Adam Winkler

The news that Florida prosecutors are bringing charges against George Zimmerman for the death of Trayvon Martin raises two questions: Will Zimmerman be convicted? And what role will Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law play in the case?

Before considering either of these two questions, however, one must recognize...

These days the Supreme Court is nothing if not predictable. After two days of oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature legislative accomplishment, there have been few surprises.

On the first day of hearings, the justices considered whether the lawsuits challenging the individual mandate were barred by...

On Wednesday, a week after a federal court rejected California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, another federal court issued a landmark ruling in favor of marriage equality. This time the law declared unconstitutional was the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which prohibits any federal agency...

The harassment began in November 2006. On a daily basis, a co-worker directed derogatory anti-gay epithets at James Friso, a structural mechanic employed by military contractor DynCorp International. Friso was repeatedly called a "faggot," "queer" and accused of engaging in homosexual acts. Even after discovering the harassment, management...

Today's landmark decision of a federal appeals court striking down California's Proposition 8, which denied marriage rights to same-sex couples, is cause to celebrate. While there have been a few state courts to rule that gays and lesbians are entitled to equal marriage rights under state law, never...

When a UC Davis police officer, Lt. John Pike, took out a can of pepper spray and calmly doused a group of passive, nonviolent Occupy protesters sitting on a campus pathway, he should have known that all of the world would witness his horrific act. There were scores...

A House oversight committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., issued a subpoena Wednesday demanding that Attorney General Eric Holder testify about a botched gun sting along the Mexican border. The committee is trying to get to the bottom of "Fast and Furious," a scandal-plagued operation involving the...

Reports indicate that the Obama administration may be considering new gun control proposals to limit the size of magazines or to strengthen background checks on gun purchasers. One thing you can bet on is that the National Rifle Association will oppose any such measures.

Yet it wasn't always this way....

After a decision by the Supreme Court affirming the right of individuals to own guns, then-Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sarcastically said, "Then why don't we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, you have a gun and I have a gun and...

Last week, Republican presidential candidate and frontrunner Mitt Romney announced his legal policy team. This group of lawyers will advise Romney on a variety of legal questions, including regulatory issues, the scope of executive power, and, most significantly, judicial nominations. The team is quite large -- 63 people...

Now that Republicans in Congress won important concessions from President Obama in the debt ceiling debate, the next partisan battle is likely to be over what promises to be the first major scandal of the Obama administration: the botched gun sting known as "Operation Fast and Furious." The...

When President Obama was asked at a press conference this past week whether he wanted to clarify his confused stance on gay marriage -- refuse to defend the Defense of Marriage Act one day, refuse to endorse marriage equality the next -- he answered that he "was not...

This past year has seen a remarkable shift when it comes to gay rights. From repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell to New York's legalization of same-sex marriage, America is finally embracing equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation. Surprisingly, Republicans have played a vital role in this transformation.

In a hearing Monday on whether the judge who struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage should have recused himself from the case, Prop. 8 backers insisted they were just misunderstood. They weren't asking for Vaughn Walker to step aside because he is gay. No, they are making a much...

Although random drug testing has not been a big issue over the past few years, Florida is determined to bring it back to life. This past week, Florida adopted two new drug testing requirements: one imposed on welfare recipients and the other on state employees. The irony is...

Backers of California's Proposition 8 have asked a federal appeals court to throw out the recent landmark decision declaring that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Because Vaughn Walker, the trial court judge who issued the opinion, has since revealed that he is gay and in a...

On Monday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of President Obama's landmark health-care law. Opponents of the law, who have sued to prevent the law from taking effect, sought to fast track their appeal. Yet while opponents didn't really expect the Supreme Court...

On Monday, the Tennessee legislature voted along party lines to join an interstate compact intended to exempt the state from having to follow the national health care law. The state's Republican governor is likely to sign the bill, and at least nine other states are considering similar action....

Liberals rejoiced on Wednesday when the Obama Administration, which has often seemed indifferent to gay rights, announced that it would not defend a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act in court. DOMA, as the law is known, establishes that only opposite-sex marriages are recognized by federal...

Monday's federal court decision striking down the landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA) shows how much the political right has embraced judicial activism. After years of denouncing liberals for seeking to overturn the will of the people through court decisions, conservatives have fully adopted that very same approach to...