National
Alabama doesn’t appeal injunction
blocking abortion ban
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s near-total abortion ban will remain blocked by a federal judge as a lawsuit over the ban plays out in court.
Alabama did not appeal the court injunction that blocked the state’s near-total abortion ban from taking effect last month, according to the attorney general’s office. The state has previously acknowledged the ban is likely unenforceable unless the U.S. Supreme Court makes a major shift on abortion rights.
The preliminary injunction by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson temporarily stopped the ban from taking effect Nov. 15 while he hears a lawsuit challenging the ban as unconstitutional. The 2019 law would make performing an abortion a felony in almost all cases.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has said the state’s objective is to get the case to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to get justices to reconsider rulings such as Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Roe legalized abortion nationwide. Casey affirmed abortion rights, but said that the states could enact limited restrictions.
Mike Lewis, a spokesman for the attorney general, confirmed the state is not appealing the temporary injunction.
Zellweger, Pitt and … “Cats”?
Here come the Golden Globes
NEW YORK (AP) — Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy are locks. But whether “Cats” has it in the bag, too, we won’t know until the 77th annual Golden Globes are announced Monday morning.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will unveil their nominations in Los Angeles beginning at 8:04 a.m. EST. They will be live-streamed on the Golden Globes’ Facebook page and their website, with the second wave of nominees carried live on NBC’s “Today” show at 8:15 a.m. Dakota Fanning, Susan Kelechi Watson and Tim Allen will announce the nominations from the Beverly Hilton hotel.
The Globes separate their top categories between drama and comedy/musical, giving some movies well outside the awards conversation an opportunity.
While movies like Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” are widely expected to come away with numerous nods, few would be surprised if the press association — a group known for its sometimes quirky picks, its penchant for A-listers and its fondness for musicals — also included the upcoming, much-memed big-screen adaptation of “Cats.” The HFPA, a group with 87 voting members, was shown an unfinished cut of Tom Hooper’s film.