In 1988 Jerome Keeney, Jr., was arrested in a typical sting operation by a St. Louis County vice cop, and pled guilty in 1989 to the charge of attempted “sexual misconduct.” His crime? Groping an undercover police officer who specifically sat with him in his parked car at a highway rest stop and chatted him up seeking to provoke such a move. The St. Louis County Circuit Court imposed a suspended sentence (no jail time) … <Read More>
Puerto Rico Urges Reversal of Anti-Marriage Equality Ruling
In an unusual turnabout, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, respondent in Lambda Legal’s appeal of the anti-marriage equality ruling in Conde-Vidal v. Garcia-Padilla, 2014 WL 5361987 (D. P.R., Oct. 21, 2014), is urging the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the district court’s ruling that dismissed the challenge to the Commonwealth’s ban on licensing or recognizing same-sex marriages.
Lambda Legal sued on behalf of several same-sex couples seeking either to marry in Puerto Rico … <Read More>
A Triumphant Weekend at Peoples’ Symphony Concerts – Johannes Quartet & ECCO
This weekend Peoples’ Symphony Concerts in New York presented two excellent concerts. In the Arens Series at Washington Irving High School, we heard the Johannes String Quartet, joined with guests from the Guarneri String Quartet, violist John Dalley and cellist Peter Wiley. In the Festival Series at Town Hall, we heard the East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Each concert include one unusual “modern” work, although these were not necessarily the real highlights of the programs.
The … <Read More>
New Jersey Supreme Court Ruling Imperils Ravi Conviction in Bias Crime Case
A unanimous ruling by New Jersey’s Supreme Court in State v. Pomianek, 2015 N.J. LEXIS 275, 2015 WL 1182529 (March 17, 2015), striking down part of the state’s Bias Intimidation Law, may imperil the conviction of Dharun Ravi in the suicide of Tyler Clementi , the gay Rutgers University freshman who had been Ravi’s dormitory roommate.
The court’s ruling came in the case of David Pomianek, Jr., a white man who was convicted by … <Read More>
Alabama Probate Judge Caught Between Conflicting Rulings
The Mobile County, Alabama, Probate Court is not issuing marriage licenses to anybody, as Judge Don Davis tries to figure out exactly what he is supposed to be doing. On January 26, U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled in a lawsuit brought by a same-sex couple in Mobile County seeking a marriage license that they were entitled to receive one because the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. … <Read More>
Grindr Not Liable for Hook-up with Underage User
A gay man’s attempt to hold Grindr responsible for his arrest and prosecution for sex with a minor was cut short on March 13 when U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in New Jersey ruled that the provider of an “interactive computer service” enjoys statutory immunity from liability for harm resulting from the content posted to its service by third parties. Saponaro v. Grindr, LLC, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30795.
Because Judge Simandle was ruling … <Read More>
New York Philharmonic Ades Premiere & Debut
The New York Philharmonic turned over the subscription series of March 12-14 to British composer-conductor-pianist Thomas Ades, who led the programs and presented the first U.S. performances of his new work, Totentanz for Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone & Orchestra. For many New Yorkers, the programs presented a double discovery – an excellent and energetic conductor and an imaginative and talented composer. Some of us already knew him from another role, having heard him collaborate with Matthias Goerne … <Read More>
KLR Trio at Peoples’ Symphony Concerts
This afternoon the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio performed a concert at Manhattan’s Town Hall under the auspices of Peoples’ Symphony Concerts. This group has performed frequently at PSC, and their return is always welcome. Since the retirement of the Beaux Arts Trio, they are probably the preeminent piano trio currently performing.
I was a bit put off prospectively by the conservatism of their program. This program could have been given over 120 years ago: Beethoven’s Kakadu Variations, … <Read More>
Supreme Court Sets Hearing Date for Marriage Equality Appeals
On March 5 the Supreme Court posted on its website the last argument calendar for the year, listing for Tuesday, April 28, the appeals in Obergefell v. Hodges, Tanco v. Haslam, DeBoer v. Snyder and Bourke v. Beshear, the four marriage equality appeals from the states of the 6th Circuit. The arguments will begin at 10 am. The Court does not broadcast its arguments live, but in a press release also issued March 5 the … <Read More>
The Alabama Supreme Court’s Marriage Inequality Antics
On March 3 the Alabama Supreme Court “pulled a fast one,” issuing a per curiam decision seeking to effectively override some federal district court opinions, ordering the probate judges throughout the state to continue enforcing Alabama’s constitutional and statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriage even though the federal district court has declared them unconstitutional, and both the 11th Circuit and the Supreme Court had denied Attorney General Luther Strange’s petition for a stay pending appeal to … <Read More>