Social Issues

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In this Dec. 24, 2011 photo, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo looks on from the sideline in the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Baltimore. Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has argued against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Minnesota. Kluwe also defended Baltimore linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo after he was criticized by a Maryland politician for publicly supporting gay marriage. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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**FILE** Demonstrators protest Feb. 13, 2012, outside of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a panel heard oral arguments in San Francisco in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Proposition 209, which barred racial, ethnic or gender preferences in public education, employment and contracting. (Associated Press)

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Students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus. The campus has one of the most-diverse student bodies in the country. Texas has maintained some use of affirmative action. It also has implemented a "top 10 percent" plan granting automatic admission to top high school students based on class rank and, as a result, its enrollment of minorities has risen overall since the late 1990s. (Associated Press)

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Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, wants the Justice Department to release information on gunrunning operations in Texas and the source of guns in the 2011 killing of a U.S. agent. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** An illegal immigrant is fingerprinted Aug. 9, 2012, as part of processing in order to create or update a file on that immigrant at Tucson Sector U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** With Pennsylvania’s voter-ID law still under scrutiny in state courts, a sign at a Pennsylvania driver’s license center in Butler alerts voters, who can get a qualifying state ID at the center. The voter-ID law, one of the toughest in the country, has become a lightning rod for Democrats who hate it and Republicans who support it. (Associated Press)

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A woman walks past the Consolidated Forensics Laboratory in Washington, D.C., on Monday. The facility is a 351,000-square-foot building that consolidates public safety forensic science and public health efforts into one facility. Different divisions plan to move into the facility in waves. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times) **FILE**

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, has been critical of campaign finance regulations as a violation of free speech and free press. (Associated Press)

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Protesters shield themselves from the rain with a banner as they demonstrate Thursday against proposed labor reforms in Mexico City. Supporters say, however, that the bill would support creation of the million jobs a year the country needs for its young people and migrants returning from the U.S. (Associated Press)