Category Archives: Law

High court seems uncertain about beliefs v. bias conflict

By the time a lawsuit reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, the facts of the conflict are rarely in dispute. But Monday’s oral argument at the Supreme Court revealed a great deal of confusion over those very basic facts of the

9th Circuit nominee grilled over Prop 8

The confirmation hearing Friday, April 16, for a well-known liberal nominee to a federal appeals court deteriorated quickly into a political battlefield. Republicans seemed intent on settling old scores.

Supreme possibilities: How the ‘short list’ stacks up

The White House has begun floating trial balloons for candidates President Obama might appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

No on Prop 8 groups lose a round

A 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel dismissed the appeal of two groups opposing Proposition 8 in which the groups sought to stop a district court order that they turn over documents to Yes on 8 groups. The three-judge

Stevens: a Republican who grew liberal with the times

Some court observers credit U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens with having forged a majority of the court to overturn laws banning private sexual relations between persons of the same sex—the most beneficial gay-related decision ever rendered by the

Stevens makes it official: He’s leaving high court

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who turns 90 this month, announced today he will retire from the high court at the end of June. The potential impact of the retirement will be measured once President Obama nominates a

Back at high court: Religion versus anti-bias laws

When Concerned Women of America, the Boy Scouts, and Evangelical Scholars line up on one side of a legal case, one might naturally assume that gay groups are lined up on the other side. Christian Legal Society v. Martinez is not

Grilling of 9th circuit nominee delayed

The Senate Judiciary Committee was squaring up for a showdown this week over President Obama’s most controversial judicial nominee to date, but that showdown has been indefinitely delayed, while Republicans use a parliamentary delaying tactic on the companion bill to

Groups appeal order to turn over documents in Prop 8 case

A snag in completion of the landmark Proposition 8 trial has now become a full-fledged entanglement. The issue? Whether three groups that are not a party to the Perry v. Schwarzenegger lawsuit can be forced to turn over their

Student wins, but prom still off

A lesbian high school senior won a partial victory in a federal court in Mississippi Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson, a Reagan appointee, ruled that senior Constance McMillen, 18, had a First Amendment right to