Doma Decision News Today

Keep the appropriate amount of distance. >> it wasnt difficult with barack obama. hes a lot of things and among them hes a good lawyer who understands the value of having an independent justice department. there were things that i would want to share with him because i knew he was going to be reading about them in the newspapers the next day, monday or something like that. the doma decision, the decision not to defend doma i made. i thought this was one he cant read about in the newspapers. so o...

Be reading about them in the newspapers the next day, monday or something like that. the doma decision, for instance, the decision not to defend doma i made. i thought this is one he cant read about in the newspapers. so i on a sunday at a super bowl party i told him this is where we were going to go. this is a decision i had made. and he said to me, im really glad -- i didnt know how to approach you because this is where i wanted my justice department to be. i didnt think it was appropriate to ...

One thing we always did was present both sides of an issue every single topic. two arizona ago when the doma decision came down it was incredibly difficult to find anyone who would speak on the opposition of gay marriage on television because people had said to us we understand we have lost this argument. no matter what happens, we wont stand by it. thats one reason the media coverage is bias. its more difficult to present that side because people arent willing to stand up and say it. when you t...

One thing we always did was present both sides of an issue every single topic. two arizona ago when the doma decision came down it was incredibly difficult to find anyone who would speak on the opposition of gay marriage on television because people had said to us we understand we have lost this argument. no matter what happens, we wont stand by it. thats one reason the media coverage is bias. its more difficult to present that side because people arent willing to stand up and say it. when you t...

It, knew that phil robertson held extremely conservative views. what i thought was interesting in revealing about this exchange, his comments about gay marriage got a lot of press and rightly so. but what he said about jim crow, the fact that blacks were, quote, unquote, happy and singing during segregation, got almost no coverage. i thought that was reflective of the debate were having. remember, the supreme courts decision to overturn section 4 of the voting rights act happened a day before th...

One state decided to keep their governor. the voters of the countrys biggest city decided after two decades theyd like a democrat as mayor. but when it comes to election enthusiasm, its all about even numbered years and all anyone wanted to know about the 2013 elections is what they situationaled for those of 2014. the biggest news of 2013, the broadest implication for future election, wasnt how people voted but the assault on their ability to vote. this was the year that the supreme court undid...

A court order to allow same-sex marriages. the new mexico supreme court ruled in december that same-sex couples in the state could legally marry and the most recent and stunning development a federal judge in utah ruled that the states ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. and hundreds of couples have gotten married since that ruling came down on december 20th. the state is appealing the decision but for now the weddings are happening. 18 states in the district of columbia have marriage ...

Travel and hospitality workers does not apply to nearly 5,000 airport workers. the judge says that seattle tacoma international airport is outside the citys authority because it is owned by the port of seattle, a separate government entity. support of the laws are allowed to appeal. christine owens is executive director of the national employment law project. she joins us from washington, d.c. that news out of seattle last night, how big is it? >> its not really a surprise. you know, we found th...

Have a court say, hey, this entity, although it is within the geographic boundaries of seattle tacoma, its govred by something different so these voters dont get to speak on it. >> that was a legislative decision rather than a voter decision to carve out that jurisdiction. its basically a jurisdictional issue. it will play out. i actually thats a hiccup along the way to the broader picture. one thing i want to highlight is lets notice the way in which the ballot initiatives, which i was so hard ...

And also cherilyn ibold, director of the council of the naacp legal defense fund. nice to have you here at the end of the year. >> good morning. >> i want to start with you, kenji, because it did feel like a year of a lot of defeats but the one bright moment was these decisions around the marriage of equality. will this be seen as a watershed year in lgbt rights? >> no question about it. i was in the studio when those decisions were handled down so that was a great privilege last june. what we l...