Massuchusetts’ Supreme Court Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Tuesday that the state cannot deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, though the court stopped short of allowing marriage licenses to be issued. The Supreme Judicial Court’s 4-3 ruling ordered the state Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days. This landmark ruling closely resembles the Vermont Supreme Court’s decision in 1999, which led to its Legislature’s 2000 approval of civil unions, which allow same-sex couples many of the rights and benefits of marriage.The decision has drawn both celebration and fury, and some state officials, including Gov. Mitt Romney, have called for an amendment to the Mass. Constitution defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
At Least 17 Killed in Helicopter Crash
Two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters collided in mid-air Saturday night and crashed in a residential area of Mosul, Iraq, killing at least 17 American soldiers and wounding five. According to American officials, the collision occurred when one of the helicopters swerved to avoid hostile fire from the ground. The crash is the largest single loss of American life since major combat ended in May and came only hours after the death of a soldier in Baghdad brought the number of U.S. troops killed to 400. The helicopters are the fourth and fifth that have gone down in the last month.
Alabama’s Chief Justice Removed from Office
On Nov. 13, a special court ordered the removal of Alabama’s suspended Chief Justice, Roy S. Moore. The nine-member court unanimously found that he had committed ethical breaches in a nationally publicized dispute over church and state. Moore was suspended from office in August and charged with six separate ethical breaches. He flouted a federal court order to remove a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments that he had installed in the lobby of the State Supreme Court.
25 Killed in Istanbul Synagogue Bombings
A pair of nearly simultaneous truck bombs exploded last Saturday morning outside two synagogues in Istanbul, killing at least 25 people, including the two bombers, and wounding over 300. One detonated outside the city’s largest synagogue, the Neve Shalom, during a bar mitzvah celebration; the second hit the new Beth Israel, two miles away. The blasts cut off electricity for blocks around the two synagogues and heavily damaged both neighborhoods. Though the government initially blamed “international terrorists” for the attack, Turkey said Tuesday that two suicide bombers were Turkish citizens with links to al Qaeda.
D.C. Sniper ConvictedOn Nov. 17, a jury in Virginia Beach, VA convicted John Allen Muhammad of murder in last year’s serial sniper slayings in the Wash, D.C. area. Muhammad was convicted on two counts of capital murder, one for committing multiple murders in a three-year period, and the other for the killing of Dean H. Meyers. He was also found guilty of charges of conspiracy to commit murder and the illegal use of a firearm. The jury deliberated less than seven hours and immediately reconvened to decide whether Muhammad will be executed or given life in prison. Lee Malvo, 18, who was arrested with Mr. Muhammad on Oct. 24, 2002, is on trial in nearby Chesapeake on charges that he participated in the killings.