UK election - party policies

In brief - the BBC has a great summary of the main party policies, helpfully organised by theme. A great place to start for any student of Unit 1 considering the different policies of political parties.

Ed, Dave and Nick.
Picture credit - BBC

Protestors in Baltimore.
Picture Credit - Guardian / AP

The recent death of a man in police custody sparked riots in the US city of Baltimore. The exact circumstances of Freddie Grey's death are still to be determined.

This is under a month after the death was reported of Walter Scott who was shot in the back 8 times by police in South Carolina in early April.

However it is a useful reminder for G and P students of Unit 3C that there are still numerous racial problems in the US, despite the progress that has been made since the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Gay Marriage in USA

Protestors outside the Supreme Court.
Picture credit: Huffington Post 

The case Obergefell v Hodges was heard by the US Supreme Court earlier this week. This is the case asking the Court to force States to recognise the marriage of gay couples on other states. The couple in question (James Obergefell and John Arthur) went to court to get Ohio to recognise the marriage that took place in Maryland in 2013. John Arthur was terminally ill, and Obergefell wanted the state to recognise him as the spouce and beneficiary of Arthur's estate.

The Economist has a leader here about it - which explains the argument in favour (and also explains the argument againist). There is also an article about  the impact of the current situation, where marriage is legal in one state and not in another (pretty horrendous).

Of interest to G and P students in Unit 4C is the analysis that although it is likely to be an activist decision with Roberts and Kennedy in favour of Obergefell this unlikely to be as controversial as Roe v Wade:

Firstly Americans are increasingly in favour:

Picture Credit: The Economist

Also, to quote the leader:

the court ruled in Roe v Wade that it should be legal everywhere, citing a right to privacy that is nowhere mentioned in the constitution. This newspaper favours legal abortion, but in Roe the justices invented the law rather than interpreting it, substituting their preferences for those of voters.

The main argument against seems to be that the allowing of gay marriage across America should be left up to elected representatives to pass a law. The counter to that is that if it is not acceptable to practice discrimination of a, say, racist or sexist type under the constitution, it should also not be acceptable to discriminate against gays.

There is a great timeline in the LA times of the change in attitude of the USA to gay marriage here:

A timeline of the USA's support for gay marriage.
Picture Credit: LA Times

The decision is likely to be revealed in June.

Update July 2015: I forgot to update this in the light of the US Supreme Court decision in June, but worthwhile to record here the momentous decision by the Court that prevents Gay Marriage from being banned in States.  The court voted 5-4 with Kennedy siding with the liberal justices.

Wikipedia's page about the case, Obergefell v Hodges can be found here. The Scotus blog's summary can be found here.

The Atlantic tries to put this all into context here with a summary of the long battle for gay rights.

The White House celebrates the US Supreme Court decision.
Picture credit; CNN