Portside

As the Supreme Court prepares to address marriage equality, one 12-year-old asked the chief judge to consider his own family when making the final decision. Daniel Martinez-Leffew, the adopted son of two gay dads, wrote to a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts–himself the father of two adopted kids — urging him to embrace marriage equality by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8.

Now is the time for an Arms Trade Treaty. A massive and poorly regulated global trade in weapons feeds armed conflict that threatens the security and rights of people around the world on a daily basis. Get the facts. And tell President Obama to support a strong international Arms Trade Treaty. Take action: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ATTaction

Featuring the work of Northeastern University School of Law's Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ), "The Trouble I've Seen" follows the investigations of three harrowing civil rights cold cases. Founded by Professor Margaret Burnham, CRRJ takes on cases that both horrify us and beg us to correct the record, to search for reconciliation and remediation for families and communities that even decades later shudder in the shadows of bigotry and injustice. "The Trouble I've Seen" is narrated by Julian Bond, former chairman of the NAACP. (Thanks to Linda Burnham for this link -- video moderator.)

In the week marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Democracy Now! looks at the remarkable life and imminent death of Iraq War veteran Tomas Young. Citing his overwhelming physical pain from wounds that left him paralyzed in Iraq, Young recently announced he has decided to end his life by discontinuing his medicine and nourishment.