This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Two recent court rulings in the United States could have national effects on civil rights issues.
Last week the California Supreme Court rejected that state’s ban on same-sex marriage. A four-to-three majority ruled that same-sex couples have a right to marry under the California Constitution.
Couples from anywhere in the country could get married in the nation's largest state as early as the middle of June. In most cases, however, their marriage would not be recognized back home. The only state where homosexuals can now marry is Massachusetts, and they have to be living there.
Californians will likely vote in November on a proposal to amend（修正） their constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Conservative（adj.保守的, 守旧的） groups want the court to delay its decision until after the elections.
Douglas Kmiec is a constitutional law professor atPepperdine University（佩珀代因大学）in Malibu, California. He predicts that courts in other states will now be faced with similar questions. The issue could end up before the United States Supreme Court.
It could also enter into the presidential campaign. The major candidates -- Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain -- are all against same-sex marriage. But senators Obama and Clinton support civil unions.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa and Spain.
The second ruling came this week from a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. It found that America's paper money discriminates against blind people. Bills of different dollar amounts all have the same size and feel, so there is no way to tell them apart by touch.
A panel（座谈小组） of three judges voted two-to-one that the government must do something to change its bills. The court agreed with a lower court judge who ruled in two thousand six that redesigning paper money would not be too costly.
The government says it would be. Millions of machines that accept bills would also have to change.
Yet that lower court judge said the United States was the only country to print bills all the same size and color.
More than one million Americans are blind. Millions more have limited vision.
The American Council of the Blind brought the case in two thousand two to seek bills of different sizes or with raised marks.
Many blind people welcomed this week's ruling, but not all. The National Federation of the Blind says it could strengthen misbeliefs about blind people being helpless. It says there are greater needs, like more Braille education and job training.
The government could now ask for a hearing by the full thirteen-member court, which includes a blind judge. Or it could appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Treasury Department says it is exploring ways to help people who are blind or have limited vision. A five-dollar bill released earlier this year has an extra large numeral five on it.
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.
补充知识：佩珀代因大学（Pepperdine University）
学校地点
佩珀代因大学位于Malibu的校园 地理位置优异，距离洛杉矶附近商业，文化及休闲中心不用一小时就可到达。校区坐落在太平洋沿祡的山坡上，绵延的祡岸以及绿草覆盖的山坡加上清新的祡风吹拂为学校增添了许多独特的魅力。学校所属的Malibu小区相当安全并且独具文化气息。占地50英亩的Graziadio School依山傍祡，风景如画，可以俯瞰广阔的太平洋。2003年八月竣工的新校园，具备尖端科技的教室、演讲厅、图书馆、科技中心、学生服务中心、研究生宿舍及停车场等。
学校简介
位于南加州的佩珀代因大学成立于1937年，是一所私立中型大学，建校以来以严谨求实的学风位居美国一流大学的行列。佩珀代因大学的商管学院Graziadio School of Business and Management成立于1969年，在美国AACSB认证的商管学院中以学生人数排为第五，是美国最具实力的商学院之一。其EMBA连续三年被Business Week评为世界前20名。2005年的「US News & World Report」将Graziadio School评为全美最佳商学院排名的前75名。2004年的「Wall Street Journal」也将Graziadio School囊括在世界百大商学院之林。
专业设置：财经类、法律、纺织与服装、管理、教育、旅游、人文艺术、社科类、体育、新闻传播、语言
