Tag Archives: SCOTUS

Sixth Circuit stands up for inequality

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It was bound to happen eventually. Remember the big no-decision decision the Supreme Court issued on same-sex marriage just a month ago? The justices were asked — in five separate cases no less — to weigh in on whether same-sex … Continue reading →

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UT/Trib poll says Texans would be fine with same sex marriage

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A result of interest from the most recent UT/Trib poll: Registered Texas voters narrowly oppose same-sex marriage, but a large majority is open to allowing either marriage or civil unions to gays and lesbians, according to the latest University of … Continue reading →

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The Fifth Circuit is in no hurry to rule on same sex marriage

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Such a show of courage on their part. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively has scheduled oral arguments in the Texas and Louisiana gay marriage cases for early January, disappointing local advocates and possibly delaying until 2016 a hearing … Continue reading →

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The larger issue on voter ID

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reminds us that there are bigger questions that remain to be answered in the voter ID litigation. The litigation on the state’s voting district maps for legislative and congressional elections is still underway, and the treatment of minority … Continue reading →

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What they didn’t tell us about voter ID

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Republicans knew fully well that their voter ID bill would disenfranchise a lot of people. They just didn’t care. Republican state officials working to pass a voter photo ID law in 2011 knew that more than 500,000 of the state’s … Continue reading →

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On Greg Abbott and who gets to get married

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As you may have heard, Peggy Fikac got to ask Greg Abbott the obvious question about how exactly the state’s law against same-sex marriage, which Abbott is diligently defending in court, differs from the old laws that once banned interracial … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS declines to intervene on voter ID

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate. The Supreme Court said Saturday that Texas can use its controversial new voter identification law for the November election. A majority of the justices rejected an emergency request from the Justice Department and civil rights groups to prohibit the … Continue reading →

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Voter ID plaintiffs turn to SCOTUS

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Last train, y’all. Texas plaintiffs on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the state’s voter photo ID law in November’s election. “The facts of this case, including record evidence, show that significantly more voter confusion will result from … Continue reading →

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The courts giveth, and the courts taketh away

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As expected, the Fifth Circuit lifts the stay on the district court’s voter ID ruling, paving the way (for now) for it to be enforced in November. Texas should require photo voter identification in this year’s general election, the 5th … Continue reading →

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Voter ID plaintiffs ask for no stay

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve filed their response to the Fifth Circuit. Attorneys challenging Texas’ voter ID law — which was struck down by a federal judge on Thursday — asked a federal appeals court on Sunday not to allow the state to enforce … Continue reading →

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More on the voter ID ruling

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As always with big court cases, the first question is who benefits politically from the decision? With a federal judge having declared Texas’ voter ID unconstitutional, Democrats and political experts on Friday predicted the surprise decision potentially could help Wendy … Continue reading →

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Court strikes down Texas voter ID law

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Boom. Less than two weeks before the start of early voting, a federal judge ruled the state’s photo voter ID law unconstitutional late Thursday and ordered state officials to drop the new requirements. “The Court holds that SB 14 creates … Continue reading →

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HB2 plaintiffs ask SCOTUS for review

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Be careful what you ask for. After a federal appeals court ruled that the state could temporarily enforce new requirements for abortion facilities, Texas abortion providers are looking to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, attorneys for the abortion providers … Continue reading →

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Other AGs for same sex marriage

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone like one of these 15 Attorneys General representing Texas? A majority of the states that have legalized same-sex marriage are throwing their support behind two couples fighting Texas’ ban, arguing their own experiences … Continue reading →

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Texas same sex marriage plaintiffs want the get oral arguments scheduled

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They would like to get on with their lives, if it’s not too much trouble to Greg Abbott and the Fifth Circuit. Austin lawyer Nicole Dimetman is pregnant and expects to give birth for the first time on March 15, … Continue reading →

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HB2 is about overturning Roe v Wade

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A cheery thought from Think Progress. Nevertheless, the single most ominous paragraph of the opinion, at least for people who care about reproductive freedom, is this one: Plaintiffs argue that the district court’s balancing approach is used by other circuits. … Continue reading →

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Voter ID trial concludes

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Now we wait for the judge. Texas’ voter ID law is discriminatory because it was designed to thwart emerging minority voting power in the state and should be dropped, attorneys for the law’s opponents said in closing arguments in a … Continue reading →

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Texas woman denied driver’s license over same-sex marriage

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the headline of this Observer story, and it’s just as infuriating as you think it is. A woman who recently relocated from California says the Texas Department of Public Safety refused to issue her an accurate driver’s license because … Continue reading →

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Louisiana breaks the streak

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One in every crowd, I guess. A federal judge [in New Orleans] upheld the state’s ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, going against what had been a unanimous trend of federal court decisions striking down such bans since the Supreme … Continue reading →

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Voter ID trial starts today

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As one trial ends, the next one begins. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi will begin hearing arguments Tuesday on one of the nation’s most stringent voter ID measures, which Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed into law … Continue reading →

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Second phase of redistricting trial over

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Much like the first phase, with some insults for one of the state’s key players thrown in for effect. Lawyers with the U.S. Justice Department and minority groups said in closing arguments in federal court Tuesday that state lawmakers illegally … Continue reading →

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Shine a light on dark money

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I totally favor this. Secret campaign donors in Texas may soon be forced out of the shadows. The Texas Ethics Commission, already fighting a conservative group in court over whether it can regulate dark money disclosure, appears poised to approve … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS halts Virginia same-sex marriages for now

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone’s waiting for them to tackle the bigger question. The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped Virginia officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, putting on hold a lower court ruling that said the unions could start on Thursday. The … Continue reading →

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Ninety years later, we could still use an Equal Rights Amendment

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Drafted by a suffragette in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment has been stirring up controversy ever since. Many opponents considered it dead when a 10-year ratification push failed in 1982, yet its … Continue reading →

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Once again, voter fraud by impersonation just doesn’t exist

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Washington Post: Election fraud happens. But ID laws are not aimed at the fraud you’ll actually hear about. Most current ID laws (Wisconsin is a rare exception) aren’t designed to stop fraud with absentee ballots (indeed, laws requiring … Continue reading →

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Latest HB2 trial wraps up

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And so we await a ruling, followed by whatever the Fifth Circuit will pull out of its posterior. Stefanie Toti, representing the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the requirements imposed by the ambulatory surgical center rules single out abortion providers, … Continue reading →

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On redistricting and race

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Phase Two of the redistricting trial is underway, and if it sounds an awful lot like Phase One to you, you would be right. Texas’ Republican-controlled Legislature didn’t discriminate against minorities by drawing election maps in 2011 that voting-rights activists … Continue reading →

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Redistricting II: Congressional Boogaloo

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Phase Two of the redistricting lawsuit trial begins today, in which the 2011 Congressional maps go under the microscope. That’s as good a time as any for the mandatory How Much All This Redistricting Litigation Is Costing Us story. Texans … Continue reading →

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Lots of same sex marriage appeals about to happen

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Busy times in the federal appeals courts. Federal appeals courts soon will hear arguments in gay marriage fights from nine states, part of a slew of cases putting pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a final verdict. If … Continue reading →

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Marriage equality’s legal winning streak may be on the line this week

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And it’s not even the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that might bring a halt, however temporary, to the march of progress. Marriage equality has had a very good run in the federal courts ever since the Supreme Court declared … Continue reading →

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I’m not the only one who thought Abbott’s same sex marriage appellate brief was ridiculous

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Of course, his arguments were ridiculous, so I shouldn’t be the only one who thinks so. Attorney General Greg Abbott is defending the state’s same-sex marriage ban using a widely rejected “responsible procreation” argument, bolstering gay rights advocates’ hopes and … Continue reading →

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Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds marriage equality

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That’s two federal appeals courts, to go along with however many federal district courts and state courts. Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban was ruled unconstitutional on Monday in the first such decision by a federal appellate court in the South. “We … Continue reading →

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It really is about more than just marriage

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Jo Ann Santangelo writes for the Observer about what it means to be in a same-sex marriage that isn’t recognized as legal by the state of Texas. In 2012, my wife, Kate, and I traveled more than 3,400 miles from … Continue reading →

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What else is at stake in the redistricting trial

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s about more than just the maps. Efforts by the Obama administration to wring protections out of a weakened Voting Rights Act begin Monday in Texas over allegations that Republicans intentionally discriminated against minorities when drawing new election maps. A … Continue reading →

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