Category Archives: U.S. District Courts
Lesbian nominated to federal appeals court
President Biden nominated one well-known lesbian jurist to serve on a federal appeals court bench, another to be chief judge of Federal Claims Court, and a third to a U.S. District Court seat in Colorado.
Judge stops HHS rule change from taking effect
The Trump administration's efforts to undercut non-discrimination protections for LGBT people in health care were stalled Monday when a federal judge stopped new HHS regulations from taking effect.
HHS rule: ‘quintessentially arbitrary and capricious’
A federal judge in New York on Wednesday struck "in full" a rule adopted by the Trump administration in May that would have given wide latitude to health care workers to refuse treatment based on "religious and moral beliefs."
After delays, Senate confirms ‘trailblazer’ to bench
The U.S. Senate last week confirmed President Trump's first openly gay federal judge nominee. Reports are now circulating he may re-nominate a second openly gay nominee to the Ninth Circuit, despite opposition by California Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein.
Sixth Circuit stays Michigan until Wednesday; hundreds already married
The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a stay at 5 p.m. Saturday of a district court decision Friday that struck down Michigan’s ban on same-sex couples marrying. Meanwhile, hundreds of same-sex couples married before the stay was issued.
Michigan marks 9th win in post-Windsor federal court challenges
A federal judge in Detroit ruled Friday that Michigan’s ban against same-sex couples marrying violates the couples’ constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. The Michigan decision, from U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman (a Reagan appointee) falls squarely in
Case tests DOMA’s impact on private company pension plans
In a first of its kind case, a federal judge in Philadelphia Monday (March 12) heard arguments on whether the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) precludes a private company from recognizing a same-sex marriage when it comes to the distribution
Federal judge: DOMA unconstitutional
A federal district court judge in San Francisco ruled Tuesday (February 22) that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the rights of gays and lesbians to equal protection of the law.
Karen Golinski: Marriage equality’s inadvertent champion
Karen Golinski never meant to become one of the headline names in the fight to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). All she wanted to do was to secure health care coverage for her legal spouse.
SLDN challenges use of DOMA against gay service members
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund filed suit in a federal district court Thursday (October 27) challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act and its use in denying to gay service members spousal benefits equal to that given to their straight
