Romer v. Evans,517 U.S. 620 (1996),is a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with sexual orientation and state laws. It was the first Supreme Court case to address gay rights since Bowers v. Hardwick (1986),when the Court had held that laws criminalizing sodomy were constitutional.
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. is an American lawyer,author,and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party,he was elected secretary of state of California in 1970;Brown later served as mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007 and attorney general of California from 2007 to 2011. He was both the oldest and sixth-youngest governor of California due to the 28-year gap between his second and third terms. Upon completing his fourth term in office,Brown became the fourth longest-serving governor in U.S. history,serving 16 years and 5 days in office.
William Forrester Owens is an American former politician who served as the 40th Governor of Colorado,from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party,he was re-elected in 2002,amassing 62.6% of the vote,the largest Republican share of the vote in state history. As of 2024,he is the last Republican to serve as Governor of Colorado.
California Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal immigrants from using non-emergency health care,public education,and other services in the State of California. Voters passed the proposed law at a referendum on November 8,1994. The law was challenged in a legal suit the day after its passage,and found unconstitutional by a federal district court on November 11. In 1999,Governor Gray Davis halted state appeals of this ruling.
Fabian Núñez is an American politician and labor union adviser. A member of the Democratic Party,he served three two-year terms as a member of the California State Assembly,leaving office in late 2008. During his last two terms,Núñez served as the 66th Speaker of the California State Assembly.
Roy Eugene Barnes is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governor of Georgia from 1999 to 2003. As of 2024,he is the most recent Democrat to serve as governor of Georgia.
Nicholas Paul Scutari is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 115th president of the New Jersey Senate since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,he has held a Senate seat since 2004,representing the 22nd legislative district. Scutari has served as Acting Governor of New Jersey on multiple occasions,the first time being in June 2022.
David L. Brewer is a retired vice admiral of the United States Navy and former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The 35-year veteran of the Navy was the captain of USS Mount Whitney from April 3,1991 –December 5,1992,commanded Military Sealift Command from August 2001 until his retirement in March 2006,and served as Vice Chief of Naval Education and Training from 1999 to 2001. As Vice Chief of Naval Education and Training,he is known for helping to develop the Navy College Program and negotiating contracts with 11 colleges,universities and community colleges to provide bachelor and associate degree programs to more than 300,000 sailors. As Commander of Military Sealift Command,he is known for overseeing the massive Military Sealift Command (MSC) partnership with the private sector shipping contractors operation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom which involved moving over 20,000,000 square feet (1,900,000 m2) of equipment to the Persian Gulf in less than four months. He is also known for leading the Military Sealift Command's disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
Dean Raymond Florez is an American former politician who served as a California State Senator from the 16th Senate District,who served from 2002 until the end of his second term in November 2010.
Jared Schutz Polis is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Colorado. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007,and five terms as the United States representative from Colorado's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He was the only Democratic member of the libertarian conservative Liberty Caucus,and was the third-wealthiest member of Congress,with an estimated net worth of $122.6 million. He was elected governor of Colorado in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
Thomas Edward Perez is an American politician and attorney currently serving as senior advisor to the president of the United States and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs,holding both positions since June 2023. Perez previously served as the United States Secretary of Labor (2013–2017),the chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2021),and United States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (2009–2013).
Chris Romer is a former American politician from the U.S. state of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado State Senate as a Democrat in 2006,he represented Senate District 32,which encompasses south Denver. As of 2022,Romer is the CEO of Project Canary,an independent certification organization that measures,tracks,and delivers ESG data across the energy value chain.
Ramón Curtis Cortines is an American educator who has served as the chancellor of the New York City Department of Education,and the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District in Los Angeles,California. Cortines returned as Los Angeles superintendent in October 2014,and his contract was extended in June 2015 for another year,through June 2016.
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles County,California,United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in the United States,with only the New York City Department of Education having a larger student population. During the 2022–2023 school year,LAUSD served 565,479 students,including 11,795 early childhood education students and 27,740 adult students. During the same school year,it had 24,769 teachers and 49,231 other employees. It is the second largest employer in Los Angeles County after the county government. The school district's budget for the 2021–2022 school year was $10.7 billion,increasing to $12.6 billion for the 2022–2023 school year.
Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuéllar is an American scholar,jurist,and nonprofit executive currently serving as the 10th president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was previously a Justice of the Supreme Court of California,the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford University and director of Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies,and an executive branch official in the Clinton and Obama administrations. His publications address problems in American public law,international affairs and international law,artificial intelligence,public health and safety law,and institutions and organizations. He has served on the State Department's Foreign Affairs Policy Board and the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Social and Ethical Implications of Computing Research,he serves as chair of the board of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He was born in Northern Mexico.
Jeffrey N. Roy is a State Representative in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,Massachusetts General Court. Roy represents the 10th Norfolk District,which includes the Town of Franklin,Massachusetts in its entirety,and Precincts 2,3,and 4 of the Town of Medway,Massachusetts. Roy was elected on the 6th of November,2012.
Joseph D. Neguse is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district is based in Boulder and includes many of Denver's northwestern suburbs,as well as Fort Collins. A member of the Democratic Party,he was a regent of the University of Colorado from 2008 to 2015. Neguse is the first Eritrean-American elected to the United States Congress and Colorado's first black member of Congress. Neguse has served as House assistant Democratic leader since 2024.
Vergara v. California was a lawsuit in the California state courts which dealt with a child's right to education and to instruction by effective teachers. The suit was filed in May 2012 by lawyers on behalf of nine California public school student plaintiffs. It alleged that several California statutes on teacher tenure,layoffs,and dismissal violated the Constitution of California by retaining some "grossly ineffective" teachers and thus denying equal protection to students assigned to the teachers. Furthermore,according to the complaint,the statutes had a disparate impact on poor and minority students,who were more likely to be assigned to a grossly-ineffective teacher.
Robert P. Bryan III is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the North Carolina Senate for the 39th district. A Republican,he served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from Mecklenburg County from 2013,when he defeated long-time Democratic incumbent Martha Alexander,until 2016,when he was defeated by Democratic candidate Mary Gardner Belk. After leaving the House,Bryan accepted an appointment to the UNC Board of Governors.
Jesse Samuel Gabriel is an American constitutional rights attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party,Gabriel represents California's 46th State Assembly district,which includes much of the west San Fernando Valley,in the California State Assembly.
