Fourteenth Amendment

ERS's John Collins Explores a Sexy Supreme Court Case

Supreme Court Hears Arguments Against California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Punts

At approximately 10:15 this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court started hearing arguments on Proposition 8, the 2008 California initiative that banned same-sex marriage in the state. It was the court's first major hearing of gay rights in 10 years, and will be followed by consideration of the Defense of ... More >>

White House Files Voluntary Amicus Brief, Demands SCOTUS Overturn Prop 8

Nothing like a Presidential push to get the ball rolling. Yesterday was the deadline for parties to file amicus curae briefs -- or "Here's what we think you should do" memos -- to the Supreme Court before the Nine hears the arguments facing DOMA and Prop 8 at the end of March. And, in this past wee ... More >>

[UPDATE]: Prop 8 and DOMA Head To The Supreme Court

UPDATE: According to the New York Times, the Supreme Court agreed this afternoon to decide on the constitutionality of the Proposition 8 appeal and the Defense of Marriage Act.It is, arguably, the most significant social battle in America's courts since Roe v. Wade or even Brown v. the Board of Educ ... More >>

Goodbye, Affirmative Action?

A Supreme Court case has colleges considering how to stay diverse if race-based admissions is axed

The Voice Lives!

City: Traffic-Blocking Art Installations OK, Park Artist-Vendors Not OK

Yesterday, the Voice reported on several developments in the ongoing park artist controversy: namely, that the Department of Parks and Recreation doesn't seem to have a problem with street creatives in public spaces as long as they're picked by the City. This is confusing, of course, because one o ... More >>

New York City Hit With Another Park Artist Lawsuit, Allegations of B.S. Arrest

Another day, another report of legal drama between New York artists and City admins, it seems. Here's what's going on today: as we reported just yesterday, there are currently two lawsuits -- one filed at the state level, the other filed at the federal level -- which will basically decide whether N ... More >>

BREAKING: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Passes Same-Sex Marriage Equality Resolution

Another Saturday, another national group of brown people proves Toure right by being homophobic passes a same-sex marriage equality resolution. LULAC, the League of United Latino American Citizens, passed a resolution at their annual convention today in suport of equal marriage rights for same-sex ... More >>

The Obama Effect: From the NAACP to 50 Cent, Black Leaders Back Gay Marriage

It's fair to call it the Obama Effect: leaders in the black community, old and young, political and cultural, are coming out of the closet to back same-sex marriage. And they are a motley crew, from the legacy NAACP, to the rapper 50 Cent, who just a couple years ago suggested that if you're a man " ... More >>

Parks Department Reverses Restrictions on Performers: Report (UPDATE)

In summer 2010, New York enacted rules limiting the location of artist vendors in city parks, a move which has since become the subject of a lawsuit. The city then applied this same "expressive matter vending" rule to entertainers. Officials used the mandate to crack down on park performers, esp ... More >>

BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Rules California's Prop 8 Unconstitutional

By a vote of two to one, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has just ruled that California's Proposition is unconstitutional. Simply put: even though more Californians voted for Prop 8 than not, that proposition was a violation of the constitution of the United States of America, according to the ... More >>

Jimmy McMillan: Barack Obama and Bill Clinton Made the Rent Too Damn High

Jimmy McMillan, of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, has decided not only to campaign against growing housing costs, but also against New York's very own Board of Elections. McMillan, probably our fave meme-making pol with leather gloves and a handlebar mustache, is demanding a recount of the 41,000 ... More >>

Some Squawk, But Debt Ceiling Budget Fight Goes Just the Way Rightbloggers Want It

Last week the Congressional fight over America's debt ceiling became a full-blown hostage situation, with Republicans demanding, in exchange for what has been during previous Administrations a pro-forma procedure, major budget concessions from Democrats -- and getting them. At this writing, there s ... More >>

Joshua Long, 'Weed Man' of Times Square, Defends Right to Beg for Weed, Doesn't Smoke Weed

​Joshua Long is a 30-something guy you may have seen around Times Square, carrying a large sign with green lettering bearing the words "HELP! I need money for WEED!" It is a sign that sort of demands to be noticed, even in the visual glut of Times Square. And it has been noticed, by groups of ... More >>

How Mexicans Are Like Pinatas

And why we like to hit them so much

FAIR-y Tales

Hey, Ray Kelly, Frisk This

Governor David Paterson slaps down the Police Commissioner's stop-and-frisk database, but it's only a start

Love Actually

Talking with Ken Tanabe, founder of Loving Day

Third American Revolution

Chancellor Joel Klein's plan to turn students into active citizens for the Constitution

The Danger After Miers

The departure of the bastinadoed Harriet Miers does not take Bush off the hook

Killing a Dream

After having ruled public school segregation unconstitutional, the Supreme Court stopped caring

Who Owns the Constitution?

With Republicans in power, equal protection under the laws will continue to diminish

Whose Constitution Wins?

As Democrats wonder what their party stands for, here is a way to reach more Americans

Terri Schiavo: Judicial Murder

Her crime was being disabled, voiceless, and at the disposal of our media

Walking the Plank

Body of Evidence: An Anti-Corporate Doc's Catalog of Outrage

Disorganized Conspiracy

When you've got money and power, who needs meetings in secret boardrooms?

Separate Still Not Equal

If Gay Marriage Is the Question, Civil Unions Aren't the Answer

Sandra Day O'Connor's Elitist Decision

Another Three-Card Monte Game

What the Supreme Court Left Out

The Smoking Gun in Grutter v. Bollinger

Saving Affirmative Action

And a Process for Elites to Choose Elites

Redefining the Center

Liberal Decisions From a Conservative Court

Letters

Notes From Underwhelmed

Healy's Happiness Grail; O'Hara's Surreal Slave Narrative

How Much Diversity Is Enough?

Does a White Mother on Welfare Count?

Left Out of Affirmative Action

Unequal Protection of the Laws

A Book Unfit for 'The New York Times'

The Cultures of Newsrooms

Executive Bitch Slapping

The Widening Wage Gap Between Male and Female Managers Is a Corporate Equivalent of the Cultural Backlash

Supreme Court in Contempt

Rewriting the Constitution

Letters

Honest Admissions

Race Is Not a College Qualification

Is the Supreme Court Disgraced?

A Judicial Coup d'État?

Justice Scalia Was Right!

Equal Protection for ALL Voters

Supreme Court vs. Harold Levy

An Association Is a ‘Voice’

Abortion Foes Join Florida Legal Fray

Big-Time Lawyer Files Suit in Federal Court

Trouble on the Tracks

Discharged Transit Workers Sue the TA, Charging Racial and Sexual Harassment

Shake the Trees

After the Latest Police Killing of Another Unarmed Black Man, The Feds Need Little Convincing to Intervene in New York

Gay Is Global

Three decades after Stonewall the movement it spawned has become a worldwide symbol of freedom

The Glitterati Attack Ken Starr

When the President Perjures Himself, Is He Above All Laws?