Oregon domestic partnership referendum ruling [9th Circuit] News
Oregon domestic partnership referendum ruling [9th Circuit]

Phillip Lemons, et al. v. Bill Bradbury, Sec. of the State of Oregon, et al., US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, August 14, 2008 [ruling that Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury did not violate the constitutional rights of voters who signed a petition to hold a referendum on a state law establishing same-sex domestic partnerships]. Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Eighteenth Amendment came into effect

On January 16, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution came into effect as scheduled one year after ratification, marking the beginning of Prohibition. Learn more about Temperance and Prohibition from Professor K. Austin Kerr of the Ohio State University Department of History.

English Parliament bans Roman Catholicism

On January 16, 1581, the English Parliament banned Roman Catholicism throughout the country during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. From that time on, Catholicism declined in England until the Catholic Emancipation of the late 18th century.

Read the history of the Roman Catholic Church in England.