Fined $100
Anthony’s lawyer argues at her trial that she did not violate the Enforcement Act, which states that a person cannot knowingly vote illegally because she believed she had the right to vote. Supported by recent Supreme Court cases, the judge finds that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee women the right to vote. He rules that Anthony was aware that she could not legally vote, and fines her $100 plus court costs. She refuses to pay the fine, and the authorities do not try very hard to collect it.
Bans racial segregation in public schools
In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down an unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional. The decision deals with Linda Brown, a young African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
Rules to seat Bond
The United States Supreme Court rules 9–0 in the case of Bond v. Floyd (385 U.S. 116) that the Georgia House of Representatives had denied Bond his freedom of speech and was required to seat him. He serves four terms in the Georgia House, where he organizes the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.
Netherlands legalises gay marriage
Netherlands is the first country in the world to officially declare that its citizens are allowed to get married to whomever they desire.
We are always a bit ahead of other countries. We had those discussions years before other countries even started.
Advisor found guilty
Shaik, a financial adviser to Zuma is found guilty on two accounts of corruption and one of fraud. He remains free on bail. The judge compares corruption to a cancer subverting democracy and human rights and rejects the defence lawyer’s plea for clemency because Shaik had fought apartheid.
His corporate empire’s progress and prosperity was plainly linked to the possibility that Jacob Zuma would finally ascend to the highest political office…Far from carrying out the object of [South Africa’s liberation] struggle, this whole saga represents a subversion of it…It was a typical example of a privileged treatment to a selected political figure in a situation redolent with lack of transparency and subversive of administrative fairness and integrity. And that is what the law seeks to punish.
Loses Howard University appeal
Dolezal loses her appeal against Howard University. The judges confirm the original trial’s decision.
To defeat summary judgment on her discrimination claims, Moore was required to present a prima facie case “that (1) she belongs to a protected class (2) she is qualified for the employment position at issue (3) she was the subject of an adverse employment decision and (4) race was a substantial factor in the adverse action. As we now explain, Moore failed to make the requisite showing of either the third or fourth element in respect to all of her claims.
The court says her Art Professor did not hear that she wanted the position until after he had allotted the teaching assistant jobs. This meant that race was not a factor in the employment decision. She also did not make a case showing she experienced an adverse employment action in being denied the assistantship for one semester. While she did not work the fourth semester, she was actually paid for four semesters. She presented no evidence that any prospective employer chose not to hire her because she taught three rather than four semesters. On the removal of her artworks from a 2001 exhibition, allegedly in favor of those of African-American students, the court ruled that the claim is barred by a one year statute of limitations, and that she offered no proof of a hostile work environment.
Fined $100,000
The NBA fines Cuban for violating the league’s anti-tampering rules with comments made in an interview with CNNMONEY.com about recruiting LeBron James to the Mavericks. Cuban is punished for failing to adhere to the details of a 2008 memo sent to all 30 NBA teams:
If a member of your organization is asked by the media about a potential free agent prior to the July 1 following the last season covered by the player’s contract, or about any other person under contract with another NBA team, the only proper response is to decline comment.
‘Not responsible’ for Sulkowicz assault
Columbia decides that Nungesser is “not responsible” for any assault on Sulkowicz. Sulkowicz claims the university investigator had taken inaccurate and incomplete notes, that the man she had accused had been granted months of postponements and that she had been warned, repeatedly, that she could not discuss the case with anyone.
I’ve never felt more shoved under the rug in my life.
She says she struggled to respond to a panelist who seemed to believe that anal sex without lubrication is impossible.
[They] kept asking me to explain the position I was in. At one point, I was like, ‘Should I just draw you a picture?’ So I drew a stick drawing.
She says Nungesser testified that she had imagined that he had coerced her. She says Nungesser told the panel that if Sulkowicz is a fencer she would have strong legs, so as a lightweight rower he could not have pinned her legs down. He claimed the sex was consensual and that he ejaculated on Sulkowicz, who grabbed a tissue, wiped the ejaculate off, and “ ‘threw the tissue away’.
None of which is true—he never came that night. He just stopped and ran away.
On the decision, Sulkowicz:
I didn’t even cry at first. I don’t know. Has anything ever happened to you that was just so bad that you felt like you became a shell of a human being?
‘Not responsible’ for attack on Josie
Columbia decides, on appeal, that Nungesser is ‘not responsible” for sexual assault on Josie. Josie had claimed that Nungesser had followed her and tried to kiss her at a party. Initially the University finds Nungesser responsible, and he receives a “disciplinary probation” sanction, a warning that further violation of University policies will likely result in more serious disciplinary action. Josie:
It didn’t change that something shitty happened to me or that he’s walking around. But it did feel good that the system worked…And then the feeling when they were listening to his appeal and they gave it to him was the worst feeling in the world.
When Nungesser asks for an appeal, Josie declines to participate due to work conflicts. The University decides Nungesser is “not responsible”. The University sends her Paul’s letter by accident.
We were unable to determine that it was more likely than not that you engaged in behavior that meets the definition of sexual assault: non-consensual sexual contact. Therefore, the charge has been dismissed.
Josie:
I was surprised that they listened to the appeal; I was not surprised that they overturned it. I wasn’t there. My testimony was not included. It was different panelists.
‘No Prospects’ to revive exchange
The Tokyo District Court dismisses an application for civil rehabilitation and appoints an administrator of the company’s assets in place of Karpeles.
Karpeles: There are no prospects for the restart of the business. The dismissal of the application for commencement of a civil rehabilitation procedure will create great inconvenience and concerns to our creditors for which we apologize
The administrator, lawyer Nobuaki Kobayashi, said in a separate statement that the court will probably order the start of bankruptcy proceedings. How the company is treated will be decided by taking into account factors including whether there is any candidate to buy the business, Kobayashi said. Kobayashi also said any investigation of the liability of Karpeles will be conducted as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
U.S. bankruptcy approved
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey G. Jernigan accepts Mt. Gox’s U.S. filing and recognizes Mt. Gox’s Japanese bankruptcy as the foreign main proceeding. The ruling empowers the company’s Japanese trustee to examine witnesses, gather and review evidence, and oversee assets in the U.S. She says
This is really going to be all about the customers, who make up almost all of the creditors, and trying to get them a recovery
Cell phone search warrant required
The Court rules that cell phones cannot be searched without a warrant. Chief Justice John Roberts believes that cell phones contain so much information that a warrant must be required before they are searched. Both the Obama Administration and the State of California defend cell phone searches and claim they should have no special protection from other items found on a person. Roberts says:
Modern cellphones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans the privacies of life.
Rules against Obama recess appointments
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rules that President Obama went too far when he made recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This is the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on a matter involving the long-standing practice of presidents naming appointees when the Senate is on break. Obama had argued that the Senate was on an extended holiday break when he filled slots at the NLRB in 2012. Justice Stephen Breyer stated that a congressional break has to last at least 10 days to be considered a recess under the Constitution. Breyer wrote:
Three days is too short a time to bring a recess within the scope of the Clause. Thus we conclude that the President lacked the power to make the recess appointments here at issue.
Strikes down abortion clinic buffer zone
With a 9-0 vote, the Court rules the 2007 Massachusetts’ law requiring a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics violated the freedom of speech rights of anti-abortion protesters under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because it prevents them from standing on the sidewalk and speaking to people entering the clinics. Justice John Roberts says that the state has:
too readily foregone options that could serve its interests just as well, without substantially burdening the kind of speech in which petitioners wish to engage.
‘Right to be forgotten’ begins
Google begins processing requests for search result removals because of a European Union court ruling that people have a “right to be forgotten” on the internet. They have over 41,000 requests to remove individually:
This week, we’re starting to take action on the removals requests that we’ve received. This is a new process for us. Each request has to be assessed individually, and we’re working as quickly as possible to get through the queue.
Must pay Canadian workers
The Supreme Court of Canada rules that the workers at the Jonquiere, Quebec store must be compensated. The workers lost their jobs at the store when it was suddenly shut down months after its employees unionized. The court ruled in a five-to-two decision that the the store modified working conditions for the employees without a valid reason when it shut down the store in February, 2005. A spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada says the company will consider its options:
We are disappointed by the decision. This was an appeal of a unanimous decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal to reject the UFCW’s claim, which in our view was a legally correct decision. We will review the decision carefully in order to determine what our next steps will be.
Allows corporate contraceptive religious objection
The court rules 5-4 in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby to allow corporations to hold religious objections and opt out of the new health law requirement that say they must cover contraceptives for women. Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010 and the Supreme Court upheld two years later. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion:
Under the standard that [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act] prescribes, the HHS contraceptive mandate is unlawful…Our decision should not be understood to hold that an insurance-coverage mandate must necessarily fall if it conflicts with an employer’s religious beliefs.
The court’s four liberal justices called it a decision of “startling breadth” and said that it allows companies to
opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.
Workers cannot be forced to pay union dues
The courts rules that home healthcare workers in Illinois can not be forced to pay union dues. The 5-4 ruling mostly applies to a group of Illinois home care providers challenged that a state decision to classify them as public employees, which would have meant they would have to pay union dues. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the conservative majority, says the practice was a clear violation of the First Amendment:
If we accepted Illinois’ argument, we would approve an unprecedented violation of the bedrock principle that, except perhaps in the rarest of circumstances, no person in this country may be compelled to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support.
Judge says no to gag order
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke refuses to issue a gag order in the matter of the alleged murder of two people by Hernandez in 2012. The judge said he sees no sign that Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office had violated ethical rules for prosecutors by leaking information .
The Court is satisfied that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office is aware of and operates consistent with the restrictions imposed by the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, rendering a detailed order regarding extrajudicial statements unnecessary at this time.
Khatallah ordered held until trial
During a brief detention hearing yesterday, a federal court magistrate rules that Abu Khatallah will remain in jail until his trial. Court documents released before the hearing allege he “conspired to participate and then participated” in the September 11, 2012, attack on the American outpost in eastern Libya that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. In the document, prosecutors allege:
The defendant’s participation in the attack was motivated by his extremist ideology.
They also allege that Khatallah “voiced concern and opposition to the presence of an American facility in Benghazi” days prior to the attack.