Finding that Nebraska’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon granted a motion by seven same-sex couples to issue a preliminary injunction against its enforcement. [The case is Waters v. Ricketts, 2015 WL 852603, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25869 (D. Neb., March 2, 2015).] While denying the state’s request to stay his order pending appeal, Judge Bataillon agreed to delay his ruling … <Read More>
Teacher Can Pursue Constitutional Claims Challenging Her Dismissal Over Anti-Gay Facebook Postings
A New Jersey federal judge has ruled that a Union County public school teacher who lost her job after posting anti-gay comments to her Facebook page may continue her lawsuit against the school board and various officials on claims of constitutional violations. Although District Judge Kevin McNulty dismissed several of Jenye Viki Knox’s claims, the central constitutional claims survived the defendants’ motion to dismiss in Knox v. Union Township Board of Education, 2015 U.S. Dist. … <Read More>
Military Appeals Court Changes Analysis of “Aggravated Assault” HIV Exposure Cases
Reversing the conviction of HIV-positive Air Force Technical Sergeant David Gutierrez on charges of aggravated assault for engaging in unprotected oral and vaginal sex with women during “swingers” parties, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled on February 23 in United States v. Gutierrez, No. 13-0522, that statistics about the likelihood of transmission of HIV under such circumstances would not support a conviction under Article 128(b) of the Uniform Code of Military … <Read More>
American Symphony Revives Von Schillings’ “Mona Lisa”
I haven’t been blogging concerts and theater this season… too overwhelmed with legal developments and work. But having just attended the American Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Max Von Schillings’ opera “Mona Lisa” at Carnegie Hall, I couldn’t resist offering a few observations.
First, to thank Leon Botstein, the ASO, the singers and chorus for the enormous effort that goes into putting on these revivals of forgotten music. They usually have to go to significant lengths … <Read More>
NY High Court Approves Reduced Charges in HIV Transmission Case
The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled 4-1 on February 19 that a Syracuse (Onondaga County) trial judge had appropriately granted a defendant’s motion to reduce charges against him from felony to misdemeanor reckless endangerment where the defendant had apparently transmitted HIV to another man by engaging in unprotected anal sex without disclosing his HIV status, reassuring his sex partner that it was “okay.” People v. Williams, 2015 WL 685818. The … <Read More>
New Jersey Trial Judge Finds Conversion Therapy Outfit Violated Consumer Fraud Law
A New Jersey trial judge issued two rulings in February in a pending consumer fraud case against JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), an organization that provides so-called “conversion therapy” seeking to “assist individuals to purge unwanted same-sex attractions,” finding that certain representations made by JONAH to potential clients violate the state’s law against consumer fraud. The judge, Peter F. Bariso, Jr., of the Superior Court in Hudson County, also ruled that most of … <Read More>
Third Strike Against Andrew Shirvell – 6th Circuit Upholds Substantial Damage Award
Just weeks ago, Michigan’s Court of Appeals dealt two strikes against former Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell, rejecting his challenge to his discharge by former Attorney General Mike Cox and denying his claim for unemployment benefits. Shirvell, who had undertaken an obsessive campaign to discredit the openly gay president of the student government association at his alma mater, University of Michigan, was held by the state appeals court to lack any First Amendment free … <Read More>
California Supreme Court Revives Mandatory Sex Offender Registration for Non-Vaginal Sex With Minors
The California Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on January 29, 2015, that the state’s sex offender registration law does not violate equal protection when it gives courts discretion whether to impose a registration requirement on adults who engage in vaginal intercourse with minors age 16 or 17, but mandates registration for other sexual acts involving minors of those ages. Johnson v. Department of Justice, 2015 WL 363184. The decision overruled a 2006 case, People v. Hofsheier, … <Read More>
Federal Judge Voids Alabama Same-Sex Marriage Ban
U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade ruled on January 23 that Alabama’s constitutional and statutory ban on same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment. Her ruling in Searcy v. Strange, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7776 (S.D. Alabama), released on a Friday afternoon, did not make any mention of a stay pending appeal, but the public announcement of its release came too late in the day for same-sex couples to apply for licenses at county clerks’ … <Read More>
Supreme Court Grants Four Petitions to Review 6th Circuit’s Marriage Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on January 16, 2015, that it was granting four petitions to review the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in DeBoer v. Snyder, 772 F.3d 388 (Nov. 6, 2014), which had rejected the claim that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry and to have such marriages recognized by other states. The 6th Circuit’s ruling, issued on November 6 on appeals by four states from district court pro-marriage equality … <Read More>