Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed suit (pdf) against the US government, challenging Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The suit claims that the law, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, unfairly excludes more than 16,000 Massachusetts married same-sex couples and their families from…
Category: Govt
Bern to block UBS record transfer to US
The Swiss government on Wednesday waded into the legal battle between UBS and the US authorities by saying it would forbid the bank from handing over confidential client information, if a crucial court case next week required it. Bern warned it might go as far as confiscating the data, should a US court in Miami…
Passport-snooping State Dept employee sentenced
Washington, D.C. – A former State Department employee was sentenced today to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for illegally accessing more than 50 confidential passport application files, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced. On Jan. 27, 2009, Gerald R. Lueders, 65, of Woodbridge, Va.,…
Will courts rein in TSA?
Former Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr comments: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has become increasingly aggressive in expanding its responsibility from simply searching passengers to ensure no weapons or explosives are brought on board commercial aircraft. The agency, housed in the federal Department of Homeland Security, has moved in recent years to assume for itself…