Tag Archives: justice

This is MAJOR, people. Via Jen Nedeau at Change.org: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just ordered Federal Health Insurance Benefits for same sex married couples. The case involves Deputy Federal Public Defender Brad Levenson, who married Tony Sears last July 12, and 9th Circuit staff lawyer Karen Golinski, who married Amy Cunninghis last year. The LA Observer reported today …

A case which dominated the NYC tabloids in early 2004 has finally been settled as a firefighter who was left with permanent injuries after being smashed in the face with a metal chair has agreed to accept $3.75M from the city. The firefighter claimed that the brawl was the culmination of the two years of anti-gay slurs he’d suffered as …

Over at AmericaBlog, John Aravosis notes the ages of the members of the Supreme Court. John Paul Stevens, 88 (Ford)Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 75 (Clinton)Antonin Scalia, 72 (Reagan)Anthony Kennedy, 72 (Reagan)Stephen Breyer, 70 (Clinton)David Souter, 69 (GHW Bush)Clarence Thomas, 60 (GHW Bush)Samuel Alito, 58 (GW Bush)John Roberts, 53 (GW Bush) Only 2 of the 9 were chosen by a Democrat. The …

“The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government’s business. I don’t think it is the government’s business to tell you how to spend your leisure time. I cannot think there are many people who are in favor of using limited federal resources in law enforcement to arrest people because those people decide to smoke marijuana.” …

The ACLU and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State have filed a joint lawsuit in a federal appeals court asking that government funding be refused to a Baptist childcare agency in Kentucky because the agency fires gay employees and proselytizes to the children. The lawsuit asserts that Kentucky Baptist Homes has no right to accept public funding …

The Second Circuit Court, which covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, has issued an apparently precedent-setting ruling that if you are caught with illegal drugs and admit to having shared them with others, you can also be charged with dealing. Ricky P. Wallace argued that he should not have been convicted of cocaine distribution because he merely shared the drug …

From the New York Times: The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — …

In Lawrence Vs. Texas, the landmark 2003 case that overturned sodomy laws nationwide, Houston District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal argued that gays have no right to privacy to “engage in extramarital sexual relations.” Last month Rosenthal resigned in disgrace after emails he’d attempted to delete showed that he is an adulterer and a racist. Rosenthal is being sued for “official misconduct” …

A tiny bit of light in today’s parade of horrors: (Zagreb) A 25-year old man convicted of plotting to throw Molotov cocktails into a gay pride march last July in the Croatian capital has been sentenced to 14 months behind bars. Josip Situm was convicted of endangering lives and property. He was arrested last summer as he prepared to hurl …

The California Supreme Court announced today that they will hear arguments over the state’s ban on gay marriage on March 4th in San Francisco. The three-hour hearing will consider a 2004 lawsuit filed on behalf of Equality California, the Our Family Coalition, and 15 same-sex couples denied marriage under the ballot measure approved by voters in 2000. Oral arguments will …

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave a lecture in Scotland earlier this month and brought up a 2001 ruling by the European Court Of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The court had judged in favor of a Yorkshire man arrested in 1996 when police found him in possession of videotapes showing him taking part in an all-male orgy. According to the …

New Jersey, which has not executed a prisoner since 1963, officially abolished the death sentence today. The first state to ban capital punishment since the Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976, New Jersey joins 13 others states and the District of Columbia with their ban. Earlier this year a New Jersey study concluded that the cost of defending death penalty …

The NYPD is conducting a subway sting called “Operation Lucky Bag” in which undercover cops plant bags and wallets containing credit cards,, then wait around to see who picks them up. Unlucky Samaritans who pick up the bags with the intent on contacting their owners are detained, frisked, and their criminal backgrounds are checked. If I found a wallet on …

Shirley Phelps-Rogers, daughter of Fred Phelps, is in court this week charged with negligent child abuse, endangering a child, flag mutilation, and disturbing the peace. Phelps-Rogers brings her 10 year-old son to the Phelps clan’s funeral protests, which constitutes child endangerment, according the charges. The good mother claims her son willingly attended the protests.

The Drudge Report is first with this breaking news: JURY HATES PHELPS: The father of a fallen Marine awarded $2.9 million by jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family’s privacy when they picketed the Marine’s funeral. Developing… UPDATE: More from the Associated Press. BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal jury on Wednesday awarded the father of …

In a case that will test the limits of the First Amendment, the father of a slain U.S. soldier is suing Fred Phelp’s Westboro Baptist Church for picketing his son’s funeral, charging the church with invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. From the New York Times: Judge Richard D. Bennett, who is hearing the case, told the …

Two men convicted of killing are being allowed to marry in a Canadian prison. (Montreal, Quebec) Two men in federal prison in Quebec will marry later this month in the first same-sex marriage at the Cowansville Penitentiary. David Bedard, 22, is serving a 10-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter. Sony Martin, 26, serving a life term for second-degree murder. The two …

“Though lots of people know I’m gay, the coming-out process really doesn’t end. It’s important to be who you are and to be happy with yourself. Many other courageous people came out before me. Being gay doesn’t define who I am or impact my job in any tangible way, but maybe I can be a role model for some gay …

In a 27-page decision, the judge reviewing Sen. Toe-Tapper’s case has refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. Judge Charles Porter: “The defendant, a career politician with a college education, is of at least above-average intelligence. He knew what he was saying, reading and signing.” Now let’s see if Tearoom Larry decides to un-unresign. UPDATE: Larry Craig responded …

A year ago, I wrote about the murder of gay New Yorker Michael Sandy, who died after being struck by a car as he ran from four gay-bashers who had lured him to a Brooklyn park by picking him up on a gay chat site. After Sandy died from his injuries, police upgraded the charges to second-degree murder with hate …