US Senate confirms Owen as part of filibuster truce News
US Senate confirms Owen as part of filibuster truce

[JURIST] The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen [court profile] to the US Circuit Court of Appeals by a 56-43 vote that fell largely along party lines. The vote was the first to confirm one of President Bush's disputed judicial nominees and was made possible by the compromise [JURIST report] implemented to avert the "nuclear option" of banning judicial filibusters. Owen was among ten appeals court candidates blocked by Senate Democrats in the last Congress. Reuters 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.