Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues

[Excerpt] This report discusses The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and legal challenges to it. It reviews legal principles applied to determine the validity of a marriage contracted in another state and surveys the various approaches employed by states to enable or to prevent same-sex marriage. This report also examines House and Senate resolutions introduced in previous Congresses proposing a constitutional amendment and limiting federal courts’ jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of DOMA

Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues

[Excerpt] The recognition of same-sex marriages generates debate on both the federal and state levels. Either legislatively or judicially, same-sex marriage is legal in seven states. Other states allow civil unions or domestic partnerships, which grant all or part of state-level rights, benefits, and/or responsibilities of marriage. Some states have statutes or constitutional amendments limiting marriage to one man and one woman. These variations raise questions about the validity of such unions outside the contracted jurisdiction and have bearing on the distribution of federal benefits. ... This report discusses [The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA,] and legal challenges to it. It reviews legal principles applied to determine the validity of a marriage contracted in another state and surveys the various approaches employed by states to enable or to prevent same-sex marriage. The report also examines House and Senate resolutions introduced in previous Congresses proposing a constitutional amendment and limiting federal courts’ jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of DOMA

Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues

[From Summary] Massachusetts became the first state to legalize marriage between same-sex couples May 17, as a result of a November 2003 decision by the state\u27s highest court that denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry violated the state\u27s constitution. Currently federal law does not recognize same-sex marriages. This report discusses the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), P.L. 104-199, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows individual states to refuse to recognize such marriages performed in other states, as well as the potential legal challenges to the DOMA. Moreover this report summarizes the legal principles applied in determining the validity of a marriage contracted in another state; surveys the various approaches employed by states to prevent same-sex marriage; and discusses the recent House and Senate Resolutions introduced proposing a constitutional amendment (H.J.Res. 56, S.J.Res. 26, S.J.Res. 30, and S.J.Res. 40) and limiting Federal courts’ jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of DOMA. (H.R. 3313). On July 14, 2004, the Senate considered and voted on a required procedural motion. This motion failed by a vote of 48-50, which prevented further consideration of S.J.Res. 40. On July 22, 2004, the House voted on and passed H.R. 3313

Women in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games: An Analysis of Participation, Leadership, and Media Opportunities

This report is the third in the series that follows the progress of women in the Olympic and Paralympic movement. The report provides the most accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date examination of the participation trends among female Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the hiring trends of Olympic and Paralympic governing bodies with respect to the number of women who hold leadership positions in these organizations. The report also looks at newspaper and internet coverage of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Current Apathy for Coming Anarchy: Building the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Part I of this Article examines the chronology of the decade-long conflict in Sierra Leone. It provides an illuminating backdrop against which the Special Court may be assessed and highlights particular features that the institutional design of the Special Court would have to accommodate. Part II explores the precedents for the Special Court. Specifically, it considers the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ( ICTY ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ( ICTR ), and the impetus behind the International Criminal Court, developments that parallel in time the unfolding of Sierra Leone\u27s conflict. Part III subjects particular features of the Special Court to critical assessment, namely its institutional design, the lack of power and resources committed thereto, and the context in which it will operate. It argues that these features represent fundamental flaws and significant hurdles that need to be overcome if the Special Court is to operate effectively or efficiently

Women in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games

This report analyzes the representation and participation of women in the international and U.S. Olympic organizations relative to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, especially for 2000, 2004, and 2008. In addition it examines the types and extent of opportunities that are provided for women in administrative and leadership roles within these structures and the chances women have to compete in the Games themselves. This report also assesses the extent that the IOC, IPC and USOC are fulfilling their stated missions with respect to fairness and gender equity and whether or not legal statutes are being upheld. Finally, there is analysis of media coverage of female athletes in the 2008 Olympic Games

Violence against women students in the UK: time to take action

Sexual and gendered violence in the education sector is a worldwide concern, but in the UK it has been marginalised in research and policy. In this paper we present findings from the National Union of Students' study Hidden Marks, the first nationwide survey of women students' experiences of violence. This research established high levels of prevalence, with one in four respondents being subject to unwanted sexual behaviour during their studies. We analyse why the issue of violence against women students has remained low profile in this country, whereas in the USA, where victimisation rates are similar, it has had a high profile since the 1980s and interventions to tackle it have received a significant amount of federal support. We urge UK policymakers, universities, students' unions and academics to address the problem, and make suggestions about initial actions to take

Current Apathy for Coming Anarchy: Building the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Part I of this Article examines the chronology of the decade-long conflict in Sierra Leone. It provides an illuminating backdrop against which the Special Court may be assessed and highlights particular features that the institutional design of the Special Court would have to accommodate. Part II explores the precedents for the Special Court. Specifically, it considers the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ( ICTY ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ( ICTR ), and the impetus behind the International Criminal Court, developments that parallel in time the unfolding of Sierra Leone\u27s conflict. Part III subjects particular features of the Special Court to critical assessment, namely its institutional design, the lack of power and resources committed thereto, and the context in which it will operate. It argues that these features represent fundamental flaws and significant hurdles that need to be overcome if the Special Court is to operate effectively or efficiently

The Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale: Translation and Evidence for Cross-Cultural Validity

The present study reports on the psychometric evaluation and cross-cultural validity of the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale (BPNES; Vlachopoulos & Michailidou, 2006) translated from Greek into English. The data obtained from 346 British exercise participants supported the hypothesized 3-factor structure,showed satisfactory internal reliability coefficients, and offered evidence for the factor concurrent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the translated scale.Cross-cultural validity analyses across British and Greek participants supported configural invariance and partial metric, partial strong, and partial strict factorial invariance of the BPNES responses. The findings provide promising evidence for the validity and reliability of the translated BPNES and support the use of the scale in single-culture and cross-culture exercise-related motivational research within the self-determination theory framework