[JURIST] The US Supreme Court on Monday denied review [order list, PDF] in two cases challenging a Mississippi law that would permit businesses and government employees to deny services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to protect those individuals' sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions. The bill, entitled "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination" [text], was passed in the Mississippi legislature in 2016. It primarily aims to "protect sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions" related to marriage and sex. Such protected beliefs are: "(a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; (b) Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and (c) Male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth." The bill also provides that under specified circumstances, the government may not take … [Read more...] about Supreme Court refuses to hear cases challenging controversial Mississippi LGBT law
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Supreme Court sends death penalty case back to appeals court over racist remarks by juror
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official site] on Monday blocked the execution of Georgia inmate Keith Tharpe, ordering [opinion, PDF] the federal appeals court in Atlanta to examine claims that a juror voted for the death sentence because Tharpe was black. By a 6-3 vote, the court questioned a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit not to consider Tharpe's latest appeal involving claims of racial bias on the part of the juror.Tharpe was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of his sister-in-law. Seven years later, Tharpe's attorneys obtained a signed affidavit by juror Barnie Gattie, who used racial slurs to refer to black people and stated that "after studying the Bible, I have wondered if black people even have souls." The majority reasoned that, "Gattie's remarkable affidavit, which he never retracted, presents a strong factual basis for the argument that Tharpe's race affected Gattie's vote for a death verdict. At the very least, jurists of reason could … [Read more...] about Supreme Court sends death penalty case back to appeals court over racist remarks by juror
India Supreme Court to reconsider law criminalizing homosexuality
[JURIST] The Supreme Court of India [official website] agreed [order, PDF] Monday to re-examine Section 377 [JURIST op-ed], which criminalizes sex between people of the same sex. In its order, the court noted that, "social morality also changes from age to age," and that it is necessary for the law to be separate from those changes to uphold the rights guaranteed by India's constitution. The petition called for a re-examination of the court's 2013 decision [JURIST report] that upheld the law prohibiting sex between consenting adults of the same sex. The court at the time decided that the question of whether Section 377 should stay in effect had to be left up to the legislature. The petitioners argued, "the perception of the majority [of the 2013 ruling] which is based on social morality and stands on a platform distinct from constitutional morality." The petitioners looked to changing concepts on morality as a basis for why Section 377 is unconstitutional and should not exist as it … [Read more...] about India Supreme Court to reconsider law criminalizing homosexuality
Supreme Court declines to review controversial Mississippi ‘religious freedom’ law
The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a Mississippi law permitting businesses, county clerks and state judges to deny services to LGBT people on religious freedom grounds, the National Law Journal reported Monday.The high court denied certiorari to the plaintiffs in Barber v. Bryant and Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant, both of which challenged Mississippi’s Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act. The law forbids the state from taking “discriminatory action” against anyone who acts on a belief that marriage should only be recognized as the union of a woman and a man; that a person’s sex is determined by anatomy; or that sex should only occur during marriage.A federal district judge had struck down the law in response to the two challenges, whose plaintiffs were gay and transgender people, religious leaders, a church and the Campaign for Southern Equality—an advocacy group for LGBT people in the South. They argued that … [Read more...] about Supreme Court declines to review controversial Mississippi ‘religious freedom’ law
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to approve third version of ‘travel ban’
[JURIST] The Trump administration asked [cert. petition, PDF] the US Supreme Court [official website] Friday to uphold the third version [text, PDF] of the administration's travel ban [JURIST news archive]. This petition comes just over a week after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] upheld an injunction [JURIST report] against the measure. The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit found that the executive action violated the Immigration and Nationality Act [materials], which requires the president to "make a legally sufficient finding that the entry of the specified individuals would be 'detrimental to the interests of the United States,'" which it determined the administration had failed to do. Even with revisions [JURIST report] to the original ban, namely the implementation of a review period, the Ninth Circuit determined that the order exceeds the constitutional powers afforded to the executive and upheld the injunction on the ground that the … [Read more...] about Trump administration asks Supreme Court to approve third version of ‘travel ban’