Prior to the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York State last June, many employers in the state had adopted policies of providing certain benefits to the same-sex partners of their LGBT employees.  They generally did not provide such benefits to unmarried different-sex partners of employees, the logic being that if they wanted the benefits, they could get married, so they were not "similarly situated" to the LGBT employees.   This logic started to … <Read More>

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, ruled by a vote of 2-1 on February 7, 2012, that the enactment of Proposition 8 by California voters on November 5, 2008, violated the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Perry v. Brown, 2012 Westlaw 372713.  The panel majority adopted the narrowest available constitutional argument, thus avoiding having to address the question whether same-sex couples have … <Read More>

A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on February 2 that an on-line roommate matching service could not be prosecuted for allowing persons seeking roommates to express preferences concerning the sex, sexual orientation and familial status of people they would accept as roommates.  The court held that forbidding such expressions of preference would violate the constitutional liberty interest of individuals seeking roommates, and that the roommate service could assert that interest as a … <Read More>

A Massachusetts statute provides, "Any child born to a married woman as a result of artificial insemination with the consent of her husband, shall be considered the legitimate child of the mother and such husband."  But what if the birth mother is married to a woman, as has been possible in Massachusetts since May 2004 pursuant to the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 440 Mass. 309 (2003)?  … <Read More>

The 9th Circuit 3-judge panel that is considering the various appeals in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative that amended that state's constitution to provide that only the marriage of one man and one woman would be valid or recognized in California, ruled on February 2 that the video recording of the trial made at the direction of then-Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the US District Court for the … <Read More>

As the Maine Secretary of State determines whether marriage equality proponents have submitted enough valid signatures to put a proposal for marriage equality before the legislature and then on the November 2012 general election ballot, the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit again addressed the question whether Maine campaign funding disclosure laws would violate the constitutional rights of the National Organization for Marriage, Inc. (NOM), and American Principles in Action, Inc., organizations … <Read More>

U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken issued a decision on January 26 rejecting the government's motion to dismiss the second amended complaint in Dragovich v. United States Department of the Treasury, 2012 Westlaw 253325 (N.D.Cal.), an action challenging the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. 

Judge Wilken's ruling was significant on two counts.  First, it extended the plaintiff group to include California state employees who are in registered … <Read More>

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is assigned to the 1st Circuit for appellate review of federal district court opinions, so it was the Boston-based 1st Circuit that ruled against a Title VII and Equal Protection discrimination claim brought by a gay employee, Luis Aik Ayala-Sepulveda, against the municipality of San German and its mayor, Isidro Negron-Irizarry.  Appropriately enough, the decision for the court of appeals panel was written by Judge Juan Torruella, a Puerto Rican jurist who … <Read More>

New Jersey Administrative Law Judge Solomon A. Metzger ruled on January 12, 2012, that the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a body associated with the United Methodist Church that owns and operates a square mile of real estate on the New Jersey shore in the Township of Neptune, violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by refusing to rent the Boardwalk Pavilion on its property for a civil union ceremony involving a lesbian couple.  Bernstein v. … <Read More>

In New York State, marriages can be performed by a list of public officials and religious officiants.  Among those on the list are Judges.  Some judges don't do marriages, others limit them to family members and acquaintances, while some are basically available upon reasonable request.   But, as with other public officials who play some role in the administration of marriages, the question arises whether there is a legal or ethical violation if a judge refuses … <Read More>