Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Equal Dignity in the Eyes of the Law
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed that the right to marry is “a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person,” and that “under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.” Obergefell v. Hodges, No. 14-556, slip op. at 22 (U.S. June 26, 2015) (majority opinion), available at http://1.usa.gov/1ON2rxf. The Court, in a 5-4 decision, held that “same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States” and that “there is no lawful basis for a State to refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in another State” merely because the marriage is between members of the same sex. Id. at 28.
At issue in the consolidated cases before the Court were laws from four states ' Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee ' that prohibited same-sex marriage and denied recognition of same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. The Obergefell decision struck down not only those laws, but all state laws that denied same-sex couples the right to get and stay married. Twelve years after the first state legalized marriage between members of the same sex (see Goodridge v. Dep't of Pub. Health, 440 Mass. 309 (2003)), marriage equality thus became the law of the land.
The ruling in Obergefell was handed down on the second anniversary of the Court's decision in United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013). In Windsor, the Court had invalidated a provision of the Defene of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman for purposes of federal law. The Court ruled that DOMA, by its restrictive definition of marriage, sought to ' and did ' injure same-sex spouses, legally married under state law, by denying them the array of federal benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. As in Windsor, the majority opinion in Obergefell was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy and joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. And as in Windsor, the Court's most conservative Justices, including Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito, dissented in Obergefell.
This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
- Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
- Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
- Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
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 Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?