Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Deciding one of the few lawsuits arguing the case for gay marriage in federal court, a California judge on Thursday ruled that a 1996 law recognizing only unions between a man and a woman as valid does not violate the U.S. Constitution. But U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor also declined to rule on whether a state ban on same-sex marriage violates the civil rights of a gay Southern California couple while a separate legal challenge to California's laws works its way through the state courts. "The question of the constitutionality of California's statutory prohibition on same-sex...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A judge on Thursday upheld the state's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, saying it was properly presented to voters last fall. As required by the state constitution, the amendment dealt with a single subject and properly informed voters of what it meant, Franklin County Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden wrote. Opponents seeking to invalidate the amendment claimed it would reach much farther than a simple ban on same-sex marriages. They maintained domestic partnerships and other agreements between straight and gay couples could also be at risk. Kentucky was one of 11 states that changed their constitutions last...

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld Connecticut's ban on a car rental company's use of a global positioning satellite system to track customers and fine them $150 for speeding. The unanimous ruling rejected an appeal by American Car Rental, which operates Acme Rent-A-Car. Acme said the fines were to make up for wear and tear on cars driven at excessive speeds. However, a consumer protection hearing officer determined such costs at about 37 cents per vehicle for each infraction. According to the state's Consumer Protection Department, Acme failed to warn customers of the fines they...

SACRAMENTO – California's domestic partner law, which gives registered partners many of the same rights and protections of marriage, does not conflict with a voter-approved initiative that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, a state appeals court held Monday. The law, which was signed in 2003 by former Gov. Gray Davis and went into effect Jan. 1, represents the nation's most sweeping recognition of domestic partner rights after Vermont's recognition of civil unions for gay couples. It grants registered couples virtually every spousal right available under state law except the ability to file joint income taxes. The...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's order that reduced the number of commercial wilderness tours in the Sierra Nevada. At issue are so-called "packstock" operations, for-profit companies that carry campers and sightseers deep into the wilderness using horses. The High Sierra Hikers Association and the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics - consisting of current and former rangers and other forest workers - sued the U.S Forest Service, charging it failed to study the cumulative environmental affects of 17 companies the agency permitted to trek thousands of visitors through the forest. A...

Judge upholds "free speech zone" at Democratic convention but O-K's march BOSTON A federal judge has called a fenced-in "protest zone" at the upcoming Democratic National Convention "an affront to free expression" -- but rejected an effort to block its use. Judge Douglas Woodlock also agreed with protesters' lawyers that the area, more than a block away from the convention site, looked worse than a concentration camp, with razor wire on a chain-link fence, and overhead netting. But Woodlock indicated he had Secret Service information about possible protest tactics that made the site necessary, especially in a time of terrorism....

West Virginia Libertarians received an early Christmas present when a federal judge in Clarksburg struck down a confusing state law that made it more difficult to convince voters to sign ballot-access petitions. On December 23, U.S. District Court Judge Irene Keeley ordered the secretary of state's office to stop enforcing a law that made it illegal for state residents who sign a third-party candidate's petition to vote in the state's next primary election. In 1999, the state legislature had dropped the legal penalties for signing such a petition and then voting in a primary -- but kept the language that...

<p>SACRAMENTO – A federal appeals court upheld California's tribal gambling law Monday, ruling that it violates no federal law even though it gives tribes special privileges to operate casinos.</p> <p>The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the July 2002 decision by Sacramento U.S. District Judge David F. Levi, who ruled against four Bay area card clubs trying to stop the state's first urban casino in San Pablo.</p>

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has ruled that New York City was justified in dismissing a high school teacher who was found to be a member of the North American Man/Boy Love Association. The former teacher, Peter Melzer, had the constitutional freedom-of-association right to be a member of the organization, but his membership caused sufficient disruption to the school to warrant the firing, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found. Melzer, who had been a science teacher at the Bronx High School of Science for more than 25 years, was dismissed in 2000 by the Board of...

Judge upholds Augusta protest law, promises later ruling on Burk permit By PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports Writer April 7, 2003 AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- A federal judge upheld a law that allows the sheriff to regulate protests like the one planned by Martha Burk at Augusta National Golf Club. Monday's ruling was only a partial victory for city officials, however. U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. hasn't decided if Sheriff Ronald Strength violated his discretion by denying Burk the right to protest at the front gates of the exclusive club, where the Masters begins Thursday. Burk is planning...