# So, the South Dakota thing, what happens next **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 25, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106 "2006-02-25T21:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106/21 "2006-02-27T20:20:20Z")
Okay, then it’s Alito who gets to decide whether or not the court votes up or down on certiorari. I remember a parallel from the [Government involvement in the Terri Schiavo case](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_involvement_in_the_Terri_Schiavo_case#U.S._Supreme_Court): > [@](#): > > The Schindlers appealed again to the U.S. Supreme Court late on the night of March 23. They argued that Congress intended for the feeding tube to be reinserted when they passed the “Relief of the Parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo Act” (S 686 ES). **The case first went to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is responsible for all emergency appeals from the 11th Circuit**. Although he could have acted alone, Kennedy chose to refer the case to the entire Supreme Court. _(my bolding)_ But there is the phrase “emergency appeals” up there. Does Alito come into play only if the appeal is an emergency? Who decides which appeals are emergencies? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106/22 "2006-02-27T20:25:30Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > Okay, then it’s Alito who gets to decide whether or not the court votes up or down on certiorari. I remember a parallel from the [Government involvement in the Terri Schiavo case](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_involvement_in_the_Terri_Schiavo_case#U.S._Supreme_Court): > > _(my bolding)_ > > But there is the phrase “emergency appeals” up there. Does Alito come into play only if the appeal is an emergency? Who decides which appeals are emergencies? Good question. I think we should ask one of our resident lawyers to explain that detail. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106/23 "2006-02-27T21:05:29Z")
> [@SaintCad](#): > > Who are the religious right zealots going to vote for if not a Rep? Possibly the Constitution Party. [http://www.constitution-party.net/](http://www.constitution-party.net/) Possibly Pat Buchanan’s America First Party. [http://www.americafirstparty.org/](http://www.americafirstparty.org/) In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the two merge – except that the America Firsters are isolationists and oppose U.S. support for Israel, while many religious rightists support Israel’s existence (and its ultimate destruction) as a precondition for the Apocalypse. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106/24 "2006-02-28T17:31:13Z")
No, Alito’s role as circuit justice is irrelevant as to whether or not the Supreme Court grants cert on a case coming out of the Eighth Circuit. Emergency appeals are in cases where time is truly of the essence, most typically capital punishment cases where an execution date is actually scheduled in the next few days and some federal issue is raised at the last minute by the condemned convict’s lawyers. Alito could not, as the justice assigned to that circuit, either prevent a case from being considered for cert, or compel his colleagues to grant cert. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106/25 "2006-02-28T17:37:24Z")
So, what happens wrt abortion in SD right now? As we know, there is only one clinic that performs abortions there, so the state police know exactly where to go to arrest a doctor performing that procedure. I would expect some abortion advocacy group to get a stay from a Federal judge almost immediately. And I can’t see any federal judge being willing to completely ignore SCOTUS precedent which indisputably invalidates this law. Anyone have an update on the situation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-south-dakota-thing-what-happens-next/346106.md?page=1)