An Amicus Brief was filed in the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday seeking the court to protect the privacy rights of individuals who want to repeal a law that gives all the privileges of marriage to same-sex partners in Washington State.
Liberty Counsel, a “nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization,” filed the brief seeking the court to [...]

Same-sex couples waited in line for hours Wednesday to apply for marriage licenses on the first day same-sex unions became legal in Washington D.C.
The nation’s capital is now the sixth place in the nation where gay marriages can legally take place. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Because [...]

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed an appeal Wednesday regarding a court decision that restricts a North Carolina county from opening public meetings with prayers calling on the name of a deity.
In the case, Joyner v. Forsyth County, federal judge James A. Beaty ruled on January 28 that Forsyth County’s invocation policy is unconstitutional.  [...]

The United States Supreme Court ruled Monday that excessive force claims must be decided based on the nature of the force rather than the extent of the injury.
The Wilkins v. Gaddy [docket] ruling says a defendant need not “show significant injury in order to state an excessive force claim.”  The decision reinstates a North Carolina [...]

Former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr is leaving his post as dean of Pepperdine University Law School to become president of Baylor University, both schools announced Monday.
Starr, who has been dean of the law school for five years, made national attention when he investigated President Clinton during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals.  He also [...]

An Oklahoma County judge ruled a 2009 law that would ban abortions on the basis of the fetus’s gender and require women seeking abortions to fill out a survey is unconstitutional.
District Judge Daniel L. Owens said Friday that House Bill 1595 by Sen. Todd Lamb (R), and Rep. Daniel Sullivan (R), covers too many topics, [...]

The Obama administration announced Thursday it will pay out $1.25 billion settlement in order to resolve a decade long dispute by black farmers who say the Department of Agriculture discriminated against them in loan programs.
“This is a very historic, emotional day for black farmers,” said John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association [...]

A South Carolina lawmaker has introduced legislation that would mandate gold and silver coins replace federal currency as legal tender in his state.
Four-term Republican, Mike Pitts, introduced the bill earlier this month that would outlaw what he calls “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin” in South Carolina.
“If the federal [...]

A federal judge ruled last month that the National Conference of Bar Examiners must allow a legally blind law grad to use accessibility software when taking the bar exam, but a filing by the NCBE yesterday seeks an emergency ruling against that decision.
The NCBE, which administers the test nationally, is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit [...]

International Planned Parenthood Federation wants to mandate the teaching of children as young as 10, the pleasures of sex.
The IPPF’s analysis and recommendations have been denounced by some Catholic and pro-family organizations.
“Young people have the right to be fully informed about sexuality and to have access to contraceptives and other services,” said Bert Koenders, minister [...]