Virginia Archives - Cockle Legal Briefs

New Petition Filed in Same-Sex Marriage Case

Today, August 8th, 2014, Cockle Legal Briefs printed and filed Virginia's petition in the same-sex marriage case Rainey v. Bostic, et al. in the United States Supreme Court. The question presented is: Whether Virginia violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses by denying the right of marriage to same-sex couples and by refusing to recognize same-sex marriages [...]

The Long Life and Now Death of the Virginia Sodomy Statute

Shon R. Hopwood2019-03-18T18:47:42-05:00March 14th, 2013|Tags: Carolynn MacDonald, Fourth Circuit, habeas corpus, MacDonald v. Moose, sodomy, Virginia, William MacDonald|

Even though the Supreme Court invalidated this country’s sodomy laws ten years ago in Lawrence v. Texas, the State of Virginia has continued to press forward with prosecuting a few people for consensual sex acts. That is until yesterday, when a panel of the Fourth Circuit held the Virginia statue is unconstitutional [...]