washingtonpost.com - Courts, Judiciary

The old guard in Annapolis greeted the election result with a measure of dread. Replacing J. Joseph Curran Jr., a lion of Maryland politics with 20 years as attorney general, was Douglas F. Gansler, the brash, unpredictable young Montgomery County prosecutor with a reputation, not all of it good.

The old guard in Annapolis greeted the election result with a measure of dread. Replacing J. Joseph Curran Jr., a lion of Maryland politics with 20 years as attorney general, was Douglas F. Gansler, the brash, unpredictable young Montgomery County prosecutor with a reputation, not all of it good.

The Supreme Court will review whether anti-gay protests at funerals of American soldiers are protected by the First Amendment, taking up the appeal of a Maryland man who won and then had reversed a $10 million verdict against the small Kansas church that conducts the demonstrations.

When Lorilyn "Candy" Holmes and Darlene Garner get married Tuesday, it will be a joyous and historic occasion.

Dominic Russoli retired in 2001 from an Air Force squadron that flies national leaders, and he is now a paralegal at the Justice Department. He had been in the military for 22 years, almost as long as he has been with his partner, Rolf Preisendorfer.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia's attorney general has advised the state's public colleges that they don't have the authority to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying only the General Assembly has that power.

SEATTLE -- A pressing legal reality for the "don't ask, don't tell" standard for gays serving in the military is that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already struck down the way it's practiced in much of the Western United States.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. denied a last-minute request Tuesday afternoon to stay the District's same-sex marriage law, ruling against opponents of the measure who had wanted to bring it before city voters in a referendum.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block the District of Columbia's gay marriage law, freeing the city to issue its first marriage licenses to same-sex couples the following day.

WASHINGTON -- Opponents of gay marriage are asking the Supreme Court to put a hold on the District of Columbia's new law allowing same-sex couples to wed.