The Hall of Fire

To save Cerin any need to correct herself for the 1000th time, she didn't argue that "it (and only it) could result in procreation" but that it (and only it) could symbolize the union the results in procreation. I still find that position exceedingly strange but I could at least understan...

So to be perfectly plain, the problem is not sharing marriage with couples who misbehave. The problem is the identification by the state of an immoral practice as an aspect of the institution the state calls marriage, which it exalts as right and good. If people who believe same gender sex is a sin...

It affirms the value of same-gender sex by bringing same-gender sexual relationships under the heading of 'marriage'. Married couples religiously opposed to same-gender sex are now part of an institution they cherished and revered, that now societally holds up as inherently good something they beli...

I can't think of another case in which the state is promoting something as right and good that a large number of citizens believes (and lawfully believes, as long as we continue to have religious freedom) is an offense against God (referring to same-gender sex). I don't understand why you can't thi...

New thread title ideas please.

especially encountering the reactions of people who perceived their outer manifestation to be in conflict with their preferences and/or natural inclinations in dress, comportment and behavior, and judged them as strange. This strikes at the heart of it: much of the problem that transgender and gend...

At the risk of jumping the gun, I'm taking suggestions for what F-word to use for "*** Fifty."

This is technically not a capital issue because San Francisco does not pursue the death penalty. However, it relates to the prior discussion of jury composition, which is at issue in capital cases nationwide, so I thought I would put it here. http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/a-jury-of-your-pee...

I don't know about Oklahoma, but in some jurisdictions, the state does make an effort to keep the process moving to the extent possible, e.g., filling briefing as quickly as possible, not seeking extensions, opposing the other side's requested extensions, etc. The delays are usually attributable to ...

I would like to see a breakdown of jury service based on income level, or even type of job ( salaried, hourly, part-time, unemployed ). Me too. Here is the study , which does not seem to have looked at your question. Interestingly, it does not even pose income level or job type as a potential cause...

The SCOTUS has agreed to take a case regarding the constitutionality of Oklahoma's lethal injection procedure. This comes just a few days after the court refused to stay the executions involved, and one of the inmates who was challenging the procedure was put to death. The three remaining inmates w...

Interesting, indeed. Parenthetically, it's regrettable that they don't collect data on Asian-Americans. I'm assuming that when you mean an "ordinary jury," you mean a jury that reflects the racial demographics of the community. It's worth noting that "ordinary juries" often do no...

We don't know the effect of that "prejudice" (hard to run a test!!), but I would bet my eyeteeth that the anti-death-penalty population IS, as a group, different in some ways from the pro-death-penalty crowd. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I'm genuinely very interested to h...

But every trial (civil or criminal) is "prejudiced" to the extent that people who could not return a verdict for either (or any) side are excluded from the jury. Essentially, this reflects the judgment of the legislature that a range of judicial responses need to be available for a particu...

To serve on any jury, you have to be capable of returning a verdict for either side, which of course is not possible for an abolitionist in the penalty phase of a death proceeding. That's not prejudicing the trial, it's ensuring it is not futile. In a jurisdiction requiring unanimity among jurors to...

Faramond, I meant to also add my appreciation to Prim's and V's. I appreciate your willingness to dialogue on this issue and to revise your own thoughts based on what you hear in the discussion. I also learned from your explanation of your discomfort with the term "privilege." To keep it f...

Probably a better bet for same-sex couples than a Vegas quickie wedding: a long, romantic hike to the top of a mountain with a scenic vista of a glacier = much more my kind of destination wedding.

Exactly what River stated. Monogamy and life partnerships are not "straight values" while promiscuity and casual relationships are "gay values." Some members of each demographic prefer one approach to the other. The Irish column is really problematic because it posits a dichotomy...

I didn't really understand *exactly* what nerdanel was upset about after her first post about the attacks on women. I think I do understand after subsequent posts, because I asked some questions that were answered and by some miracle she didn't bite my head off like she did with LM. ( Maybe that wi...

His argument is perfectly fine if he means that HE does not want to participate in a historically heterosexual institution with patriarchal origins by entering into a legal marriage. Many people, both gay and straight, feel this way, and opt out. His argument is ridiculous if he means that because h...