In a startling turn of events, a three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals rejected many years of its own precedents on June 20 when it ruled in People of the State of Colorado, In the Interest of T.B., Juvenile, 2019 WL 2528764, that imposing a lifetime sex offender registration requirement on a young person whose sex-related crimes were committed when he was a minor is a form of punishment, so before imposing … <Read More>
N.Y. Appellate Division Revives Gay Dad’s Petition to Adopt His Son Conceived Through Gestational Surrogacy
A unanimous four-judge panel of the Brooklyn-based New York Appellate Division (2nd Department) revived a gay dad’s petition to adopt his son, reversing a “clearly erroneous” decision by Queens County Family Court John M. Hunt. Hunt stated two reasons for dismissing the adoption petition: first, that the child was the result of a gestational surrogacy contract, and Hunt said permitting the adoption would validate “a patently illegal surrogacy contract,” and, second, that there was no … <Read More>
Disappointed Gay Dad Asks Supreme Court to Overturn Key New York Precedent
In Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth A.C.C., 61 N.E.3d 488 (2016), the New York Court of Appeals overruled a 25-year-old precedent and held that when there is clear and convincing evidence that a same-sex couple agreed to have a child and raise the child together, where only one of them will be the child’s biological parent, and both of the parties performed parental duties and bonded with the children, the other parent would have the … <Read More>
9th Circuit Instructs District Court on Next Stage in Trans Military Litigation
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued a ruling on June 14 on several appeals filed by the Justice Department in Karnoski v. Trump, one of the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s transgender military policy. The result was not a complete win for the government or the plaintiffs, but the case will go forward before U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman in Seattle using different legal tests … <Read More>
New Jersey Judge Orders Shut-Down of “Alter Ego” of Former Conversion Therapy Group
Hudson County (NJ) Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso, Jr., issued a scathing opinion on June 10, ordering the immediate dissolution of an organization calling itself Jewish Institute for Global Awareness (JIFGA) , based on his finding that JIFGA was an “alter ego” of “Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality” (JONAH), a conversion therapy service that had been convicted of violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act by a jury in Judge Bariso’s court on … <Read More>
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Oregon Wedding Cake Case, but Remands for “Further Consideration” in Light of Masterpiece Cakeshop
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, No. 18-547, on June 17, but at the same time vacated the Oregon Court of Appeals decision in the case, 289 Or. App. 507 (Dec. 28, 2017), and remanded the case to that court for “further consideration” in light of the Court’s decision last year in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission… <Read More>
4th Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects Constitutional Challenge to Gay Hate Crime Conviction
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge by James William Hill, Jr., to his conviction under the federal Hate Crimes Act for assaulting a gay co-worker. United States of America v. Hill, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17731, 2019 WL 2454848. According to Circuit Judge James A. Wynn, Jr., this was the first appellate case to take up the question whether the federal statute can … <Read More>
Botswana High Court Declares Sodomy Law Unconstitutional
The High Court of Botswana ruled on June 11 that three provisions of the country’s Penal Code that collectively make soliciting or participating in gay sex a crime violate several provisions of the Constitution. The 2.4-million person republic, a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, is centrally situated north of the border with South Africa. Formerly known as the British “protectorate” of Bechuanaland, it achieved independent rule in 1965 and formally became the Republic … <Read More>
Washington State Supreme Court Unanimously Reaffirms Liability of Florist Who Refused Flowers for a Same-Sex Wedding
The nine-member Washington State Supreme Court refused on June 6 to back down from its earlier decision that Barronelle Stutzman and her business, Arlene’s Flowers, Inc., violated the state’s anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws on February 28, 2013, when she told Robert Ingersoll that she would not provide floral arrangements for his wedding to Curt Freed. The court also ruled that Stutzman had no constitutional privilege to violate the state’s anti-discrimination law based on her … <Read More>
Texas Federal Court Will Allow Surviving Same-Sex Partner to Replead Claim for Death Benefits
On May 21, U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle issued a ruling in a complicated employee benefits case involving a same-sex partner’s claim to benefits under the employment-related life insurance policy of his late partner. Ford v. Freemen, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85178, 2019 WL 2189256 (N.D. Tex.). The ruling concerned the part of the case in which Rodney Ford sought to hold either Bank of America (BoA) or Prudential Life Insurance Company (Prudential) … <Read More>