Today in legal history. http://jurist.org/thisday JURISTremove_this@pitt.edu (Jurist Webmaster) Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 On May 22, 2008, Alaskan officials announced that they would file a legal challenge to the Department of the Interior (DOI)'s decision to list the polar bear as threatened on the endangered species list. Governor Sarah Palin claimed that the listing was unnecessary and would http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/alaska-challenged-listing-of-polar-bear-as-endangered-species.php Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/alaska-challenged-listing-of-polar-bear-as-endangered-species.php Kyle Webster On May 21, 1800, US President John Adams issued a pardon to the participants in the 1799 Fries' Rebellion that occurred in southeastern Pennsylvania. The rebellion, motivated by citizen disdain over a federal property tax, resulted in protestors descending on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in March 1799 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/adams-pardoned-participants-of-pennsylvania-rebellion.php Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/adams-pardoned-participants-of-pennsylvania-rebellion.php Zachariah Rivenbark On May 20, 1996, the US Supreme Court held unconstitutional Amendment 2 to Colorado's state constitution because it violated the Equal Protection Clause. Amendment 2 prohibited the state and municipal governments from enacting, adopting or enforcing anti-discriminatory legislation that protected persons of same-sex orientation. The http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/supreme-court-decided-landmark-gay-rights-case.php Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/supreme-court-decided-landmark-gay-rights-case.php Zachariah Rivenbark On May 19, 2011, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed a bill requiring French railroad company SNCF to disclose information regarding its participation in the Jewish Holocaust. SNCF was accused of transporting 76,000 Jews and other prisoners from Paris to Germany from 1942 to 1944. In http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/maryland-ordered-rail-company-to-disclose-its-role-in-holocaust.php Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/maryland-ordered-rail-company-to-disclose-its-role-in-holocaust.php Adiah Oreyomi On May 18, 2012, Vermont became the first US state to ban hydraulic fracking when Governor Peter Shumlin signed Bill H. 464 into law. Hydraulic fracking is a method used by many major oil companies to extract natural gas and obtain shale oil and gas http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/vermont-became-first-state-to-outlaw-fracking.php Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/vermont-became-first-state-to-outlaw-fracking.php Arjun Mishra On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the union to legalize same-sex marriage. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's constitution prohibited a ban on same-sex marriage passed in November 2003. Attempts http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/massachusetts-became-first-state-to-legalize-same-sex-marriage.php Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/massachusetts-became-first-state-to-legalize-same-sex-marriage.php Arjun Mishra On May 16, 2008, the Texas Border Coalition, a group of Texas-based business owners and officials, filed a class action lawsuit to enjoin the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from constructing a fence on the US-Mexico border. The group claimed that approval of the fence's http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/texas-group-sued-to-block-border-fence-construction.php Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/05/texas-group-sued-to-block-border-fence-construction.php Kyle Webster