As the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is (hopefully) hopefully underway, with a possible certification by top Pentagon officials in the coming days, CRCL would be remiss if we failed to applaud the Department of Justice’s recent Brief in Opposition to Motions to Dismiss in the 9th Circuit case, Golinski v. Office of Personnel [...]
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Lyle Denniston, a reporter at SCOTUS Blog, posted an extremely insightful review yesterday of this past Supreme Court term. In essence, he argues that the Roberts court took a much more activist position in 2010-11, disregarding the so-called “Ashwander rules.” Just to give you some context, in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority back in 1936, [...] For the very first time, the Human Rights Council at the United Nations approved a resolution that condemns discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The 47-member Human Rights Council voted 23 in favor and 19 against Friday, with 3 abstentions, for the resolution put forward by South Africa. The resolution also establishes a panel [...] In a Guest Commentary piece in the Detroit Free Press, former Supreme Court Justice O’Connor argued against processes in which state judges participate in competitive elections in order to secure spots on the state bench. In her own words: “Proponents of judicial elections argue that this is the democratic way, and that the rough and [...] Over at Towleroad, Ezra Waldman discusses the recent (disappointing) cloture vote in the Senate on the (still) pending nomination of Goodwin Liu to the 9th Circuit of Appeals. You can read his post HERE. In the meantime, Waldman has two suggestions for any aspiring appellate judges: First, if you want to be a judge, you [...] This story is not law-related in any way, but it’s truly heartening nonetheless. Michael Santos, a middle blocker from Team Vôlei Futuro in Brazil, was subjected to waves of verbal slurs during a recent match. As he served, the crowd chanted kept screaming “Bicha! Bicha! Bicha!” which means “faggot” in English (you can watch the horrific scene here). [...] A little over a year ago, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of a couple who had adopted a Louisiana-born child and sought to get an amended birth certificate from the Louisiana Office of Public Health and Vital Records Registry. The couple wanted both of their names listed on the birth certificate, and the [...] The Supreme Court recently heard a pair of challenges to an Arizona law that provides public financing for candidates who agree to forgo private contributions. In a recent NY Times editorial, Harvard Law School Professor Fried argues that while it might appear that the court, based on Citizens United, will be inclined to wipe away [...] While the majority of coverage regarding the Snyder v. Phelps decision has swirled around the distinction between the majority’s characterization of the speech as a matter of “public concern” and the dissent contention that it was targeted solely at the Snyder family, Dahlia Lithwick at Slate assesses the decision from a different point of view. [...] As noted in an earlier Amicus post, a key reason given by Attorney General Eric Holder for why the Justice Department will NOT defend DOMA in court is that the administration believes that gays and lesbians should be subject to “some level of heightened scrutiny.” So what exactly does that mean for the case moving [...] |
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