1970—A three-judge district court, consisting of Seventh Circuit judge Otto Kerner Jr. and district judges John W. Reynolds and Myron L. Gordon, rules that a Wisconsin law, dating from 1858, that prohibits abortion before quickening violates the Ninth Amendment. (The Ninth Amendment sets forth a mere rule of construction: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”)
2012—Despite affirming the district court’s entry of a permanent injunction barring police from imposing content-based restrictions on roadside demonstrations by anti-abortion protesters, a Fourth Circuit panel (in Lefemine v. Wideman) rules that the plaintiff protesters are somehow not “prevailing parties” eligible for an award of attorney’s fees.
On a petition for review, the Supreme Court will summarily reverse the Fourth Circuit panel in a unanimous per curiam opinion.