California marriage law ruling [CA Superior Ct.] News
California marriage law ruling [CA Superior Ct.]

Woo v. Lockyer, Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco, Judge Richard A. Kramer, March 14, 2005 [ruling that the California law that bars same-sex marriage by limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional]. Excerpt:

The state's protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional…. Simply put, same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before.

Read the full text of the decision [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US spy Nathan Hale executed in New York

US spy Nathan Hale was executed on September 22, 1776 after he was captured by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Hale went to British-occupied New York City to gather intelligence on military operations. He was captured and executed within a month, purportedly declaring "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" before his death at the age of 21. Learn more from the American Battlefield Trust.

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On September 22, 1692, two men and six women were executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Read more about the Salem witchcraft trials in JURIST's Famous Trials series.

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