Carol Marin wrote an opinion piece in The Chicago Sun-Times about the freedom to marry for Illinois couples. The piece profiles Patrick Bova and Jim Darby, who are plaintiffs in the consolidated marriage lawsuits filed by Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Illinois.  The article tells the story of the couple's efforts to advocate for the passage of SB 10, which failed to pass in the House this spring. In the meantime, the lawsuit is awaiting its next hearing before the Cook County Circuit Court.

 They, along with other gay and lesbian families, trekked to the General Assembly to lobby for passage of a same-sex marriage bill. Though they have the tweedy look of academics, they are longtime warriors in this battle.

Another skirmish, just announced Friday, is set for Oct. 22 when a coalition of equal marriage advocates will “March on Springfield” as the fall veto session gets under way. It will be another attempt to reclaim the hope everyone felt this May when legislation that had already passed the Senate was ready to be called in the House.

Read the article.

The National Law Journal wrote about the recent Supreme Court victory which invalidated patents held by Myriad Genetics Inc. on two gene mutations that indicate a greater risk of breast and ovarian cancers. The new ruling will allow thousands of women to undergo diagnostic testing to detect whether or not they are a carrier of the gene and thus prevent diagnosis of these life-threatening illnesses.

The justices' decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics surprised few in the patent law field. Following oral arguments in April, the court appeared to be leaning favorably towards an argument presented by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. Breaking with the position held by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Verrilli urged the justices to hold that isolated, naturally occurring DNA is not patent-eligible, but that laboratory-created, synthetic DNA is.

Read the entire article.