A transgender state inmate confined in Chemung County is entitled to a legal name change, ruled the New York Appellate Division, 3rd Department, on May 31.  The unanimous five-judge panel reversed an order that Chemung County Supreme Court Justice Judith F. O'Shea issued on August 29, 2011, in which she denied Jhirard Tahiem Powell's petition for a name change to Shaniece Nyasia Powell.  In re Powell, 2012 WL 1948170.

According to the opinion for … <Read More>

A unanimous four-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division, 3rd Department, rejected old precedents on May 31 and ruled that

A unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, based in Boston, ruled on May 31 that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act violates the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution. 

The ruling on consolidated appeals in cases brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (Gill v. Office of Personnel Management) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Commonwealth v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) … <Read More>

The Supreme Court of Ohio announced on May 25 that it would not consider an attempt by anti-same-sex marriage forces to block a proposed ballot initiative intended to repeal Ohio

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken (N.D.Cal.) ruled on May 24 in Dragovich v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2012 WL 1909603, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, 1 U.S.C. Section 7, and Section 7702B(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. Section 7702B(f), are unconstitutional to the extent that they limit the participation of same-sex spouses and domestic partners of California public employees in the long-term care insurance program provided by … <Read More>

I usually try to blog about a new case as soon as I hear about it, but last month was the time of year when I am on the lookout for final examination fact patterns, and so I have put off blogging about Stroder v. Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, 2012 Westlaw 1424496 (W.D.Ky., April 24, 2012), for almost a month, as I quickly decided to base a final exam … <Read More>

Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled unanimously on May 18 in Port v. Cowan, 2012 WL 1758629, that a same-sex couple married in 2008 in California could get divorced in Maryland.  Applying the state's common law comity rule for marriage recognition, the court held that recognizing the marriage was neither "repugnant" to the state's public policy nor specifically prohibited by the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriages. 

The court is deciding this … <Read More>

A panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment order that District Judge Robert Holmes Bell (W.D.Mich.) had issued in the case of Davis v. Prison Health Services, 2012 WL 1623216 (May 10, 2012), finding that state prison inmate Ricky Davis had alleged sufficient facts to raise an inference of anti-gay discriminatory intent in Prison Health Service's decision to remove him from working in an off-site public works program.  The opinion … <Read More>

In some ways, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals' decision in Kalich v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, 2012 Westlaw 1623193 (May 10, 2012), is entirely unexceptionable.  In compliance with existing precedents, the court agreed with District Judge David M. Lawson (E.D.Mich.) that Jeffrey Kalich was not entitled to a trial of his hostile environment sexual harassment claim under Title VII because, among other things, sexual orientation discrimination claims are not covered by Title VII.  Neither Michigan … <Read More>

On May 3, the Office of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who is a Republican candidate for the United States Senate, issued a written opinion over the signature of Assistant Attorney General Dale A. Corner, asserting that "political subdivisions" in Nebraska do not have the authority to "create protected classes not listed in state statute."  The opinion was issued at the request of State Senator Beau McCoy, whose attempt to procure the enactment of a … <Read More>