This post also appears on scotusblog.com. Lyle Denniston is the author. Under gentle pressure from the Supreme Court not to split up the argument on single questions, the legal teams supporting same-sex marriage have settled on one lawyer to present each issue. The teams thus have abandoned their earlier request to let four lawyers appear… Read More
Is the Supreme Court promoting race bias in election districting?
Reprinted from Constitution Daily, the blog of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. This post is by Lyle Denniston. No one doubts that, at least since the 14th Amendment was put into the Constitution in 1868, states have been forbidden to discriminate on the basis of race in public policy. In modern times, however, America… Read More
Have voter ID laws survived a new round of challenges?
Reprinted from Constitution Daily, the blog of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Post by Lyle Denniston. Few constitutional issues over the right to vote divide the nation’s two dominant political parties more deeply than the question of whether elections would be fairer if every voter had to show a photo ID before casting a… Read More
Puerto Rico ends defense of same-sex marriage ban
The government of Puerto Rico on Friday ended its defense in federal court of the territory’s ban on same-sex marriage The change in position was announced by commonwealth officials in San Juan, and was confirmed in a legal brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Five same-sex couples have a challenge to the ban… Read More
Alabama judge urges quick action if same-sex marriage wins
This post also appears on scotusblog.com In the state where the law of same-sex marriage remains the most confused, an Alabama judge has asked the state’s highest court to get ready to promptly allow such marriages if the Supreme Court rules in their favor, avoiding “foot-dragging or other forms of resistance.”
Judge: No conflict yet on Alabama same-sex marriage
A federal judge in Mobile, holding fast to her view that Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, refused on Monday to put her ruling to that effect on hold. As of now, District Judge Callie V. S. Granade ruled, a state judge in Mobile is not caught between conflicting rulings between the federal and… Read More
U.S. seeks to put immigration policy into effect
Deciding not to wait any longer for a federal judge in Texas to act, the Obama administration on Thursday asked a federal appeals court to clear the way for the government to put into effect its broad new immigration policy. That policy has been on hold under the Texas judge’s order, but that judge has… Read More
New challenge for state judge on same-sex marriage
The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday pushed a state judge a big step closer to a serious legal bind on the issue of same-sex marriage. It extended to Don Davis, a probate judge in Mobile, its ruling last week barring the issuance of any more marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
U.S. foiled again on immigration policy
Ignoring a deadline that the Obama administration attempted to impose, the federal judge handling the twenty-six states’ challenge to the new government immigration policy said he would not rule for the time being on the plea to let that policy go into effect. Instead, District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Brownsville said, he wants to… Read More
Federal-state struggle on same-sex marriage widens
Raising the stakes on the conflicting views of federal and state courts in Alabama over same-sex marriage, lawyers for seven couples on Friday asked a federal judge in Mobile to allow such marriages across the entire state. That runs directly contrary to a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court, enforcing a statewide ban