That’s the decision this afternoon, based on equal protection principles applied to the federal government through the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 established a federal definition of marriage for the first time. This meant that the federal government could refuse to grant validly married same-sex […]
Author Archive | Dale Carpenter
Hawaii Governor Vetoes Civil Unions Bill
The veto by Linda Lingle, a Republican, came after the bill had passed the state house, 31-20, and the state senate, 18-7. Now Lambda Legal will sue for civil unions in state court on state constitutional grounds. The state constitution was amended in 1998 to give exclusive control over the definition of marriage to the state legislature. The […]
Judge Denies TRO in Minneapolis Pride Festival Case, But…
By Dale Carpenter on June 25, 2010 4:18 pm in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech
Minnnesota District Judge John Tunheim has denied a temporary restraining order sought by Twin Cities Pride (TCP) to prevent an anti-gay preacher from distributing literature and displaying signs inside the park where TCP has a permit for the annual gay pride festival. (The desision is here. I wrote about some of the basic issues here.). Twin Cities […]
First Amendment Clash Brewing Over Gay Pride Festival in Minneapolis
By Dale Carpenter on June 22, 2010 11:38 am in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Association, Freedom of Speech
Must an expressive association that paid for a permit in a public park to advance its message include someone using the event to convey an opposing message? Specifically, must an anti-gay preacher and others be allowed to condemn homosexuality in signs and literature by roaming the permit grounds of a gay-pride celebration? For more than 30 years, gay-rights organizers have annually paid for […]
Prop 8 Trial Closing Arguments
Like the trial, the closing arguments in the Prop 8 case are not available by video. But you can read a live transcript of the arguments here. It will continue into the afternoon.
Leona Helmsley, anyone?
Hard to imagine on the day when you set aside $20 billion to pay claims, but this is an instant classic of bad PR: “We care about the small people.”
Gay Marriage in Iceland
The vote in the parliament was 49-0. The bill must be approved by the president. Of interest: the legislature simultaneously ended domestic partnerships, which had been available only to same-sex couples as a substitute for marriage.
“Four Days That Shook DADT”
What happened last week to the federal ban on military service by gays and lesbians? Chris Geidner has an excellent summary of the developments.
Light at the End of the DADT Tunnel
The Senate Armed Services Committee has just voted 16-12 to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The repeal would take effect after the release of a Pentagon study on how (not whether) to repeal the policy and after both the president and Defense Department have certified that the repeal will have no detrimental effect on recruitment, retention, […]
Closer and closer
to a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) has now said he will vote for repeal, Politico reports: “I don’t believe that most Nebraskans want to continue a policy that not only encourages but requires people to be deceptive and to lie. The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy does just that,” […]
DADT Repeal Soon?
A deal is in the works to add a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to this year’s Defense Authorization bill, the method by which it was originally made law. It’s not clear that the votes are there in the House to do it, and if they aren’t there this year they’re unlikely to be there […]
Congratulations to David Stras
He’s just been appointed by Gov. Pawlenty to the Minnesota Supreme Court. David has been a friend and colleague at the University of Minnesota Law School since 2004. It is a richly deserved honor and he will be an excellent jurist.
Unless the Justices Start Skinny-Dipping in the Cert Pool
I don’t care whether they’re straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, queer, questioning, two-spirit, men-who-have-sex-with-men, womyn-loving-womyn, autosexual, or beyond categorization. I know it matters to some gay-rights activists who think every gay nominee is practically gay-bashing unless she starts her testimony with, “I am a gay American judicial nominee…” I know it matters to some anti-gay-rights activists […]
Kagan and Diversity Hiring
I admire the fact that Elena Kagan made it a point to hire prominent libertarians and conservatives while she was dean at Harvard. It’s difficult to get many American law schools, dominated by a broadly and comfortably liberal consensus across almost every field, to recognize the importance of ideological diversity among faculty. That’s true for hiring both […]
Wake Me From This Nightmare
A lawsuit has now been filed in a Minnesota state court challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples under the state constitution. It makes the usual claims about due process and equal protection, but adds especially adventurous claims based on “freedom of conscience” and “association.” The plaintiffs are sympathetic, including a couple of 36 years who don’t […]