JURIST - Family law

The Washington state House of Representatives voted 53-43 Wednesday to approve a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Washington currently grants expanded domestic partnership rights rather than full marriage or civil union rights to same-sex couples. The Senate passed the bill last week, and Govern....... [more]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday that Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the voter-approved constitutional amendment violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amen....... [more]

The heated debate over same-sex marriage is one of the most polarizing issues currently facing the American legal community. It is a controversy being played out in every branch of the federal government, from the floor of the US Senate to the Oval Office. It has raised concerns over the nature of f....... [more]

2/7/12: Ninth Circuit ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional 2/2/12: Ninth Circuit sealed videos from California same-sex marriage trial 2/2/12: Washington senate approved same-sex marriage bill 1/24/12: Minnesota appeals court remanded same-sex marriage lawsuit 1/6....... [more]

The Massachusetts Appeals Court held Thursday that same-sex couples who marry and have a baby via artificial insemination are bound by the same child custody laws as heterosexual couples. The decision came after an appeal by Della Corte, who tried to have the parental rights of her ex-wife, Angelica....... [more]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday ruled that it will not release video recordings from Perry v. Schwarzenegger, California's 2010 trial which declared Proposition 8, the state's same-sex marriage ban, to be unconstitutional. In reversing the opinion of the US District Court....... [more]

An Iraq war veteran filed suit Wednesday in the US District Court for the Central District of California against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after it refused to pay her full disability benefits because she is in a same-sex marriage. Tracy Cooper-Harris, who served in the US Army for over....... [more]

The Washington state Senate approved Senate Bill 6239 to legalize same-sex marriage by a vote of 28–21 late Wednesday evening. Washington currently grants expanded domestic partnership rights rather than full marriage or civil union rights to same-sex couples. Several amendments affording prote....... [more]

On January 31, 2011, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill legalizing same-sex civil unions in the state. The Illinois Religious Freedom and Civil Union Act provides "adequate procedures for the certification and registration of a civil union" and grants "persons entering into a civil union with....... [more]

JURIST Assistant Editor Kimberly Bennett, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2014, argues that although it will be described as judicial activism, same-sex couples must be granted the same rights as opposite-sex couples under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment... (H....... [more]

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a trial court must review a lawsuit challenging a Minnesota law prohibiting gay marriage. The plaintiffs are three same-sex couples who were married in Canada and had been denied marriage licenses by Minnesota due to a statewide ban on same-sex marri....... [more]