A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled by a vote of 2-1 on March 29 that the state of Texas did not violate the 8th Amendment right against cruel or unusual punishment by denying gender confirmation surgery to transgender inmate Vanessa Lynn Gibson. Gibson v. Collier, 2019 WL 1417271, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 9397. The dissent argued that the substantive legal question was not properly … <Read More>
President Barack Obama
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>
Kansas Marriage Equality Ruling May Go to the 10th Circuit for En Banc Review
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled on November 4 in Marie v. Moser that the Kansas ban on same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment. The Obama appointee, who has been a federal judge for less than a year, rejected the state’s argument that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1972 ruling in Baker v. Nelson “controls the outcome here” and instead applied the recent decisions by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Kitchen v. Herbert and Bishop … <Read More>
The Obama Government Contractor Executive Order
The White House has announced that President Barack Obama will sign an executive order on July 21, 2014, amending Executive Order 11246 to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited grounds of discrimination by government contractors. Announcements emanating from the White House suggest that the addition of these terms to the existing executive order are the only substantive changes that will be made. The non-discrimination requirements will be included in new federal contracts made … <Read More>