What we decide today is that the Indiana Constitution [text] does not require the governmental recognition of same-sex marriage, although the legislature is certainly free to grant such recognition or create a parallel institution under that document. Nevertheless, Indiana’s DOMA, Indiana Code Section 31-11-1-1, does not violate Article 1, § 23 of the Indiana Constitution because opposite-sex marriage furthers the legitimate state interest in encouraging opposite-sex couples to procreate responsibly and have and raise children within a stable environment. Regardless of whether recognizing same-sex marriage would harm this interest, neither does it further it. The ability of opposite-sex couples to reproduce "naturally" and unexpectedly is the characteristic that rationally distinguishes them from same-sex couples. For much the same reasons, Section 31-11-1-1 also does not violate Article 1, § 12 of the Indiana Constitution. Finally, the Plaintiffs have failed to establish that they enjoy a "core value" right under Article 1, § 1 of the Indiana Constitution to marry each other and receive accompanying government benefits that is materially burdened by Section 31-11-1-1, even if Article 1, § 1 is currently capable of independent judicial enforcement in this context, which is doubtful. Section 31-11-1-1 does not run afoul of the Indiana Constitution and we conclude the trial court properly dismissed the Plaintiffs' complaint because they failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

• SCO Group [corporate website] won a victory Wednesday as a federal judge ordered IBM [corporate website] to provide increased access to the code of its AIX and Dynix computer operating systems. SCO is seeking at least $5 billion in damages over claims IBM has used code from SCO-owned UNIX operating system in its applications developed for Linux operating system. SCO has more information on its lawsuit against IBM here. CBSMarketWatch has more.
  
  
• Google [corporate website] has lost a trademark dispute in France as a court ruled the search engine must not use the trademarks of European resort chain Hotel Meridian [corporate website] to trigger keyword ads. Google must stop linking to the hotel trademarks by Monday or face a daily fine of 150 euros and also pay all court fees and a 2,000 euro fine. CNET News has more.
  
  
• Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin [official website] announced his office has subpoenaed Morgan Stanley [corporate website] for information related to the investigation into brokerages failing to disclose payments received from insurers to sell variable annuities. The subpoena asks for information regarding which insurers' variable annuities Morgan Stanley sells and any payments made to promote certain products. The NASD [official website] is also conducting a review of Morgan Stanley's variable annuities sales practices. AP has more.
  
  
• Aramark Corp. [corporate website], a provider of vending services at sports stadiums, said in a SEC filing that a New Jersey jury has ordered it to pay $105 million in damages for serving alcohol to a fan at a football game who was later involved in a car accident which crippled a toddler. The company will pay $30 million in compensatory damages and $75 in punitive damages. Reuters has more.
  
  
• Citigroup [corporate website] announced its earnings slipped 5% last year after putting aside $5 billion in legal and regulatory problems. Read the Citigroup press release. The Financial Times has more.

• In a ruling published Wednesday, Manhattan US Magistrate-Judge Frank Maas allowed the extradition of Muhamed Sacirbegovic, naturalized US citizen and former Bosnian ambassador to the UN, to Bosnia and Herzegovina [official website]. Sacirbegovic faces an investigation by Bosnian officials on allegations that he embezzled over $2.5 million USD from the Bosnian mission to the UN. Maas stayed the actual deportation order by 10 days, to allow defense counsel time to file a habeas petition to appeal the ruling. Sacirbegovic was placed under house arrest after posting a total of $6 million USD in bail. Sacirbegovic argues that there is no valid extradition treaty between the US and Bosnia, and that Bosnia has failed to show probable cause for an investigation into a crime that, even if committed, occurred on US soil. ISN News has more.
  
  
• Former Zimbabwian Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo filed a civil suit Thursday alleging defamation of character by Lands Minister John Nkomo and Zanu-PF chief Dumiso Dabengwa and asking for over $300,000 USD in damages. Moyo was fired from his position in December, as the internal ranks of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF [official party website] party jockeyed for favor in light of Mugabe's announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2008. Moyo, the author of Zimbabwe's controversial media restriction laws, was accused of organizing a coup to overthrow Mugabe, and was fired not only from his position as Minister of Information, but also from the upper ranks of the Zanu-PF. The parliamentary seat that Moyo then decided to run for was promptly reserved for a female candidate in order to meet the government's quota of women in office. South Africa's Independent Online has local coverage.
  
  
• An official Sudanese government [official website] commission investigating the human rights situation in Darfur published its findings Thursday. The commission, led by former judge Dafalla al-Hajj Yusuf, held that serious human rights breaches had occurred at the hands of both sides of the conflict, but that, although rape and torture as well as murder was committed, there was no evidence of genocide. The commission also claimed that the total number of deaths from both sides of the conflict did not exceed "a few thousand persons" and that the widely accepted UN figures of over 70,000 dead "are not accurate". The commission is seen as an attempt by the Sudanese government to diffuse the upcoming January 25 report by a UN Security Council [official website] mandated investigation into the abuses in Darfur. That report is expected to be highly critical of the government and to lay out very serious figures and charges. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage [JURIST country archive] of the situation in Sudan. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.