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Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines July 9, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, July 9, 2009.

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Massachusetts AG challenges Defense of Marriage Act

"Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a federal law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, which denies same-sex couples married in Massachusetts access to certain federal benefits."

 

Lawsuit claims Indiana examiners violate the ADA

"The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has launched a class action against that state's board of law examiners, asserting that inquiries into the mental health of those seeking a law license violate federal disabilities law."

 

Former Illinois Law dean testifies that she fought pressures to accept favored applicants

"When former University of Illinois College of Law Dean Heidi Hurd went before the Illinois Admissions Review Commission in Chicago on Wednesday to answer ethical concerns about an alleged political clout list used to get some students into the law school, she said she fought those pressures 'at every turn' and was "incensed" by them. Hurd was called to testify largely because of e-mail exchanges in which it appeared that she may have accepted unqualified students into the college and accepted the promise of jobs from some people backing those students in exchange for the admissions."

 

Judge decertifies class in case seeking community settings for disabled people

"A U.S. District judge in Chicago this week surprised parties in a four-year-old case by decertifying a class of disabled Illinois plaintiffs who sought the option to move to more community-like home settings and by denying a proposed settlement of the case."

 

EEOC to hold hearing on age discrimination

"On July 15, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will host a public hearing on age bias in the workplace, two days after Senate confirmation hearings begin for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. With layoffs continuing and age discrimination complaints on the rise, the EEOC is hosting the hearing to draw attention to what it describes as a growing but often ignored problem".

 

OPINION

No cause for panic

"Angie Zapata's killer claims that he simply "snapped" when he learned the woman he had begun to date was transgender. This legal strategy, often referred to as 'gay panic' or, in the case of Angie Zapata, "trans panic," is still depressingly common in American courtrooms."

 

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on July 09, 2009 (boomark / email).