Articles

High court avoids new case over same-sex wedding cake

The Supreme Court is throwing out an Oregon court ruling against bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The justices’ action Monday keeps the high-profile case off the court’s election-year calendar and orders state judges to take a new look at the dispute between the lesbian couple and the owners of a now-closed bakery in the Portland area.

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Purdue Title IX sexual assault lawsuit still awaiting 7th Circuit decision

The campus sexual assault lawsuit brought by an unidentified male student against Purdue University, which was one of the first such cases to be heard by a federal appellate court since the U.S. Department of Education issued its “Dear Colleague” letter in 2011, is still awaiting a ruling from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals while the number of similar complaints being added to the dockets of circuit courts around the country continues to grow.

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Ex-Vanderburgh prosecutor employee files bias complaint

A former employee alleges Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann fired her unfairly after she rejected his romantic advances. Hermann denied the allegations but acknowledged the former employee had told him he had made her uncomfortable.

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Holcomb signs hate crimes measure into law

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday aimed at getting Indiana off a list of five states without a hate crimes law, saying that the state has “made progress and taken a strong stand against targeted violence.”

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Justice Thomas talks at court arguments, 1st time in 3 years

The Supreme Court was about to adjourn for the day when the Georgia baritone politely inquired of the lawyer at the lectern. Justice Clarence Thomas was breaking a three-year silence at high court arguments with a couple of questions in a case about racial discrimination in the South.

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Justices reject B&B owner who denied room to gay couple

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left in place Hawaii court rulings that found a bed and breakfast owner violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by refusing to rent a room to a lesbian couple. The justices rejected an appeal from Aloha Bed & Breakfast owner Phyllis Young, who argued she should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of her religious beliefs.

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Supreme Court: Judges can’t rule from the grave

Federal judges can’t rule from the grave, the US Supreme Court held Monday, writing that a federal court can’t count the vote of a judge who died in a decision issued after the judge’s death. The justices said “federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity.”

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Senate Republicans strip hate crimes bill of victim categories

The Republican-majority Senate stripped a hate crimes bill Tuesday of language that specified the types of crimes it would apply to — those motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, gender and other categories — despite emotional pleas by Democrats to leave the bill as written.

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