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...minimizing the obstacles," Olson told TIME. But he said federal courts already have powerful, and friendly, precedents. The right to marry whom one pleases was called a fundamental right, protected by the due process clause of the Constitution, in 1967, in the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Virginia v. Loving that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Olson and Boies argue that two other big federal cases have laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court, despite its conservative makeup: Romer v. Evans, which in 1996 struck down a statewide ballot measure in Colorado that had barred cities from...
...Still, those arguments are hardly novel. Gay-rights lawyers and others have made that case for years, but have always avoided bringing it to federal court for fear of an unfriendly reception. But Olson told TIME that their approach will also seek to leverage powerful reasoning in the small but growing number of state supreme court decisions that favor gay marriage, from California's sweeping decision last year that spurred on the Prop 8 movement to Iowa's 2009 decision, with its lengthy rebuttal of religious-based arguments against gay marriage...
...There are other risks, however. In the wake of the recent California Supreme Court ruling upholding Prop 8, gay-rights activists and others have vowed to put the issue of gay marriage back in front of voters, perhaps by as early as 2010. If they win, gay marriages will resume - a big victory for the movement, but one that would likely halt Olson and Boies' case in its tracks. Since all four plaintiffs in the federal suit are Californians, a victory at the polls would mean they have no claim to pursue...
...Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state of our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That is why the U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny...
...days later, the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) held a hearing on the attack and found Russian forces and their commanders responsible for the "indiscriminate bombing" of civilians. "Using this kind of weapon in a populated area ... without prior evacuation of civilians was impossible to reconcile with the degree of caution expected from a law-enforcement body in a democratic society," the court's findings read. (See pictures of Victory Day in Russia...