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WASHINGTON D. C.

US Supreme Court Reschedules Conference To Review DOMA & Proposition 8 Cases

WASHINGTON -- The United States Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it rescheduled the private conference on its review of the legal appeals regarding California's Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.

The American Foundation of Equal Rights, which is sponsoring the challenge to Proposition 8 that bans gay marriage in California, released the news via a press release:

AFER just received word from the U.S. Supreme Court that it will discuss whether to hear AFER’s federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 at its private Conference on Friday, November 30. 

The Court will also consider on that date whether it will hear one or more challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Both the Prop. 8 case and the DOMA cases had previously been distributed for discussion at the Justices’ November 20 Conference. 

The updated timeline suggests that we will likely find out if our case will be heard by the nation’s highest court, or if marriages can resume in California, by Monday, December 3. However, there is no deadline by which the Court must act, and the Justices could hold the case for consideration at a future Conference.

Should the high court decline to hear the Prop 8 case which resulted from the February 2012 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which struck down Proposition 8, then the 9th Circuit Courts's decision will stand and same-sex marriages in California will be legal and can resume.

Legal analysts tell LGBTQNation that should SCOTUS grant the request for review, the justices will consider whether or not Prop 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. A request for Supreme Court review is only granted upon an affirmative vote of four justices.

The court is also set to consider two recent federal appellate court decisions in New York and Massachusetts that have ruled sections of the Defense of Marriage Act, (DOMA) is unconstitutional.

The Department of Justice at the direction of the president ceased defending the statue after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder after conferring with the president found the law violated the constitutional rights of same-sex couples.

That controversial decision by the Obama administration prompted Republican leadership in the U. S. House of Representatives to hire outside counsel to argue and defend the law in the Federal Courts where DOMA was being challenged.

Florida

High School Teacher Accused of Turning Student Lesbian

DEERFIELD BEACH, FL -- A Florida high school teacher has filed a complaint against the Deerfield Beach, Florida, school district in suburban Broward County after a parent's allegations to the school's principal that she contributed to a young girl's "turning" lesbian.

Juliet Hibbs, 47, a straight woman, was investigated last year for misconduct after the girl's parents made those allegations to the school's principal. However, the district cleared her and no action was taken.

According to Hibbs, one of her students was inundated with incendiary and homophobic messages from her stepfather via the girl's Twitter feed after he discovered the girl's sexual orientation.

Hibbs reported the step-father's abusive messages, labeling them child abuse and cyber-bullying. 

"As each message came, she got smaller, I watched her get destroyed," Hibbs said.

During the subsequent investigation, the student who was 18 at the time of the incident, was informed by an abuse specialist counselor that she was not legally required to return to live at home and as a result she moved out permanently.

The parents then asked school principal, Jon Marlow, to investigate Hibbs for misconduct alleging that she turned their daughter into a lesbian.

In an interview with a local paper Hibbs said the allegations were far-fetched since a "straight woman couldn't make someone become a lesbian."

Hibbs said the complaint should have been handled by the school and she believes the district investigation was an attempt to bully her for being too outspoken on other school issues. The investigation was later dropped. 

"My career has been ruined. Before Deerfield, I had an impeccable record," said Hibbs, an educator for 10 years. She said she now has several medical problems from the stress of the situation that will likely prevent her from teaching. 

Hibbs has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the school district, Marlow, and the Deerfield Beach High School assistant principal. ~ The Broward Sun Sentinel

Hibbs is also determined to run for a seat on the local school board.

"I reported properly and I was charged with professional misconduct for reporting the abuse," she wrote in a Facebook post Monday. "This was a tactic by my bullying principal."