Kansas to vote on adding gay marriage ban to state constitution News
Kansas to vote on adding gay marriage ban to state constitution

[JURIST] Kansas voters will go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage. Kansas law already prohibits gay marriage but supporters claim the ban must be put into the Kansas Constitution [text] to avoid any legal challenges. The chief argument in favor of placing the ban in the Kansas constitution is the recent decision by a San Francisco judge who ruled California's ban of gay marriage violates California's constitution [JURIST story]. If the ban is approved, Kansas would become the 18th state with a prohibition of gay marriage in its constitution. Amendment opponents [Kansans for Fairness advocacy website] claim the new measure is oppressive. Voters are expected to approve the ban overwhelmingly. The Wichita Eagle has local coverage. Read the text of the proposed amendment. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.