coverage on moral grounds.
The Department of Justice said in court documents that the rules were about protecting a small group of “sincere religious and moral objectors” from having to violate their beliefs.
The states argued that the changes could result in millions of women losing free birth control services, forcing them to seek contraceptive care through state-run programs or programs reimbursed by the states.
Florida executes man for ’92 killing
STARKE, Fla. — A man convicted of the fatal stabbing and beating death of a woman in Miami-Dade County 26 years ago was put to death Thursday evening in Florida.
Jose Antonio Jimenez, 55, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 8:48 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke. He received the death sentence for the 1992 killing of 63-year-old Phyllis Minas in her North Miami apartment.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his last-minute appeal earlier Thursday.
Court records show that on Oct. 2, 1992, Minas found Jimenez in her second-floor apartment. During his trial, neighbors said they heard her screaming, and they tried to enter, but someone inside had locked the door.
Prosecutors at the trial said a fingerprint found on the inside of the apartment’s front door matched Jimenez’ print.
Ruling: Police also can ‘stand ground’
MIAMI — Florida law enforcement officers can invoke the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law to protect them from criminal prosecution in some instances of deadly force, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday.
The court issued its 7-0 decision in the case of Peter Peraza, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy charged with manslaughter in the 2013 fatal shooting of a man carrying what turned out to be an air rifle.
Peraza’s lawyers claimed that he was immune from prosecution under the stand-your-ground law, which permits use of deadly force when a person has a legitimate fear of “imminent death or great bodily harm.” The justices agreed with two lower court rulings, which concluded that the law applies to law enforcement officers the same as anyone else.
Peraza shot Jermaine McBean, 33, during a confrontation with deputies at McBean’s apartment complex.
“It’s a groundbreaking ruling,” said Peraza attorney Eric Schwartzreich. “Every law enforcement officer in the state of Florida can go to work and do their job and not worry about being second-guessed.”