Does Father Know Best When It Comes to Abortion?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell law professor Sherry F. Colb comments on a “father knows best” bill that the Tennessee state legislature is currently considering, which would allow the father of a pregnancy to obtain an injunction against the mother’s having an abortion. Professor Colb notes that while requiring consent of the pregnancy’s father might make intuitive sense and most abortion decisions do include the father, she points out that “father knows best” (and father notification) laws disregard the interests of the embryo/fetus (by giving a father a say in whether to proceed with an abortion) and redistribute control of reproduction from women to men. Professor Colb argues that for these reasons, the Tennessee bill is even more objectionable than an outright ban on the procedure would have been.

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United States v. Olson

Docket: 19-16591

Opinion Date: February 22, 2021

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion to vacate his sentence based on the ineffective assistance of counsel during plea negotiations that took place before defendant was formally accused of any crime. Traditionally, the panel explained that the Sixth Amendment has been interpreted to mean that the right to counsel attaches when a criminal defendant is formally charged. Defendant asked the panel to reexamine the traditional approach to attachment of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in order to recognize that the right to counsel may attach before there has been a formal charge. The panel concluded that it is not in a position to do so, however, because it cannot overrule binding circuit precedent. The panel also concluded that this is not an appropriate case to ask for an en banc court to consider overruling United States v. Hayes, 231 F.3d 663, 669–70 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc), since this defendant was appointed counsel, and the record indicates that defendant's counsel was not ineffective.