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A federal appeals court on Monday struck down Virginia’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, saying that withholding the fundamental right to marry from gay couples is a new form of “segregation” that the Constitution cannot abide.The 2-to-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, upheld a lower court’s decision and extended an extraordinary winning streak in the federal courts for proponents of same-sex marriage. Legal challenges to state bans filed systematically nationwide have prevailed in every test since the Supreme Court in June 2013 struck down part of the federal...

p>The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

WASHINGTON — The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held Monday that Virginia’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages is unconstitutional. On a 2-1 vote, the appeals court joined the wave of court decisions declaring such bans unconstitutional. The decision, by Judge Henry Floyd acknowledged both the debate over such laws and, in the court’s view, the clear constitutional impediment to laws banning same-sex couples from marrying. “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable,” he wrote. “However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws.” The court’s opinion...

A federal appeals court has struck down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled Monday that state constitutional and statutory provisions barring gay marriage and denying recognition of such unions performed in other states violate the U.S. Constitution. The Virginia gay marriage case is one of several that could go to the U.S. Supreme Court. In February, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled that Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban violates equal protection and due process guarantees. Lawyers for two circuit court clerks whose duties include issuing marriage licenses appealed.

Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie said he thinks there is enough evidence to support climate change after being pressed on the issue during a debate with incumbent Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). "I believe there is ample scientific evidence that contributes to climate change but I'm not entirely dismissive of those who have a different point of view," Gillespie said. Gillespie added, "Norfolk is dealing with rising sea levels but people can debate what contributes to that or not." Still, Gillespie said he thinks the administration's new carbon pollution rules "go to far."

Rep. Wolf from Virginia made a speech yesterday at the House of Representatives in which forewarned the country on the current genocide of Christians in Iraq. He stated:Mr. Speaker, the international legal definition of the crime of genocide is found in article II of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.It says:Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WJLA) - A Reston, Virginia resident is among three that have been arrested for funding an overseas terrorist group that partners with al-Qa'ida, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. The suspects are accused of providing material support including money to al-Shabaab, a "designated foreign terrorist organization that is conducting a violent insurgency campaign in Somalia," DOJ officials said in a statement. In addition to the three arrested, officials said there are two more suspects being sought in Kenya and Somalia. Officials on Wednesday arrested Muna Osman Jama, 34, in her home in Reston. Also arrested were Hinda...

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that ObamaCare subsidies issued through the federal exchanges are legal, contradicting a separate ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court on the same day. Fourth Circuit Judge Roger Gregory argued that because the statutory language of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is ambiguous, courts should defer to the interpretation of the Internal Revenue Service and allow the subsides to stand. "Applying deference to the IRS's determination … we uphold the rule as a permissible exercise of the agency's discretion," Gregory wrote. The decision came just hours after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...

Well, this is awkward.Unlike the D.C. Circuit, which split 2-1, the majority here was 3-0. Even so, the most noteworthy thing about the opinion is how tormented the court seems in trying to determine what Congress intended when it said that subsidies should be available only on “an exchange established by the State.” From page 20:Page 24:Page 28:If they can’t decide what the key phrase was designed to do, why don’t they follow the D.C. Circuit’s lead and stick with the plain text? In the first excerpt above, the court frankly admits that the language of the law seems...

Less than an hour after an appeals court in Washington ordered the Obama administration to turn off the spigot of federal subsidies to consumers through U.S.-run health-care exchanges, an appeals court in Virginia ruled that the subsidies should be allowed to keep on flowing. With the future of Obamacare hanging in the balance, the back-to-back opinions raise the likelihood of another Supreme Court showdown over the the president’s marquee law. The two circuits split over an issue fundamental to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That is, whether the Internal Revenue Service had the authority under the statute passed...

Another round of layoffs for the coal industry – this one striking Wise County, Virginia. On Monday workers at both Cumberland River Coal’s Pine Branch Number One in Wise County, and a second mine in Letcher County, Kentucky, learned that the mines would be shutting down indefinitely. Derrick Saylor is one of the workers who learned that he would be losing his job. "Here in the mountains we are tight knit, like a family," said Saylor. "People we work with are like family cause we are with them as much as family at home" "It’s tough [and] it’s sad to...

On July 21 Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America founder Shannon Watts tweeted that Virginia's congressional candidate Mike Dickinson is her group's "next target." This was in response to a July 20 tweet in which Dickinson, a self-described "left wing liberal," wrote: "People generally don't want to die. I own a gun and if I'm touched I'm shooting."

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

“What better way to give a boost to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Act and the remaking of American neighborhoods than to start injecting illegal immigrant populations into targeted cities and towns in the suburbs all across the country?“ That was national radio talk show superhost Rush Limbaugh commenting on a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulation, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.” “The concept, as it is properly understood, is to change the enforcement paradigm in order to allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development to essentially decide what every neighborhood in America should look like,” Limbaugh explained....

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has placed a U.S. lawmaker and 12 other people connected with the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq on its list of those banned from entering the country. In a statement Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said congressman Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia, was banned in response to the July 2 U.S. ban on Russian parliament member Adam Delimkhanov. He said Moran had been repeatedly accused of financial misdeeds but didn't elaborate. The other 12, including Guantanamo commander Rear Adm. Richard Butler and Lynndie England, a former soldier convicted...

Since China joined the WTO. So many U.S. companies laid off workers and closed factories. John Bassett III, a third-generation furniture factory owner in Virginia, refused to do that. He decided instead to take on the Chinese. "He's absolutely relentless, “says Beth Macy, author of Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local -- and Helped Save an American Town. Bassett traveled from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to northern China to visit a factory that made knockoffs of the furniture his factory made. Bassett pretended to be interested in doing business with the Chinese manufacturer,...

The Obama administration on Friday gave the oil industry the green light to use air guns and sonic sensors to search for possible oil and gas under Atlantic waters, overriding environmentalists concerned that the seismic research can harm whales and other marine life. Although geophysical research companies will still have to apply for individual permits to conduct seismic studies along the south- and mid-Atlantic coast — and undergo more rigorous environmental scrutiny of their specific plans — the Interior Department’s formal decision opens the door for the activity. Friday’s move also helps pave the way for possible drilling off the...

Prince William County, Virginia has become well-known in recent years for its tough stance on illegal immigration. So you can imagine how upset some local lawmakers were when they learned that the federal government had contracted to house illegal alien children in their county without informing any county officials. MRCTV spoke to Prince William County Supervisor, Corey Stewart about the situation that was thrust upon his county by the Obama Administration. We then attended a council meeting where outraged citizens spoke out against the move and had some harsh words for both the council members and the federal government. Stewart...

FEATURE: This is what happens when a reporter tries to make an OBGYN appointment with Eric Holder’s wifeI was told the OBGYN practice where the wives of two prominent Democrats are partners reserves its morning appointments for “important people.” It was an intriguing claim, especially given the fact that Foxhall OB/GYN Associates does not accept Medicaid even as the office is being used as a prop in a Democrat’s congressional campaign.I decided to investigate. Could I get a morning appointment? Was I one of the “important people”? After an awkward 15-minute conversation with the office manager, it turned out I...

With Barack Obama's job approval well below water these days, perhaps it's no surprise that Democratic candidates for Congress this year aren't jumping at the chance to have the president come campaign for them. Dave Weigel at Slate points out how remarkable it was last week when Democratic senator Mark Udall of Colorado declined to appear with Obama, despite the fact that the president won Colorado twice. "Members of the White House political team will grit their teeth and ask low-level campaign staffers if, you know, it would be OK for the commander-in-chief to show up," Weigel writes. "They will...