Same-sex marriage in the United States

WEEK 3

In the United States of America, same-sex marriage has been legal nationwide since June 26, 2015, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.The court ruled that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples and the refusal to recognize those marriages performed in other jurisdictions violates the Due Process and the Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The ruling overturned a precedent, Baker v. Nelson.

While civil rights campaigning took place from the 1970s,the issue became prominent from around 1993, when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition was unconstitutional. The ruling led to federal actions and actions by several states, to restrict marriage to male-female couples, in particular the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). During the period of 2003 to 2015, various lower court decisions, state legislation, and popular referendums had already legalized same-sex marriage to some degree in thirty-eight out of fifty U.S. states, in the U.S. territory Guam, and in the District of Columbia. In 2013 the Supreme Court overturned a key provision of DOMA, declaring part of it unconstitutional and in breach of the Fifth Amendment in United States v. Windsor because it "singled out a class of persons" for discrimination, by refusing to treat their marriages equally under federal law when state law had created them equally valid. The ruling led to the federal government's recognition of same-sex marriage, with federal benefits for married couples connected to either the state of residence or the state in which the marriage was solemnized. However the ruling focused on the provision of DOMA responsible for the federal government refusing to acknowledge State sanctioned same-sex marriages, leaving the question of state marriage laws itself to the individual States. The Supreme Court addressed that question two years later in 2015, ruling, in Obergefell, that same-sex married couples were to be constitutionally accorded the same recognition as opposite-sex couples at state/territory levels, as well as at federal level.

By the time that same-sex marriage became legal nationally, public opinion on the subject had reached almost 60% approval levels according to polls by the Wall Street Journal, Human Rights Campaign, and CNN,having been consistently over 50% since 2010 and trending consistently upward over the years prior.

◎STRUCTURE◎
▶WHO / Homosexual
▶WHEN / June 26, 2015
▶WHAT /
▶HOW /
▶WHERE / United States of America

◎KEYWORD◎

▶unconstitutional / 違憲
▶jurisdiction / 管轄權
▶Amendment / 修訂
▶federal / 聯邦
▶ referendum / 公投
▶Supreme / 最高
▶discrimination / 區別
▶solemnized / 舉行婚禮
▶sanctioned / 制裁
▶upward / 向上

Fifa is the body responsible for running world football. It has recently been dogged by accusations of corruption, particularly after awarding the 2022 World Cup to the tiny but rich and influential Gulf state of Qatar. In December 2014, Fifa chose not to release its own investigation into corruption, instead releasing an executive summary which it said exonerated the bidding process. The report's independent author, American lawyer Michael Garcia, resigned in protest.

The World Cup is the most-watched sporting event in the world, larger even than the Olympics. It generates billions of dollars in revenue from corporate sponsors, broadcasting rights and merchandising. These arrests and investigations cast doubt over the transparency and honesty for the process of allocating World Cup tournaments, electing its president, and the administration of funds, including those earmarked for improving football facilities in some of Fifa's poorer members.

The FBI has been investigating Fifa for the past three years. The investigation was initially sparked by the bidding process for the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups, but was widened to look back at Fifa's dealings over the past 20 years.

The Department of Justice's indictment says that the corruption was planned in the US, even if it was then carried out elsewhere. The use of US banks to transfer money appears to be key to the investigation.

Mr Blatter consistently denied wrongdoing while several of his close colleagues were indicted by the US. In September, he was named as the subject of a separate criminal investigation launched by Swiss prosecutors.

Apart from Mr Blatter, the most senior figures accused are football powerbrokers in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

They are connected to Concacaf, the continental confederation which operates under the Fifa umbrella and is essentially in charge of football in that region. One of its key roles is helping to agree World Cup TV and sponsorship deals in the US.

Jeffrey Webb is the head of Concacaf and was widely seen as being groomed as a successor to Fifa president Sepp Blatter. He has been extradited to the US.

His predecessor, the above-mentioned Jack Warner, has also been indicted. Mr Webb replaced Mr Warner after he was forced to step down after an internal Fifa fraud inquiry.

Latin American football chiefs also figure heavily in the list. There are two former presidents of Conmebol, which represents South American football nations: Nicolas Leoz and Eugenio Figueredo.

出處：http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32897066

深難字詞：

exonerated 免除

merchandising 銷售

administration 管理

indictment  起訴書

prosecutors 檢察官

confederation 聯盟

transparency 透明度

 predecessor 前任

above-mentioned 上述

groomed 培養