On Tuesday a federal appeals panel in San Francisco ruled that California's infamous Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional. This decision would lead to the Supreme Court's consideration of the highly controversial social issue.

The panel overturned the proposition by a 2 to 1 vote. Proposition 8 was approved by 52 percent of California voters in 2008, and thus amended the state's Constitution to limit marriage to a man and woman.

U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in his decision:

“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.”

Reinhardt, appointed by Jimmy Carter, was joined ruling the proposition unconstitutional by Judg Michael Daly Hawkins, who was appointed by Bill Clinton. Judge N. Randy Smith, who was appointed by George W. Bush, dissented.

On Monday, a federal judge temporarily put a stop to drug testing Florida welfare recipients, siding with opponents of the new law pushed by Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican dominated Legislature. U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven said in her decision that the testing requirement amounts to an unreasonable search and seizure, and criticized lawmakers for ignoring an "overwhelming body of case law" when approving the law last spring.

The ACLU of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute brought about the legal challenge. Both groups have hailed the judge's decision. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Luis Lebron, a 35-year-old man from Orlando, who, along with his 4-year-old son, was declared ineligible for benefits because he refused to take the required drug test.

Following Judge Scriven's ruling, the Scott administration ordered testing to be put on hold. However, the Scott administration still defended the new policy as necessary.

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, said Scott and state officials should just abandon efforts to defend the drug-testing policy for TANF applicants.

It is no surprise to anyone who knows Dennis Kucinich is as strong of an advocate for workers rights and labor. The Cleveland Congressman gave a rousing speech in Madison, Wisconsin, over the weekend in front of a rabid fanbase as he denounced legislation that has been spreading throughout the Midwest that strips away collective bargaining and the power of unions. Above is the video and below is the transcript of his remarks.

Strong! Be Strong! Be Strong!

Thank you. Thank you Matt, Tami, Ed, Jim Hightower[et al. --unclear, potatohead]

We've got a lot of great people, who have come to Wisconsin to support you, and I'm very glad to have the opportunity to join them.

This... this is a moment in American history where we're called upon to respond with everything that we are, with all that's in our heart and soul, so that we can reclaim the essence of economic justice before it is somehow it is lost on the corporate scaffold!

We have to fight back!

We fight back for our democracy!

We fight back for our Constitution!

We fight back for freedom of speech, for the right to assemble, for.. for the right to, for the freedom of association!

We fight back for due process!

Photo: An image of the alleged shooter Jared Loughner taken from his MySpace account.

Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect said to have shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others on Saturday at an event hosted by the Congresswoman, has been formally charged by the Justice Department. Loughner has been charged on five counts including attempting to kill a Congresswoman, two counts of first degree murder of federal employees, and two counts of attempted murder of federal employees.

In a statement of probably cause, FBI special agent Tony M. Taylor wrote that John M. Roll, the chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Arizona who was shot and killed this weekend, had worked with Giffords in recent weeks on resolving issues related to the volume of cases filed in the district. This seemily confirms the theory that the judge was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was not a specific target of the shooter.

Taylor has reviewed surveillance video and other evidence, and from that he says that Loughner shot Giffords, Roll, and staffers Ron Barber, Gabriel Zimmerman, and Pamela Simon, as well as 14 other individuals. Charges for the other murders will likely be filed on the state level rather than the federal level.

Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and the fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court. The oath was administered to Kagan by Chief Justice John Roberts in a brief private ceremony at the court.

Joined by her family and friends, Kagan pledged to faithfully and impartially uphold the law.

A former Harvard Law School dean, Kagan, was President Barack Obama's choice to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens. Before being confirmed by the Senate in a 63-37 vote this past week, Republicans criticized her as a political liberal.

Stevens was once considered the leader of the liberals at the court, however, Kagan isn't expected to significantly alter the court's ideological balance.

Although Kagan was sworn in on Saturday, she won't be formally installed as a justice until October 1 in a courtroom ceremony at the start of the court's new term. However, she will be able to immediately begin assuming her duties as justice, which includes reviewing cases and emergency appeals filed to the Supreme Court.

Kagan, 50, will join two other women currently serving on the nine-member Supreme Court - Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. The first female in the court's history was Justice Sandra Day O'Conner, who retired in 2005.

On Thursday, a federal appeals court upheld the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency and "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, rejecting arguments that the phrases violate the separation of church and state.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco rejected two legal challenges by atheist Michael Newdow of Sacramento. Newdow argued that the references to God are unconsitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs. The same court ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002 when it decided that the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment prohibition against government endorsement of religion.

George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the 2002 decision, called their decision "ridiculous". Senators then passed a resolution condemning the ruling, and Newdow received death threats. In 2004, Newdow's lawsuit reached the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court said that he lacked legal standing to file the suit because he didn't have custody of his daughter, on whose behalf he brought the case.

To get around this, Newdow filed an identical case on behalf of other parents who objected to reciting the pledge at school. In 2005, a Sacramento judge decided in Newdow's favor. This prompted the appeals court to take on the case.

Nate Silver, the numbers man, tells us why it is so important to pass the health reform bill – even without the more desirable public options. What he sees: poorer people getting subsidized care and the subsidy coming from higher incomes sources.

“I understand that most of the liberal skepticism over the Senate bill is well intentioned. But it has become way, way off the mark. Where do you think the $800 billon goes? It goes to low-income families … Where do you think it comes from? We won’t know for sure until the Senate and House produce their conference bill, but it comes substantially from corporations and high-income earners, plus some efficiency gains,” writes Silver. He operates a website, FiveThirtyEight, and does unique political polling.

He has a chart that shows the breakdown of what families pay presently and would under the reform bill. It reveals the subsidies that would benefit lower income families.

His full statement can be found here: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/12/why-progressives-are-batshit-crazy-to.html

Cleveland area Congressman Dennis Kucinich today released statement regarding the debate over universal healthcare. Kucinich has run for President twice with a platform that favored healthcare for all citizens under a single-payer-not-for-profit system.

The title of the release by Kucinich was titled "Healthcare: Change the Debate Support a Real Public Option" and reads:

Dear Friends,

In mid-May, in an effort to reach consensus, President Obama secured a deal with the health insurance companies to trim 1.5% of their costs each year for ten years saving a total of $2 trillion dollars, which would be reprogrammed into healthcare. Just two days after the announcement at the White House the insurance companies reneged on the deal which was designed to protect and increase their revenue at least 35% The insurance companies reneged on the deal because they refuse any restraint on increasing premiums, copays and deductibles - core to their profits. No wonder a recent USA Today poll found that only four percent of Americans trust insurance companies. This is within the margin of error, which means it is possible that NO ONE TRUSTS insurance companies.