Anders v. Floyd
Headline: Ruling sends criminal abortion case back to lower court, vacates injunction blocking prosecution, and orders reconsideration under a clarified viability test while urging deference to state proceedings.
Holding:
- Allows lower court to reconsider and potentially permit state criminal prosecution for abortion.
- Requires courts to focus on potential, not actual, fetal survival when assessing viability.
- Encourages federal court to consider pausing federal action out of deference to state proceedings.
Summary
Background
A man indicted in Richland County, South Carolina, for criminal abortion and murder connected to the abortion of a 25-week fetus was protected by a federal judge’s injunction that stopped the prosecution. The District Court concluded, relying on Roe v. Wade, that there was no possibility of a constitutionally valid conviction, so the federal prosecution was enjoined.
Reasoning
The Court said the District Court may have relied on a mistaken idea of “viability,” noting Colautti’s explanation that viability refers to potential, not necessarily actual, survival outside the womb. Because the lower court might have applied the wrong viability concept, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction and sent the case back to the District Court for further consideration under Colautti. The Court also pointed out that South Carolina’s criminal statutes can be read in different ways and suggested the District Court consider pausing federal action in deference to the ongoing state-court proceeding.
Real world impact
The decision sends the case back for renewed review rather than ending the prosecution; the lower court must reassess the constitutional question using the clarified viability standard. The outcome could change depending on that reconsideration and on whether the District Court chooses to defer to the state case. This ruling is procedural and does not decide the final merits of guilt or innocence.
Dissents or concurrances
The opinion notes that Mr. Justice Stewart dissented. No further details of his views are given in the per curiam text.
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