Now, however, St Petersburg's city court has cancelled the fine as well as the conviction, in a ruling that cannot be overturned itself.
But these theatrics were unnecessary: in 1989, despite strong pressure from conservatives, O'Connor refused to provide the fifth vote to overturn Roe itself.
"It would be an unnecessary abuse of power," he said, for the Council to try to overturn the limits itself.
The Justice Department had asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to issue a stay on a May 29 order by Judge John W. Bissell of United States District Court in Newark while the department filed an appeal to overturn the order itself and keep the hearings secret.
When each receptacle was filled, it would overturn only to right itself and be filled again with water from above.
In rulings in 1989 and 1992 a more conservative Supreme Court upheld the legality of new state restrictions on abortion, though it proved unwilling to overturn Roe v. Wade itself.
Then, just before the Fourth of July weekend, Weinstein overturned the conviction itself, on the grounds that despite "overwhelming evidence" of guilt, the five-year statute of limitations on racketeering conspiracy had expired.
By the time Agnon was writing his book, the Zionist dream was in fact succeeding, so the bitter end of Isaac is itself overturned by the reality of the emerging Jewish homeland and by the sheer fact that Agnon is telling his tale in Hebrew.
On Thursday, Canada's Supreme Court declined a request to hear a final appeal in the case against Mr Ford, effectively affirming an appeals court's decision that itself overturned a court ruling ordering him removed from office.
