The plaintiff in the court case that led to the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage and the Kentucky county clerk who refused to sign same-sex marriage licenses will be guests at President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday.
On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott provided a glimmer of hope for constitutional conservatives who want to see a restoration of balance between the massively overweening federal government and the increasingly irrelevant state governments.
Governor Greg Abbott calls on Texas to join other states in calling for an Article V Convention of the States to write new amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He says his 100-page “Texas Plan” “fixes this government run amok” and “returns lawmaking to the process enshrined in the Constitution.”
Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday that prohibits probate courts from granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The United States Supreme Court decided on Friday that it will hear a lawsuit claiming that a Texas law unconstitutionally limits access to abortion in the state. The court granted certiorari review of a challenge to provisions of Texas House Bill 2.
The Supreme Court of the United States issued a per curium decision today reversing a 2014 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opinion holding that a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper was not entitled to be granted qualified immunity. The officer had used deadly force to stop a driver in a high-speed car chase. Justice Sotomayor chastised the court for allowing a “shoot first, think later approach to policing.”
Court watchers say that the John Roberts-led U.S. Supreme Court may at last take a case that directly pertains to whether or not the death penalty is a Constitutional punishment.
The state of Texas has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to set aside the $1 million plus in attorney’s fees awarded to the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force, the Texas State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, former state senator Wendy Davis, and others, who challenged Texas’ redistricting maps.
Citing the judicial oath of office to “support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Ohio,” the opinion states, “A judge who is willing to perform marriages of only opposite-sex couples because of his or her personal, moral, or religious beliefs may be viewed as possessing a bias or prejudice against a specific class or group of people based on sexual orientation.”
On Thursday the National School Boards Association (NSBA), in conjunction with the National Education Association (NEA) and the School Superintendents Association (AASA), released its guide on the impact the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage will have on local school districts across the nation.
Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the Obama administration not to enforce the contraceptive mandate against Catholic organizations from Pennsylvania, making this case the government’s sixth loss in a row at the Supreme Court. Currently, four petitions are before the Supreme Court asking for final resolution of the issue by June 2016.
Gov. Beshear told county clerk Casey Davis Thursday that he should issue same-sex marriage licenses or resign, reports Kentucky.com. Davis said he is refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because same-sex marriage is against his religious beliefs, and he is also refusing to resign his post.
Just two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, in Texas Housing v. Inclusive Communities, that federal housing law allows challenges to zoning laws, lending regulations, and other practices that could impact minority groups – even without the intention to discriminate – the Obama administration has issued a final rule – known as the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Final Rule – in a press release.
Gov. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas is acting to protect clergy and religious organizations from punishment for refusing to recognize or provide services for same-sex marriages.
The number of homeschooled children in the United States has soared nearly 62 percent over the past decade, and national homeschooling organizations are anticipating even further growth in home education as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.
No same-sex marriage licenses are being issued in Decatur County, Tennessee, because the entire county clerk’s office has resigned following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
The Fifth Circuit has issued an opinion binding southern states telling them to get over the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling—same-sex marriage is now the law of the land.
In an interview with Kentucky television station WDRB, McConnell said that while he has “always felt that marriage is between one man and one woman,” the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise. “That’s the law of the land,” he said.
Flint Dollar, who is represented by attorney Charles E. Cox, Jr., says he signed a contract with the school on May 1, 2014 and announced to school officials he would be marrying his gay partner the following October without any objection from them, reports The Telegraph. He was fired three weeks later.
The ACLU — whose stated mission was once “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States” — now states that while the organization supported the RFRA when it was passed, “we can no longer support the law in its current form” because “it is now often used as a sword to discriminate against women, gay and transgender people and others.”
“We can all become Benedictine monks,” or “we can clear our throats, we can lean forward, we can have a conversation with our neighbors and we can try to do something practical to protect ourselves and to lead our country forward” Concerned Women for America CEO and President Penny Nance told the Breitbart News Sunday listening audience and host Matthew Boyle in response to last week’s decision from the U.S. Supreme Court to force homosexual marriage in all 50 states.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education (USED), under Secretary Arne Duncan, posted an image of its logo that incorporated a rainbow to show its support for the contentious ruling.
As a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, Christian leaders of many denominations are mobilizing the faithful to protect their religious liberties and prepare for the possibility of massive civil disobedience in the face of penalties for exercising their freedoms.
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on Monday to stay the order of a lower federal court requiring abortion clinics in Texas to close or remain closed. The order from the court in Whole Woman’s Health et al. v. Cole, Comm’r, Texas DHS, et al. maintains the status quo while the Court decides whether to decide the case on the merits on any appeal.
The Louisiana Clerks of Court Association advised clerks not to issue licenses for 25 days, during which time the Supreme Court could be petitioned for a rehearing. Same-sex marriages are also on hold in the state of Mississippi where Democrat attorney general Jim Hood said the Supreme Court’s decision would not go into effect in his state until the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts a stay on its ruling from last year in which it struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban.
