Overseas HIV/AIDS funding peg to anti-prostitution pledge ruling [US DC] News
Overseas HIV/AIDS funding peg to anti-prostitution pledge ruling [US DC]

Alliance for an Open Society International et al. v. United States Agency for International Development et al., United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Victor Marrero, May 9, 2006 [ruling that the federal government is violating First Amendment free speech rights by withholding federal HIV/AIDS funding from human rights groups working abroad who refuse to sign a pledge condemning prostitution]. Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.