Public Policy > Our Policy Positions > Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

“To protect that right, every unjustifiable intrusion by the government upon the privacy of the individual, whatever that means employed, must be deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment.” – Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Olmstead v. U.S. 438, 478 (1928)

SCOTUS to Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases

The BBA applauds the Justices of the United States Supreme Court for recently granting certiorari to challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8. Because of our long-standing support of same-sex marriage, the BBA will continue to watch with interest as this issue progresses in Washington. 

The BBA’s first supported marriage equality in 2002 with the independent filing of an amicus brief in the landmark Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.  In 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its ruling in the Goodridge case stating that barring a same-sex couple from marriage constituted discrimination against gays and lesbians.  Consistent with our position in Goodridge, in 2005 the BBA independently filed another amicus brief in the case Sandra and Roberta Cote-Whitacre et al. v. Department of Public Health et al.  The BBA’s brief challenged the Department of Public Health’s enforcement of M.G.L. c. 207, sec. 11-12 to prevent city and town clerks from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples residing in other states.

Most recently in November 2011, the BBA signed onto an amicus brief drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union and Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP concerning two cases – Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, et al. and Nancy Gill et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al. – that challenge the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA heard before the First Circuit.  In May 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit agreed that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional. 

Back to All News

The Issues

  • Privacy

    As data collection and information networks expand, data security and privacy issues are increasingly a central part of the legal landscape.  Legislators, regulators, businesses and lawyers are under increasing pressure to draft and implement effective laws, regulations, and security and privacy programs under rapidly changing technological, business and legal conditions. 

  • Same-Sex Marriage
    • The BBA believes that civil marriage is a basic civil rights issue fundamental to the freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 14th amendment.  In recent years, the BBA has taken other actions in support of same-sex marriage, including:
    • In 2002, we filed an independent amicus brief in support of same-sex couples seeking the right to marry in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health. In the brief, we argued that denying civil marriage licenses violated the Massachusetts Constitution.
    • In 2005, we drafted a brief supporting the position of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) in Cote-Whiteacre v. Dept. of Pub Health. We argued that the 1913 statute, which prevents non-resident couples from marrying in Massachusetts if that marriage would be void in their home state, was unconstitutional.
  • Death Penalty

    The BBA has repeatedly opposed legislation that would reinstitute capitol punishment and filed an amicus brief in Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz. Our arguments point to flaws in the justice system, the death penalty's disproportionate effect on minority populations, and its failure to deter violent crime, and the fallibility of the justice system

  • See More of Our Work

    For more information or to learn how to get involved, please email Kathleen Joyce, Director of Government Relations, at kjoyce@bostonbar.org.