WASHINGTON (AP) — In the clearest sign yet of the impact of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, U.S. labor unions scored a major victory Tuesday with a tie vote in a high-profile Supreme Court case they had once seemed all but certain to lose.
The 4-4 split, in a case that sharply divided the court's liberal union supporters and their conservative opponents, demonstrated how much is riding on President Barack Obama's effort to replace Scalia with a judge who could tilt the balance on the high court for years to come. Senate Republicans say they won't consider any nomination until a new president takes office.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Less than a week after an order of Catholic nuns asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a religious exemption to the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act (also known as "Obamacare"), the Court took the unusual step of asking for additional briefing, telling both sides to come up with alternative ways to avoid forcing the nuns to violate their religious beliefs.
The Little Sisters of the Poor are a 177-year-old order of religious women who care for the underprivileged elderly in 27 U.S. cities, including Somerville, Massachusetts. The sisters claim that under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act they are entitled to an exemption from a regulation, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services under Obamacare, that requires all employer health plans to provide coverage for contraceptives, sterilizations and some abortifacients. The Little Sisters argue that some of the drugs and services that the law covers are not permissible under Catholic teaching.
