Court Cases

In yet another result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision, in July 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction against a 1985 Nevada law requiring parental notification for abortion procedures for minors. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, a 501(c)3 health care provider, quickly filed litigation to block the notification law from negatively affecting access to abortion care in Nevada. ACLU and ACLU of Nevada argue in a new amicus brief that a lower court ruling used incorrect legal standards. The amicus brief also examines the procedures that are required under the 1985 law, including interviews and court hearings for young people seeking judicial bypass. Such processes differ from county to county, with some courts having no processes in place at all.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada Foundation filed this case to secure the release of two men who are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Henderson Detention Center. Our plaintiffs are medically vulnerable and at risk of severe illness or even death because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Constitution requires that detention facilities ensure the health and safety of the people in their care, but these facilities are unable to implement social distancing and other medical best practices to prevent exposure. The people housed at the Henderson Detention Center have already been exposed to COVID-19. Jail officials confirmed on March 28 that 13 individuals held in ICE detention there have been isolated in individual cells after they were transported by an ICE agent who later began to show symptoms of COVID-19. The only remedy to this constitutional issue is to release our plaintiffs.