2008 Woodie Awards
News From around the Country
Christine Gianino and Tony Azios
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Gay Marriage in NYC Close to Becoming Reality
The prospect of gay marriage in New York City is close to becoming reality, thanks to the ruling of a New York State judge on Friday. Justice Doris Ling-Cohan's adamant decision was expressed in her 62-page proposal that the state's Domestic Relations Law violates the state Constitution because it denies gay couples equal protection and rights. This law, dating back to 1909, limits marriage to a union between two people of the opposite sex. Judge Ling-Cohan pointed out that the current law can be compared to those that once banned interracial marriages as well. She also proposed that the terms "husband" and "wife" do not necessarily have to imply a man and a woman, but can be used to refer to a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.
This decision is sure to cause debate on the national level, especially since President Bush supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage only a few days prior in his State of the Union address. However, even Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, has yet to speak out against the decision. It is suspected that he will remain neutral on the issue in order to gain support from the large gay population in New York City during his re-election campaign.
Though the decision will still have to be settled by the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, New York City might be releasing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as next month, and according to one city official, could "turn New York City into a gay marriage Mecca."
Florida Couple Arrested for Child Abuse
John and Linda Dollar, a couple from Florida, were arrested on Friday after accusations of torturing and starving five of their seven adopted children. They were captured in southeastern Utah and had been tracked down by police through their cell phone records. The couple had seven adopted children between the ages of 12 and 17, and of those, five children told investigators that they had been subjected to severe child abuse, including electric shocks, beatings with hammers, and having their toenails yanked out with pliers. Their physical appearances were evidence enough for the claims: the 14-year-old twins weighed 36 and 38 pounds each. All five of the abused children were forced to sleep in the couple's closet because the Dollars accused them of stealing food and misbehaving. The other two children were reportedly the couple's favorites and were not mistreated.
The family had lived in at least three different homes over the past two years, and always in secluded, woodsy, fenced-in areas. The children were home-schooled and neighbors reported that they rarely saw them playing in the family's pool or interacting with other children outside the family. The couple adopted the children in the 1990s and no abuse claims had been filed prior to this one. Ironically, when the family had applied to become foster parents in 1995, Linda Dollar wrote that she left her own family at the age of 16 because she had been abused by her father. All seven children are currently in state custody, and according to Department of Children & Families spokesman Bill D'Aiuto, "They are safe and they are doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances."
The prospect of gay marriage in New York City is close to becoming reality, thanks to the ruling of a New York State judge on Friday. Justice Doris Ling-Cohan's adamant decision was expressed in her 62-page proposal that the state's Domestic Relations Law violates the state Constitution because it denies gay couples equal protection and rights. This law, dating back to 1909, limits marriage to a union between two people of the opposite sex. Judge Ling-Cohan pointed out that the current law can be compared to those that once banned interracial marriages as well. She also proposed that the terms "husband" and "wife" do not necessarily have to imply a man and a woman, but can be used to refer to a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.
This decision is sure to cause debate on the national level, especially since President Bush supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage only a few days prior in his State of the Union address. However, even Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, has yet to speak out against the decision. It is suspected that he will remain neutral on the issue in order to gain support from the large gay population in New York City during his re-election campaign.
Though the decision will still have to be settled by the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, New York City might be releasing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as next month, and according to one city official, could "turn New York City into a gay marriage Mecca."
Florida Couple Arrested for Child Abuse
John and Linda Dollar, a couple from Florida, were arrested on Friday after accusations of torturing and starving five of their seven adopted children. They were captured in southeastern Utah and had been tracked down by police through their cell phone records. The couple had seven adopted children between the ages of 12 and 17, and of those, five children told investigators that they had been subjected to severe child abuse, including electric shocks, beatings with hammers, and having their toenails yanked out with pliers. Their physical appearances were evidence enough for the claims: the 14-year-old twins weighed 36 and 38 pounds each. All five of the abused children were forced to sleep in the couple's closet because the Dollars accused them of stealing food and misbehaving. The other two children were reportedly the couple's favorites and were not mistreated.
The family had lived in at least three different homes over the past two years, and always in secluded, woodsy, fenced-in areas. The children were home-schooled and neighbors reported that they rarely saw them playing in the family's pool or interacting with other children outside the family. The couple adopted the children in the 1990s and no abuse claims had been filed prior to this one. Ironically, when the family had applied to become foster parents in 1995, Linda Dollar wrote that she left her own family at the age of 16 because she had been abused by her father. All seven children are currently in state custody, and according to Department of Children & Families spokesman Bill D'Aiuto, "They are safe and they are doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances."