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<B><I>BREAKING NEWS:</b></i> <b>Ninth Circuit Sides With Gay Couples in 2-1 Ruling on Prop 8</b>
Taking a narrow approach in deciding the blockbuster challenge to California's ban on gay marriage, a split panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 7 found Proposition 8 unconstitutional.
Writing for the majority, Judge Stephen Reinhardt said the ban runs afoul of the Equal Protection Clause, serving no purpose other than “to lessen the status and human dignity” of gays in California who could legally marry for a few months before the 2008 vote on Prop 8. The Constitution, Reinhardt wrote, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's Romer v. Evans, does not allow for “laws of this sort.”
“Because under California statutory law, same-sex couples had all the rights of opposite-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, all parties agree that Proposition 8 had one effect only,” Reinhardt wrote. “It stripped same-sex couples of the ability they previously possessed to obtain from the state, or any other authorized party, an important right ' the right to obtain and use the designation of 'marriage' to describe their relationship. Nothing more, nothing less.” Senior Judge Michael Daly Hawkins joined Reinhardt in Perry v. Brown, 10-16696. The panel's sole Republican appointee, Judge N. Randy Smith, wrote a dissent.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.