This Week in Civil Liberties (1/6/2012)

Which bill, signed into law by President Obama on New Year’s Eve, allows for indefinite military detention without charge or trial?

What comic book debuting this week features the same-sex marriage of two characters?

In which state is the ACLU challenging a law that bars LGBT public employees’ partners from healthcare benefits?

Which governor attempted to strike down a voter-approved medical marijuana law?

President Obama Signs Indefinite Detention Into Law
President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last Saturday, allowing indefinite detention to be codified into law. As you know, the White House had threatened to veto an earlier version of the NDAA but reversed course shortly before Congress voted on the final bill. While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had “serious reservations” about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration would use it and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations.

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Wedding Bells in Riverdale
The January issue of Life with Archie will feature the marriage of hometown hero Kevin Keller to his partner, an African-American physical therapist named Clay Walker. Kevin is the first openly gay character to appear in the Archie Universe, and his upcoming nuptials have sparked a general round of applause in much of the blogosphere. The issue with their wedding, Life with Archie #16, debuts at comic book stores this week and on newsstands January 10.

Just Plain Mean
The ACLU filed a lawsuit Michigan this week to challenge the Public Employee Domestic Partner Benefit Restriction Act. The new law does just what its title suggests — it bars gay employees’ partners from health care coverage. And here’s the kicker — the law allows city and county employers to provide health care coverage to just about all other family members — uncles, nieces, even cousins. LGBT family members are the only ones that are excluded.

Arizona Medical Marijuana Law Survives Attack by Arizona Governor
This week, a federal judge in Phoenix granted our request to throw out a lawsuit filed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer seeking to strike down her own state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law that would allow sick patients access to the medicine they need and recommended to them by a doctor.

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