Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, September 6, 2011)—Today, the California Supreme Court heard arguments on an important question of California law that has arisen in Perry v. Brown, the ongoing federal challenge to Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure that stripped the fundamental right to marry from same-sex couples in California. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals asked the California Supreme Court to decide whether state law gives the sponsors of...
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State legislation
Statement by NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter (San Francisco, CA, August 29, 2011)—Today, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware heard oral arguments about whether to unseal the video recording of the historic trial in Perry v. Brown, the challenge to Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the freedom to marry from same-sex couples in California. In August 2010, after a three-week trial in January, now-retired Chief District Judge Vaughan Walker held that Prop 8 is...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, June 29, 2011)—Today, the Rhode Island legislature approved a bill that would permit same-sex couples to enter into civil unions in the state. Unlike similar legislation passed in other states, however, the Rhode Island bill creates a sweeping exemption that would permit individuals and organizations, such as hospitals, schools and adoption agencies, to completely disregard the validity of a civil union because of...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, June 24, 2011)—Today, the New York Senate passed a bill establishing full marriage equality for same-sex couples. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs the bill into law, New York will become the seventh and largest jurisdiction in the country in which same-sex couples are able to legally marry. The New York Assembly passed the bill last week, marking the third time the Assembly passed marriage equality legislation. When signed...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, June 14, 2011)—Today, Chief Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California resoundingly denied Proposition 8 supporters’ motion to invalidate former U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s landmark ruling striking down Proposition 8. After a three-week trial last year, Judge Walker ruled in a 135-page decision that Prop 8, the 2008 amendment to the California Constitution...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, June 13, 2011)—Today, Chief Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard arguments on a motion to invalidate former U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s landmark ruling striking down Proposition 8. After a three-week trial last year, Judge Walker ruled in a 135-page decision that Prop 8, the 2008 amendment to the California Constitution that stripped the right to...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, May 23, 2011)—On May 21, 2011, the Minnesota House passed a proposal to put a constitutional amendment excluding same-sex couples from marriage on the state’s 2012 ballot, following Senate approval the previous week Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell: “In a stunning betrayal of the promises that got them elected, Republicans in the Minnesota House voted late Saturday to place on the November 2012...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq. (San Francisco, CA, April 14, 2011)—Today, the Delaware General Assembly passed a bill to establish a system of civil unions—available to both same-sex and different-sex couples—that grants partners in civil unions virtually all of the rights, benefits, and obligations granted to married couples in that state. Today’s 26 to 15 vote by the Delaware House of Representatives sends the bill to Governor Jack Markell, who has indicated he will...
Statement by NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter (San Francisco, CA, March 23, 2011)—Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the plaintiffs’ motion to lift the stay in the case challenging Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the freedom to marry from same-sex couples in California. That ruling means that the district’s court decision striking down Prop 8 remains on hold, and same-sex couples in California will be denied the right to marry while the litigation...
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell (San Francisco, CA, December 6, 2010)—Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal court challenge to Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the freedom to marry from same-sex couples in California. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in August that the measure violated the U.S. Constitution, and Proposition 8’s proponents appealed that ruling to the Ninth Circuit....