An evangelical Christian organization has filed a lawsuit in New York
state court seeking to block the state's recently-passed legislation
allowing gay marriages. The lawsuit alleges that the New York State
Legislature violated the state's Open Meetings Law and failed to follow
proper Senate procedures while passing the bill. The plaintiffs ask the
court to declare the Marriage Equality Act null and void and to
invalidate any marriages that occurred as a result of the Act.
A group of atheists and agnostics has filed a lawsuit seeking a
declaration that Texas Governor Rick Perry's official participation in a
prayer rally violates the separation of church and state contained in
the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The suit also
seeks to block any further actions by the governor in association with
the rally.
The polygamist family featured on the TLC show "Sister Wives" has filed a
federal lawsuit challenging Utah's criminal bigamy law. The plaintiffs
allege that the law violates the United States Constitution by
punishing a consensual private relationship without demonstrating any
harm to society or the participants in the relationship.
A group of shareholders has filed a lawsuit accusing Rupert Murdoch's
News Corp. of gross corporate governance failures related to the UK
phone hacking scandal. The lawsuit comes as an amended complaint to an
existing lawsuit that charged the company with nepotism related to the
acquisition of a company owned by Rupert Murdoch's daughters. The
complaint asserts that this acquisition and the hacking scandal
demonstrate a "culture run amuck within News Corp and a board that
provides no effective review or oversight."
A coalition of civil rights organizations has challenged Alabama's new
immigration law, alleging that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.
The plaintiffs claim that the law, which makes it a crime to be in
Alabama without proper immigration documentation, will result in racial
profiling, illegal searches and seizures and will deter the children of
immigration families from attending public schools.
A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing
enforcement of South Dakota's strict new abortion law while courts
decide the constitutionality of the new statute. The law imposes a
three-day waiting period before a woman may obtain an abortion and
requires women to undergo counseling at a "pregnancy help center" that
advises against abortions. The judge found that the challengers to the
law had sufficiently demonstrated that the law likely violated the
constitution, which warranted a preliminary injunction preventing the
law from going into effect.
