Massachusetts New Yorker marriages ruling [Suffolk Superior Ct.] News
Massachusetts New Yorker marriages ruling [Suffolk Superior Ct.]

Sandra and Roberta Cote-Whitacre et al. v. Department of Public Health, Suffolk Superior Court, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 10, 2007 [ruling that a 1913 Massachusetts statute which forbids recognition of Massachusetts marriages of couples who are "expressly prohibited" from marrying in their home states only bars same-sex Massachusetts marriages of New York couples made after the New York Court of Appeals upheld a ban on New York same-sex marriage on July 6, 2006]. Read the full text of the order [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US House voted to impeach President Clinton

On December 19, 1998, a divided US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on charges of lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Read the Articles of Impeachment.

UK signs Hong Kong over to China

On December 19, 1984, the United Kingdom and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which ceded control of Hong Kong to the government of mainland China in 1997. The treaty also ensured that Hong Kong would retain its capitalist and democratic systems for at least 50 years after the transfer of power.