NY Attorney General Calls on NFL to Investigate Whether Draft Picks Were Asked, Illegally, About Sexual Orientation

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is calling on the NFL to investigate whether potential recruits at the recent NFL Combine were asked, illegally, about their sexual orientation, the AP reports.

"We ask that the league immediately issue a statement that any form of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation by league teams or players against potential recruits or players constitutes a violation of state, local and, in some cases, contractor law and will not be tolerated," Schneiderman said in a letter dated Thursday and released to news organizations.

Schneiderman asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to call him by next Wednesday to schedule a meeting on the matter.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league was already looking into the issue and would discuss it at its meeting next week in Phoenix.

The request comes following remarks in late February by prospect Nick Kasa, a senior at the University of Colorado, to ESPN radio. Kasa said that recruiters at the NFL Scouting Combine asked him questions like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ Are you married?’ Do you like girls?’.

The NFL released a statement at the time:

“Like all employers, our teams are expected to follow applicable federal, state and local employment laws. It is league policy to neither consider nor inquire about sexual orientation in the hiring process. In addition, there are specific protections in our collective bargaining agreement with the players that prohibit discrimination against any player, including on the basis of sexual orientation. We will look into the report on the questioning of Nick Kasa at the Scouting Combine. Any team or employee that inquires about impermissible subjects or makes an employment decision based on such factors is subject to league discipline.”

Said Hudson Taylor, Executive Director Athlete Ally, in a response to Schneiderman's letter:

“We have seen how important leadership from the Commissioner's Office is when it comes to gay inclusion in sports. It was former commissioner Paul Tagliabue who worked diligently behind the scenes to include an anti-discrimination clause based on sexual in the collective bargaining agreement. Now, with the call for the league's policy to be more fully articulated, we are confident Roger Goodell, who maintains a public track record supporting gay rights issues like anti-bullying, will make this part of his legacy as commissioner.”

Judge Rules Lawsuit Challenging New York Marriage Equality Law Can Proceed

New York Supreme Court Judge Robert Wiggins has ruled that a lawsuit brought by New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom challenging the state's marriage equality law can proceed.

The NY Daily News wrote, of the lawsuit, in July:

The group, led by the Rev. Jason J. McGuire (pictured), claims that the state Senate, in adopting the legislation, violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by closing off the Senate galleries and lobby; and by holding closed door meetings with Mayor Bloomberg and others who backed the law.

The group also claims, among other things, that Gov. Cuomo and the Senate ignored the constitutionally mandated three-day waiting period before a bill can be acted upon and that lawmakers approved the legislation in exchange for campaign contributions from Bloomberg and other high profile "Wall Street financiers."

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked Wiggins to dismiss the case in September. The AP:

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman argued in papers filed Friday that the opponents have not been harmed by the law, don’t have standing to challenge the actions of the Senate and any procedural actions of the Senate and governor aren’t subject to judicial review.

Capitol Confidential reports on Wiggins ruling:

The four-page decision includes some tough language for the way things get done at the Capitol, including what the judge labels as “disingenuous” justifications from Gov. Andrew Cuomo for issuing a message of necessity that rushed the legislation onto the Senate floor on the final evening of session. In the case of same-sex marriage, the message stated that speed was required as long as 50,000 New Yorkers were being denied their right to marry — a set of circumstances that had pertained for the previous 200-odd years without prompting emergency action.

However, Wiggins "concludes the decision by shooting down all of the lawsuit’s complaints" and letting the Attorney General off the hook as a defendant: "Wiggins notes that since the court must assume the underlying facts in the suit’s case to be true, the matter is therefore 'a justiciable issue' to be determined in court."

Wiggins also notes in his ruling that the measure is not one in which the Court should be involved:

 this Court is reluctantly obliged to rule that that the message of necessity submitted by the Governor was accepted by vote of the Senate, and is NOT within this Court’s province to nullify.”

More from Capital Tonight HERE.

More from the NY Daily News HERE.

Full ruling, AFTER THE JUMP...

New York AG Schneiderman Asks Court to Reject Challenge to Marriage Equality Law

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked a New York court on Friday to throw out a lawsuit challenging the state's marriage equality law, the AP reports:

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and several other opponents of the law sued on July 25, claiming in part that the law should be nullified because the state Senate violated its own rules and the state’s open meetings law before the critical vote that led to its narrow passage.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman argued in papers filed Friday that the opponents have not been harmed by the law, don’t have standing to challenge the actions of the Senate and any procedural actions of the Senate and governor aren’t subject to judicial review.

Schneiderman has requested an October 17 hearing.

NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Joins Suit Challenging DOMA

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed briefs in the Edie Windsor lawsuit challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Writes the AG's office in a press release:

Schneiderman filed the papers in federal court in support of the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in the case of Windsor v. United States. The plaintiff, Edie Windsor, was married in Canada in 2007 to her partner, Thea Spyer, who died two years later.

Following Spyer’s death, the federal government refused to acknowledge the couple’s marriage under DOMA and taxed the resulting inheritance accordingly. Windsor then filed suit, challenging the constitutionality of DOMA and seeking a refund of the estate taxes she was forced to pay as a result of the federal government’s refusal to recognize her marriage.

In the amicus curiae brief, Schneiderman argues that in redefining the term marriage, Section 3 of DOMA violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and must therefore be invalidated. He goes on to argue that the statute is an improper intrusion on the traditional role of states in defining marriage; that it discriminates based on sex and sexual orientation and therefore must be subjected to heightened scrutiny; and that DOMA fails any level of scrutiny because it does not advance any legitimate federal interest.

Said Schneiderman: “The federal Defense of Marriage Act clearly violates the principle of equal justice under law as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and improperly intrudes on the traditional role of states in defining marriage. The State of New York has long recognized out-of-state, same-sex marriages and the enactment of the Marriage Equality Act further cements our state’s position on this critical civil rights issue. My office will fight every day to defend the fundamental guarantee of equal protection under law for all New Yorkers.”

Read the Schneiderman brief HERE (PDF).