WAMU 88.5 : News

Justice Ginsburg Officiates Gay Marriage In D.C.

Play associated audio
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlesfred/27004488

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg performed a same-sex wedding Saturday in what is believed to be a first for a member of the nation's highest court.

Ginsburg officiated the wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and John Roberts, a government economist. Kaiser says he asked Ginsburg to conduct the ceremony because she's a longtime friend.

The private ceremony took place at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The 80-year-old Ginsburg, an opera lover, is a frequent guest at the center.

Justices generally avoid taking stands on political issues. But the wedding comes after the court's landmark ruling to expand federal recognition of same-sex marriages, striking down part of an anti-gay marriage law.

While hearing arguments in that case, Ginsburg argued for treating marriages equally, saying the law had created two classes of marriage, full and "skim-milk marriage.''

NPR

George R.R. Martin, Author And ... Movie-Theater Guy?

The author of the wildly successful Game of Thrones books has been spending his days working on reopening an old movie theater in Santa Fe — much to the displeasure of fans who think he should be writing the next book.
NPR

Sandwich Monday: The Limited Edition Candy Corn Oreo

For this week's Sandwich Monday, we try a new take on the classic sandwich cookie: the Limited Edition Candy Corn Oreo.
NPR

California Won't Wait For Congress On Immigration Reform

California Gov. Jerry Brown has singed a bill that limits cooperation with federal authorities that want immigration holds on undocumented people arrested for minor infractions. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has a more extensive proposal to ban virtually all cooperation with the feds. On immigration issues, California appears to be headed in the opposite direction of states like Arizona.
NPR

Funding For Software To Cloak Web Activity Provokes Concern

A service called Tor makes it possible to communicate and surf the web anonymously. It sounds like a plot by privacy-minded rebels, but in fact the service receives most of its funding from the government and was started by the Pentagon. Despite recent revelations of government email snooping, the U.S. government supports anonymous communication so foreign dissidents can work undetected, and so government agents can pursue bad guys without giving away their identities. But now the service faces new accusations that it might be serving NSA surveillance efforts.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.