Prop 8 overturned by supreme court

The man who killed himself after crashing his car into a barricade near the U.S. Supreme Court was troubled by current politics and wasn't in "his right state of mind," his grieving mother said Tuesday. "We didn't know how much he was hurting," Tamara Cunningham said of her 29-year-old son, Richard Aaron York, who crashed his car into a barricade in the nation's capital early Sunday before shooting himself. No one else was hurt in the incident. Cunningham told NBC News on Tuesday that her son was a hard worker and loved by friends and family. He lived with and cared for his grandmother in Delaware. "He was a good person," Cunningham said. “He loved me very, very much." Having suffered several concussions while wrestling and playing football in high school, his family suspected he might have had CTE , but he had never been diagnosed. "He had some trouble in his past, and he was struggling," Cunningham said. "He struggled with trying to medicate and figure out what … [Read more...] about Man who killed himself after crashing car near Supreme Court was ‘lost,’ troubled by current politics, mom says

A pregnant and parentless 16-year-old in Florida may be forced to give birth after an appeals court ruled she was not “sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy.” The teenager, who is identified in court papers as Jane Doe 22-B, was appealing a decision by Circuit Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz on Aug. 10 that blocked her from having an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian, as required by Florida law. At the time, the teenager was 10 weeks pregnant, the court papers state. But the three-judge panel of the state's 1st District Court of Appeal, which covers northern Florida, sided Monday, for the most part, with Frydrychowicz. The teenager "had not established by clear and convincing evidence that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy,” the ruling by Judges Harvey Jay, Rachel Nordby and Scott Makar, states. “Having reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s decision under the deferential … [Read more...] about Florida court says teen is not ‘mature’ enough to have an abortion

For decades, the historic preservation movement in San Francisco, as in other cities, focused on the built environment: It was about protecting fine homes and stately old hotels, sturdy civic buildings and lavish opera houses. But as the real estate market has reached a boiling point over the last few years, San Francisco Heritage Executive Director Mike Buhler saw a growing problem: The real estate boom was not so much threatening San Francisco’s historic buildings as it was the many long-standing businesses that help define neighborhood commercial strips. How do you protect night spots like Esta Noche, the Lexington and the Elbo Room, three Mission District establishments that lost their leases over the last 18 months? Was there any way to help restaurants such as Chinatown’s Empress of China, which closed at the end of 2014 after the property’s new owner sought to attract tech companies? What about the venerable jeweler Shreve & Co., frozen out of its home of 109 years … [Read more...] about Is Prop. J for preservation, or a slush fund?

The Supreme Court’s order directing the Gujarat government to consider the remission of sentence as per the July 1992 policy paved the way for the premature release of 11 convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case, lawyers said on Tuesday. As per the current policy formulated in 2014, a person convicted for both gangrape and murder can not be released prematurely, but the 1992 policy had no such bar, a lawyer pointed out. The BJP government in the state has come under fire for the premature release of 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven members of her family during the 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots. The convicted men walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on Monday. One of them, Radheshyam Shah, had moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Gujarat government to consider his application for premature release as per the government resolution or order dated July 9, 1992, said Godhra-based lawyer Parimal Pathak who represented … [Read more...] about Bilkis Bano Case: SC Direction to Consider Early Release as Per 1992 Policy Paved Way for Convicts’ Release, Say Lawyers

The Indian Olympic Association on Tuesday said it will discuss in detail the Delhi High Court’s directive to put the country’s apex sports body under a three-member Committee of Administrators before arriving at a decision to approach the Supreme Court. The IOA officials are expected to meet on Wednesday. The Delhi High Court directed the setting up of a three-member CoA to take over the affairs of the IOA, saying its “persistent recalcitrance” to comply with the Sports Code made it imperative that its affairs be put in the hands of the committee. “The IOA members will discuss the High Court judgement in detail and will decide whether to go for an appeal in the Supreme Court,” IOA secretary general Rejeev Mehta said. The CoA comprises former Supreme Court judge Justice Anil R Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner Dr S Y Quraishi, and former Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup. The court directed the executive committee of IOA to forthwith hand over … [Read more...] about IOA to Take Call on Approaching SC After Discussing HC Order in Detail

The Centre Tuesday claimed in the Supreme Court that a plea for directions to stop the alleged violence against the members of the Christian community in the country has been filed for some “hidden oblique agenda” which is based on “half-baked,” “self-serving facts and articles” and reports. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its reply affidavit said that it is a recent trend that certain organisations start planting articles and preparing self-serving reports themselves or through their associates, which eventually become the basis of a writ petition/PIL. The Centre said enquiries reveal that the majority of the incidents alleged as Christian persecution in these reports were either false or wrongfully projected and the petitioner, based upon self-serving articles and reports wishes that this court conducts a “fishing enquiry.” It added that incidents of minor disputes, where no religious/communal angle existed, had also been published in the self-serving Reports as instances of … [Read more...] about Christian Persecution: Centre Tells SC Plea Based on Half-baked and Self-serving Facts

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Kerala government on an appeal filed by Nagaland challenging the Kerala High Court’s order which upheld the state government’s power to regulate lotteries from other states. The division bench of the high court upheld the amendments brought to Kerala Paper Lotteries (Regulation) Rules in 2018 and said it was within the legislative competence of the State government. The division bench had set aside a single judge’s judgement restraining the Kerala government from interfering with the marketing and sale of lottery tickets of the Nagaland government in the State. An apex court bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the Kerala government and others on Nagaland’s appeal challenging the May 21, 2021 order of the high court. Respondent-State may file counter affidavit within a period of three weeks, the bench said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Nagaland, submitted that the issue broadly … [Read more...] about SC Notice to Kerala on Plea Challenging Power of State Govt to Regulate Lotteries from Other States

For Sri Lanka, the month of July continues to remain a “black mark” on its history that it tries to wash off but to no avail. Call it coincidence, but several major developments that have marred the island country have taken place in this month. On July 9, Sri Lanka witnessed one of the biggest civil uprisings against a ruling government as protesters refused to budge from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence, a day after they stormed his home, forcing him to flee with the navy and announce he would resign. The dramatic events were the culmination of months of protests by people enraged by the country’s unprecedented economic crisis and the Rajapaksa clan’s incompetence and corruption. This is also the month that is observed as ‘Black July’ by Sri Lankan Tamils after the anti-Tamil pogrom. On the intervening night of July 23 and 24, 1983, 13 Sri Lankan soldiers were brutally killed, which sparked a civil war in the country that lasted 26 long years. As the war continued, the … [Read more...] about Sri Lanka’s July Jinx: From Anti-Tamil Pogrom to Latest Crisis, Nation’s Struggle With ‘Black Mark’ on History

College students and advocates returning to campus for the first post-Roe school year already are making plans for a counterattack in states where abortion has been banned or severely restricted. They're gearing up with emergency contraceptives , condoms, pregnancy tests, voter registration drives and — where possible — information about abortion access in response to the rollback of the constitutional right to the procedure. “We have to do what we can legally to help people as much as we can,” Nikita Kakkad, a junior at the University of Texas at Austin and an activist for reproductive rights, said. “It’s important to be doing that now more than ever.” Texas is one of more than a dozen states that has banned or severely restricted abortion procedures after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. The state had already passed a law in 2021 that effectively banned abortions around six weeks of pregnancy, and its "trigger law" prohibiting nearly all abortions and … [Read more...] about Students and activists mobilize on campus for reproductive rights in states with abortion bans

Kenya’s electoral commission chairman has declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the close presidential election over five-time contender Raila Odinga, a triumph for the man who shook up politics by appealing to struggling Kenyans on economic terms and not on traditional ethnic ones. Ruto received 50.49% of the vote, the chairman said, while Odinga received 48.85%. But chaos emerged just before the declaration when the electoral commission’s vice chair and three other commissioners told journalists they could not support the “opaque nature” of the final phase of the process. “We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced,” vice chair Juliana Cherera said, without giving details. At the declaration venue, police surged to impose calm amid shouting and scuffles before electoral commission chair Wafula Chebukati announced the official results — and said the two commissioners still there had been injured. The sudden split in the commission came … [Read more...] about Kenya’s William Ruto declared President-elect