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Gay Rights Cases on the Rise

Below is a wire article on the rising number of gay rights cases in the United States justice system and how they represent one of the greatest new focuses for US courts in the 21st century. The article includes comments from US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. O'Connor spoke and answered questions as part of a month long educational series on C-SPAN.

To locate information about the US Supreme Court, or to contact Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, please visit www.supremecourtus.gov. To learn more about C-SPAN, please visit: www.c-span.org.

Gay rights cases on the rise
Justice O'Connor notes new trend

By ANNE GEARAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Legal cases involving the rights and treatment of gay people are on the increase, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said Thursday, suggesting a major new focus for the nation's courts in the 21st century.

Asked to predict what issue might define the work of the Supreme Court in the 21st century, O'Connor said cases "relating to how homosexuals are treated legally" are one possibility.

"We see a lot of these," O'Connor said.

She did not mention a major gay rights case now before the high court. The court is considering whether states such as Texas may ban sex acts between homosexuals that are legal for heterosexuals.

At the same time, the Supreme Court is still dealing with the legacy of race, an issue that occupied the courts for much of the 20th century, she told high school students.

"I don't know that we've solved everything on the race issue yet," O'Connor said. "We have to know we haven't, because we have cases at the court this term dealing with affirmative action in higher education."

A test of the constitutionality of affirmative action in campus admissions is the most closely watched issue before the high court this term. The court is expected to rule by summer on whether race-conscious admissions policies at the University of Michigan and its law school discriminate against whites.

"I don't think we've finished, quite, the things from the last century," O'Connor told students at Gonzaga College High School.

O'Connor predicted her court will confront questions about civil liberties in the war on terrorism, but suggested the high court may not jump on the first Sept. 11-related case it sees.

"These issues are working their way through the court system," and the Supreme Court often waits to see how several lower courts view an issue before it gets involved, she said.

"We're not the first ones to get to the scene of the fire and put out the flames," O'Connor said. "We're kind of the last."