Fifty years ago today, the Supreme Court handed down the seminal decision of Gideon v. Wainwright. In Gideon, the Court unanimously held that all indigent defendants charged with a felonies are guaranteed appointed counsel. This CBS Sunday Morning story provides background on the historic decision. It runs 2:35 minutes.
Constitutional Law
Portman (R-OH) Becomes First GOP Senator to Support Same-Sex Marriage
Portman (R-OH) Becomes First GOP Senator to Support Same-Sex Marriage
Conservative Republican Rob Portman recently announced his support of same-sex marriage. His announcement came on the heels of his son informing his family that he is gay, “it is not a choice,” and that “he’d been that way ever since he could remember.”
This clip from ABC News runs just over two minutes.
Top Republicans and Corporations File Amicus Breifs Supporting Same-Sex Marriage
Top Republicans and Corporations File Amicus Briefs Supporting Same-Sex Marriage
As NPR’s Talk of the Nation reported, several prominent Republicans filed an amicus brief in support of same-sex marriage this week.
Some of the conservative signatories include:
- Jon Huntsman Jr. (former Utah governor and presidential candidate)
- Meg Whitman (who for California governor supporting Prop 8)
- Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Richard Hanna (R-NY);
- Stephen J. Hadley (Bush national security adviser)
- Carlos Gutierrez (Bush’s commerce secretary)
- James B. Comey (Bush Justice Department)
- David A. Stockman,(Ronald Reagan’s budget director)
- Deborah Pryce (R-OH) (retired House member who was part of the Republican leadership)
These conservatives join Ted Olson, who argued on behalf on George W. Bush before the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore and served as his solicitor general, and is now part of the counsel of record arguing for same-sex marriage.
Moreover, major companies such as Apple, Intel, Facebook, and eBay have united to pen an amicus brief in favor of same-sex marriage, arguing that bans on same-sex marriage hurt the economy.
“Is The Voting Rights Act Relevant In 2013?”
“Is The Voting Rights Act Relevant In 2013?”
That was the question presented recent by the NPR Program Talk of the Nation (30 minutes).
This issue was also explored by an all-star round table including Akhil Amar (Yale Law School), Judith Browne-Dianis (Advancement Project), Linda greenhouse (Yale Law School), Dale Ho ( NAACP Lead Defense Fund), and Debo Adegbile (special counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund), who argued before the Supreme Court in this case (Shelby County v. Holder). Video of this discussion, which is explicitly one-sided in favor of the Voting Rights Act, is available here (approximately eight minutes) and here (approximately four and a half minutes) and here (approximately five minutes).
Finally, the Shields and Brooks podcast discussed this topic as well as the sequester. Discussion of the voting rights act begins about eight and a half minutes into this twelve minute clip.
The Ivory Tower Half Hour: The New Post Standard and Fourth Amendment
The Ivory Tower Half Hour: The New Post Standard and Fourth Amendment
Hosted by David Rubin, Dean of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, this powerhouse panel of Lisa Dolak (Syracuse University College of Law), Tim Byrnes (Colgate University), Bob Greene (Cazenovia College), Tara Ross (Onondaga County Community College), and Kristi Andersen (Syracuse University) discuss the new face of the Syracuse Post Standard, Maryland v. King, the pending Supreme Court case concerning DNA swabbing and the Fourth Amendment, and FEMA dollars going to religious institutions that are rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.
This video runs approximately 27 minutes.