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by preventing the copying of such aggregations, the measure would also restrict the use of
publicly available information.

Rights of Gays, Lesbians, and Sexual Minorities

Federal law does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. However,
an executive order bars the federal government from such discrimination in hiring. In
addition, 17 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 180 cities and localities
prohibit discrimination by sexual orientation in private employment.

Battles are underway in many states to determine whether the right to marry should be
extended to same-sex couples. Same-sex marriages or similar civil contracts are currently
recognized in 20 countries and eight U.S. states, though in most cases civil unions, and
not marriage, have been sanctioned. Twenty-six states have passed constitutional
amendments that explicitly ban recognition of same-sex partnerships, and 43 states,
including some of those that allow same-sex civil unions, define marriage by statute as a
union between a man and a woman. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act forbids the federal
government from recognizing same-sex or polygamous marriages and allows states where
such marriages are illegal to decline to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other
states.

1 Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005,” bulletin, May
2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim05.p
2 International Centre for Prison Studies, “World Prison Brief,” King’s College, University of
London, http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/world_brief.html.
3 Dan Seligman, “Lock ’Em Up,” Forbes, May 23, 2005.
4 Brandon Rottinghouse, Incarceration and Enfranchisement: International Practices, Impact
and Recommendations for Reform (Washington, D.C.: International Foundation for Election
Systems, 2003).
5 See Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976); Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S.
325 (1976); Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976); Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262 (1976);
and Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (1976).
6 Amnesty International, “Death Penalty Developments in 2005,” April 20,
2006, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT500052006?open&of=ENG-CHN.
7 Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, The Rest of Their Lives: Life Without
Parole for Child Offenders in the United States, October 12,
2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/us1005/.

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