Federal Cases

OVER the last five years, renewing federalism has been the Supreme Court’s key project. In its current term, the Court will decide a number of federalism cases. Perhaps the most important of them is Stenberg v. Carhart, scheduled for oral argument on April 25. The Court’s first major abortion case since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, Stenberg will decide whether the Casey decision permits states to ban partial birth abortions.

While Stenberg is not, technically, a case about federalism, it provides the Supreme Court with a singular opportunity to take a small but politically significant step toward more open, decentralized, and competitive politics. For this reason, Stenberg is central not only to the abortion question but also to the Supreme Court’s federalism agenda and to the future of conservative politics. These things are intertwined, and one must hope that the Court will see the connection.

MS

About the Author

Michael S. Greve

Mr. Greve is John G. Searle scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

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OVER the last five years, renewing federalism has been the Supreme Court’s key project. In its current term, the Court will decide a number of federalism cases. Perhaps the most important of them is Stenberg v. Carhart, scheduled for oral argument on April 25. The Court’s first major abortion case since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, Stenberg will decide whether the Casey decision permits states to ban partial birth abortions.

While Stenberg is not, technically, a case about federalism, it provides the Supreme Court with a singular opportunity to take a small but politically significant step toward more open, decentralized, and competitive politics. For this reason, Stenberg is central not only to the abortion question but also to the Supreme Court’s federalism agenda and to the future of conservative politics. These things are intertwined, and one must hope that the Court will see the connection.