If last week wasn’t big enough with historic rulings on Obamacare and same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court made two more major announcements on Monday. One is that the court has once again agreed to weigh the issue of affirmative action in higher education, saying Monday that it will consider a challenge to the University of […]

(WOIO) –Politicians and organizations are voicing their opinions on the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. Reaction nationwide seems to be mixed. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson: “Today, the United States Supreme Court made a key decision regarding marriage equality. This decision will help move our country forward in the right direction – guaranteeing that […]

CLEVELAND- Several couples were married Friday afternoon in Cuyahoga County Probate Court after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. Chris Richardson and Keith Garrett became the first same-sex couple to marry in Cleveland. The pair were in tears as they embraced at the end of the short ceremony, performed by […]

UPDATE: Friday, June 26, 12:30 PM EST: Following the Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage in all 50 states, President Obama called the historic win a “victory for America” in an emotional address to the nation. “Our nation was founded on a bedrock principle that we are all created equal,” Obama said. “The project […]

The Affordable Care Act, known by many as “Obamacare,” has divided people across the United States, especially politically since it was first introduced.   WASHINGTON, D.C.– President Barack Obama praised the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to uphold the subsidies in his signature health care law, by recalling all the hurdles the Affordable Care Act has […]

A police officer was justified when he shot and killed 36-year-oldKendrick Brown, who pointed a gun at officers and did not put it down when ordered to do so, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty announced Friday. Prosecutor McGinty wrote in a letter that Brown “posed a real and immediate threat not only to Sergeant Miller but also […]

  The last abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi will remain open, for now, after a federal appeals court said a 2012 state law imposed an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to have an abortion. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled a 2012 state law in Mississippi requiring […]

  *A Tennessee judge ruled that Jaleesa Martin will be allowed to name her son ‘Messiah.’   The judge’s ruling overturned the order from another judge who said the boy’s name should be changed to Martin because “`Messiah’ is a title that is held only by Jesus Christ.”   Last month child support magistrate Lu […]

CLEVELAND – A judge has declared that Cleveland kidnapping and rape suspect Ariel Castro is competent to stand trial. Castro appeared in court Wednesday morning for another pretrial hearing, where the results of Castro’s competency exam showed he is mentally able to understand the charges and assist attorneys in his defense. The 52-year-old also asked […]

WASHINGTON — The Defense of Marriage Act, the law barring the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states, is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by a 5-4 vote. “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, […]

SAN FRANCISCO (RNN) - The cultural war over the definition of marriage reached another milestone Tuesday, as a federal court of appeals ruled California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found Proposition 8, the voter initiative which defined marriage in California as a union between a man and a woman in 2008, to be in violation of the 14th Amendment. "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," the ruling said. "The Constitution simply does not allow for 'laws of this sort.'"

Marriage equality advocates are hailing a federal appeals court's declaration of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional as a historic moment -- but others are offering less praise for the decision. As Towleroad is pointing out, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney offered no comment on the Prop 8 decision. “I don’t have a comment on litigation in general and in this litigation to which we are not a party," he said. "Beyond that, I can say that the President has long opposed, as you know, divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples."