Watch NYU Honor Edith Windsor, DOMA's Supreme Court Plaintiff
“As the highest court in the land deliberates your case … you, our beloved graduate, are a moving testament to the power and tenacity’s of this nation’s evolving search for justice a…
(Source: queerability, via queercandy)
Federal Appeals Court: Drug Sentencing Disparity Is Intentional Racial ‘Subjugation’
Since Congress recognized the gaping racial disparity between mandatory minimum sentences for crack offenses and cocaine offenses and reduced the ratio from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1, courts have grappled with when and how to apply the statute to already-decided cases.
Wash. florist who refused flowers for gay couple’s wedding files suit against state
RICHLAND, Wash. — A florist targeted by two lawsuits for refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding has filed her own lawsuit against Washington state, claiming the state is violating her religious beliefs.
Former Justice John Paul Stevens, Professor Laurence Tribe give their Prop 8 and DOMA predictions
This is similar to most predictions we’ve seen lately: narrow results but still the end of these anti-gay laws. Either way, based at least on the oral arguments, it appears the votes could be closer than expected.
Angelina's Cancer Gene Is Actually Patented by a Company
Things that exist inside of your body are usually, you know, yours. But the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes actually “belong” to a company called Myriad Genetics, which patented the genes in the late 1990s—truly the salad days of creepy science.
Brazil To Become 15th Country To Offer Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide
Pending the implementation of this ruling, Brazil will become the 15th country to offer nationwide marriage equality, joining Uruguay and France, who passed laws just last month.
Your heart attack bill: $3,300 in Arkansas, $92,000 in California
Federal data shows big gap between bills for same procedures, even between hospitals in the same city.
Sotomayor feels frenzy of exile as Bronx native and first Hispanic US Supreme Court justice
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has said she wants to be called just Sonia from the Bronx.
Iowa Supreme Court Orders State to Treat Children of Lesbian Couples as Having 2 Parents at Birth
The Iowa Supreme Court today ordered the state health department to provide an accurate two-parent birth certificate to all children born to lesbian married parents. The Court built upon its 2009 ruling in Lambda Legal’s landmark case Varnum v. Brien, which ordered that same-sex couples and their families be treated equally under state law, and won the right for same-sex couples to marry.
Scalia says there’s nothing unconstitutional about executing the innocent.
This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable.
Gay Rights a Defining Moment for Roberts
Chief Justice John Roberts preserved one of President Barack Obama’s main legacies—and helped forge his own—by largely upholding the president’s health-care law last year. Now, the two leaders’ places in history are entwined again, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear two gay-marriage cases later this month.
Will Gays Be Punished for Success at the Supreme Court?
Gays might not win because they’ve already won?
That was the moronic oxymoron at the heart of the Supreme Court debate on same-sex marriage.
Maryland Governor Signs Death Penalty Repeal
Maryland became the 18th state to abolish the death penalty Thursday, as Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed the bill he vied for into law.
