Tag Archives: legal

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Don’t ask, don’t tell’ repealed, questions remain

Washington: While US President Obama is all set to sign the legislation into law which will allow gays to serve explicitly in the armed forces, the new law will not be implemented immediately and put on hold until certain technical concerns are addressed.

The major concern comes in the minds of US administrators regarding the new legislation is its impact on military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ theory, which stops gays and lesbian serving in the armed forces to reveal their sexual orientation, has been in place for past 17 years. The decision has been taken in the context of social implications to ex-President Truman’s 1948 executive order that recommends freedom and equality for every soldier serving the armed forces.

It will be noticeable that after the legislation taking form of law, how effective it proves and to what extent it is enforced.

Some people opine that there will be a sharp fall in the rate of discharge cases of gays. Military officials have given a clear indication that the law will be executed in a true manner. People believe that the time has changed, now the gay marriage is permitted in several states, views of society toward gays and lesbian have changed.

Most of the people in the United States see nothing wrong in gays and lesbians serving armed forces. The gay issue in the military has been a touchy issue for the administration. Until 1993, all recruits had to fill a column in the questionnaire asking about sexual orientation; if said yes, it means not eligible to join the military. So far, 13,500 military personnel have been dismissed under the law.

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Texas Challenges Capital Punishment

Texas lawyers appeal against death penalty

Texas is a state where maximum people get death sentence every year. However, legal experts have challenged the punishment citing violation of constitutional laws. The lawyers have argued that the penalty leaves no hope for even innocent people who get trapped by law without committing an offence many times.

The appeal against death penalty was made during a trial of John E. Green Jr a Texan, who has been alleged of murdering a woman The lawyers stated that there were many faults in the judicial system that needed to be corrected  and death penalty was one among the most heinous and cruel punishment that should be banned.

Many times due to a wrong eyewitness testimony, false interpretation of fingerprint evidences and misjudgment prove innocent people guilty. In case of life imprisonment at least they get a chance to appeal against the accusations but death penalty leaves no chance to get justice for them.

Harris County District Attorney’s Office head, Alan Curry said that the trial should not be held and he would boycott the trial in case it occurred.  He faulted judges of being biased against death penalty and they were trying to exclude him from the trial.

He supported his argument by saying that the Supreme Court had already said that the risk of any innocent person being given death sentence could not defy the punishment as unconstitutional.

Lawyers who have appealed against the death penalty need to prove that the punishment violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment according to the state constitution.

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San Francisco Appeal Court To Discuss Over Gay Marriage

The demand for same sex marriage has been rising in the United States

The Americans are going to hear a crucial verdict on same sex marriage in a federal appeal court of San Francisco. Michael Hawkins is expected to opine his views over gay marriages in the hearing today. The Appeal court has appointed a three member panel for the purpose to argue on Proposition 8. The panel includes Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Judge N. Randy Smith who were appointed by former presidents of the United States. Michael Hawkins, was chosen by President Clinton and his vote on the same –sex marriage is issue is going to be very crucial on this matter. The panel has been appointed following an appeal against August rule. Vaughn R. Walker, chief jury of San Francisco’s U.S. District Court had made a ruling on this issue saying. that the U.S. Constitution was violated by the 2008 ballot measures. The San Francisco panel would discuss over the legal viability of anti-same-sex marriage appeal against Walker’s ruling and also find out if the 2008 ballot measure were being followed. The measures had revoked a restriction on same sex marriages and thus were contrary to the federal constitutional rights of equality. The hearing is being considered very crucial by the law experts for homosexuals all over the world. Top US legal experts will participate in the hearing handling the anti-gay marriage appeal and contradictory constitutional issues. The San Francisco court had declined defendants challenging the proposition 8 and allowed them only to appeal against August ruling. ProtectMarriage.com is also a part of this appeal it represents voters for the Proposition 8 was allowed to defend the proposition.