A federal judge has declared the Texas law banning gay marriage unconstitutional, although a stay has been issued to keep the law in place for the time being.
It's 2007 All Over Again For Law Students

Good news for beleaguered law students: it appears that law firm hiring is really picking up. In fact, it's almost back to where it was right before everything came crashing down.
Exonerations Are on the Rise. Justice Is Not.
Last year, at least 87 Americans locked in prison were exonerated. That's the highest annual figure in the past 25 years. We seem to have a problem.
Woman Sentenced to Two Days in Prison; Ends Up Trapped for 154
A woman from ClarkCounty, Indiana, was held in jail for five months after being ordered to spendonly two days there.
Is Jury Nullification a Slippery Slope to Chaos?
State legislators in New Hampshire are considering a law that would have judges in all criminal cases instruct juries on their right of "nullification"—that is, the jury's right to ignore the law. Is this really wise?
A Side Benefit of Legal Weed Is the Cops Go Broke
The primary benefits of legalizing weed are the end of the horribly racist and unjustifiable imprisonment of thousands of nonviolent Americans, and awkward columns from old white columnists. A good secondary benefit, though: it costs the police money.
Judge Orders Man to Write "Boys Do Not Hit Girls" 5,000 Times
Remember the Montana judge who gave a lenient sentence to a teacher who raped his student, claiming the student was "older than her chronological age?" Turns out that's not his only, shall we say, questionable ruling.
America Is Gradually Becoming Less Bloodthirsty
America's embrace of the death penalty makes us a gross anomaly in the developed world. The good news is that we seem to be growing less and less fond of it. The newest numbers are (relatively) encouraging.
Does Gun Possession Merit Life Behind Bars?
Hundreds of Californians have been jailed for life for felony firearm possession under the state's "Three Strikes" law. Now, the state has reformed the harsh law, and these convicts are asking for reconsideration. Is mere gun possession bad enough to lock someone up forever?
Voters in Switzerland this weekend rejected a proposal to limit CEO pay to 12 times that of the lowest-paid worker. An insane idea? "In Germany nearly three quarters would support such pay curbs, according to a poll."
Meat Companies Don't Want to Tell You Where Your Meat Is From
As of this weekend, meat companies will be required to "list details including the countries in which livestock were born, raised and slaughtered" on their labels. They would rather not!
Thousands of Americans Are Serving Life Sentences for Nonviolent Crimes
A new investigation by the ACLU has found more than 3,000 people in this country who are serving life sentences without parole for nonviolent crimes, like drugs or theft. Unless something changes, these people will die in prison.
How Low an IQ Is Too Low to Be Executed?
The Supreme Court is set to review the case of Freddie Lee Hall, a mentally retarded man in Florida who was sentenced to death for participating in a rape, robbery, and two murders. They tackle two main questions: How high an IQ should be necessary for capital punishment? And is IQ measurement even precise enough to…
Texas Treats Pigs Better Than Prisoners
The state of Texas has been the subject of multiple lawsuits over its insistence on killing state prisoners with heat stroke as they sit in jails without air conditioning. It turns out that Texas would not even subject actual swine to the same conditions.
Oops, Voter I.D. Laws Are Discriminatory, Says Judge Who Upheld Them
Richard Posner, the relentlessly rationalist federal judge and legal scholar, has identified an error in his output product, and a fairly important one: In a new book (on his stack of four or five dozen previous titles) and follow-up interviews, he has announced his conclusion that his 2007 decision in Crawford vs.…
The Biggest Law Firm Collapse in History Began With "Fuckwad" Emails
In 2007, two corporate law firms merged to form Dewey & LeBoeuf, a massive global legal conglomerate that grandly collapsed in the wake of the recession. Would you believe it all started when one partner called his colleagues "fuckwad" and "little prick?"