David Orentlicher In The News
News from the States
An unusual clause in the North Dakota Constitution that limits the power of the courts kept the state’s near-total abortion ban from being struck down last month. Most state Supreme Courts require a majority vote to declare a law unconstitutional. But in North Dakota, it takes a supermajority — a vote of at least four justices — for the Supreme Court to strike down a law. That’s why the state’s 2023 abortion law remains on the books even though three of five justices on the high court found it unconstitutionally vague under the North Dakota Constitution.