In the latest of a series of legal advances for LGBT equality, Judge Jeffery White, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act {DOMA) is unconstitutional, in violation of the equal protection clause.

This case actually has more potential to be a binding precedent on the country in terms of marriage equality than the Prop 8 case.

This is a bit of a surprise. In a move that buys time before the ultimate reckoning from the Supreme Court, the proponents of Proposition 8 asked for an en banc re-hearing of their case before the full Ninth Circuit. This will add a step to the legal outcome of Prop 8, which a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit just ruled in violation of federal law.

Just because state and federal regulators reached a settlement with banks over foreclosure fraud – we think – doesn’t mean that the banks have rid themselves of their liabilities, even on these foreclosure fraud-related issues. In Massachusetts, a new ruling by the state Supreme Court may formally grant borrowers the ability to contest their foreclosures on the grounds of faulty document processing. And there are similar cases dealing with commercial property mortgages.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the “underwear bomber” who attempted to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Eve 2009, will receive a life sentence in Detroit, the conclusion of a trial that ended abruptly with a guilty plea.

Supporters of Proposition 8, the California initiative banning marriage equality, which was declared unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, plan to take their fight directly to the Supreme Court, if their reaction to yesterday’s ruling is accurate. Their statements trashed the Ninth Circuit and said they always believed the issue should be settled by the Supreme Court.

Last week it seemed Eric Schneiderman’s suit against MERS and three banks using MERS represented a carve-out on the final foreclosure fraud settlement. There was speculation that other states might have carve-outs or grandfathered suits, so they would be able to pursue those investigations and prosecutions and still join the settlement. But Bloomberg reports today that some states with active lawsuits would have to settle them as part of the deal.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan mostly confirmed that private-label mortgage-backed securities investors, not banks or servicers, will end up shouldering the cost of much of the imminent foreclosure fraud settlement despite the risk of litigation from investors who are likely to challenge the forced losses on their securities in court.

On a small conference call for progressive media, Donovan claimed that the money available in the settlement for principal reduction for underwater borrowers would actually come to $35-$40 billion, over double the $17 billion in nominal principal reduction that has been widely reported.

In the latest of a flurry of under-the-wire lawsuits that seem to conflict with an imminent foreclosure fraud settlement, Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York and a co-chair of the federal task force looking into the residential mortgage-backed securities market, sued three banks for their use of the MERS electronic registry, which resulted in fraudulent foreclosure filings.

The ACLU filed suit in federal court yesterday seeking to force the White House to turn over records related to the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the US citizen assassinated in a drone attack in Yemen last year.

The Texas redistricting mess, with a Supreme Court ruling moving in the direction of Republicans, could bounce back. The SCOTUS ruled on which interim maps to use while a lawsuit from minority groups against the maps worked out by the legislature made its way through the courts. Now there are indications that Texas attorneys will settle on this issue, in a big win for the minority groups.