Free Republic

Well, that was quick. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday evening ordered that same-sex marriages begin again in California, and after less than a day of weddings, Prop 8 advocates filed an emergency motion to halt the unions, claiming that they still had time to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to dismiss their challenge to a 2010 ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Kennedy, who is responsible for motions dealing with the Ninth Circuit, was swift in his response. The Associated Press reports that he "turned away the request on Sunday with no additional...

In a landmark settlement, the Pentagon has agreed to give full back pay to U.S. service members who were discharged due to their sexual orientation under the military's “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The payouts will be granted to service members dismissed from the military under the now-repealed policy on or after November 2004. “This means so much to those of us who dedicated ourselves to the military, only to be forced out against our will for being who we are,” former Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Collins said in a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought...

A federal judge has sided with the ACLU against the state of North Carolina and blocked the state from offering residents “choose life” license plates without providing plates with the opposing view. In his decision on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge James Fox, who last year issued an order temporarily blocking the state from producing the “choose life” plates, found the plates to be unconstitutional in the absence of other license plates that promoted a pro-choice position. …

A San Francisco couple is waiting to find out if the U.S. Supreme Court will take their case challenging the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Karen Golinski and Amy Cunninghis got married during the brief window in 2008 when gay and lesbian couples could tie the knot in California. Golinski immediately tried to add her wife to her employer-sponsored health care plan. But because she is married to another woman and works for the U.S. government, her otherwise routine request was denied...

September 4, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Nicaraguan Mennonites say that they have been persecuted by government authorities since they chose to shelter ex-lesbian Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella following their escape from the United States, but add that they are willing to suffer and even die to protect Isabella from a court-ordered custody transfer to her non-biological lesbian “mother.” Lisa Miller and her daughter fled the country in late 2009 in order to avoid sharing custody of Isabella with Miller’s former homosexual partner, Janet Jenkins, with whom she had entered into a Vermont civil union. Jenkins is not biologically related...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal court ruled on Tuesday that a controversial Texas voter identification law discriminates against black and Hispanic voters, effectively killing the law before it could take effect for the November 6 presidential election. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling. ..

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal court rejects voting districts drawn by Texas Legislature, finds maps discriminatory.

[OFFICIAL CHARGES OF DISCRIMINATION FILED BY GAY RIGHTS REPRESENTATION AGAINST CHICK FIL A - IL] The Civil Rights Agenda, a local LGBT rights advocacy group, filed multiple complaints with the Illinois Department of Human Rights Thursday, alleging that the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A restaurant chain’s “intolerant corporate culture” violates Illinois law and a provision in the state’s Human Rights Act. “In our current high speed media and social media environment, Chick-fil-A has announced and caused to be published, to hundreds of millions of people, that LGBT people are unacceptable and objectionable,” said Jacob Meister, Governing Board President of TCRA and the attorney...

An ailing 83-year-old lesbian asked the Supreme Court on Monday to hear her legal challenge against a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman, attempting to place her case on a fast-track to the top court. The suit, filed by Edith Schlain Windsor in 2010, targets the Defense of Marriage Act, a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996 that denies federal benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples. Windsor's petition attempts to bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals, which is slated to hear the case in September. With Windsor's filing, there are three...

May 31, 2012 (HLIWorldWatch.org) - Anyone who is concerned about the influence of the homosexual agenda on reshaping traditional values must become intimately familiar with the major tactics that homophiles commonly employ in order to anticipate them and respond in charity and truth. Homophile strategists are very adept at manipulating public opinion with an arsenal of six tactics that are based upon deceptions and half‑truths: Exploit the “victim” status; Use the sympathetic media; Confuse and neutralize the churches; Slander and stereotype Christians; Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and Intimidation. One reason these tactics have worked so well is...

A Wharton judge has ruled that the marriage between a Wharton fire captain killed in the line of duty and his transgender wife was not legal, an attorney in the case said today. "It is our understanding, having read a draft order circulated by Judge Clapp, that he has ruled that any marriage between Thomas Araguz and Nikki Araguz is void as a matter of law," Mann said in a prepared statement sent by email a few minutes after 5 p.m., when the judge's office was closed In his statement, Mann said he anticipated that Nikki Araguz's legal team would...

Here, for reasons that I shall provide in a memorandum to be filed in due course, I am certain that “a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would [not] conclude that [my] impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” United States v. Nelson, 718 F.2d 315, 321 (9th Cir. 1983); see also Sao Paulo State of the Federated Republic of Brazil v. Am. Tobacco Co., 535 U.S. 229, 233 (2002) (per curiam). I will be able to rule impartially on this appeal, and I will do so. The motion is therefore DENIED.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A federal judge has granted a request to prevent the state of Oklahoma from certifying election results for a constitutional amendment that would bar state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases. U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange said Monday she granted the preliminary injunction against State Question 755 until she rules on the merits of a challenge to the law. The law was approved by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters in a Nov. 2 referendum.

A federal appellate judge expressed deep skepticism Monday about the Justice Department's lawsuit over Arizona's new immigration law, leaving uncertain the Obama administration's chances of stopping the law from taking effect. Judge John T. Noonan Jr. grilled administration lawyers at a hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He took aim at the core of the Justice Department's argument: that the Arizona statute is "preempted" by federal law and is especially troublesome because it requires mandatory immigration status checks in certain circumstances. "I've read your brief, I've read the District Court opinion, I've heard your interchange...

WASHINGTON — A district court judge Tuesday rejected the Obama administration's claims that allowing gays and lesbians to begin openly

Federal judge issues nationwide injunction stopping enforcement

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has expressed a willingness to ban protesters from burning the Koran as the modern day equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.The Supreme Court has ruled burning the American flag in protest is protected speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution.Breyer spoke to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's Good Morning America today:But Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told me on "GMA" that he's not prepared to conclude that -- in the internet age -- the First Amendment condones Koran burning.“Holmes said it doesn’t mean you can shout 'fire' in a crowded theater,” Breyer...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A federal judge in Southern California has declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips on Thursday granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military. Phillips says the policy doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services. The lawsuit was the biggest legal test of the law in recent years and came amid promises by President Barack Obama that he will work to repeal the policy.

A California court has refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a ruling that overturned the state’s gay marriage ban, according to an Associated Press report. The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento on Wednesday denied a conservative legal group’s request to force the officials to defend Proposition 8 in court. The court did not give a reason why it turned down the request by the Pacific Justice Institute.