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Same-sex Marriage In Pennsylvania
Same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania has been legally recognized since May 20, 2014, when a U.S. federal district court judge ruled that the state's 1996 statutory ban on recognizing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Governor Tom Corbett announced the following day that he would not appeal the decision. Pennsylvania had previously prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriage by statute since 1996, but had never added such a ban to its State Constitution. Pennsylvania has never recognized civil unions or domestic partnerships, and was the last U.S. state in the Northeastern United States to legalize same-sex marriage, and the 19th state overall. Legal history Statutory ban On May 8, 1996, Representative Allan Egolf introduced legislation to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to ban same-sex marriages and refuse to recognize marriages performed in other states. The bill bypassed the House Judiciary Committee in the hopes of speeding its passage before the next electi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States District Court For The Middle District Of Pennsylvania
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, M.D. Pa.) is a district level federal court with jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania. The court was created in 1901 by subdividing the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The court is under the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit). Because Harrisburg, the state capital, is located within the district's jurisdiction, most suits against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are filed in the Middle District. Similarly, because York County Prison served as the largest Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) facility in the Northeast, the Middle District also adjudicated many immigration cases. The c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician and author who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003, and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995. Ridge was born in Munhall, Pennsylvania and raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Harvard University with honors, he served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He then returned to Pennsylvania and completed his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the Dickinson School of Law, graduating in 1972, and entered private practice. As assistant district attorney in Erie, Ridge ran for Congress in his district, where he served six terms. He then ran for governor in 1994, despite being little-known ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve McCarter
Stephen McCarter (born February 16, 1947) is a retired American educator and politician. He was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 154th legislative district from 2012 until 2020. The district was located in Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, including Cheltenham Township, Jenkintown, Springfield Township, and part of Philadelphia's 35th Ward. Background Prior to his election as a state representative, McCarter was a high school social studies teacher for 35 years in Abington and Lower Merion. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Temple University and a Masters of Science degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. He also worked as an adjunct professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, and was a captain in the US Army Reserve. McCarter has served as the Chairman of the Cheltenham School District Local Tax Study Commission, and he was also a member of the Cheltenham Development ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Sims
Brian Kendall Sims (born September 16, 1978) is an American politician, activist and attorney. A Democrat, he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 182nd district from 2013 until 2022. Sims is also a lawyer and advocate for LGBT civil rights. Sims is the first openly-gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania history. He won re-election on November 6, 2018. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, finishing in second place behind Austin Davis with 25% of the vote. Early life and education Sims was born in Washington, D.C., the son of two Army lieutenant colonels of Irish descent. Sims was raised in the Catholic Church but stopped attending church at the age of 16. Sims lived in seventeen states before settling in Pennsylvania in the early-1990s. He graduated from Downingtown High School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, in 1997. He later completed his undergraduate studies at Bloomsburg University, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the 17th largest in the United States as of 2017. Founded on June 1, 1829 as ''The Pennsylvania Inquirer'', the newspaper is the third longest continuously operating daily newspaper in the nation. It has won 20 Pulitzer Prizes . ''The Inquirer'' first became a major newspaper during the American Civil War. The paper's circulation dropped after the Civil War's conclusion but then rose again by the end of the 19th century. Originally supportive of the Democratic Party, ''The Inquirers political orientation eventually shifted toward the Whig Party and then the Republican Party before officially becoming politically independent in the middle of the 20th cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislative Session
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. In each country the procedures for opening, ending, and in between sessions differs slightly. A session may last for the full term of the legislature or the term may consist of a number of sessions. These may be of fixed duration, such as a year, or may be used as a parliamentary procedural device. A session of the legislature is brought to an end by an official act of prorogation. In either event, the effect of prorogation is generally the clearing of all outstanding matters before the legislature. Common procedure Historically, each session of a parliament would last less than one year, ceasing with a prorogation during which legislators could return to their constituencies. In more recent times, development in transportation technolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babette Josephs
Babette Josephs (August 4, 1940 – August 27, 2021) was a Democratic politician and attorney, who served 28 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Josephs was first elected in 1984, representing the 182nd Legislative District, which encompasses Center City and South Philadelphia. She held office through November 30, 2012. Josephs served as the Democratic chair of the House State Government Committee from 2001 to 2012. She was the senior woman in the General Assembly and convener of the Women's Caucus. In her role as state representative, she was an unabashed champion of progressive causes. Josephs was one of a few members of the Democratic Socialists of America to be elected to public office at the time. Early life, education and family Born in Manhattan on August 4, 1940, Josephs earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 at Queens College, and a Juris Doctor degree at Rutgers–Camden School of Law in 1976. In 1962 she wed Herbert Newberg in Queens. Married for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains, the paper formed under its present title in 1927 from the consolidation of the ''Pittsburgh Gazette Times'' and ''The Pittsburgh Post''. The ''Post-Gazette'' ended daily print publication in 2018 and has cut down to two print editions per week (Sunday and Thursday), going online-only the rest of the week. In the 2010s, the editorial tone of the paper shifted from liberal to conservative, particularly after the editorial pages of the paper were consolidated in 2018 with '' The Blade'' of Toledo, Ohio. After the consolidation, Keith Burris, the pro-Trump editorial page editor of '' The Blade'', directed the editorial pages of both papers. Early history ''Gazette'' The ''Post-Gazette'' began its history as a four-page w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daylin Leach
Daylin Leach (born June 23, 1961) is a former American politician and lawyer, who was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 17th senatorial district from 2009 until 2020. He was previously a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 149th district from 2003 to 2009. Early life, education, and legal career Leach was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Parkland High School in 1979 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1986. He practiced law for 16 years, focusing on family and education law. He taught constitutional law, legal ethics and First Amendment law as an adjunct professor at Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College. Leach served as president of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats in the early 1990s and on the Allentown Zoning Board from 1990 to 1994. During his career, he co-hosted ''Lehigh Valley Firing Line'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republican Party Of Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Republican Party (PAGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg. History Founding The party was founded on November 27, 1854, in Towanda ( Bradford County) by former Congressman David Wilmot. Wilmot invited a small group of friends and political leaders to the organization's first meeting, which took place in his home. Among the attendees were Senator Simon Cameron, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Colonel Alexander McClure and future Governor Andrew Curtin. Wilmot convinced the group to form local Republican Clubs in their home counties. George Bloom made the Republican Party a statewide organization in 1959. He had the headquarters located in Harrisburg, where it remains to this day.Morris, Dick. Republican Party of Pennsylvania , PAGOP.org , Republican Party of Pennsylvania , PAGOP.org. Web. 01 Sept. 2011 Overview Pennsylvania was dominated politically by the Democratic Party (United State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and was unicameral. Since the Constitution of 1776, the legislature has been known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly became a bicameral legislature in 1791. Membership The General Assembly has 253 members, consisting of a Senate with 50 members and a House of Representatives with 203 members, making it the second-largest state legislature in the nation, behind New Hampshire, and the largest full-time legislature. Senators are elected for a term of four years. Representatives are elected for a term of two years. The Pennsylvania general elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years. A vacant seat must be filled by special election, the date of which is set by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malcolm Kenyatta
Malcolm Kenyatta (born July 30, 1990) is an American politician from North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the Pennsylvania State Representative for the 181st district since 2019. Early life and education Kenyatta was born to the late Kelly Kenyatta and the late Malcolm J. Kenyatta, at Temple University Hospital in North Central Philadelphia. He has three adopted siblings. Kenyatta is the grandson of the civil rights activist Muhammad I. Kenyatta. Kenyatta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in strategic communication from Temple University and a Master of Science in public communication from Drexel University. During college, Kenyatta organized student protests against proposed education budget cuts by then-Governor Tom Corbett. During college, Kenyatta was also an avid poet and performer. In 2008, with the help of theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which has twic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
