JURIST - Paper Chase: Saturday, March 12, 2011

[JURIST] US Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) [official websites] on Thursday introduced legislation to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in federally funded public elementary and high schools from bullying. The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) [materials] was reintroduced in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate [official websites] prompted by the suicides resulting from anti-LGBT bullying of several students in the past year. The SNDA is modeled after Title IX [20 USC § 1681 et seq.] of the Education Amendments of 1972 and would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition of discrimination against LGBT students in public schools. The act would also prohibit schools from discriminating against students based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as prohibit schools from ignoring harassment. If enacted into law, violations of the SNDA would result in the loss of federal funding and provide a legal cause of action for victims who encounter discrimination in public schools. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] supports the legislation [letter, PDF] and decries the treatment of LGBT students in public schools:

The recent tragic deaths of young gay students from across the country underscore the fact that LGBT students are an especially vulnerable population in our nation's schools. Discrimination and harassment, even physical abuse, are often a part of these students' daily lives. ... The Student Non-Discrimination Act would have a profound impact in improving the lives of LGBT students by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our country's public elementary and secondary schools.

The legislation was first introduced [HR 4530 materials] in the 111th Congress and currently has 99 co-sponsors in the House and 27 co-sponsors in the Senate.

President Barack Obama, lawmakers, students and parents convened on Thursday to discuss measures to combat bullying [press release]. Several state and federal legislators have introduced similar bills aimed at preventing bullying in public schools. Texas State Representative Garnet Coleman [official profile] introduced a bill [text, PDF] in February to ban anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination in public schools, as well as develop a suicide prevention program for middle, junior and high schools. The Massachusetts House of Representatives [official website] in March 2010 unanimously passed a bill [Boston Globe report] seeking to prevent bullying in schools and cyberspace.

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Friday called on the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to end torture, investigate all cases of abuse [press release] against peaceful demonstrators and stop prosecuting civilians before military tribunals. HRW went on to describe witness accounts of Egyptian soldiers and others in civilian clothing attacking demonstrators, finding that "[t]he Supreme Military Council has been ignoring credible reports of arbitrary arrest and torture, ... [t]here can be no break from the abuses of the past while security forces — including military personnel — abuse people with impunity." Egypt's military council has been running the country since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was forced out and has indicated a referendum will be held March 19 on constitutional reforms proposed [JURIST reports] by a committee of legal experts.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] has vociferously decried the use of violence against protesters [JURIST report] in recent months as protests have spread across the Middle East and North Africa [BBC backgrounder]. Earlier this month, Pillay condemned the response by Middle Eastern governments [JURIST report] to peaceful protests during her opening remarks at the UN Human Rights Council, urging the international community to take a strong stance against violence against protesters. In February, Pillay called on the Libyan government and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi [BBC profile] directly to stop the violence directed at protesters [JURIST report] within that nation. Also in February, Pillay said that the Libyan government's response to recent protests may amount to crimes against humanity [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The Maryland House of Delegates [official website] on Friday failed to approve a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] in the state. The Maryland Senate [official website] voted 25-21 to approve [JURIST report] the Civil Marriage Protection Act [materials] last month and sent it to the lower house for a final vote. The failure to approve the bill makes it unlikely that the legislation will be approved before the next session, scheduled for 2012. The bill was withdrawn from the House [AP report] before the planned vote. The bill would have needed an affirmative vote from the House of Delegates and to be signed by the governor before becoming law. In addition to legalizing same-sex marriage, the bill would have allowed a religious institution to refuse services, accommodations or solemnization of a marriage that would violate constitutional rights to the free exercise of religion. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) [official website] opposed the decision not to pass the bill [press release]:

It is my firm belief that equality under the law means equality for everyone, and our laws should reflect that fundamental principle. Together, we've worked hard to protect and expand these rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered citizens in our state. It was my hope to sign a marriage equality act consistent with these progressive reforms, while protecting religious freedom in our state.

Equality Maryland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland [press releases] expressed disappointment at the bill's failure. The National Organization for Marriage [press release] praised the actions of the Maryland delegates.

In February 2010, Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler [official website] declared that the state would recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere [JURIST report]. Had the bill succeeded, Maryland would have become the seventh US jurisdiction to allow same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and DC [JURIST reports].

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] on Friday granted [order, PDF] the Obama administration's motion for expedited review [text, PDF] over a Florida judge's ruling that the health care reform law [HR 3590 materials; JURIST news archive] is unconstitutional. The appeals court has yet not made a decision regarding the request that the initial review be heard en banc [SCOTUSblog report] before all 10 judges. Last Friday, Judge Roger Vinson stayed his ruling finding that the health care law was unconstitutional [JURIST reports] on the condition that an appeal would be filed within a week. The stay has allowed the administration to continue its implementation of the law in other states until after appellate review. Also on Friday, the 26 states that won before Vinson filed a notice of cross appeal [notice, PDF], appealing the "adverse disposition of claims."

The health care reform law is the subject of numerous legal challenges across the country. Last month, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli [official website] filed a petition for a writ of certiorari [JURIST report] with the US Supreme Court [JURIST news archive] asking the court to rule on the constitutionality of the law on an expedited basis, before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] rules on the issue. In January, a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia dismissed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging a provision of the health care reform law. In October, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that the law is constitutional [JURIST report] under the Commerce Clause as it addresses the economic effects of health care decisions, and that it does not represent an unconstitutional direct tax.