Courts
‘Still an ambush state’: The move toward discovery reform is going slowly in Virginia
ROANOKE — Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Carlton and Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman spoke quietly but intensely at the prosecution table. The two of them were part of a team tasked with prosecuting a federal trial that stemmed from gang activity in Danville. A critical error from Newman’s office had just opened the door for […]
‘We have no history to guide us:’ In Emoluments case, federal judges split on oversight of Trump hotel
It was Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III who really got the airplane metaphors flying as he talked about how the federal courts should handle the Trump International Hotel. Letting a legally unprecedented lawsuit seeking to rein in President Donald Trump’s business dealings proceed, Wilkinson said in a Richmond courtroom Thursday, would be like hopping on […]
Va. Supreme Court rules university foundations can keep donor records secret
The Virginia Supreme Court sided with administrators at George Mason University in a closely-watched lawsuit challenging whether private fundraising foundations established by public universities can keep donor records secret. The justices wrote in an opinion issued Thursday that private foundations, no matter how closely intertwined with the university they serve, are not public bodies for […]
‘This needs to go’: Why couples challenged Virginia’s racial marriage license disclosure requirement
This past Friday, Brandyn Churchill and Sophie Rogers got an early wedding present. U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr. ruled Oct. 11 that state law requiring people seeking marriage licenses to disclose their race is not only offensive, but it’s also unconstitutional. Rogers and Churchill comprised one of a handful of couples who sued […]
Excising racial designations on marriage licenses a tiny step toward progress
Octoroon. Quadroon. Aryan. In the year 2019, these were some of the hideous choices folks wanting to marry in Virginia could select under the heading of race. Sure, there were other options, and the list wasn’t uniform among the various localities. Some choices weren’t as incendiary. But the point is – under state law – […]