JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Restricting abortion has long been a conservative goal in Mississippi, and now, a Republican-appointed federal judge is considering the constitutionality of the state's stringent new abortion law.
Those who know U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan (JER-dun) III say he doesn't play politics in the courtroom.
Jordan on July 1 temporarily blocked the new law that, if enforced, could shut down the state's only abortion clinic. On Wednesday, he'll hear arguments about whether he should extend that block.
Jordan was recommended for the bench in 2006 by his former boss, Republican U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, and nominated by President George W. Bush.
John Reeves, a Republican former lawmaker who has had cases before Jordan, says the judge "doesn't have any agenda."
Another attorney, former state Democratic chairman Wayne Dowdy, agrees.
