Congratulations to incoming 1Ls!

Congratulations to all the 1Ls who will be attending WNEC Law beginning in August! WNEC is a tight-knit community and those of us at OUTlaw are looking forward to meeting you. Please feel free to email us with any questions, concerns, or comments at outlaw.wnec@gmail.com. We will be sure to keep you updated as we start planning events for the upcoming academic year.

Iceland legalizes same-sex marriage; Prime Minister weds

From the Associated Press:

"REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland's prime minister has married her partner under a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in the country.

One of her advisers, Hrannar B. Arnarsson, said Monday Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir and writer Jonina Leosdottir were officially married Sunday, the day the law came into force.

The pair has been in a registered partnership since 2002 and had applied to have it converted into a marriage under the new law. No ceremony was held.

The law was passed without a dissenting vote in Iceland's parliament June 11.

Social Democrat Sigurdardottir, 68, became Iceland's prime minister last year, after the previous center-right government was ousted by a wave of protest triggered by the country's economic crisis."

Pride: Why we celebrate

As the Pride season draws to a close, let's take a moment to remember why we celebrate.
Stonewall: 1969

2010-2011 Academic Year

Course schedules have been posted for the 2010-2011 academic year. Registration starts July 7th at noon on ASAP.
Fall 2010
Spring 2011

Reuters: U.S. court won't keep secret gay marriage opponents

Reuters reports:

"The high court's 8-1 ruling was a defeat for a group called Protect Marriage Washington. It had argued that public disclosure could lead to threats, harassment or reprisal.

More than 138,000 individuals signed a petition in 2009 to put a referendum on the state ballot that would have overturned a new state law extending the benefits of marriage to couples registered as domestic partners. The referendum failed.

Some supporters of gay rights had vowed to put the names of those who signed the petition on the Internet.

Lawyers for the group argued that the signers' constitutional right to political free-speech under the First Amendment trumped the state's public records law.

A federal judge initially agreed with the group that disclosure of the names and addresses violated constitutional protections of anonymous political speech.

But a U.S. appeals court ruled the names could be made public and said the signatures had been gathered in public with no promise of confidentiality.

In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled that disclosure of referendum petitions generally does not violate any free-speech rights.

Only Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.

The Supreme Court case is Doe v. Reed, 09-559."

Closing Arguments: Prop. 8 Trial in San Francisco

Howard Mintz maintained a live blog throughout the Prop. 8 trial and is now doing the same for closing arguments. Check this link throughout the day for updates.

DOMA challenge heard in Federal District Court in Boston yesterday

This note was posted on GLAD's Facebook page today:

An Argument for Equality: Recapping DOMA Hearing Day

Today at 4:04pm

It was sunny and warm as we headed to the Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse on Boston’s waterfront. Eight married couples, three widowers, and as many attorneys marched into the courtroom of Federal District Judge Joseph L. Tauro. The plaintiffs – all harmed by DOMA in various ways – sat in the jury box, and in an overflow courtroom next door, spectators could see them on two large flat-screen TVs.

In the main courtroom, we squished together on the benches. There was a lot of buzz as reporters and spectators waited for Judge Tauro’s entrance at 10:30. The 78-year-old jurist (whose father had been the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court) entered with his robes open at the front. He greeted us with a bright “good morning” and chided the audience for its meek response, which got a laugh.

But we were soon down to serious business. Mary Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director and the woman who argued and won the historic Goodridge case, was on her feet.

“This is a classic equal protection issue. The Constitution applies to gay and lesbian citizens, and married ones, too,” Mary told the Court. “What governmental purpose does the US have as an employer in treating some of its married employees, retirees and surviving annuitants differently from other married persons, such that Nancy Gill pays for a self and family plan like some of her married colleagues, but the plan doesn’t cover her own spouse?”

Mary presented a three-pronged legal argument: 1) by singling out only the marriages of same-sex couples, DOMA violates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution; 2) DOMA represents an unprecedented intrusion of the federal government into marriage law, which for 230 years has been legislated by states; and 3) by denying federal protections to families, DOMA burdens the marriages of same-sex couples and their right to maintain family integrity.

Judge Tauro was attentive, thoughtful, and fully engaged. He questioned Mary about rational basis vs. heightened scrutiny, but never caught her unprepared.

Then it was the federal government’s turn. W. Scott Simpson of the Department of Justice started and ended his argument by emphasizing the Obama administration’s opposition to DOMA, but said their policy position “does not affect the statutes’ constitutionality.” A fire alarm briefly interrupted his argument. On the return of everyone to the courtroom, Mr. Simpson said that “individual states may experiment in the area of marriage” and that DOMA does not stop them from doing that. No one in the room envied him having to make what seemed a fairly strained argument.

We don’t know when to expect a decision, and with our terrible office record of prognostication, I wouldn’t even guess. But we all left the courthouse feeling pretty good, pretty strong, and pretty hopeful. Visit our website for a round up of news coverage, and stay tuned to www.glad.org/doma for more news.

Plaintiffs Marcelle Letourneau and Nancy Gill with Mary Bonauto at the press conference.

Quick Links

Here are some links to a few interesting stories. Apologies for the laziness... lots of studying to do for finals!

The Advocate: Teens Charged in Murder of Gay D.C Middle School Principal

Bay Windows: Deval Patrick signs MA anti-bullying legislation

Bay Windows: Lt. Dan Choi speaks at Harvard re: DADT

The Advocate: NY Affirms Gay Parental Rights

The Advocate: ACLU says civil unions are unequal to marriage

Last meeting and Finals!!!

Elections have been postponed as we would like to have the input of next year's 1Ls. OUTlaw will be busy over the summer and we look forward to a productive fall. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, please feel free to email Erika Scibelli at outlaw.wnec@gmail.com.

That being said, it's just a few days until finals here at WNEC Law! You can expect more posts after finals are over :) Best of luck to everyone!

OUTlaw Elections & Year-End Meeting: Wednesday April 28th

OUTlaw's final meeting of the year will be on Wednesday April 28th at 12:20 in Room 1. We will be discussing a plan for next year as well as the possibility of summer projects.

Elections for the 2010-2011 academic year will also be held at this meeting. If you are interested in running for a position, please join the group on TWEN (if you haven't already) and e-mail the group before Wednesday's meeting to announce your candidacy. The positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, SBA Representative, and 2L/3L Representatives. If you want to run for a position please be sure to attend the meeting in addition to sending out an e-mail. If you can attend to vote, please do!