Romney asks court to put same-sex marriage ban on Massachusetts ballot News
Romney asks court to put same-sex marriage ban on Massachusetts ballot

[JURIST] Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney [official website] Friday filed a request with the state's Supreme Judicial Court [JURIST report] to put a measure effectively banning same-sex marriage [text, DOC] on the 2008 Massachusetts ballot if legislators fail to vote on the issue before the end of their term on January 2. Romney took the anticipated action [JURIST report] after state lawmakers voted 109-87 to recess an ongoing joint House-Senate session until that day. Opponents of the measure to define marriage as only between a man and a woman say they may not have the votes to block it, amounting to 151 of the 200 session members. Fifty members can approve the measure. AP has more.

Massachusetts [JURIST news archive] is currently the only US state to recognize same-sex marriage, after a November 2003 state high court ruling [JURIST report; background materials]. More than 8,000 same-sex couples have subsequently wed in the state, and the precedent has sparked a nationwide debate over gay marriage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus

On April 27, 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland and parts of several midwestern states during the American Civil War. Lincoln took this action to address draft riots and the threat of secession by Union states bordering the Confederacy. The President maintained his suspension even after it was overturned by the federal judiciary in Ex parte Merryman 17 F.Cas. 144 (1861). Learn more about Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.

War crimes trials of WWII Japanese leaders began

On April 27, 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East began its trials in Tokyo, Japan, ruling on the indictments of former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and 27 associates.

Learn more about the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.