Roe v. Wade II fails at the 5th Circuit

The Fifth Circuit has denied Norma McCorvey's (formerly known as Jane Roe) petition to re-litigate Roe v. Wade. This is the second death of the case, which I would liken to digging up grandpa and begging him to go home with you. The method her lawyers chose to contest Roe v. Wade was a rule 60(b) motion, which allows the party of a suit to petition for relief after judgment has been entered, primarily due to changed circumstances, new evidence, or something like that.

Basically, the court said that Texas had repealed the statutes criminalizing abortion by implication, and therefore Ms. McCorvey has no case or controversy thereby prohibiting the court from even considering her appeal (i.e. it was moot). There was a concurring opinion which basically blasted Roe v. Wade for evidentiary reasons, but otherwise simply said what almost everyone in the legal community already knew. That case is over with.

It remains to be seen if the Supreme Court will choose to accept this case. I would put tremendous odds on them declining any cert, but they COULD if they wanted to. What is particularly interesting (or perhaps ironic) is that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court because they created a new exception to the doctrine of mootness for that case. Will they do it again? My money is on no.


Court's Opinion
HoustonChronicle.com - Bid to reopen landmark Roe v. Wade case fails