Cultivated Compendium

Even though a trial date has been set in the first case in which plaintiffs are challenging Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage, Governor Tom Corbett's administration is appealing to the Third Circuit on the applicability of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Baker v. Nelson, on the Pennsylvania case, The Legal Intelligencer's Saranac Hale Spencer reports. In 1971, the Supreme Court upheld a five-page Minnesota Supreme Court opinion that the federal Constitution does not protect a fundamental right for same-sex couples to get married for "'want of a substantial federal question,'" according to SCOTUSblog's Lyle Denniston. The Supreme Court has not yet declared if there is a fundamental right for same-sex couples to get married.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, however, rejected the idea that Baker still has precedential value: "'The Supreme Court has decided several cases since Baker which demonstrate that it no longer views constitutional challenges based on sex or sexual identity classifications as unsubstantial,'" The Legal reports.

The Connecticut Supreme Court is considering whether petitioner Charlotte Stacey is entitled to loss of consortium even though she was not married to her female domestic partner, who allegedly died from medical malpractice, The Hartford Courtant reports. While Connecticut only allows loss of consortium for legally married spouses, Stacey argues that her constitutional rights were violated because she and her deceased partner wanted to be married but could not wed until the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the state law banning same-sex matrimony was unconstitutional, The Courant further reports. Oral arguments in the case were held this week.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police is urging law enforcement agencies "to adopt new guidelines for conducting photo lineups, videotaping witness interviews and corroborating information from jailhouse informants, among 30 recommendations," The Washington Post reports. The Post further reports that more than 20 states record interrogations statewide, and another 850 law enforcement agencies voluntarily record interrogations.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon's plan to make deliveries by drone face some legal hurdles: "legal experts point to safety risks and issues such as whether people on the ground might take umbrage to Amazon’s aircraft flying over their property." For example, neighbors could sue for trespass if the drones crossed into their property's airspace, The Journal reports.

America's new health law is beating projections on how much it will cost, The New York Times reports, "with both the Medicaid expansion and the subsidies for private insurance plans ending up less expensive than anticipated." The main reason is the slow economy as well as deductibles and copays that discourage consumers from undertaking some health care.
 

Detroit Free Press reports: "The city of Detroit today officially became the largest municipality in U.S. history to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes declared it met the specific legal criteria required to receive protection from its creditors." Detroit has $18 billion in debt and long-term liabilities, the paper also reports.

Philip Alston, writing in Just Security, asks if the United Nations let the United States off the hook regarding Internet privacy. While the language of a United Nations resolution was watered down at American urging, Alston argues that there is good news in a resolution that is set to be adopted by the full UN this month. Among other good points, "by basing itself on the formulations of the right to privacy included in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the resolution implicitly rejects the US line that privacy rights derive only from a specific treaty which the US in turn insists has no extra-territorial implications," Alston writes. 

Broadcasting & Cable reports that "studios and defenders of copyrights" are filing amicus briefs in support of broadcasters, who are challenging Aereo's Internet streaming service of broadcast TV programming as a violation of their copyrights. However, Aereo does not yet have any amicus supporters in the U.S. Supreme Court, although Aereo's counsel pointed out to Broadcasting & Cable "that the court’s 30-day extension on Aereo’s response to broadcasters’ request that the High Court hear the case meant supporting briefs were also delayed 30 days—until Dec. 12."

For example, Time Warner argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that “'no reasonable company would have deployed Aereo’s armada of mini-antennae but for the desire to end-run the public performance right,'" according to Broadcasting & Cable.

A Mississippi judge has rejected a lesbian's request to have her California same-sex marriage dissolved by the courts of her home state, according to the Associated Press. Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood said in a motion to intervene on Nov. 15 that Mississippi "has no obligation to give effect to California laws that are contrary to Mississippi's expressly stated public policy" barring same-sex marriage, the AP also reported.

Mississippi bars same-sex marriage by statute and in the state constitution.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on legislation that would change how judges are selected in Pennsylvania. Judges are "not like other politicians, who knock on doors for votes, run races with more media coverage and compile easily-digestible records of their votes," and many voters do not know about judicial candidates in any great depth, the paper reports.

"Proponents of the change, including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, say judges' jobs shouldn't depend on fundraising prowess and popularity," the paper further reports.