| Marriage Protection Act Proposed |
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| As civil rights advocates voiced their disapproval of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and similar state measures, supporters of such laws realized that challenges to the constitutionality of the laws were inevitable. Hoping to avoid these challenges, some federal legislators wrote a bill called the Marriage Protection Act of 2004. In July 2004, the United States House of Representative passed the Marriage Protection Act. As of November 2004, the bill had not yet been passed in the Senate. It is anticipated that proponents of the bill will likely face an uphill battle in the Senate. Civil rights advocates say that if the Marriage Protection Act does become law, it would be the first time that Congress has completely "stripped" all federal courts from considering a federal law. More... |
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| Coverage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 |
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| The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was enacted to allow full participation in society by individuals with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act is a federal law that protects qualified individuals with handicaps from discrimination, based solely on their disability, in any federally funded service, program, or activity, including healthcare and employment.
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| The Right to Privacy and Screen Scrapers |
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| A "screen scraper" is a program that automatically picks up data on one page or website and copies or moves it into another. Also known as "screen grabbers," these types of software record a computer user's activities, including keystrokes, websites visited, and desktop applications used. Privacy advocates and many consumers have expressed concern that the collection and sharing of data and computer usage habits can be readily and quickly abused, without a consumer's consent or knowledge. A federal court has approached a screen scraping case by looking to the provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, while a state court has looked to the law of trespass. More... |
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| Enforcement of Voting Rights |
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| Certain jurisdictions, including some states and counties, are expressly "covered" by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These political jurisdictions are comprised of a certain percentage or number of minority voters. Pursuant to the Voting Rights Act, federal courts and the United States Attorney General may "certify" states and counties as needing federal examiners and federal observers to monitor voter registration and voting practices. More... |
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| Military Dress and the First Amendment |
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| The application of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the armed services is not nearly as broad as it is in the civilian context. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the military can prohibit the wearing of yarmulkes by Jewish soldiers when in uniform. The armed forces no longer give religious waivers for uniform and grooming rules.
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