Ruling on an issue that he characterized as “apparently one of national first impression,” New York Supreme Court Justice Sam D. Walker (Westchester County) ordered the New York State Education Department, which administers the system of professional licensing throughout the state, to “issue a new professional license and license number to Jane Doe and to conceal from the public any cross reference to the prior license held by John Doe,” as well as prohibiting the … <Read More>
A 4th Amendment Outrage: Supreme Court Approves DNA Testing for Arrestees, 5-4
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today [Maryland v. King, No. 12-207, June 3, 2013] that when the police have probable cause to arrest somebody, they can take a cheek swab and send the results to a national DNA database, and then ask that the results be used to determine whether the arrestee can be associated with any unsolved crimes for which there is DNA evidence. Blazing a new trail in the relentless invasion of privacy … <Read More>
NYC Musical Diary – More May Concerts – Detroit SO, Alarm Will Sound, Musicians From Marlboro
Being busy with final exams and grading, I haven’t been to as many concerts as usual over the past few weeks, but I wanted to comment about a few:
May 10 in Carnegie Hall I attended one of their “Spring for Music” concerts, a presentation of the four symphonies of Charles Ives by Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I’ve been an Ives fan since high school days, when I performed the double bass … <Read More>
Florida Appellate Courts Disagree About Whether “Sexual Intercourse” Includes Gay Sex
Does “sexual intercourse,” as the term is used in Florida Stat. 384.24(2) and 384.34(5), include anal or oral intercourse between men? The sections in question make it a crime for a person who knows he is infected with HIV to engage in “sexual intercourse” with another person without disclosing this fact. The 2nd and 5th Florida District Courts of Appeal disagree, and the 5th District has certified the question to the Florida Supreme Court to
… <Read More> Gatsby, Star Trek & Iron Man
Herewith my reactions to the “big three” mass audience Hollywood films released in May, now having seen all three. I thought that the best of the three was The Great Gatsby, which, despite some anachronistic touches, did a fairly good job of animating the novel and telling a coherent story with good performances and memorable scenes. In third place, by a long shot, is Iron Man 3, which I found to be virtually incoherent as … <Read More>
Presumed Parenthood for California Domestic Partners – Did This Issue Have to Be Litigated?
Under longstanding legal principles in most American jurisdictions, and definitely in California, when a married woman has a child, her spouse is presumed to be the legal parent of the child. When California first established legally-recognized domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, this status brought with it only a limited menu of rights and responsibilities. However, through a few rounds of amendments, the domestic partnership status was expanded to come close to matching the legal rights … <Read More>
D.C. Officials May Face Liability for Mistreatment of Transgender Detainee
A transgender woman complaining of mistreatment by District of Columbia police and federal marshalls after her arrests has convinced a U.S. District Judge that she has pled viable 4th and 5th Amendment complaints against several officers and the D.C. city government. Ruling on May 13, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle did dismiss some charges against some defendants, but allowed most of Patti Shaw’s claims to continue to discovery and, perhaps, to trial.
Shaw states in her … <Read More>
Hong Kong’s Highest Appeal Court Says Transgender Woman Can Marry Her Boyfriend
Overruling the Registrar of Marriages in Hong Kong, who refused to issue a marriage license to a “post-operative” transgender woman who sought to marry her male partner, the Court of Final Appeal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ruled on May 13 that the woman, identified as W in court papers, was entitled to the license, although the majority of the court was not unanimous in its reasoning. Ironically, such a right for a … <Read More>
NY Family Court Uses Judicial Estoppel In Lesbian Co-Parent Custody Case
Suffolk County, N.Y., Family Court Judge Theresa Whelan used the doctrine of judicial estoppel to find that a lesbian mother who had previously acknowledged her former partner’s parental status when seeking a support order from the court, was precluded from denying the partner’s parental status in opposition to a custody/visitation petition. Judge Whelan’s April 2, 2013, ruling was published in the New York Law Journal on May 10.
The parties, identified as Estrellita A. and … <Read More>
Iowa Supreme Court Rules for Lesbian Couple in Birth Certificate Dispute
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on May 3 that a state law providing that the husband of a married woman who gives birth to a child is the presumptive father is unconstitutional to the extent that it doesn’t also provide such a presumption of parentage for married lesbian couples. Although the court rejected a lower court ruling interpreting the statute to lead to such a result, the court affirmed the lower court using its alternative … <Read More>