The Palm Center, a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, today released a legal memo that outlines what steps the Secretary of Defense can take to modify the enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" while the President works with Congress to repeal the law. The document serves as a follow-up to the Palm Center's heavily debated May study explaining options for executive action that could halt all discharges even without an act of Congress. Previous to its release, most analysts had assumed that only Congressional action could end the firings, which President Obama has vowed to do since early in his campaign.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is calling on Congress to pass a new, expanded hate crimes law that would permit the federal government to prosecute cases of violence based on disability, gender and sexual orientation.  Democrats have been trying to update the current hate crimes law for more than a decade, which already makes it a federal crime to attack someone because of their race, creed or color.