Sex discrimination and same-sex marriage in USA

Northwestern University law professor Andrew Koppelman and I have published an op ed in USA Today explaining why the Supreme court should strike down laws banning same-sex marriage because they discriminate on the basis of sex. The op ed is based on an amicus brief we coauthored on behalf of ourselves and an ideologically diverse group of legal scholars.

Here is an excerpt:

As the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of laws banning same-sex marriage later this month, few have noticed that the case can easily be resolved under existing precedent.

Laws banning gay marriage are unconstitutional because they discriminate on the basis of gender. If same-sex marriage is forbidden, Anne is allowed to marry Bob, but Charles can’t. Charles is denied the right to marry Bob, solely because Charles is a man. Denial of a legal right solely because of gender is the very essence of sex discrimination.

Laws banning gay marriage discriminate on the basis of gender even more clearly than on the basis of sexual orientation. Anne is still allowed to marry Charles, even if one of them happens to be gay or lesbian. Bob is denied that right whether he is gay or not. The Supreme Court has long held that laws discriminating based on gender must be presumed unconstitutional and invalidated unless the government can prove that they can pass rigorous, heightened judicial scrutiny.

The op ed also rebuts two standard objections to the sex discrimination argument: the argument that laws banning same-sex marriage do not discriminate on the basis of gender because they impose symmetrical burdens
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on both men and women, and claims that these laws do not constitute gender discrimination because they are not motivated by sexism.

As sometimes happens, the headline (which, per usual practice in newspapers, was not drafted by us) does not fully reflect our argument [but see UPDATE below]. Our position is not that sexual orientation is completely irrelevant to the case, but that the sex discrimination rationale for striking down laws banning same-sex marriage is stronger than arguments that focus on sexual orientation discrimination alone.

Terminator Genisys 2015 Movie leaked some video HD

Terminator Genisys is an  2015 American science fiction action film directed by Alan Taylor and written byLaeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. It is the fifth theatrical film in the Terminator series and acts as both a sequel andreboot of the series. Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role as the titular character, along with newcomers Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Matt Smith, Lee Byung-hun and J. K. Simmons. The film is scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 2015. In addition to opening in regular theatres, it will also be shown in IMAX.

In 2029, John Connor, leader of the Resistance, continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angelesoffensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when John is notified by his army unit, Tech-Com, thatSkynet will attack him from two fronts, past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.

On the verge of winning the war against Skynet, Connor sends his trusted lieutenant Kyle Reese back through time to save his mother's life and ensure his own existence. However, Kyle finds the original past changed. In this timeline, a Terminator was sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor as a child and so the Resistance sent their own cyborg back in time to protect her. After the assassin killed her parents, the reprogrammed T-800 raised and trained her to face her destiny which she adamantly tries to reject.

Now, faced with a new mission, Kyle, Sarah and the old ally Terminator, have to escape the T-800 and the recent T-1000 sent by Skynet to kill them, as well as a new and horrific enemy: Kyle and Sarah's own future son, who has been converted into a nanotechnological human-cyborg hybrid. With John Connor finally compromised by Skynet, they must find a way to stop Judgment Day from ever happening; while at the same time trying to stop the sinister GENISYSprogram from going online.

While Terminator Salvation was initially intended to begin a new trilogy, production of a fifth film was halted by legal trouble, as well as The Halcyon Company filing for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. By late September 2009, the rights to the franchise were once again up for sale as The Halcyon Company tried to emerge from bankruptcy. Late the following month, Halcyon announced it would auction off the rights to future Terminator material and was seeking $60 million to $70 million, although the only offer was made by filmmaker Joss Whedon for $10,000. In December 2009, Halcyon issued a statement saying that it was looking at various options, including sale and refinancing of the rights, with an announcement on the outcome no later than February 1, 2010. On February 8, 2010, an auction was held for the Terminator rights. After studios Sony Pictures and Lions Gate Entertainment bid separately, Pacificor, the hedge fund that pushed Halcyon into bankruptcy, made a deal for $29.5 million. In May 2010, Pacificor hired an agency to sell off the rights to the franchise.^[25]

By August 2010, a new Terminator film was being developed. It was not to be a direct sequel to Salvation, but rather a 3D animated reboot of the series, titledTerminator 3000 and to be shot by Hannover House. However, Pacificor had not given any official license to Hannover House to develop a film.^[26] In February 2011, Universal Studios was considering a fifth Terminator film, with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning in the title role, Justin Lin directing, and Chris Morgan as screenwriter. Within two months, a Terminator project with Schwarzenegger, Lin and producer Robert W. Cort attached, but no screenwriter, was circulating among studios including Universal, Sony, Lions Gate Entertainment, and CBS Films.

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Avengers: Age of Ultron – Full Cast Part Two

Avengers: Age of Ultron is bringing us a slew of superheroes to the big screen this season. So much so, that we had to break it up into two digestible parts. Slated to play the roles of your favorite Avengers are some familiar favorites, as well as new faces to the franchise.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is a 2015 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team theAvengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2012's Marvel's The Avengers and the eleventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was written and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson,Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Id

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ris Elba, Stellan Skarsgå

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rd, James Spader, and Samuel L. Jackson. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Avengers must work together to defeat Ultron, a technological enemy bent on human extinction.

The sequel was announced in May 2012, after the successful release of The Avengers. Whedon, the director of the first film, was brought back on board in August and a release date was set. By April 2013, Whedon had completed a draft of the script, and casting began in June with the re-signing of Downey. Second unit filming began in February 2014 in South Africa with principal photography taking place between March and August 2014. The film was primarily shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, with additional footage filmed in Italy, South Korea, Bangladesh, New York, and various locations around England.

Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered in Los Angeles on April 13, 2015, and is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2015, in North America, in 3D and IMAX 3D. Two sequels, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Avengers: Infinity War Part 2, are scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018, and May 3, 2019, respectively. 

The co-leader and benefactor of the Avengers, who is a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own invention.^[7] On how his character evolves after the events of Iron Man 3, Downey said, "...it kinda reminds me of like all that stuff particularly as you get a little older or if you have any existential queries whatsoever. It's like why aren't I dealing with that which is going to destroy me any second anyway? And then the armor was kind of an extension of that. And also there was just so many suits, but I think he realizes that tweaking and making all the suits in the world – which is what he has been doing – still didn't work for that thing of his tour of duty that left him a little PTSD. So his focus is more on how can we make it so that there's no problem to begin with. That, you know, there's a bouncer at our planet's rope. That's the big idea

An Avenger and the crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name.^[9] About Thor's place in the film, Hemsworth said, "Well Thor stayed on Earth from [Thor: The Dark World]. So he's here. He's part of the team. This is his home for the moment. So the initial threat of attack from Ultron is personal. Thor then begins to see a bigger picture about what this threat could potentially be and it begins to tie into all of our films." Commenting on his portrayal of the character, Hemsworth said, "What becomes a challenge is trying to not repeat the same thing all the time. So you've got to work that bit harder to see what else you can do with the character." He added, "...it was just lightening up a bit. It gave us room to kind of make him a little more grounded and human and have him in some civilian clothes and mixing it up at a party. I want to do those scenes more. It's what I loved about the first [Thor film]. There was an innocence and naïveté to him, which as he matured into the king of the second [Thor film] — or the rightful king — we sort of lost a little bit of that." Hemsworth noted that this is the first MCU film in which he did not work closely with Tom Hiddleston. "I was interested to see what was gonna be his conflict or his motivation, because he was sort of driven by that relationship previously. I love working with Tom, and I think there's always room for more Thor and Loki stuff, but it's nice to do something completely different."

 Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America)

Chris Evans is most known for his role as Captain America in the 2011 and 2014 films and will also star in the 2016 release of Captain America: Civil War, but those certainly aren’t the only places you’ve seen his face. He’s been in the scene for 15 years, but his first big hit was Not Another Teen Movie, followed by several smaller roles. He’s also played a part in other superhero films, including Fantastic Four and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

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