constitutional law

The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that the current lineup of justices should decide whether to legalize same-sex marriage, according to the Associated Press. The court said that Special Justice Robert McCorkindale, a gubernatorial appointee who heard oral arguments, should not decide the case. Instead, the court ruled that, under the state constitution, that Justice Rhonda Wood, who took office in January after being elected, must decide the pending appeal. 

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether a drug used in Oklahoma's lethal-injection executions violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, Christian Science Monitor's Warren Richey reports. At issue is whether midazolam, the first drug used in a three-drug cocktail, is "reliably effective in preventing condemned prisoners from suffering an intolerable level of pain during the execution process." The drug is supposed to make prisoners unconscious, but there have been three botched executions in which prisoners awoke and struggled during the administration of the later drugs.

Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage has been struck down by a state judge on the grounds that there is no rational basis for the prohibition, the Lexington Herald-Leader's John Cheves reports: "Judge Thomas Wingate ruled for two Lexington couples who were denied marriage licenses by the Fayette County Clerk in 2013 because Kentucky's constitution was amended by voters to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman."

When a Kentucky federal judge struck down Kentucky's ban, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit restored the ban on appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the issue April 28.
 

A group of Wisconsin voters who favor a constitutional change that would let a majority vote, not seniority, determine the Wisconsin chief justice have moved to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the current sitting chief justice to attack the amendment, Wisconsin Watchdog's M.D. Kittle reports.

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahmson is a liberal, and many conservatives in Wisconsin supported the constitutional amendment in order to allow the conservative majority on the court pick a new leader. Voters approved the amendment earlier this month, and Abrahamson immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the amendment on the grounds of due process and equal protection.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has struck down a ban in Michigan on outdoor charity collection bins, the Michigan Radio Newsroom's Virginia Gordon reports. The appellate court ruled that the ban likely violates the free speech rights of Planet Aid.

After Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday to allow that state's Supreme Court justices to vote on who should lead the court, the current chief justice has filed a lawsuit against the amendment, the Associated Press' Scott Bauer reports.

Before the amendment was approved, the most senior jurist on the Wisconsin Supreme Court filled the chief justice position. Shirley Abrahamson, a liberal member of the court, is expected to be removed as chief justice because there is a four-justice conservative majority.

Abrahamson is arguing that the change should not be applied until after her current term ends in four years or if she leaves before then because otherwise her rights to due process and equal protection would be violated, Bauer reports.

On Tuesday, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, considered to be one of the two most liberal justices along with Abrahamson, won reelection, Bauer also reports.

The New York Times' Mitch Smith reports that Tuesday's election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court could reshape that judicial body. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, member of the court's liberal minority, is up for election (Judge James Daley is Bradley's opponent and is supported by Republicans, while she is supported by Democrats), and voters are being asked to approve a constitutional amendment to change how the chief justice is selected. If the amendment is approved, the justices would vote on who should be chief, instead of having the longest-serving member lead the court. Current Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson is considered part of the liberal bloc.

The city of Chicago has beaten the argument that it impermissibly ceded its police power to the law firm it retained to prosecute a lawsuit on the city's behalf alleging that five drugmakers engaged in highly deceptive marketing of opioid painkillers, The Litigation Daily's Scott Flaherty reports. The drug companies argued that the firm's interest in earning a contingency fee from any recovery created a conflict that stripped the defendants of their due process rights. A federal judge ruled that because the city retains control over the litigation of the case the retention of a private law firm didn't violate the rights of the defendants.

The Florida Supreme Court stopped an execution scheduled this week because of questions over whether the state's lethal drug cocktail constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, Huffington Post's Kim Bellware reports. The execution has been halted pending the outcome in a U.S. Supreme Court case over whether a similar cocktail used in Oklahoma is unconstitutional.

The Lone Star State's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a county probate judge ruled today, Los Angeles Times' Lauren Raab reports. Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman ruled that Texas' constitutional and statutory bans violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.

A federal judge already overturned the bans last year.