Tag Archives: lawsuits

ILLINOIS: Court Hears Motion To Dismiss Marriage Equality Lawsuit

Today in Illinois the Cook County Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the anti-gay Thomas More Society’s bid to dismiss the marriage equality lawsuit brought in May 2012 by Lambda Legal and the ACLU. Lambda Legal writes via press release: Today we urged the court to ensure that same-sex couples and their families get their day in court. We put …

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Quote Of The Day – Maggie Gallagher

“Professor Nicholas Cummings, rather a giant in the field of psychology who gave a deposition in this case, published an op-ed Wednesday in USA Today. Some have accused Cummings of supporting damaging forms of what they call ‘reparation therapy.’ But the SPLC lawsuit originally claimed any form of sexual-orientation change therapy was necessarily fraud because it never helps people. Cummings’s …

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OKLAHOMA: Suit To Overturn Marriage Ban Renewed After Repeal Of DOMA

The Oklahoman reports: A lesbian couple challenging Oklahoma’s ban on gay marriages say the U.S. Supreme Court has bolstered their arguments that the state prohibition is unconstitutional. The high court’s decision last month in a gay marriage case “provides clear and explicit guidance for concluding Oklahoma’s marriage ban violates both (the couple’s) fundamental right to marry, and the exercise of …

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PENNSYLVANIA: Health Department Sues To Stop Montgomery County Marriages

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health today filed suit to stop Montgomery County from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Montgomery County’s register of wills, Bruce Hanes, has issued licenses to 31 couples so far. The lawsuit, filed this morning by the state Department of Health’s chief counsel, asks that the court immediately force Hanes to “comply with the [Pennsylvania] Marriage Law and to …

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Dolan Wins In Milwaukee

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In a major victory for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a federal judge ruled that funds set aside for cemetery operations cannot be tapped to pay sex abuse settlements in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy case. U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa ruled that taking even a portion of the funds would violate the archdiocese’s free exercise of …

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KENTUCKY: First Marriage Lawsuit Filed

A Kentucky gay couple has become the first to file a federal lawsuit against that state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Louisville’s WLKY has a brief item: Louisville attorneys Shannon Fauver and Dawn Elliot filed a 19-page federal lawsuit Friday morning, challenging Kentucky’s constitutional ban on same sex marriage. The plaintiffs in the suit are Gregory Bourke and Michael Deleon who …

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NEW MEXICO: AG Tells State Supreme Court He Won’t Defend Marriage Ban

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King yesterday told the state Supreme Court that he will not defend a lawsuit calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage. In written arguments filed with the court, King said the justices should invalidate the state’s ban on gay marriage if they agree to resolve the issue in a lawsuit filed by two Santa Fe …

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Double Talk From Maggie Gallagher

“I don’t back something called ‘conversion therapy.’ I don’t even really know what conversion therapy is, and I’m not qualified to express an opinion on a particular kind of therapy. I back the right of gay people to seek the kind of counseling help they want, not the kind the SPLC lawyers want them to have, including help to live …

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TENNESSEE: Man Sues Apple For Not Protecting Him From Pornography

A Tennessee lawyer is suing Apple for not stopping him from accessing the porn that he says destroyed his marriage. In his 50-page complaint, Chris Sevier is seeking to force Apple to sell all its products with installed porn blocking filters. If a buyer 18 years or older wishes to remove the filters, Apple should also provide them with a …

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ACLU Sues Montana For Marriage Benefits

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Montana on behalf of seven gay couples who have been denied the benefits of marriage. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed its amended complaint after the state Supreme Court rejected its first lawsuit in December for being too broad and not identifying specific laws that are discriminatory. In the amended lawsuit, …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Attorney General Won’t Block ACLU’s Marriage Ban Lawsuit

Matt Comer reports at Q Notes: North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has announced his office will not block the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina’s move to challenge the state’s anti-LGBT constitutional amendment on marriage.  The case is heading to a federal court in Greensboro. The ACLU wants to amend their current lawsuit challenging anti-gay second-parent adoption bans …

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Federal Court Tosses Liberty Counsel’s Suit Against Obamacare Mandate

 A federal appeals court yesterday threw out Liberty University’s lawsuit against the Obamacare contraception mandate. The suit was brought by Liberty Counsel, the school’s legal arm and one of the nation’s major anti-gay hate groups. A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the employer mandate, which the Obama administration last week postponed until 2015, is …

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Quote Of The Day – Kathleen Kane

“I cannot ethically defend the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s (law banning same-sex marriage), where I believe it to be wholly unconstitutional.” – Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, confirming earlier reports in comments made this morning to reporters at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.  A spokesman for GOP Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has declined to comment on Lambda Legal and the …

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REPORT: Pennsylvania AG Won’t Defend Lawsuit To Overturn Marriage Ban

The Washington Post has the potentially huge news: Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane will not defend the state in a federal lawsuit filed this week challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, lawyers involved in the case said. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit Tuesday on behalf of 23 Pennsylvania residents, including 10 couples, a widow …

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Headline Of The Day

The ACLU is on a ROLL today! Today the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) announced plans to challenge North Carolina’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples by amending a federal lawsuit filed against the state last year on behalf of six same-sex couples and their children that challenges North Carolina’s ban …

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Lambda Legal & ACLU Announce Plan To Sue Virginia For Marriage Equality

Via press release: Today Lambda Legal announced that it is in the planning stages of a new federal lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Virginia with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “The end of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act opens a new chapter in our work to ensure same-sex couples and their families across …

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PENNSYLVANIA: ACLU To File Lawsuit Against Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

The Associated Press reports: The lawsuit, to be filed in federal court in Harrisburg, also will ask a federal judge to prevent state officials from stopping gay couples from getting married. It names Gov. Tom Corbett, Attorney General Kathleen Kane and three other officials. The plaintiffs are one widow, 10 couples and one of the couples’ two teenage daughters, and …

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Arkansas LGBT Couples Sue For Marriage

And now, Arkansas. Several LGBT couples have taken a stand against Arkansas Amendment 83, saying that the amendment denies them the benefits and privileges given to married heterosexual couples. The lawsuit filed against the state of Arkansas declares that while the US Supreme Court recognized marriage as one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ the Arkansas Constitution prevents gay …

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New Mexico Couples Sue For Marriage

Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Late Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, ACLU national, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Albuquerque law firm Sutin, Thayer & Brown PC, and Albuquerque attorneys Maureen Sanders, Kate Girard, and Lynn Perls filed a writ of mandamus with the New Mexico State Supreme Court …

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FLORIDA: Atheist Monument Unveiled At Bradford County Courthouse

The nation’s first-ever monument to atheism placed on public property was unveiled this weekend at the Bradford County Courthouse in Florida. Permission for the monument had been granted as a settlement for a lawsuit objecting to a Ten Commandment monument already on the site. American Atheists, a New Jersey-based group, erected a 1,500 pound bench with quotes from various historic …

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