Forum shopping is a colloquial term for the practice of litigants taking actions to have their legal case heard in the court they believe is most likely to provide a favorable judgment. Some jurisdictions have,for example,become known as "plaintiff-friendly" and thus have attracted plaintiffs to file new cases there,even if there is little or no connection between the legal issues and the jurisdiction.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas is a federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin,Del Rio,El Paso,Midland,Pecos,and Waco. It has jurisdiction in over 50 Trans-Pecos,Permian Basin,and Hill Country counties of the U.S. state of Texas. This district covers over 92,000 square miles (240,000 km2) and seven divisions.
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England,546 U.S. 320 (2006),was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving a facial challenge to New Hampshire's parental notification abortion law. The First Circuit had ruled that the law was unconstitutional and an injunction against its enforcement was proper. The Supreme Court vacated this judgment and remanded the case,but avoided a substantive ruling on the challenged law or a reconsideration of prior Supreme Court abortion precedent. Instead,the Court only addressed the issue of remedy,holding that invalidating a statute in its entirety "is not always necessary or justified,for lower courts may be able to render narrower declaratory and injunctive relief."
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Florida since January 6,2015,as a result of a ruling in Brenner v. Scott from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The court ruled the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional on August 21,2014. The order was stayed temporarily. State attempts at extending the stay failed,with the U.S. Supreme Court denying further extension on December 19,2014. In addition,a state court ruling in Pareto v. Ruvin allowed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses in Miami-Dade County on the afternoon of January 5,2015. In another state case challenging the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples,a Monroe County court in Huntsman v. Heavilin stayed enforcement of its decision pending appeal and the stay expired on January 6,2015.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Colorado since October 7,2014. Colorado's state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was struck down in state district court on July 9,2014,and by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on July 23,2014. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals had already made similar rulings with respect to such bans in Utah on June 25 and Oklahoma on July 18,which are binding precedents on courts in Colorado. On October 6,2014,the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Tenth Circuit cases,and the Tenth Circuit lifted its stay. On October 7,the Colorado Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit cleared the way for same-sex marriages to begin in Colorado.
Roger Thomas Benitez is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. He is known for his rulings striking down several California gun control laws.
Earl Leroy Yeakel III,also known as Lee Yeakel,is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Reed Charles O'Connor is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007.
Robert Lewis Hinkle is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Virginia Anne Phillips is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Log Cabin Republicans v. United States,658 F.3d 1162 was a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of 10 U.S.C. §654,commonly known as don't ask,don't tell (DADT),which,prior to its repeal,excluded homosexuals from openly serving in the United States military. The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR),an organization composed of lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) Republicans,brought the suit on behalf of LCR members who serve or served in the military and were subject to DADT.
Mark Eaton Walker is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage in the United States. On June 26,2015,the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges effectively ended restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States.
James Joseph Donato is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26,2015. Previously,the U.S. state of Texas had banned same-sex marriage both by statute since 1973 and in its State Constitution since 2005. On February 26,2014,Judge Orlando Luis Garcia of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas found that Texas's ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. On April 22,2014,a state court came to the same conclusion. Both cases were appealed. The district court's decision was appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,but before that court could issue a ruling,the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all same-sex marriage bans in the United States in Obergefell on June 26,2015. Within a few months of the court ruling,all counties had started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples,except for Irion County,which announced in 2020 that it would begin issuing licenses to same-sex couples,making it the last county in the United States to comply with the ruling.
Kitchen v. Herbert,961 F.Supp.2d 1181,affirmed,755 F.3d 1193;stay granted,134 S.Ct. 893 (2014);petition for certiorari denied,No. 14-124,2014 WL 3841263,is the federal case that successfully challenged Utah's constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples and similar statutes. Three same-sex couples filed suit in March 2013,naming as defendants Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert,Attorney General John Swallow,and Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen in their official capacities.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2014.
De Leon v. Perry was a federal lawsuit challenging Texas marriage law,specifically the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and corresponding statutes. A U.S. district court ruled in favor of the plaintiff same-sex couples on February 26,2014,granting their motion for a preliminary injunction. The state defendants filed an interlocutory appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,as the disposition on the motion was not a final ruling in the case. On April 14,2014,the plaintiffs filed a motion for an expedited hearing,which was denied on May 21,2014. The plaintiffs filed another motion for an expedited hearing on October 6,2014,after the Supreme Court of the United States denied appeals in other marriage equality cases,and the motion was granted on October 7,2014,setting a hearing for November 2014. However,on October 27,2014,the Fifth Circuit set oral arguments for January 9,2015.
In the United States,the history of same-sex marriage dates from the early 1940s,when the first lawsuits seeking legal recognition of same-sex relationships brought the question of civil marriage rights and benefits for same-sex couples to public attention though they proved unsuccessful. However marriage wasn't a request for the LGBTQ movement until the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington (1987). The subject became increasingly prominent in U.S. politics following the 1993 Hawaii Supreme Court decision in Baehr v. Miike that suggested the possibility that the state's prohibition might be unconstitutional. That decision was met by actions at both the federal and state level to restrict marriage to male-female couples,notably the enactment at the federal level of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Alan D Albright is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He was formerly a United States magistrate judge of the same court. Albright oversees a significant portion of patent litigation within the United States. In 2021,the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit repeatedly rebuked him in a string of opinions for failing to transfer cases to more apt jurisdictions. A quarter of all patent lawsuits in the US were once heard by Albright,who has been widely criticized for ignoring binding case law. However,following a docket-stripping order issued by Chief Judge Orlando Garcia,Albright's patent docket has declined precipitously.
