Word: rightfulness
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...begin with, Olson and Boies will argue that Prop 8 denies gays the fundamental right to marry, which the California Supreme Court held to be guaranteed. They will have to beat arguments from the other side that point out that no state prevents gays from marrying - like everyone else, they just have to choose a partner of the opposite sex. And they will have to convince Walker that civil unions, which remain legal in California, are not an adequate substitute...
...lesbians as a class are entitled to the special protection that requires heightened scrutiny of laws that discriminate on the basis of race or religion, for example. That may sound like a fine legal distinction, but it is one that matters. For instance, laws that deny a fundamental right to a group based on race are subject to the highest level of scrutiny, and almost always fail a constitutional test. But the same law, if applied to a group without such constitutional protection, can usually survive, like laws that prevent felons from voting. (Watch a gay-marriage wedding video...
...Many people might be surprised to know that key issues about the legal status of gay people remain undecided in federal law," Jennifer Pizer, director of the National Marriage Project for Lambda Legal, told TIME. "Do all people have the same right to marry regardless of sexual orientation? ... Should sexual-orientation discrimination be considered a form of sex or gender discrimination? Judge Walker may decide some or all of these questions, and the Ninth Circuit may decide them differently. Whatever happens is likely to have great significance...
Pizer says groups like hers had argued against testing these issues now in federal court, but have since helped with trial preparation. "We very much hope that Ted [Olson] is right that he has the votes to prevail against Prop 8, whether or not new constitutional ground is broken and regardless of which appellate court has the final word in the [San Francisco] case. And we've been doing everything we can to help the trial team prepare, as we're all passionately committed to victory both in this case and in the longer-term, national struggle...
...Gelle's case, the Kenyans got several things right. Police officials confirm that he was on a terrorist-watch list and had been arrested in Nairobi last year before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Kenya. An intelligence source in Nairobi tells TIME on condition of anonymity that officers had been following Gelle in Nairobi before Clinton's visit and spotted him with other Somalis with European residency "acting suspicious" at various Nairobi landmarks, including the conference center where Clinton later gave a speech. The source tells TIME that officers eventually arrested Gelle at a hotel in the predominantly...