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The State of the Gay Union
In President Bush's January 20th State of the Union Address, he spoke of a need to halt the movement toward allowing same-sex couples to marry. If activist judges insist on changing the traditional characterization of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, he said, a change to the U.S. Constitution will be needed to preserve the “sanctity” of the institution of marriage. Judges have “begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people or their elected representatives,” he stated, apparently alluding to the November 2003 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court holding that it is contrary to that state's constitution for gay couples to be denied the right to marry.
Soon after the President declared his intention to push for a Constitutional amendment, an Ohio Senate committee approved a bill that would declare marriage between same-sex couples to be “against the strong public policy of the state.” The bill, passed by the Ohio house in December and introduced to the full senate January 21, would keep some state employees from receiving benefits for their partners and would allow Ohio to refuse to recognize gay marriages entered into outside Ohio. The U.S Supreme Court has held that each state must give full faith and credit to marital relationships arising in another state or territory of the United States unless a particular marriage is polygamous, incestuous, or otherwise declared void by a statute of the state in which the full faith and credit issue is presented. Although current law and the holdings in several Ohio court decisions confirm that only heterosexual marriages may be entered into there, the state's Marriage Law does not explicitly deem same-sex marriages void. As a result, under current law, Ohio might have to recognize such marriages if obtained, for example, in Massachusetts. The bill seeks to foreclose that possibility by explicitly deeming same-sex marriages void.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
CLE Shouldn't Be the Only Mandatory Training for Attorneys
Each stage of an attorney's career offers opportunities for a curriculum that addresses both the individual's and the firm's need to drive success.
Discovery of Claim Construction and Infringement Analysis May be Compelled Prior to a Markman Hearing
A defendant in a patent infringement suit may, during discovery and prior to a <i>Markman</i> hearing, compel the plaintiff to produce claim charts, claim constructions, and element-by-element infringement analyses.