Argument

Orange County's former sheriff is waging a battle to be released from federal prison, where he is serving time for witness tampering in a corruption case that exposed wrongdoing in the state's second-largest sheriff's department. On Monday, a federal judge heard arguments on whether to resentence Michael S. Carona, once a rising political star before he was indicted in late 2007 in a sprawling corruption case. Carona's attorneys argued that the 66-month sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford on the one witness-tampering charge on which he was convicted should be adjusted based on changes in the law. About one year after Carona's sentencing, the Supreme Court narrowed a definition of corruption to just bribes and kickbacks.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court heard two powerful arguments last week about marriage for gay and lesbian couples, and the path the justices choose could determine not only whether gay marriage will become the law nationwide, but how soon. One argument spoke to the principle of equal rights. Denying federal benefits to legally married gay couples "cannot be reconciled with our fundamental commitment to equal treatment under law," the Obama administration's top courtroom lawyer told the justices, as he urged the court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. The other argument spoke to the traditions of states' rights and letting people, rather than the courts, decide the great social issues of the day. Debate over same-sex marriage is "roiling throughout this country," said a lawyer defending the California ballot measure that barred gays from marrying.

Military intervention in the Muslim world seems to bring the United States nothing but grief. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya: None looks much like a success story now. Yet the Obama administration is edging reluctantly into a civil war in Syria, aiding rebels who are fighting to overthrow the brutal regime of Bashar Assad. And it should: The longer this war goes on, the worse it will be for the U.S. and the Syrians. Already, more than 70,000 Syrians have died; perhaps 4 million have lost their homes.

Regular Opinion contributor Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine Law School, took questions, read the tea leaves and analyzed the Supreme Court's oral arguments in the challenge to California's Proposition 8. Watch the video above. More from Chemerinsky: Supreme importance A third possibility on Prop. 8 On pot laws, respect the states

WASHINGTON - Television crews flipped on spotlights and pro-gay marriage activists erected a speaker's podium in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning as the nine justices prepared to hear a second day of arguments about whether same-sex couples have a legal right to marry. A line of lawyers, spectators and activists several hundred long stretched down the block to get into the courtroom. After the festival atmosphere during Tuesday's session on California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage, the crowd of a few hundred people was smaller and the mood was more muted on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON -- Lawyers arguing that the Supreme Court should overturn the Defense of Marriage Act appeared buoyant after presenting their case on Wednesday. "We are hopeful they will" overturn the law, said Roberta Kaplan, who argued the case in front of the nine justices on behalf of Edith Windsor, the 83-year-old lesbian widow who brought the lawsuit challenging the federal law. Windsor, whose marriage to her longtime partner was recognized by New York, argued that the government discriminated against her when she was required to pay a higher estate tax bill than a married couple, after the death of her spouse in 2009.

The Supreme Court won't issue its rulings on Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act until this summer, but proponents of gay marriage can take heart knowing they've just about won over at least one prominent conservative: Bill O'Reilly. On Tuesday's episode of "The O'Reilly Factor," anchor (former attorney) Megyn Kelly stopped by to discuss Tuesday's Supreme Court hearings. She claimed that "the country's views on this issue are changing," largely because "same-sex marriage advocates have done a credible job of getting out there and making their case.

WASHINGTON - With arguments underway Wednesday in the Supreme Court over whether the federal government should recognize gay marriage, activists on both sides of the debate competed for eardrums outside by cranking up the volume of protest songs coming from boom boxes. As on Tuesday, gay marriage supporters vastly outnumbered opponents. Supporters of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to legally married gay couples, waved signs reading "Kids do best with a mom and dad" and "Appeal to Heaven.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court deliberated Wednesday on whether the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies legally married same-sex couples federal benefits, meets constitutional standards. The arguments over DOMA mark the second time the court has held a hearing related to same-sex marriage, with justices debating California's Proposition 8 on Tuesday. The court has released the audio recording and the transcript of the oral arguments, featuring persistent skepticism from liberal justices on whether DOMA, which was signed into law in 1996, is inherently prejudiced and thus invalid.

The mood was electric that crisp, clear February day as couples lined up at San Francisco City Hall to be among the first to get licenses for same-sex marriages in California. Nine tortuous years followed: The state high court halted and invalidated the San Francisco licenses, then later ruled gays and lesbians could marry. Some 18,000 couples rushed to do so before voters put a stop to the ceremonies by passing Proposition 8 in 2008. Then a federal judge and an appeals court threw that ballot initiative out. On Tuesday, the two sides rested.