Ruling on appeals by three gay people from Africa seeking asylum in the Netherlands, the European Court of Justice held that it was a violation of European human rights law for officials attempting to determine whether the applicants are gay to base their questioning solely on stereotypes about homosexuals, to carry out detailed questioning as to the sexual practices of the applicants, to require applicants to submit to “tests” to establish their homosexuality or to … <Read More>
ASO Triumphs with Obscure Schnittke Cantata – Nagasaki
I’ve had such a busy semester with legal developments that I haven’t been posting about the concerts, opera and theater that I’ve been attending for the Fall 2014 season. A big stack of programs has accumulated, and sometime during the next few weeks I hope to catch up with some retrospective postings, since I’ve attended plenty of events that are worthy of comment.
But I decided to make an exception and post today about the … <Read More>
Surprising Development in Florida Marriage Equality Case
When U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled on August 21 in Brenner v. Armstrong and Grimsley v. Armstrong that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, he stayed his preliminary injunction until January 5, 2015, to give the state a chance to appeal to the 11th Circuit. He indicated that if the state wanted to have the decision stayed longer until the Court of Appeals could decide on the merits, it should ask the Court … <Read More>
The Dominoes Continue to Fall as Federal Courts Strike Arkansas and Mississippi Marriage Bans
On November 25, 2014, U.S. district court judges in Arkansas and Mississippi issued rulings declaring unconstitutional the constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage in those states. In Arkansas, District Judge Kristine G. Baker stayed her ruling pending an appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals by the state, but the situation was complicated by another marriage equality case pending before the state’s Supreme Court, which may render this ruling superfluous depending on timing. … <Read More>
New York High Court Affirms Setting Aside Hate Crime Conviction as Inconsistent
The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled unanimously on November 24 that the Appellate Division had correctly reversed the hate crime manslaughter conviction of Dwight R. DeLee, who was charged in the murder of a New York transgender woman named Lateisha Green, because the jury’s verdict was inconsistent. However, the court modified the Appellate Division’s decision by granting the prosecution an opportunity to resubmit the charge of manslaughter in the first … <Read More>
Third Week of November 2014 Was a Busy Week on the Marriage Equality Front
Things have begun to happen so quickly that I have fallen behind in my blogging on marriage equality developments, so here is a quick summary about events during the third week of November.
Monday, November 17 – Plaintiffs in the 6th Circuit marriage equality cases from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan finished filing their petitions for certiorari with the Supreme Court. These are the first petitions for certiorari in marriage equality cases to be filed … <Read More>
Federal Court Refuses to Dismiss South Dakota Marriage Equality Case
U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier denied a motion by South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard to dismiss the pending marriage equality case of Rosenbrahn v. Daugaard on November 14. Although this was not a ruling on the merits of the case, Judge Schreier’s ruling suggests that she will become the second district judge within the jurisdiction of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule for marriage equality. Following the lead of District Judge Ortrie … <Read More>
Michigan Ban on Benefits for Same-Sex Partners of Government Employees Ruled Unconstitutional
Even though the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage just days ago, U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson ruled on November 12 that Michigan’s Public Employee Domestic Partner Benefit Restriction Act, passed in 2011, violates the Equal Protection Clause. Judge Lawson rested his ruling on the anti-gay animus he found in reviewing the enactment of the measure.
On the one hand, the … <Read More>
Lesbian Co-Parent Has Standing to Enforce Co-Parenting Agreement in Oklahoma
Oklahoma now has same-sex marriage, courtesy of the federal courts, so perhaps the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s historic ruling on November 12 in Eldredge v. Taylor, 2014 OK 92, will have only transient significance, but it is nonetheless noteworthy, if only because of the court’s somewhat unusual ruling that a written co-parenting agreement between cohabiting partners can give a non-biological parent standing to seek a declaration of her parental rights after her relationship with the birth … <Read More>
New York Court Refuses to Apply Parental Presumption for Married Same-Sex Couple
The standard rule in family law is that the legal spouse of a woman who gives birth to a child is presumed to be the child’s legal parent. Of course, the traditional statement of the rule is that when a married woman gives birth, her husband is presumed to be the child’s father. The original purpose of this doctrine was to protect the legal status of a child, who would be considered “illegitimate” if its … <Read More>