LESBIAN/GAY LAW NOTES March 1994 Lesbian & Gay Law Association of Greater New York Editor-in-Chief: Professor Arthur S. Leonard, New York Law School, 57 Worth Street, New York, N.Y. 10013 ASLeonard@aol.com Circulation: Audrey Hartmann, LEGALGNY, 799 Broadway, Rm. 340, NYC 10003. 212-353-9118 (C) 1994 by Lesbian & Gay Law Association of Greater New York ISSN 8755-9021 Contributing Editor: Colin Crawford, Instructor, Brooklyn Law School. Contributing Writers: Kevin Isom, Esq., Atlanta Steven Kolodny, Esq., New York Barnaby Millard, Esq., New York Todd V. Lamb, Student, NY Law School Robert Bourguignon, Student, Brooklyn Law School Mary Ann LeFort, Student, Brooklyn Law School SECOND CIRCUIT UPHOLDS INDIVIDUAL'S RIGHT TO HIV PRIVACY The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a U.S. District Court decision on Feb. 1 and reinstated a civil rights complaint brought by John Doe against the City of New York Commission on Human Rights ("HRC"), asserting that the HRC violated Doe's constitutional right to privacy by revealing to the public the details of a conciliation agreement which settled an HIV discrimination complaint Doe had lodged with the HRC against Delta Air Lines, Inc. ("Delta"). In Doe v. City of New York, 63 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1117, 1994 WL 24213, Doe argued that the disclosure by the HRC, made pursuant to city law, caused him to be the victim of discrimination and resulted in embarrassment and ostracism. Doe also alleged a violation of his constitutional right to privacy pursuant to 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983. The conciliation agreement signed by Doe and the HRC contained a confidentiality clause protecting Doe's name from disclosure without his written consent. However, the HRC issued a press release disclosing the terms of the agreement, and Doe alleged that the release, while not stating his name, contained sufficient information to allow those who knew or worked with him to identify him as the individual described in the release. The district court dismissed Doe's complaint, finding that the settlement agreement was a public record in which Doe could have no reasonable expectation of privacy, and that there was no constitutional violation. The district court held that Doe's HIV status had been made a matter of public record once he filed his complaint with the HRC, and that sec. 8-115(d) of the N.Y.C. Administrative Code provides that conciliation agreements "shall" be made public "unless the complainant and respondent agree otherwise." The court of appeals analyzed two questions: First, whether Doe had a constitutional right to privacy in his HIV status, and second, whether that right was waived when he brought his discrimination complaint before the HRC, thus making his HIV status a matter of public record. In clear and unambiguous language, the court of appeals held, relying on Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589 (1977) and other cases, that "there is . . . a recognized constitutional right to privacy in personal information," which can be characterized as a right to "confidentiality," as distinguished from the right to personal autonomy and independence in decision-making that the Whalen court had recognized. In the context of medical information, the court recognized that few matters are as personal as the status of one's health, and said that "an individual's choice to inform others . . . is one that she should normally be allowed to make for herself." Judge Altimari wrote, "An individual revealing that she is HIV seropositive potentially exposes herself not to understanding or compassion but to discrimination and intolerance, further necessitating the extension of the right to confidentiality over such information. We therefore hold that Doe possesses a constitutional right to confidentiality under Whalen in his HIV status." Having found that Doe's right to confidentiality was constitutionally protected, the court then analyzed whether Doe waived the right by entering into a conciliation agreement with the HRC. Judge Altimari found that sec. 8-115(d) should not be given the absolute reading promulgated by the city, which argued that it requires the automatic public disclosure of all conciliation agreements. The court determined that, since the statute gives the HRC discretion to determine if disclosure is not required, it was not the statute which was objectionable, but, rather, the exercise of discretion by the HRC to reveal Doe's conciliation agreement, despite what the Court termed both parties' "obvious" preference that the details remain confidential. The court noted that the effect of the city's argument was that an individual who sought to vindicate his human and civil rights through the HRC then automatically gave up any rights of privacy he might have regarding his claim, and that the protection of privacy rights was included among those rights the HRC was supposed to protect. "An Orwellian statute that mindlessly and indifferently mandated that any and all information provided to the [HRC] automatically became a public record -- even in cases where the reason the complainant went to the [HRC] was because of a violation of a right to privacy -- would be patently inconsistent with the protection of individual privacy rights, and thereby inconsistent with the purposes of the Commission." However, Judge Altimari held that a question remained whether the city had a "substantial interest" in issuing the press release announcing the conciliation agreement that would outweigh Doe's privacy interest, so the matter had to be remanded for trial of Doe's claim. B.M. The 2nd Circuit's decision in Doe comes at a crucial time, as legislators in New York are debating a proposal that would, in effect, constitute mandatory HIV testing, with some disclosure to third parties, of the mothers of all newborn infants in the state. At present, all newborns are tested for HIV anonymously as part of an epidemiological study. Voluntary HIV testing is offered to many pregnant women in prenatal care and to newborns, but some mothers do not consent to testing. Under the legislative proposal, the anonymity would be abandoned, and test results would be mandatorily released to the parents of the child, under the rationale that this would provide the basis for early treatment and prophylaxis against pneumocystis pneumonia. Only about 20 to 30 percent of HIV+ newborns are actually infected (among the uninfected, antibodies picked up from their mothers clear their systems within a few months of birth), but all mothers of HIV+ newborns are infected, so the proposal would result in mandatory disclosure of the mother's HIV status to the father and treating physicians -- a step strongly opposed by AIDS advocacy groups (including the state's AIDS Advisory Council), who are pushing for increasing emphasis on counselling and voluntary HIV testing for pregnant women. The advocacy groups' position was strengthened by a recent study showing that administration of AZT to women during pregnancy appears to reduce substantially the proportion of newborns born with actual HIV infection. The 2nd Circuit's holding suggests the legislation is constitutionally suspect, since the mothers have a right of privacy with respect to disclosure of their HIV status. Under the court's ruling, the key issue would be whether the state has a "substantial interest" in mandating this disclosure that would outweigh the mother's privacy right. A.S.L. LESBIAN/GAY LEGAL NEWS Supreme Court Denies Review to Gay Foreign Service Officer Continuing its refusal to deal with claims of anti-gay employment policies of federal agencies, the Supreme Court announced Feb. 22 that it denied a petition for certiorari in Krc v. United States Information Agency, No. 93-599. In April, the D.C. Circuit rejected Jan Krc's claim that homophobia was behind his discharge. 989 F.2d 1211 (D.C.Cir., Apr. 9, 1993), rehearing denied, 998 F.2d 1040 (D.C.Cir., Jul. 23, 1993). The agency claimed it fired Krc because he had gay affairs with foreign nationals while posted overseas. Krc asserted that his sexual relationships, lawful in the countries where he was posted, did not affect his ability to perform and did not compromise security. Dissenting from the D.C. Circuit decision, Circuit Judge Patricia Wald found that Krc presented ample evidence that he was discharged because he is gay, without reference to whether he had engaged in sexual activities, and accused her colleagues of a "startling" reversal of their reasoning from an earlier opinion in the case, 905 F.2d 389 (D.C.Cir. 1990), which had in essence found that homosexual orientation was a reason for the discharge and remanded for trial. In light of Wald's strong dissent (characterized as "scathing" in BNA's Daily Labor Report), the Supreme Court's refusal to review the case provides strong evidence of a continuing distaste by the Court for getting involved with gay issues. A.S.L. Nebraska Supreme Court, Texas Court of Appeals, Reject Homosexual Panic Defense in Murder Cases In State v. Escamilla, 1994 WL 22412 (Nebraska Sup. Ct., Jan. 28), Mario Escamilla, who pled guilty to first degree murder, sought post-conviction relief, alleging his defense counsel failed to investigate allegations of the victim's homosexuality before advising him to plead guilty. Escamilla argued that evidence of the victim's homosexuality would have supported a claim of absence of premeditation. The district court granted Escamilla's motion, and the state appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed. According to his confession, Escamilla was walking past the victim's house when the victim asked if he were lost. Escamilla asked to use the victim's phone. While he was using the phone, the victim locked the door, approached him from behind, and rubbed against him. Escamilla, claiming that a recollection of having been raped as a 6-year old fueled his reaction, picked up a knife on the kitchen counter and stabbed the victim in the neck. Escamilla claimed the victim expressed eagerness to have sex with him and offered to do anything he wanted. Escamilla ordered the victim to take down his pants, mounted the victim, took down his own pants, and rubbed against the victim, continuing to stab him, until he fled the scene. The police discovered pubic hair (similar to Escamilla's) on the victim's posterior. The knife matched a knife from the house where Escamilla was staying. Escamilla's attorney recommended he plead guilty to avoid a death sentence. Writing for the court, Chief Justice Hastings examined the admissability of such evidence in connection with a homosexual panic defense on the issue of premeditation. In Kagebein v. State, 496 S.W.2d 435 (Ark. 1973), the Arkansas Supreme Court considered whether a defendant could call witnesses to testify as to prior homosexual acts by the victim to corroborate defendant's claim that homosexual activities preceded the killing, as relevant to determination of the degree of murder committed. That court referred with favor to Evans v. U.S., 277 F.2d 354 (D.C. Cir. 1960), where the court held that almost any evidence on the victim's character would be highly relevant to determine whether the defendant's claim of sexual assault was truthful; even if acquittal was not justified, evidence suggesting the victim was the aggressor might induce a jury to convict of a lesser offense. The dissent in Evans argued that since the defense offered was the need to kill the victim in resisting a sexual assault, general evidence of a victim's prior homosexual acts was too tenuous, and the dissent attached no significance to the possibility a jury could convict of a lesser offense. Similarly, writing separately in Parisie v. Greer, 702 F.2d 888 (7th Cir. 1983)(en banc), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 950, Judge Richard Posner defined the "homosexual panic" defense as the idea that a person who is a "latent homosexual" but a manifest homophobe can be so upset by homosexual advances that he becomes temporarily insane, in which state he may kill the homosexual. Posner said he could not believe the Constitution requires a state to allow defense counsel in a murder case to "defame" the victim as a homosexual without satisfying the prerequisites to admitting evidence of reputation. A minority of the Parisie court concluded that evidence of the victim's homosexuality would be relevant under Illinois law, claiming the victim's homosexuality make it likelier he made a homosexual advance toward the defendant. Noting that Nebraska does not specifically allow the defense of "homosexual panic," Hastings nonetheless concluded that where a defendant claims the act of killing a victim resulted from a violent and overriding reaction to the victim's homosexual approach, evidence of the victim's prior similar activities may be admissible under certain circumstances as corroborative of the defendant's claim that there was lack of deliberation or premeditated malice. "In this case," wrote Hastings, "the only evidence suggested to exist is that the victim was a pedophile. We fail to see any relevancy between pedophilic behavior and Escamilla's claim that he received a homosexual proposal. There was no scientific testimony offered by Escamilla which supported his claim of `homosexual panic.'" The court remanded with instructions to dismiss Escamilla's action for post-conviction relief. K.I. & A.S.L. In Schultz v. State, 1994 WL 35576 (Tex.App.-Houston, Feb. 10), the evidence showed that Aubrey Schultz was out one night in the Montrose neighborhood and hitched a ride with Eugene Schaff, who invited him home for a drink. In his apartment, Schaff asked Schultz "if he were into bondage and stated his interest in pursuing other homosexual activity." Schaff responded negatively, threw an ashtray at Schaff, and then stabbed him twenty-five times (although Schultz testified he only remembered stabbing Schaff five times). Schultz changed out of his bloody clothes into clean clothes from Schaff's apartment, took Schaff's ring, watch, wallet, stereo, VCR and car and fled. He was later apprehended and convicted of murder. On appeal, Schultz claimed the trial judge erred by refusing to charge the jury on a "lesser included offense" of aggravated assault, claiming he was acting in "self defense." The court of appeals disagreed, finding that Schultz's actions "were of a deliberate nature," and that even if the jury believed Schultz's testimony about the number of stab wounds he inflicted, that would "clearly satisfy the definition of murder as an act clearly dangerous to human life," and noted that the trial judge had instructed the jury on self-defense. The appeals court also rejected the contention that Schultz's confession had been erroneously admitted in evidence. * * * On Feb. 7, the Tennessee Supreme Court also rejected a homosexual panic defense in State v. Brimmer, 1994 WL 37755. A.S.L. Oklahoma High Court Vacates Death Sentence for Lesbian While Upholding Conviction for Murdering Her Partner While upholding a jury verdict that Wanda Jean Allen committed first degree murder in shooting Gloria Leathers, with whom she had been involved in "a homosexual relationship," the Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma (the state's highest court for criminal cases) ruled Feb. 15 in Allen v. State, 1994 WL 44313, that the trial court had incorrectly instructed the jury on the connected charge of "possession of a firearm after former conviction," requiring a reversal and remand on that charge. Since the possession charge was one of two aggravating factors found by the jury to justify a death sentence, the death sentence was also overturned as a consequence of the reversal. However, the court, in an opinion by Presiding Judge Lumpkin, rejected Allen's claim that the trial court had improperly dealt with her claim of self-defense. According to the court, Allen and Leathers had been engaged in a relationship, but Leathers wanted out. She was afraid that Allen would assault her, so she secured the assistance of some police officers to come with her to their home while she gathered her things. The two women got into an altercation as Leathers was gathering her things, during which Leathers allegedly attacked Allen with a gardening implement. At the police officers' suggestion, Leathers then left for the police station. Allen followed in her own car and when both women got out of their cars at the police station, Allen attempted to get Leathers to reconsider her decision. In the course of this confrontation, Allen shot Leathers in the stomach. Allen fled, throwing her illegal pistol in a dumpster, and was not apprehended until several days later, the same day Leathers died from the gunshot wound. At trial, the prosecution attempted to show that Allen was the "man" in their relationship, and painted Leathers as a timid, feminine woman. Allen asserted a self-defense claim, pointing out that Leathers had attacked her in their prior altercation and allegedly made threats to assault her in the future. Both women apparently had past encounters with the law. Dissenting from the court's affirmance of the murder conviction, Judge Lane argued that the trial judge had improperly instructed the jury on the self-defense claim. Since the trial judge found that Allen presented sufficient evidence to raise the defense, the judge should have told the jury that this shifted to the State the burden to disprove the claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. However, said Lane, the appeals court incorrectly substituted its judgment for the trial judge and found that the burden hadn't shifted. "The simple truth is the record supports the trial court's decision that the defendant raised the theory of self defense. . . The most serious error is the failure of the trial court to instruct on the State's shifting burden. This error requires reversal and remand to the district court for new trial." Lane was also critical of the majority's "finding the evidence the appellant was the `man' in her lesbian relationship has any probative value at all. Were this a case involving a heterosexual couple, the fact that a male defendant was the `man' in the relationship likewise would tell me nothing. I find no proper purpose for this evidence, and believe its only purpose was to present the defendant as less sympathetic to the jury than the victim." A.S.L. California Appeals Court Rejects Lesbian Co-Parent Custody Challenge; Other Lesbian/Gay Family Law Notes In yet another of a string of adverse decisions on attempts by lesbian co-parents to maintain parental ties after the split-up of a relationship, the California Court of Appeal, 1st District, ruled in Georgia P. v. Kerry B. that a written agreement between the parties was not an enforceable contract and could not be used to overcome existing precedents under which the non-birth mother has no standing to contest custody. The decision, made public Feb. 1, is not yet published. According to an A.P. report in the San Francisco Sentinel of Feb. 9, the couple's written agreement provided that they intended to "jointly and equally parent the child" and would refer any dispute to binding arbitration. They separated five years after Kerry B. gave birth to a daughter conceived through alternative insemination. They divided parental responsibilities for another year, but then Kerry B. claimed sole custody and moved to another county, cutting off regular visitation for Georgia P., who sued seeking a declaration of her parental rights, arbitration under the contract, and damages for emotional distress. Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elaine Watters dismissed her claims, and was upheld in a unanimous decision written by Presiding Justice Clinton White. Courts are reluctant to recognize private contracts that would modify traditional family law doctrines, especially when it comes to issues affecting the welfare of children. Although California courts have recognized the concept of a "de facto" parent based on an established parental relationship, they have not ordered custody or visitation on behalf of an alleged "de facto" parent when the child is living with a legal parent in the absence of a showing of parental unfitness. "Custody of the child cannot be awarded to Georgia against the wishes of Kerry without a finding that parental custody would be detrimental to the minor," wrote White. Under Nancy S. v. Michele G., 228 Cal.App.3d 831, 279 Cal.Rptr. 212 (Cal.App. 1st Dist. 1991) and Curiale v. Reagan, 222 Cal.App.3d 1597, 272 Cal.Rptr. 520 (Cal. App. 3d Dist. 1990), California courts have firmly held that the non-birth mother in a lesbian couple cannot assert parental rights. A.S.L. * * * The Virginia Court of Appeals heard oral argument Feb. 16 in Bottoms v. Bottoms, the notorious case in which Henrico County Circuit Judge Buford M. Parsons awarded custody of Sharon Bottoms' son to Bottoms' mother, Kay, on Sept. 7, 1993, holding that under Virginia law a lesbian mother was presumptively unfit to have custody of her son while living in a same-sex relationship. Observers of the oral argument reported that some of the judges gave a hard time to Kay's attorney, one even stating that the comments in a 1985 Virginia Supreme Court case about gay parents being unfit were merely dicta. A.S.L. * * * The Advocate reports that legislative proposals are pending in South Carolina and Washington State that would ban gays from adopting children. The South Carolina measure passed the House of Representatives on Jan. 13 by an overwhelming margin, and has the support of Gov. Carroll Campbell. Sponsor Rep. Mike Fair claims, contrary to all evidence on the subject, that gay and lesbian households are "breeding grounds for future homosexuals." The Washington State measure was introduced as a result of publicity about a case in which a woman who had given up custody of her child tried to regain it when she learned a gay male couple was seeking to adopt the child. At present, the only states with legislative bans on gays adopting children are New Hampshire and Florida. Adoptions have been approved by numerous states, and last year the supreme courts of Vermont and Massachusetts approved adoptions resulting in the adoptee being the legal child of both same-sex parents. * * * The Sentinel reports that Jay (Indiana) Superior Court Judge Joel Roberts has awarded Twila Teegarden, a lesbian mother, custody of her two children, in a battle with the children's stepmother. Teegarden v. Teegarden (Feb. 3). The father was awarded custody upon divorce, but was electrocuted in an accident. Judge Roberts ruled that as between the natural mother and the stepmother, the law prefers the natural parent if she is fit for custody. However, Roberts placed some restrictions on custody: Teegarden may not have a same-sex lover living with her and may not engage in "homosexual behavior" in front of the children. Teegarden has accepted these conditions. A.S.L. Texas Appeals Court Upholds Convictions for Sale of Gay Sex Magazines In two decisions issued Jan. 25, the Court of Appeals of Texas, Fort Worth, upheld convictions of T.K.'s Video, Inc., for "promotion of obscenity" by the sale of gay-oriented sex magazines. T.K.'s Video, Inc. v. State, 1994 WL 17368, 1994 WL 17370. The first case was based on sale to an undercover agent of "Overload," described as "depicting homosexual intercourse." T.K.'s appeal argued in a variety of ways that the magazine could be found obscene only if it would be regarded by the average gay male reader to whom it is directed as appealing to prurient interest in an offensive way. T.K.'s contended that the evidence, which lacked this gay perspective, was insufficient to support the conviction, and that the judge had improperly instructed the jury by failing to require the jury to consider the magazine from this perspective. Rejecting T.K.'s argument, Judge Lattimore wrote that "materials targeting deviant groups are not beyond the scope of the obscenity laws just because they appeal to the prurient interest of a sexual deviant rather than the average adult. If we follow T.K.'s argument in a case involving the obscenity of materials portraying adults engaged in sexual intercourse with children, the trial court would be required to instruct the jury that prurient interest would be defined form the viewpoint of the average pedophile." To document this point, the court cited U.S. v. Guglielmi, 819 F.2d 451 (4th Cir. 1987), in which the court held in a case involving films depicting bestiality that the court was not required to ask the jury to find whether there was such a thing as an average zoophile and to determine the appeal of the films to such a person. In the second case, in which T.K.'s was convicted of selling to an undercover agent the magazines "Buddies in Heat" and "The Swingers" (a bisexual magazine), one basis for T.K.'s appeal was the trial judge's refusal to excuse a potential juror, or to allow T.K.'s an extra peremptory challenge to strike the juror, one Williams. During voir dire, Williams said: "Although I don't earn my living in this capacity, I am an ordained minister. And I would struggle a little bit with how objective I could be." After stating that he "could follow the law even if he thought it was morally wrong," Williams responded to questioning by the defense attorney by stating that he believed homosexuality was "shameful, morbid and sick," and, as related in Judge Lattimore's opinion for the court, "He stated that all homosexual material appealed to a prurient interest in sex, and that he would have trouble telling his congregation that he had found a sexually explicit, homosexual magazine legal." Responding to a final question, Williams said that he would find it a struggle but he thought he could be fair. Upholding the trial judge's decision to seat Williams on the jury, Lattimore wrote: "Williams' strong feeling about homosexuality, by itself, does not disqualify him in a case involving homosexual material. Williams was asked if he could follow the court's instruction to put aside his personal opinions and to make his decision based upon the average person, and he indicated that he could. While we agree with the trial court assessment that this is a close case, we see nothing in the record which points to an abuse of discretion. We hold that Williams was not biased against T.K.'s as a matter of law." In Coon v. State, 1994 WL 42465 (Feb. 15), the Texas Court of Appeals, Fort Worth, upheld a misdemeanor conviction of Michael Lynn Coon for obscenity, based on the sale of a gay skin magazine, Stroke, in violation of Texas Penal Code sec. 43.23(c), and approved the sentence of six months imprisonment and a $3,000 fine. Coon contended on appeal that the trial judge improperly instructed the jury on the standard for determining whether a gay-oriented publication is obscene. Coon argued that the jury should have been instructed that in order to find whether the material was "offensive," it would have to determine whether it was offensive to the male homosexual population at which the magazine was aimed. Writing for the court, Judge Farrar said that Coon had misapprehended prior cases talking about the need to consider the audience at which a pornographic publication is aimed. The problem is that a heterosexual juror might not find that gay pornography appealed to prurient interest; the purpose of taking the audience into account is to have the juror decide not whether the material appeals to the prurient interest of the juror, but rather whether it would appeal to the prurient interest of a gay reader. Farrar asserted that "it is not necessary for jurors to have an understanding of deviant group interests; the pornography speaks for itself. . . The magazine contained photographs and illustrations of homosexual oral and anal sex and group sex between males. The officer who purchased the magazine and a second police officer testified that in their opinion, the average adult Texan would find the magazine appealed to prurient interests, was patently offensive and lacked literary, artistic, political and scientific merit." Farrar also rejected Coon's objections to several of the trial court's rulings during voir dire concerning questions to the jury about their knowledge or understanding of the gay community. "After viewing the evidence," wrote Farrar, "we conclude a rational trier of fact could have found the materials to be obscene, beyond a reasonable doubt, without the assistant of an expert or testimony from a member of the deviant group. . ." Now Texas readers of Law Notes will understand why we don't send the illustrated edition to their jurisdiction! A.S.L. New York City Abandons ILGO in St. Patrick's Day Dispute The City of New York agreed to abandon its past attempts to require inclusion of the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO) in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. On Feb. 2, U.S. District Judge Kevin T. Duffy (S.D.N.Y.) approved for filing a settlement agreement under which his preliminary injunction issued last year in New York County Bd. of Ancient Order of Hibernians v. Dinkins, 814 F.Supp. 358, was made permanent "only so long as the parade retains its character as a private celebration," according to a report in the New York Law Journal. As part of the settlement, the City agreed to pay the Hibernians $150,000 in legal fees. Judge Duffy had ruled that the City's attempt to deny the Hibernians a permit to hold the 1993 parade because of the Hibernians' decision to exclude ILGO was "patently unconstitutional," finding that the parade as administered by the Hibernians' was private, not public, and constituted "a pristine form of speech" as to which the parade sponsor had a right to control the content and tone. The settlement negotiations, handled by the NY City Law Department, were initiated in the fall prior to the mayoral elections, and according to Assistant Corporation Counsel Peter Moulton the settlement does not represent a change of policy by the new administration. An ILGO spokesperson, Anne Maguire, stated that ILGO plans to hold a protest march along the parade route this year. A.S.L. Court Upholds Stiff Penalty for Anti-Gay Housing Discrimination In what is described by the New York Law Journal as the largest monetary award ever made by the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CHR), N.Y. Supreme Court Justice Leland DeGrasse affirmed an award of $100,000 in damages and $75,000 in civil penalties against a residential landlord found to have refused to renew a gay man's lease and subjected him to harassment and retaliation because of his sexual orientation. 119-121 East 97th St. Corp. v. City of N.Y. Commission on Human Rights, NYLJ, 2/9/94, p. 22, col. 3 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. Co.). DeGrasse denied the landlord's petition to reverse CHR's order, and granted CHR's cross-petition for enforcement. Justice DeGrasse found that the record was "replete with evidence of a prolonged pattern of discriminatory acts of harassment such as interruptions of Mr. Baca's telephone and electricity services, unlawful entries into his apartment, menacing telephone calls, and vile name calling." The landlord retaliated against Baca's filing a complaint with CHR by sending a "libelous letter" to Baca's employer. "The relentlessness and prolonged duration of petitioner's conduct supported CHR's finding that Mr. Baca was subjected to extreme mental anguish," found DeGrasse, and "The degree of malice exhibited by petitioners in their flagrant violation of the Administrative Code also warrants the civil penalty. . ." Ironically, CHR has been targeted for dismantling by the Giuliani Administration, which has designated a temporary chair to replace outgoing Chair Dennis DeLeon (who is openly gay) and has proposed reassigning those of the Commission's functions not duplicative of the State Division of Human Rights (i.e., mainly its sexual orientation jurisdiction) to the City Law Department. A.S.L. Florida, Missouri High Courts Sustain Hate Crime Laws In two similar though unrelated cases, State of Florida v. Stalder, 1994 WL 19548 (Fla., Jan. 27), and State of Missouri v. Vanatter, 1994 WL 17466 (Mo., Jan. 25), state supreme courts upheld their respective state's hate crimes statutes, sec. 775.085, Florida Statutes (1989), and sec. 517.093, RS Mo. Supp. 1992. Each statute provides enhancement of sentencing upon conviction of a stated list of criminal offenses where the trial court finds that the crime was motivated, at least in part, by animus related to the victim's race, color, religion, ethnic origin, or in the Florida statute, ancestry or sexual orientation. In Stalder, the underlying charge was one of battery enhanced by repeated incidents of anti-semitic slurs. In Vanatter, a less carefully thought-out opinion, the charge involved a cross burning. (The underlying charge, apparently arson, is never clearly stated in the opinion.) In each case, the trial court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss the enhancement charge as violative of the free speech clauses of the U.S. and/or state constitutions. In each case, the state supreme court reversed, rejecting arguments that the statute in question prohibited expression of ideas based on content, as was forbidden in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, 112 S.Ct. 2538 (1992), and found that the statute in question merely allowed the trial court to consider animus as an aggravating factor in sentencing, a practice approved by the Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 113 S.Ct. 2194 (1993). However, in the Florida case, the court additionally had to deal with a provision providing penalty enhancement where the crime was not proven to be motivated by bias but the perpetrator made biased remarks during its commission. The court invalidated this portion of the statute in reliance on R.A.V. S.K. * * * Two weeks after the Florida Supreme Court announced its decision, the Florida District Court of Appeal, 1st District, upheld the conviction of Saun Reeves for violating the Hate Crimes Statute by "wantonly or maliciously shooting a firearm into an occupied building on May 3, 1992, evidencing prejudice based on the sexual orientation of the victim." Reeves v. State, 1994 WL 37029 (Feb. 11). A.S.L. Domestic Partnership Notes California Assemblyman Richard Katz of Sepulveda has introduced a bill that would establish a statewide domestic partnership registry in the office of the Secretary of State. Domestic partners would be granted visitation rights in hospitals and have the legal power to administer each other's affairs if one becomes incapacitated, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle of Feb. 15. In a companion bill, Katz proposes to allow the state's retirement system to pay benefits to the domestic partners of state employees who are covered by collective bargaining agreements that include recognition of domestic partners. * * * Responding to a complaint filed with the NYC Human Rights Commission, the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, located in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan, announced that it would open its school-owned apartments to allow "committed" same-sex partners to live together. Opposite-sex partners must be married to reside together in the school's apartments. The complaint had been filed by Deidre Good, a professor of New Testament, who was threatened with eviction after her lesbian partner moved in with her in seminary housing, according to N.Y. Newsday. * * * Faculty agitation at the College of William and Mary for domestic partnership benefits has stirred up a hornet's nest in the Virginia General Assembly, where Republicans announced they would attempt to amend pending budget legislation in order to prohibit adoption of a domestic partnership plan by any state-funded school in Virginia, according to the Washington Post. * * * The Sentinel reports that the Seattle Times has adopted a domestic partnership healthcare plan for its employees. * * * Newsday reported that Time, Inc., is about to extend a domestic partnership health plan to employees. A.S.L. Justice Department Intervenes in Lesbian Harassment Matter Responding to news reports that residents of Ovett, Mississippi, have been engaging in a campaign of harassment and terror against Brenda and Wanda Henson, two lesbians who bought a farm and plan to establish a women's camp on the property, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered mediators from the Justice Department's civil rights division to intervene and attempt to mediate a resolution to the problem. Normally, such federal mediation is only undertaken in cases involving violations of federal civil rights laws, which never have been held to protect individuals against anti-gay discrimination. Reno predicated intervention in this instance on the use of the U.S. mail to send threatening messages to the Hensons. According to the New York Times, "officials at the Justice Department said that Ms. Reno's decision was an important endorsement of gay rights." A.S.L. Update on Anti-Gay Initiatives and Legislation In what may be the first anti-gay referendum vote of the year, voters in Springfield, Missouri, by a margin of 71 percent to 29 percent, repealed a bias crime bill that covered sexual orientation. Although the entire law was repealed, the opponents of the bill campaigned against it as a mini-gay rights bill, waging a "special rights" campaign that emphasized fear of pedophiles, according to the Washington Blade. * * * Missouri Circuit Judge Byron L. Kinder ruled Jan. 31 that the Privacy Rights Education Project, an organization formed to oppose a Colorado-style initiative in Missouri, had jumped the gun by asking the court to deal with various objections to petitions now in circulation. Privacy Right Education Project v. Moriarty, No. CV193-1200CC (Cir.Ct., Cole Co.). According to the court, the plaintiff's objections will not be ripe for judicial resolution until the petitioners have obtained their signatures and submitted the petitions back to the state. The plaintiffs maintain that the proposed ballot question violates the single issue rule for initiatives. A substantive constitutional challenge to the initiative, which is based on Colorado's Amendment 2, may not be ripe until after a vote. * * * To similar effect was a Feb. 16 ruling by King County, Washington, Superior Court Judge Marsha Pechman, who rejected an attempt by Hands Off Washington, a coalition of gay-rights groups, to nip in the bud petition campaigns for Initiatives 608 and 610, which seek to amend the Colorado constitution to ban gay rights laws, bar gay couples from adopting children, and prohibit schools from "promoting" or "supporting" homosexuality. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Strophy had previously approved final language for both propositions, most recently on Feb. 14. * * * On Feb. 8, Marion County, Oregon, Circuit Judge Albin W. Norblad held that HB 3500, a state law passed last summer to preempt counties and cities in Oregon from passing anti-gay charter amendments, was a valid exercise of state legislative authority. Ruling on a challenge to the law filed by Lon Mabon and the Oregon Citizen's Alliance "No Special Rights" Committee, Norblad commented: "This is one of the major policy issues that the citizens of Oregon are dealing with today. . . There is no doubt but that the Legislature has the right to, and did, pre- empt this area." Norblad interpreted the state law to forbid enactment of the anti-gay measures, but to allow enactment and continued enforcement of local laws forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which exist in Portland, Corvallis, and Ashland. Norblad's decision conflicts with a ruling by a Jackson County circuit judge, according to a comment by the OCA's attorney reported in the Oregonian on Feb. 9, and both cases are on appeal. Meanwhile, on Feb. 8 Multnomah County, Oregon, election officials found that OCA had submitted enough signatures to qualify a ballot measure in Gresham, but the City Council may decide to keep the measure off the ballot in light of the ruling on HB 3500, which could provoke a new OCA court challenge. * * * In a letter to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund date Feb. 14, President Bill Clinton came out strongly in opposition to ballot initiatives that ban gay rights legislation. The Fund had written to Clinton asking for his position on the issue. Clinton said, "Those who would legalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or any other grounds are gravely mistaken about the values that make our nation strong. . . The essential right to equality must not be denied by a ballot initiative or otherwise." * * * Arizona State Representative Rusty Bowers has introduced a legislative proposal to amend the Arizona constitution to ban municipalities from adopting sexual orientation discrimination ordinances; at the same time, the "Traditional Values Coalition of Arizona" is circulating petitions to qualify a similar initiative. If Bowers' proposal passes the legislature, it would automatically go on the ballot without the need for petition signatures. Similar petition campaigns are ongoing in Florida, Nevada, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon and Washington State, according to a chart published in the Washington Blade of Jan. 28, and rumored to be starting up in Ohio. However, anti-gay activists in Maine missed the deadline to submit petitions to get their proposition on the ballot for this year. A.S.L. Miscellaneous Federal Litigation Notes In Hicks v. Arthur, 1994 WL 27318 (U.S.Dist.Ct., E.D.Pa., Feb. 1), U.S. District Judge Joyner found that a discharge from employment on the basis of sexual orientation does not violate the public policy exception to the employment-at-will rule in Pennsylvania. The public policy exception provides a cause of action for damages for employees who are discharged in violation of an articulated policy of the state. Joyner found that Pennsylvania had no articulated policy on the subject of sexual orientation discrimination by private employers. A.S.L. * * * The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 1 that Chicago city officials could not raise an immunity defense in Nelson v. Streeter, 1994 WL 25767, in which art student David K. Nelson, Jr., sued city officials for violating his civil rights by seizing his painting on display at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and confiscating it. Nelson had painted a portrait of then recently-deceased Mayor Harold Washington, described as follows by Chief Judge Richard Posner: "The painting, entitled `Mirth and Girth' and based on a rumor that doctors at the hospital to which Washington had been brought when he suffered his fatal heart attack had discovered that underneath his suit he was wearing female underwear, is a full-length frontal portrait of a portly grim-faced Harold Washington clad in a white bra and G-string, garter belt, and stockings." Exhibition of the painting evoked outrage from public officials; the City Council passed a resolution condemning it, and several aldermen went to the Art Institute, removed the painting, and took it away. Nelson's lawsuit is a political hot potato that the trial judge tried to duck by reference to a magistrate on the immunity issue, which dragged out for several years. Posner held that the immunity issue was simple: it should be perfectly clear to any public official that they can't just go to a private gallery and tear down and confiscate a painting they don't like. On appeal, the aldermen claimed they were acting as private citizens, and thus not bound by constitutional constraints. Well and good, responded Posner, then you can't claim governmental immunity from suit! "Official immunity is for officials. President Truman could not have pleaded official immunity if a music critic had sued him for intentional infliction of emotional distress." Finding that there was no justification for the district court's prolonged delay, Posner stated that it "is time that the district judge took firm control of this case and guided it to a swift conclusion." A.S.L. * * * The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Feb. 8 in Canedy v. Boardman, 1994 WL 33784, that the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, violated the constitutional privacy rights of prisoner David L. Canedy by requiring him to submit to strip searches by female guards. While noting that some courts had disagreed with this result, Circuit Judge Cudahy wrote that in balancing the prisoner's right to privacy with the prison's desire to provide equal employment opportunity to women, the balance went to the prisoner except for emergency situations. A.S.L. Miscellaneous State Litigation Notes The California Supreme Court denied review in Engel v. Worthington, 19 Cal.App.4th 43, 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 329 (Cal.App. 4th Dist, Sept. 30, 1993), in which the court of appeals found that a commercial photographer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination when he excluded a gay couple's picture from a reunion book produced for the University High School Class of 1977 reunion in Irvine. Despite its decision to uphold the ruling for the gay couple, the court ordered de-publication of the decision so that it will not stand as a precedent, over the dissenting votes of Justices Stanley Mosk and Joyce L. Kennard, according to the Los Angeles Times. The gay couple was represented by Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred. A.S.L. * * * James Gautieri was convicted of statutory rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI), and numerous other sex crimes for performing oral sex on his 12 year old nephew. In Pennsylvania, statutory rape occurs when a person over 18 has sexual intercourse with another person who is less than fourteen years of age unless the couple is married. IDSI is committed when one has anal or oral sex with another person who is less than 16 years old. Gautieri challenged his IDSI conviction, claiming that he could not be prosecuted under both statutory rape and IDSI, and on grounds that IDSI violates equal protection and privacy rights in the Constitution. On Feb. 1, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania disagreed. Commonwealth v. Gautieri, 1994 WL 27168. The court found that the statutory rape statute does not "irreconcilably conflict" with IDSI because statutory rape has elements outside IDSI. To prove statutory rape the Commonwealth need only prove that sexual intercourse occurred, IDSI requires specific proof that anal or oral sex occurred. Gautieri's equal protection and privacy claims also failed under the court's analysis because IDSI deals with involuntary rather than voluntary acts and the Commonwealth has a compelling interest in protecting people from being forced to have anal or oral sex. T.V.L. * * * In State v. Dizzy Duck, 1994 WL 21260 (Jan. 18), the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a trial judge's refusal to shut down Dizzy Duck, an heterosexual adult entertainment establishment that provides nude female dancers, "lap dancing," and a Fantasy Room where men can masturbate while watching women perform erotic dances behind a plexiglass screen. It was also charged that solicitation for prostitution took place on the premises. While enjoining the continuation of particular conduct under the nuisance laws, the trial judge denied the prosecutor's request to shut down the establishment. The appeals court held there was no abuse of discretion, adopting a vary narrow definition of the statutory terms "lewdness, assignation or prostitution." A.S.L. Law & Society Notes: National For the first time, the federal government has adopted legislation that bans sexual orientation discrimination. The earthquake relief measure to assist victims in the Los Angeles area contains a provision forbidding discrimination in the distribution of aid money on the basis of sexual orientation (in addition to other categories normally found in anti- discrimination laws). The inclusion of sexual orientation was not controversial; it came as part of an amendment adopted primarily to bar provision of federal aid to "illegal aliens," according to the New York Times. * * * On Jan. 27, President Clinton nominated Prof. Deborah Batts of Fordham Law School, a member of LeGaL and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Lesbians and Gay Men in the Legal Profession, to be a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York. The nomination was recommended by U.S. Senator Daniel P. Moynihan. * * * The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the government agency responsible for federal personnel policy administration, wrote to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts on Jan. 26 affirming that sexual orientation discrimination violates federal personnel policies, and specifying methods available for federal employees to pursue grievances. The letter from OPM Director James B. King noted that such claims could be brought to the Merit Systems Protection Board if they involve major disciplinary actions; otherwise, claims can be brought to the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency authorized to seek corrective action from MSPB involving allegations of prohibited personnel practices. King wrote that union- represented federal employees can grieve discrimination claims under their collective agreements. King's letter responded to an inquiry sent by Rep. Frank in November. * * * U.S. The Interior Department issued a memo Jan. 26 adding "sexual orientation" to its non-discrimination policy, but stating that this addition applied only to the department's employment policies. This was part of a compromise negotiated with Rep. Frank, who criticized the department in December when it issued a policy banning discrimination based on any "nonmerit factor" without specifying sexual orientation. The department was concerned that an explicit sexual orientation policy might require it to bar the Boy Scouts of America, which maintains an anti-gay policy, from using national parks. Under the Frank compromise, the BSA can still hold events in the parks, but the department will have an explicit nondiscrimination policy for its gay employees. * * * The Senate Armed Services Committee announced it would hold further hearings on gays in the military, in response to complaints by committee member Dan Coats (R.-Ind.) that proposed regulations issued by the Pentagon were too permissive. The Pentagon delayed putting the regulations in effect as a result of Coats' objections, which were also endorsed by Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.). * * * There were press reports late in February that the Clinton Administration would waive immigration rules barring HIV-infected persons from the U.S. for those travelling to New York for Gay Games IV in June. A.S.L. Law & Society Notes: States Washington State may be the next to pass a gay rights law. The state House of Representatives passed HB 1443 early in February, and the Senate held a hearing on the measure Feb. 17, at which the former chief of staff for the State Senate Republicans, John Rico, came out and testified as a gay man with AIDS in support of the bill. Although Democrats control the Senate and committee approval is expected, press observers speculated that the Senate leadership may block a floor vote, in light of petitions circulating to place two anti-gay initiatives on the ballot. See Seattle Times of Feb. 18, p. B1. * * * Women who served as jurors in the Menendez murder trials in California said that some men on the juries were obsessed with the possibility that Erik Menendez was gay, and allowed homophobia to influence their holding out for a first-degree murder verdict, according to an Associated Press report carried nationally. Both deadlocked juries were apparently split along gender lines, with women jurors favoring a manslaughter conviction and male jurors favoring murder convictions. The prosecutors vowed to retry both of the Menendez brothers for the murder of their parents. * * * The New York Law Journal reported that the New York State Family Court Judges Association adopted a resolution urging its members not to socialize in establishments that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. * * * A new reproductive technology note: In McDonald v. McDonald, NYLJ, 3/2/94 (N.Y.App.Div., 2nd Dept., Feb. 22), the court held that a mother who bears children from in vitro fertilization using a donated eggs is nonetheless fully a mother for purposes of custody and visitation determinations, even though she is technically not the "genetic" mother of her children. The court rejected the father's argument that he had superior rights to custody just because the mother's eggs were not used to conceive their twin daughters. * * * Finally, textbook publishers with backbone! The Austin (Texas) American Statesman reports that Holt, Rinehart & Winston and Glencoe, publishers of health texts, have threatened to refuse to supply textbooks for Texas public schools if state School Board officials insist on catering to the religious right by requiring deletion of all references to condoms, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS prevention, teen pregnancy, and homosexuality. The action came in response to pending resolutions before the Board to require that textbooks delete definitions of various sexual terms (such as semen, ejaculation, vagina, and penis) and exclude diagrams showing genitals or illustrating the reproductive system. * * * A New Hampshire legislator, anticipating problems that might arise should gay marriage become legal in Hawaii, has introduced a bill to prevent such marriages from being recognized in his state. David Wheeler testified before the state Senate Judiciary Committee that he was "not against homosexuality," but wanted to be sure that New Hampshire did not inadvertently end up treating same-sex marriages as valid. A.S.L. International Notes The New York Times reported that the British Parliament voted to lower the age of consent for gay sex involving males from 21 to 18. The age of consent for lesbian sex remains 16. Gay rights groups in England quickly mounted protests against the discrimination, and vowed to challenge the differential age of consent in the European Court of Human Rights. * * * Surprise, surprise!! Pope John Paul II has come out strongly against gay marriage! Never one for social innovation in matters of personal lifestyle, the Pope was apparently provoked by news reports that gay couples can now obtain marriage licenses in several Italian cities, and that the European Parliament is considering affirmative moves on the subject. A.S.L. AIDS AND RELATED LEGAL NEWS BRIEFS Manhattan Surrogate Finds Will Codicil by PWA Invalid New York County Surrogate Court Judge Renee Roth has found invalid a codicil to a will executed by a person with AIDS shortly before his death. In Estate of Robert Halsband, NYLJ, 2/15/94, p. 25, col. 3, Surrogate Roth had to consider claims by two charitable beneficiaries that a codicil leaving a substantial part of the estate to a couple who were caring for an elderly scholar in the final stages of AIDS was executed under undue influence at a time when the testator lacked testamentary capacity. According to the decision, Robert Halsband was "a noted scholar of English literature" who died from AIDS in October 1989 at age 75. In a will dated May 15, 1989, Halsband left his extensive book collection to Columbia University and divided the balance of his estate between Columbia and New York University. In the codicil, executed August 3, 1989, Halsband left a major asset of the estate, his cooperative apartment, to Sameh Elrashidy, a home care attendant who had taken care of him for the preceding two months, and Elrashidy's wife. Roth's opinion sets out an extensive review of the evidence, which included a videotape of Halsband made about the time of the codicil execution, and the testimony of a variety of witnesses, all of which led to the conclusion that by the time the codicil was drafted and signed, Halsband was not thinking independently and Elrashidy was apparently directing his every move. As Roth described the man in the videotape: "a man who did not participate in the conversation; a man who could not retain a thought for any length of time; a man who did not speak a complete sentence." Roth found that there was a "confidential relationship" between Halsband and Elrashidy, such that the burden fell on Elrashidy to show that the 11th-hour codicil favoring him was not the result of undue influence, and that Elrashidy failed in this burden. Significantly, the opinion is carefully written to avoid any untoward dicta about the capacity of people with AIDS to make wills; rather, it concentrates on the specific circumstances under which the codicil was drafted and executed to determine that in this instance the person with AIDS could not make a valid codicil. A.S.L. South Dakota Supreme Court Upholds Lengthy Sentence for HIV- Infected Man In Hopfinger v. Leapley, 1994 WL 46918 (Feb. 16), the South Dakota Supreme Court upheld a 15-year prison sentence imposed on a gay, HIV-infected man who pleaded guilty to robbery and aggravated assault on the assurance of his court-appointed lawyer that he would only have to serve four and a half years. After spending the evening drinking at an Aberdeen bar, Henry Hopfinger went back to his hotel room with Gordon Roettele for sex. At some point, Roettelle got a little rough and Hopfinger grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed Roettele several times, inflicting serious wounds. Then he grabbed Roettele's jewelry, money and car keys and fled in Roettele's car. He was later apprehended and charged with robbery, aggravated assault and grand theft. His court-appointed attorney feared he would do poorly before a jury as a gay man with HIV, and advised him to plead to robbery and assault, upon which the 15 year sentence was imposed. On a habeas petition, Hopfinger argued ineffective assistance of counsel, asserting that any more than a five to six year sentence would be a death sentence for him. The court found that Hopfinger was an ex-con with experience in the Florida prison system who was familiar with the working of plea-bargaining. The court concluded that Hopfinger had received effective counsel and "a fair plea bargain with a reliable result." A.S.L. Court of Veterans Appeals Remands HIV Case; Concurring Judge Questions "Service Connection" for Gay Veterans In ZN v. Brown, 1994 WL 32184 (Feb. 4), the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals vacated a decision of the Board of Veterans Appeals which had denied entitlement to veterans benefits to a veteran with AIDS who claimed to have contracted HIV while stationed in the New York metropolitan area in the early 1980s. The court found that the board had failed without discussion to account for evidence from several health professionals opining that the veteran had probably contracted his HIV infection during his term of military service, and had failed to cite any medical evidence in the record to support its conclusion that the HIV infection post-dated the veteran's service. Under sec. 5107(b) of the governing statute, the board is required to give the "benefit of the doubt" in determining service connection where "there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence;" in this case, held the court, the board had failed to do that, merely making conclusory statements. Concurring, Judge Mankin pointed out that the Veterans Benefits Manual adopts the approach of not considering HIV infection to be evidence of "willful misconduct" without further evidence of "the probable method of contracting the illness." Mankin found this "troubling because it condones conduct which the Congress has declared to be illegal. . . The VA may not condone activity through its regulations which the Congress has proscribed. . . For a disability to be service connected, it must have been incurred in the line of duty. A disability incurred during active military service will be considered to have been incurred in the line of duty unless the disability was the result of the claimant's own willful misconduct. . . Accordingly, until the foregoing threshold issue [of causation] is addressed, the majority's detailed legal discussion is premature. Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, I concur in the result only." Under Mankin's line of reasoning, veterans administrators might have to deny service-connection to all HIV+ veterans who could not show that they contracted HIV through a transfusion or lawful sexual activity. IV drug use and "sodomy" are both prohibited by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A.S.L. Dentist Personally Liable Under ADA for AIDS Discrimination A dentist who is the owner, president, and sole director of the professional dental corporation under which he practices is not shielded from personal liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act for refusing to treat patients with HIV. In United States v. Morvant, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 826 (E.D.La. Jan. 26), the U.S. Attorney sought injunctive and monetary relief against a dentist on behalf of two HIV+ patients, as well as unnamed patients, whom the dentist had refused to treat. Judge Patrick Carr found that defendant Morvant himself fell personally within the "broad sweep" of the ADA and denied the dentist's motion to dismiss the suit: "Defendant argues that because he practiced dentistry as a professional dental corporation, he is not subject to individual liability, and cannot be sued personally. He is mistaken." The court noted that the ADA's remedial purposes would be subverted by allowing a corporate entity to shield those "most responsible for discriminatory acts and policies." It observed further that defendant was the sole shareholder of the corporation alleged to have engaged in discrimination, and was himself responsible for the allegedly discriminatory decision. The dentist had also moved to strike the government's request for monetary damages on behalf of one of the patients named in the complaint because the patient was deceased. Since the ADA is silent as to whether damages awards survive a complainant's death, the court applied Louisiana law (which permits damages to survive) in favor of the deceased survivors, for one year from the date of death. Morvant further moved to strike the government's claim for monetary damages on behalf of "other aggrieved persons" since they were not named specifically in the complaint. However, since the ADA authorizes recovery against those exhibiting a "pattern or practice of discrimination", the court said the government is not required to plead that each and every person for whom monetary damages were claimed had been a victim of the discriminatory practice. The government's burden was satisfied by a prima facie showing that a discriminatory policy existed. R.B. HIV Transmission Litigation Updates The U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, held that a federal prisoner who claims to have acquired HIV infection from being raped by his cellmate does not have a valid claim against the government under the Federal Torts Claims Act. Richey v. U.S., 1994 WL 44838 (Feb. 16)(unpublished disposition). The court found that prison officials had not breached any duty of care to Richey, rejecting the claim that a bare assertion that Richey was infected as a result of a "nonconsensual sexual assault" was sufficient by itself to establish negligence. A.S.L. * * * Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter (U.S.Dist.Ct., E.D. Pa.) dismissed three counts of plaintiff Sallie Smith's HIV transmission suit against the Reading Hospital and Medical Center. Smith v. American Red Cross, Keystone Community Blood Bank, Inc. and the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, 1994 U.S. Dist LEXIS (Jan. 27). The hospital administered blood and blood products to Smith in 1984 during coronary bypass surgery. Smith alleged that the blood and blood products were contaminated with HIV; she was diagnosed with HIV in December, 1991, and died of AIDS in September, 1993. Smith sued in state court on theories of negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, informed consent battery, wrongful death, and survival action. The Red Cross removed the case to federal court under 36 U.S.C. sec. 2 and 28 U.S.C. secs. 1441, 1446. Reading then moved under Rule 12(b)(6), arguing that strict liability, breach of warranty and informed consent battery theories do not apply to hospitals in Pennsylvania, particularly in this case. Pennsylvania law includes a Blood Shield Statute, 42 Pa.C.S.A. sec. 8333, which provides that "[n]o person shall be held liable for the death, disease or injury resulting from the lawful transfusion of blood, blood components or plasma derivatives . . . except upon a showing of negligence on the part of such person. Specifically excluded . . . is any liability by reason of . . . strict liability or implied warranty or ny other warranty not expressly undertaken . . . . " The court found that Reading Hospital is a "person" within the meaning of the statute, which unambiguously precludes causes of action against a hospital based on strict liability and breach of warranty. The court determined that a hospital has been found liable under Pennsylvania law for informed consent battery in only one case, in which the patient participated in an experimental clinic for eye surgery. In that case, the hospital had assumed a duty to inform the patients who participated in the experimental clinic, and the hospital had specifically intended that the patient come into contact with defective lenses that were part of the experiments. By contrast, Smith did not plead that 1) she was part of an experimental clinic, 2) that Reading had assumed any duty to inform Smith of the risks of her surgery, or 3) that Reading had specifically intended that Smith come into contact with HIV-infected blood. Similar reasoning had been applied in another suit against a hospital arising out of a transfusion of HIV-infected blood, Jones v. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, 813 F.Supp. 1125 (E.D.Pa. 1993). Under this reasoning, Smith's claim of informed consent battery was dismissed. M.L. * * * In an unpublished opinion, New York State Supreme Court Justice Carol E. Huff has dismissed the complaint in Plaza v. Estate of Wisser, No. 121575/93 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Co., Dec. 23, 1993). Plaza is Wisser's surviving life partner. Wisser, an attorney, died from AIDS in 1992, having made out an unexecuted will leaving a quarter of his assets to Plaza. Since he died intestate, his entire estate, including the cooperative apartment in which the men lived, went to Wisser's parents. Plaza continued to live in the apartment for some time rent-free, receiving monthly payments from the Estate, but the payments ceased after a time. Plaza sued the estate and Wisser's parents, co-administrators, claiming he was infected with HIV by Wisser at a time when Wisser had not yet disclosed his HIV status to Plaza, and that the estate owed Plaza various damages on contractual theories based on an alleged promise by the parents to allow Plaza to continue living in the apartment in exchange for Plaza having quit his job to take care of Wisser during his illness. Huff found that the complaint "does not contain any actionable claims." In a brief, conclusory paragraph, Huff asserts that Plaza's claims he was deceived by Wisser were "belied by his concession of knowledge of pertinent information," and found that fraud and battery claims were time-barred. Huff also found that there was no legal consideration given by Plaza in exchange for an alleged promise to let him remain in the apartment "with all expenses paid," asserting that he had failed "to establish any damages incurred due to his reliance on their short-lived benevolence." Huff also dismissed an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim against the parents, finding that their behavior was not "extreme and outrageous." Plaza's attorney, Judith Ellen Stone, plans an appeal, arguing that Huff's ruling fails to deal appropriately with the negligence claim, both as to the asserted time-bar and on the merits. A.S.L. Other AIDS & Related Litigation Notes In a ruling that implicitly strengthens protection against employment discrimination for HIV+ employees of federal contractors under sec. 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor John R. Fraser overruled an administrative law judge of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and held that Commonwealth Aluminum violated sec. 503 by rejecting applicants for employment on the basis of pre-hire physical examinations that revealed a variety of latent conditions that were not symptomatic. OFCCP v. Commonwealth Aluminum, No. 82-OFC-6 (Feb. 10), full text in 1994 Daily Labor Report (BNA) No. 31, at D-1. Fraser ruled that the employer could not refuse to employ such individuals unless it could show a "reasonable probability of substantial harm" if they were to work at the job for which they applied. A.S.L. * * * Christopher Hennelly, a gay man who was beaten up by police officers while he was serving as a "peace marshall" at an ACT-UP demonstration, has agreed to a $350,000 settlement in his federal civil rights suit against the City of New York. City attorneys were quoted in the New York Times as stating the city settled because it expected to lose at trial. Hennelly sustained serious permanent injuries in the police assault. Charges filed against him by the police were dismissed by a state criminal court judge, who accused the police of attacking the demonstrators "without any apparent provocation," based on a videotape of the incident. A.S.L. * * * Ron Glasser, a San Francisco resident who has AIDS, filed suit against Orkin Exterminating Co. in San Francisco Superior Court in February, claiming that Orkin was refusing to provide extermination service for his apartment out of fear that fleas might spread AIDS to the exterminator's employees. Glasser claimed that appointment were repeatedly canceled, and that a company service manager told him that "just as insects had spread the Black Death in the Middle Ages, AIDS could be transmitted by insects and that he wouldn't put his workers in danger.<170) Glasser claimed unlawful discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and disability, and also appended a claim for emotional distress damages. An Orkin spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle (Feb. 17) that the company had contacted the CDC for reassurance that fleas don't spread AIDS, and had subsequently discharged the employee who refused to provide service to Glasser. A.S.L. HIV Confidentiality Legal Notes The N.Y. State Appellate Division, 3rd Department, indicated that judicial sanctions may not be imposed against the New York Attorney General for moving to dismiss an appeal from a determination by the State's AIDS Institute (a division of the State Department of Health) holding that the State Health Department did not violate the Public Health Law when it issued a press release disclosing the HIV sero-negative status of an employee who had been splashed with blood at her workplace. In O'Grady v. McBarnette, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 840 (Feb. 3), the Appellate Division noted that the state Supreme Court had extensively criticized the AG's motion to dismiss and had imposed sanctions and costs. Subsequently, a stipulated settlement between the parties removed the action from the courts and mooted an appeal. Nonetheless, the Appellate Division observed that the sua sponte imposition of sanctions against the AG would not be justified since the motion to dismiss was made pursuant to an express statutory provision and that an inquest on the amount of the sanctions would not satisfy the requirement of notice and an opportunity to be heard. R.B. * * * A police chief has been held not to be within the class of persons prohibited from disclosing confidential HIV-related information under Pennsylvania's Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act. Doe v. Township of Robinson, 1994 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 43 (Feb. 3, 1994), concerned a police officer who may have been exposed to HIV-contaminated blood while on duty, in the course of administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He informed his superiors of the possible exposure, and they subsequently ordered him to undergo testing. The officer brought suit when his supervisor circulated a memorandum detailing the incident to others in the department and disclosing the officer's current testing status. The suit alleged specific violations of the Confidentiality Act as well as invasions of privacy in tort. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the defendant township's demurrer to the complaint, finding that since the police chief did not provide health or social services, neither he nor the township was an "individual health care provider" covered by the Confidentiality Act. The lower court had not addressed the merits of the invasion of privacy claims since it had disposed of the matter under the Confidentiality statute and not under tort law. The Commonwealth Court, in an opinion by Judge Bernard McGinley, concluded that plaintiffs' failure to file a statement of matters complained of, as requested by the lower court pursuant to local procedure, effectively waived their right to present the claims for review. Plaintiffs argued that the record was sufficient to permit effective appellate consideration. However, since the lower court gave no reasons for dismissing the invasion of privacy claims, and since a statement of matters complained of was not filed, the Commonwealth Court concluded that it was unable to render meaningful appellate review of the privacy claims and considered them waived pursuant to the procedural rules. R.B. * * * AIDS & Society Notes Philadelphia, the film about a lawyer with AIDS who sued his former law firm alleging discriminatory discharge, is having interesting ripple effects. On Jan. 31, the family and estate of Geoffrey Bowers, a New York attorney who died from AIDS in 1987 after suing Baker & McKenzie over his discharge, sued the film- makers for $10 million, claiming the film was based on Bowers' life and case. On Jan. 25, the Washington Post ran an article about how the film was causing political problems for Senator Howard Metzenbaum's son-in-law, Joel Hyatt, the head of Hyatt Legal Services and a declared candidate to succeed his father-in- law as U.S. Senator from Ohio in this year's election. Hyatt's organization was the defendant in Cain v. Hyatt, 734 F.Supp. 671 (E.D.Pa. 1990), a case involving a Philadelphia lawyer who won his lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully fired because he had AIDS. When the film opened, many press commentators mentioned the Cain case as being an inspiration for the movie, and the Ohio Republican party is running with the story. Director Jonathan Demme and his collaborators on the movie have stated all along that its plot is not based on any one case. A.S.L. PUBLICATIONS NOTED & ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS Position Openings: The ACLU of Illinois seeks an attorney with substantial litigation experience to be director of its Gay & Lesbian Rights Project. Litigation responsibilities include direct representation and acting as resource for cooperating attorneys in significant lesbian and gay rights cases. Attorneys also actively participate in ACLU's legislative and public education programs. Salary commensurate with experience. ACLU of Illinois is an equal opportunity - affirmative action employer. Send resume, law school transcript and writing sample to Harvey Grossman, ACLU, 203 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1405, Chicago, IL 60601. Educational Programs & Conferences: The Practising Law Institute in New York is offering a four-part course on Legal Issues Facing the Non-Traditional Family on Wednesdays, April 13, 20, 27 and May 4 from 6 to 8 p.m.. The all-star faculty includes leading practitioners from the private bar and public interest organizations, and is co-chaired by Jane E. Booth, Director of Litigation of the Legal Aid Society of New York City, and Ruth E. Harlow, Associate Director of the ACLU's Lesbian/Gay Rights Project. The registration fee (which includes a copy of the course handbook) will be $99 (10% discount for PLI members). The handbook will also be available for direct purchase at $70. To register or order the handbook, call PLI at 212-765-5710. This is Seminar No. D8-8873. It will be held at PLI's NYC training center: 810 7th Avenue at 53rd St. The Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and HLS Lambda will co-host a one-day conference on Saturday, April 9, on gay and lesbian legal issues, and the Review will publish a symposium issue to mark the 25th anniversary of Stonewall. The conference will feature several noted legal academics and movement attorneys. Early registration is $40 for non-students and $5 for students before March 24; $50 and $10 after the deadline. For information, call the CR-CL office at 617-495- 4500, or write CR-CL, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02138. N.Y.U.'s Office of Special Programs is offering a special graduate course in Human Sexuality of three weeks in New York and three weeks in Copenhagen this summer. For full details, call about "Sexuality in Two Cultures", 212-998-5090. LESBIAN & GAY & RELATED LEGAL ISSUES: Alldridge, Peter, Sex, Lies and the Criminal Law, 44 Northern Ireland Legal Q. 250 (Autumn 1993). Anderson, Anthony, An Analysis of NSW Attorney-General's Anti- Discrimination (Amendment) Bill 1993, 3 Australasian Gay & Lesbian L.J. 39 (Oct. 1993). Crittenden, Jack, Fighting for Gay Rights, Nat'l Jurist, February/March 1994, 10-17 (lesbian and gay rights activities on law school campuses). Fraser, David, Oral Sex in the Age of Deconstruction: The Madonna Question, Sex and the House of Lords, 3 Australasian Gay & Lesbian L.J. 1 (Oct. 1993). Fullerton, Maryellen, A Comparative Look at Refugee Status Based on Persecution Due to Membership in a Particular Social Group, 26 Cornell Int'l L.J. 505 (1993). Lesbian and Gay Legal Rights Service, The Bride Wore Pink: Legal Recognition of Our Relationships, 3 Australasian Gay & Lesbian L.J. 67 (Oct. 1993). Loewy, Arnold H., Obscenity, Pornography, and First Amendment Theory, 2 William & Mary Bill of Rts. J. 471 (Winter 1993). Morgan, Shaughn, Legal Recognition of Gay and Lesbian Relationships, 3 Australasian Gay & Lesbian L.J. 57 (Oct. 1993). Rubenfeld, Abby R., Sexual Orientation and Custody: Constitutional Protections Are Often Denied Same Sex Parents, 21 Hum. Rts. (ABA) No. 1, 14 (Winter 1994). Stewart, Blair, New Zealand Immigration Law and Gay and Lesbian Couples, 3 Australasian Gay & Lesbian L.J. 30 (Oct. 1993). Ulmschneider, Georgia Wralstad, The Supreme Court, the First Amendment, and Anti-Sex-Discrimination Legislation: Putting American Booksellers Association, Inc. v. Hudnut In Perspective, 32 Duquesne L. Rev. 187 (Winter 1994). Student Notes & Comments: Breuner, Andrew J., Expression by Association: Towards Defining an Expressive Association Defense in Unruh-Based Sexual Orientation Discrimination Actions, 33 Santa Clara L. Rev. 467 (1993). Minter, Shannon, Sodomy and Public Morality Offenses Under U.S. Immigration Law: Penalizing Lesbian and Gay Identity, 26 Cornell Int'l L. J. 771 (1993). Ohlweiler, John Nelson, The Principle of Deference: Facial Constitutional Challenges to Military Regulations, 10 J. Law & Politics 147 (Fall 1993). Prokop, Donna, Controversial Teacher Speech: Striking a Balance Between First Amendment Rights and Educational Interests, 66 S. Cal. L. Rev. 2533 (September 1993). Recent Case, Family Law -- Adoption -- Massachusetts Allows Biological Mother and Her Lesbian Partner Jointly to Adopt Child, 107 Harv. L. Rev. 751 (January 1994). Swanson, Hollace S.W., Donor Anonymity in Artificial Insemination: Is It Still Necessary?, 27 Col. J. L. & Soc. Prob. 151 (Fall 1993). Specially Noted: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York has published the Report on the Experience of Lesbians and Gay Men in the Legal Profession prepared by its Committee on Lesbians and Gay Men in the Legal Profession, at 48 The Record of the Association of the Bar 843 (November 1993). The report, based on a survey of several hundred lesbian and gay attorneys, is accompanied by tables showing the breakdown of responses to a detailed questionnaire. Copies of the November issue of The Record can be obtained for $10 from the Association's publications manager, Lilou Irvine, at 212-382-6651. * * * Gay Issues in the Workplace, by Brian McNaught (St. Martin's Press, 1993), will prove useful to those advocating enlightened corporate policies. McNaught is a workplace diversity trainer who specializes in programs for large corporations, and the book is geared in that direction. Legal references are cursory; the focus is on human resources issues, including a detailed description of how a diversity training program is conducted. Appendices include extensive resource lists. * * * Clark Boardman Callaghan has published a loose-leaf treatise on Hate Crimes Law by Lu-in Wang (ISBN 0- 87632-917-2), which will be supplemented annually. For information, call 1-800-221-9428. * * * The Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Journal has amended its name with volume 3 (October 1993), and will be known henceforth as Australasian Gay and Lesbian Law Journal. * * * The 1993 decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Modinos v. Cyprus, No. A/259, holding that Cyprus's law penalizing consensual homosexual sex between adults violates Article 8 of the European Charter of Human Rights, can be found in vol. 16, part 5 (Nov. 1993) of European Human Rights Reports. * * * The National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (NLGLA) has published a 1993-1994 Membership Directory, listing members in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Copies are available to non- members for $10, from NLGLA, Box 77130, National Capital Station, Washington, D.C. 20013-7130. Inquiries about membership in NLGLA can be directed to the same address. Symposia: 23 J. Arts Mgt., L. & Soc. No. 3 (Fall 1993), features a special section consisting of four articles about the controversy of public funding for the arts (inspired in part of disputes about the National Endowment for the Arts' funding, or defunding, of homoerotic art). Articles include: David B. Pankratz, Contemporary Art, Society, and Public Policies; Steven C. Dubin, Arresting Images: Impolitic Art and Uncivil Actions; Judith Tannenbaum, Public Funding for the Arts: The Chill After the Storm; and Jill Bond & Jennifer Hutchins, Arresting Images: Why We Need to Recast the Debate. AIDS & RELATED LEGAL ISSUES: Barr, Judith K., and Robert A. Padgug, Employers and AIDS: Meeting the Health Benefit Needs of People With HIV Disease, 3 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol. 83 (Fall 1993). Bayer, Ronald, Are Limits on AIDS-Related Health Benefits Ethical?, 3 Employment Testing L. & Pol. Rep. No. 1, 1 (January 1994). Closen, Michael L., Mary Anne Bobinski, Donald H.J. Hermann, John F. Hernandez, Gene P. Schultz, and J. Kelly Strader, Criminalization of an Epidemic: HIV-AIDS and Criminal Exposure Laws, 46 Ark. L. Rev. 921 (1994) (edited transcript of panel discussion at 1993 Association of American Law Schools annual meeting). Court, Patricia G. & Linda Karr O'Connor, A Selected Bibliography on AIDS and Health Insurance, 3 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol. 109 (Fall 1993). Eisenstat, Steven, Capping Health Insurance Benefits for AIDS: An Analysis of Disability-Based Distinctions Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, 10 J. L. & Politics 1 (Fall 1993). Hryce, Michel, The Legal Protection of Privacy and HIV/AIDS, 3 Australasian Gay & Lesbian L.J. 46 (Oct. 1993). Isbell, Michael T., AIDS and Access to Care: Lessons for Health Care Reformers, 3 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol. 7 (Fall 1993). Lee, Barbara A., Reasonable Accommodation Under the Americans With Disabilities Act: The Limitations of Rehabilitation Act Precedent, 14 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 201 (1993). Mullen, Robert L., The Americans With Disabilities Act: An Introduction for Lawyers and Judges, 29 Land & Water L. Rev. 175 (1994). Padgug, Robert A., Gerald M. Oppenheimer, and Jon Eisenhandler, AIDS and Private Health Insurance: A Crisis of Risk Sharing, 3 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol. 55 (Fall 1993). Schuck, Peter H., Rethinking Informed Consent, 103 Yale L.J. 899 (Jan. 1994). Shalala, Donna E., Statement from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 3 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol. 1 (Fall 1993) (introduction to symposium on paying for AIDS care). Student Notes & Comments: Bartrum, Thomas E., Fear, Discrimination and Dying in the Workplace: AIDS and the Capping of Employees' Health Insurance Benefits, 82 Ky. L. J. 249 (1993-94). Case, Donna J., Condom or Not, Rape is Rape: Rape Law in the Era of AIDS -- Does Condom Use Constitute Consent?, 19 U. Dayton L. Rev. 227 (Fall 1993). Comment, Does the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 Impose an Undue Burden on Employers?, 32 Duquesne L. Rev. 269 (Winter 1994). Fanning, Gary L., Jr., Countering Workplace Fear and Misapprehension Through Legal Protection: Options for the HIV- Positive Public Employee, 33 Washburn L.J. 186 (Fall 1993). Gries, Alan R., New York State School Boards Ass'n v. Sobol: A Commendable Attempt to Apply Confusing Establishment Clause Standards, 38 Villanova L. Rev. 759 (1993) (constitutionality of state mandate that representatives of religious groups be included in public school AIDS advisory boards). Reilly, Rosemary G., Combating the Tuberculosis Epidemic: The Legality of Coercive Treatment Measures, 27 Col. J. L. & Soc. Prob. 101 (Fall 1993). Thompson, Melissa Moore, Enhanced Risk of Disease Claims: Limiting Recovery to Compensation for Loss, Not Chance, 72 N.C. L. Rev. 453 (Jan. 1994). Symposia: The Dual Epidemics of Tuberculosis and AIDS, 21 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Nos. 3-4 (Fall-Winter 1993). All of the 16 brief articles in this symposium emphasize the problems of coping with tuberculosis in HIV-infected populations. Articles have not been listed separately above. * * * Insuring Health Care for Persons With AIDS, 3 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol. No. 1 (Fall 1993) (individual articles listed above). Book Reviews: Dryovage, Mary, Compliance and Litigation Resources for Implementing the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 14 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 318 (1993). Riley, Diane M., Review/Commentary on AIDS and Drug Misuse: The Challenge for Policy and Practice in the 1990s, edited by John Strang and Jerry Stimson, 20 Contemporary Drug Problems No. 1, 133 (Spring 1993). Specially Noted: The ABA's Section on Urban, State and Local Government has published AIDS and Government Liability: State and Local Government Guide to Legislation, Legal Issues, and Liability. The publication is intended as a guide for government attorneys dealing with AIDS issues. Copies are available by order from ABA Order Fulfillment, 312-988-5522. EDITOR'S NOTE All points of view expressed in Lesbian/Gay Law Notes are those of identified writers, and are not official positions of the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York. Correspondence pertinent to issues covered in Law Notes is welcome and will be published subject to editing. * * * The staff list for the February issue of Law Notes inadvertently omitted Dirk Williams, Student, Northeastern Law School. The staff list names only those who have contributed to the issue in which they are listed.