The LGBT movement has sometimes been described as this generation’s civil rights movement. As societal norms continue to shape the social landscape, so too do the opinions of the courts when it comes to issues affecting the LGBT community. In that vein, there are two recent decisions from federal courts, one locally and one nationally, which are helping to shape the legal landscape.
The first is a decision handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers most of the nation’s West Coast, including California, which has been known to render a landmark decision or two. In the matter of SmithKline Beecham d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline v. Abbott Laboratories, No. 11-17357, (9th Cir. Jan. 21, 2014), the appellate court in San Francisco held that a gay man was improperly excluded from being a juror in a civil trial because of his sexual orientation. In so holding, the court held that “permitting a strike based on sexual orientation would send the false message that gays and lesbians could not be trusted to reason fairly on issues of great import to the community or the nation.”
