In brief: Death certificate ruling chips away at Arizona gay marriage ban

Phoenix – In a ruling that calls into question Arizona’s gay marriage ban, a judge handed a victory Friday to a gay man who lost his spouse to cancer last month and was denied death benefits because the state prohibits same-sex unions.

U.S. District Judge John Sedwick allowed Fred McQuire to be listed on his spouse’s death certificate, marking another development in the national debate over gay marriage as state and federal judges across the country have struck down bans in more than a dozen states at a rapid rate since a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

Friday’s decision only applied to McQuire, but the judge signaled that Arizona’s gay marriage ban may not hold up after he hears a broader challenge to the constitutionality of the law.

A death certificate listing McQuire as the surviving spouse of George Martinez was issued late Friday afternoon at a state records office in Tucson, one of McQuire’s lawyers said.

Doctor quits post at clinic where Joan Rivers treated

New York – The head of the outpatient surgery facility where Joan Rivers went into cardiac arrest during a routine procedure is no longer at the clinic.

A spokeswoman for Yorkville Endoscopy said Friday that Dr. Lawrence Cohen is no longer the facility’s medical director, nor is he performing procedures there.

The spokeswoman did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding Cohen’s departure. Cohen, a respected gastroenterologist, did not return telephone messages.

Rivers died Sept. 4 at Mount Sinai Hospital, a week after going into cardiac arrest. The comedian, talk show host and fashionista was 81.

Wisconsin voter ID law restored by appeals court

Chicago – In a stunningly fast decision, a federal appeals court in Chicago reinstated Wisconsin’s voter photo identification law on Friday – just hours after three Republican-appointed judges heard arguments on reactivating the hotly debated law in time for the November election.

In a brief order, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said, “The State of Wisconsin may, if it wishes … enforce the photo ID requirement in this November’s elections.”

Wisconsin officials wasted no time in saying they would do just that.

Under the 2011 measure, those arriving at polling stations must produce a government-issued ID with a photo to vote.