Category Archives: News

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that lawyers can’t discriminate against jurors based on their sexual orientation. The unanimous decision by the three-judge panel is the first to expand juror protections to include sexual orientation, and could open the door to similar challenges of discrimination against gays and lesbians. Legal analysts note that the Ninth Circuit’s decision is at odds with a decision by the federal court of appeals in St. Louis, which increases the likelihood that the Supreme Court will eventually rule on the issue.

The decision, involving jurors selected to serve on a federal antitrust case about an AIDS drug, expands the 1986 Supreme Court ruling in Batson v. Kentucky. Batson declared that jurors can’t be excluded from serving in federal court cases on the basis of race. The story of the Batson case and its expansion prohibiting jury discrimination based on race in civil trials are chronicled in our film, Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville.

The Constitution Project collaborators David Boies and Theodore Olson appear in the new film, The Case Against 8, which chronicles the legal battle to overturn California’s Proposition 8. The law, passed in 2008 denied gay couples in the state the right to vote. Boies and Olson were at the center of the successful legal effort to overturn the Proposition. Both men recently appeared at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of the documentary, and declared that they remain committed to legalizing gay marriage throughout the country.

January 17th is the 308th of Benjamin Franklin, author, printer, inventor, diplomat, scientist, postmaster and politician extraordinaire. Franklin’s contributions to science and culture can’t be overstated. But luckily, for a man who was so right about so many things, there is one thing Franklin got wrong: After the writing of the Constitution, Franklin predicted that the new government would last about 10 years. He and the other delegates who wrote the Constitution would be amazed to learn that their new form of government has flourished for over 220 years. Watch our film, Creating a Constitution, to learn how Franklin and men like George Washington and James Madison created a government that has exceeded even their most optimistic expectations.