hunter of justice

Congratulations Justice Robinson

Beth Robinson, whose argument to the Vermont Supreme Court in Baker v. State produced the ruling that exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage was unconstitutional under that state's constitution, was sworn in yesterday as a Justice of the same court. Since handling Baker, which ultimately resulted in the state legislature enacting a civil union law, Robinson had continued to practice law and advocate for lgbt rights. Most recently, she served as counsel to Governor Peter Shumlin, who appointed her to the court.

There are now six openly lgbt justices of state supreme courts: Rives Kistler and Virginia Linder in Oregon, Barbara Lenk in Massachusetts, Sabrina McKenna in Hawaii and Monica Marquez in Colorado, in addition to Robinson. Half of the six - Lenk, McKenna, and Robinson - were appointed during 2011.

Polikoff Wins LGBT Law Award

Congratulations to Nancy Polikoff who was honored by the National Lesbian and Gay Bar Association with its Dan Bradley award. You should read Nancy's speech. It's terrific and generous and also a fascinating look at the life of the man after whom the award was named. Dan Bradley was the head of the Legal Services Corporation in its glory days who came out in the 1980s as a gay man. Nancy gave deeper meaning to the award by researching his life and sharing that with a new generation of LGBT lawyers.

Mazel tov Jon Davidson!

Congratulations to Jon Davidson, the legal director of Lambda Legal,who today is receiving the Dan Bradley Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association at its conference in Miami.

I've known Jon for all of the 20+ years that he has worked for an lgbt rights organization - first the ACLU, then Lambda.  He's smart and dedicated, with all the right values. It is wonderful that he is receiving this recognition.

And besides, I love the pink tie.