On June 29, The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives (BLAG) filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, seeking review of the 1st Circuit

Most of the reporting on the Supreme Court's ruling this morning in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, No. 11-393 (June 28, 2012), naturally focuses on the immediate bottom line: The Court, by a vote of 5-4, upheld the "individual mandate" provision under which all adults are supposed to have health insurance, and many of those who don't purchase it (and don't have it under some group plan) will have to pay a penalty … <Read More>

U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall (S.D. Ga.) released an Order in Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, CV 110-099, on June 22, granting the defendants' motion to dismiss a claim by a student that her constitutional rights were violated when she was  dropped from the graduate Counseling Program at Augusta State University.  The court ruled that Jennifer Keeton, a self-described Christian who refused to undergo a Remediation Program aimed at equipping her to provide non-discriminatory professional counseling … <Read More>

A unanimous four-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division, 2nd Department, ruled on June 20 that a property-owner being sued by an HIV-positive individual who claims to have been injured in a fall on the owner's property is entitled to a hearing on its demand for disclosure of HIV-related information in the plaintiff's medical records.  John Doe v. Sutlinger Realty Corp., 2012 WL 2330560, 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 04969.

The court explained that "during … <Read More>

New York Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger ruled June 11 that Alini Brito is entitled to a new administrative hearing on her claim that she was wrongfully discharged by the New York City Department of Education from her position as a Spanish teacher at James Madison High School in Brooklyn.  Vacating a decision by Hearing Officer Mary Crangle, Justice Schlesinger found that Ms. Brito's due process rights were violated by the hearing officer's handling of an issue … <Read More>

The New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, ruled 4-3 on June 12, 2012, that Section 296(4) of the N.Y. Executive Law, a provision of the state's Human Rights Law, which bans discrimination in the use of its facilities by an "education corporation or association," does not apply to the public schools of the state.  North Syracuse Central School District v. N.Y.S. Division of Human Rights, 2012 WL 2092954.  One practical impact of the decision … <Read More>

On May 30, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed the denial of a writ of habeas corpus, thus rejecting a challenge by Jack Keith Cook to an Idaho court's determination that he violated that state's "infamous crime against nature" statute, Idaho Code sec. 18-6605, by having sex in a gym sauna.  Cook v. Reinke, 2012 Westlaw 1941928.

Cook sought the protection of federal constitutional law under Lawrence … <Read More>

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has denied a petition filed by the official proponents of Proposition 8 seeking rehearing in Perry v. Brown by a larger panel of circuit judges (referred to as "en banc").  However, the court stayed its mandate in the case "for ninety days pending the filing of a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court.  If such a petition is file," said the court, "the … <Read More>

Affirming a ruling by District Judge Alan M. Malott of the Bernalillo County District Court, a three-judge panel of the New Mexico Court of Appeals unanimously ruled on May 31 that Elane Photography, LLC, violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act when it refused to provide photography services for a commitment ceremony for Vanessa Willock and her same-sex partner (who was not named in the court's opinion).  Writing for the court of appeals panel, Judge … <Read More>

The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Chatterjee v. King (June 1, 2012) that a lesbian co-parent could pursue joint custody of the child who was adopted by her same-sex partner, where she had held herself out as a parent of the child from the time of the adoption and had fulfilled that role during the early years of the child's life.  Reversing the court of appeals and the trial court on this point, … <Read More>