NAACP President Kweisi Mfume announces resignation News
NAACP President Kweisi Mfume announces resignation

[JURIST] NAACP President Kweisi Mfume announced Tuesday that he is resigning as the head of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group after serving in that position since 1996. The organization's legal counsel, Dennis Hayes, will serve as interim president. Mfume, whose adopted West African name translates to "conquering son of kings," started his career as a popular radio talk show host and political activist in the 1970s before serving on the Baltimore City Council and in the US House of Representatives. Mfume said his service to the NAACP "has been the most rewarding and the most fulfilling experience in my life." Read the NAACP press release here. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.