Tuesday round-up

DAN STEIN JUL 30, 2013 8:36 AM

In the wake of last Term’s decision in United States v. Windsor, in which the Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that the widow of a same-sex spouse is entitled to receive the benefits of her spouse’s retirement plan through a private employer. Chris Geidner of Buzzfeed covers the decision, which (among other things) holds that “the term ‘Spouse’ is no longer unconstitutionally restricted to members of the opposite sex, but now rightfully includes those same-sex spouses in ‘otherwise valid marriages.’” The National Center for Lesbian Rights issued a release with further coverage.

Briefly:

• At this blog, Fabrizio di Piazza interviews Geoffrey Stone in the latest installment of “SCOTUSblog on Camera.”
• At Esquire, Andrew Cohen criticizes the Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, in which the Court struck down the provision of the Voting Rights Act used to determine which jurisdictions must comply with the Act’s preapproval requirement before making changes to their voting laws and procedures.  Citing the example of a new North Carolina voting law, he argues that the Court enabled southern politicians “to use the law as a weapon and not a shield against minority citizens within their midst.”
• At Reuters, Alison Frankel discusses a new cert. petition that asks the Court to review a cy pres settlement approved by Ninth Circuit in a class action suit over user privacy on Facebook.

[Disclosure:  Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys work for or contribute to this blog in various capacities, was among the counsel on an amicus brief filed in support of the respondents in Shelby County; the firm’s Kevin Russell was among the counsel on an amicus brief filed in support of Edith Windsor in Windsor.]

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