Criminal Justice

(NEW YORK, October 5, 1998) -- In an important victory for lesbian and gay law enforcement personnel and the Puerto Rican gay community, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Monday that a federal judge has struck down a disciplinary rule that absolutely prohibits Puerto Rico police officers from associating with lesbians and gay men.

(NEW YORK, June 23, 1998) -- An Arkansas judge Tuesday gave the green light for a constitutional challenge to the state's criminal ban on certain private sexual activities between consenting adults of the same sex, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said.

(NEW YORK, May 22, 1998) -- On behalf of seven lesbian and gay Arkansas residents, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund next week will urge the Little Rock Chancery Court to reject government attorneys' efforts to have the plaintiffs' challenge to Arkansas' sodomy ban thrown out of court.

The plaintiffs contend that Arkansas' same-sex only ban is unconstitutional and severely harms lesbians and gay men in the state.

(NEW YORK, January 28, 1998) -- Representatives from several Arkansas organizations will join Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in Little Rock, Arkansas, this Wednesday to announce a lawsuit on behalf of seven courageous Arkansas lesbians and gay men against that state's sodomy ban.

Several of the plaintiffs also will attend the news conference.

(New York, September 12, 2006) — Lambda Legal’s Executive Director, Kevin Cathcart, issued the following statement concerning the death of Tyrone Garner, one of the two plaintiffs in Lambda Legal’s landmark U. S. Supreme Court victory, Lawrence and Garner v. Texas:

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Tyrone’s family and friends and we join them in mourning his passing.

(Platteville, Wisconsin, September 28, 2006) — In court papers filed today, Lambda Legal seeks recovery for damages suffered by Brett Timmerman after he was attacked because he is gay.

“Mr. Timmerman was singled out and beaten by his attackers because he is gay,” said James P. Madigan, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. “He suffered physical as well as emotional injury and has shouldered significant expense in the aftermath of the attack.”

(LOS ANGELES, October 15, 1997) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the nation's leading lesbian and gay legal organization, honors recipients of its 5th Annual West Coast Liberty Awards on Thursday, October 16, including Judge William A. Norris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Lambda's 5th Annual West Coast Liberty Awards will be held 6-9 p.m., Thursday, October 16, at the Center Green Theater, Pacific Design Center.

(LOS ANGELES, CA, July 25, 1997) - The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office is helping the Police Department continue its discriminatory use of lewd-conduct laws against gay men, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said today.

"The LAPD wants to hide the fact that it applies different standards to gay men than to heterosexuals in the course of hunting for gay men to arrest for supposed lewd conduct," said Jon W. Davidson, Supervising Attorney for Lambda's Western Regional Office in Los Angeles.

5/16/2008

"A homeless man who spit in the mouth and eye of a police officer and then taunted him, saying he was H.I.V. positive, was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for harassing a public servant with a deadly weapon: his saliva.

"Because of the deadly weapon finding, the man, Willie Campbell, 42, of Dallas, will not be eligible for parole until he has served half his sentence.

4/16/2008

"A coalition of advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights is calling for Ventura County prosecutors to try 14-year-old Brandon McInerney in juvenile court, not as an adult.

"McInerney has been charged as an adult in connection with the Feb. 12 fatal shooting of a classmate, Larry King, at E.O. Green School in Oxnard.

"According to students, King, 15, might have been targeted because he was openly gay.