Click on photo to enlarge or download: A pro-gay marriage demonstrator waves a sign at anti-gay marriage demonstrators staked out across the street. Thousands of people supporting both sides of the argument assembled outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning while the justices took part in oral arguments about the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 law. SHFWire photo by Ian Kullgren

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court justices cast doubts on the constitutionality of California’s ban on gay marriage Tuesday, wondering if they should have  heard the case at all.

 Click on photo to enlarge or download: Christopher Painter, the U.S. coordinator for cyber issues, on Thursday describes efforts the White House is making to combat the threat of cyber attacks. SHFWire photo by Matt NelsonWASHINGTON - House members tried to find out Thursday why it’s so hard to prosecute cyber criminals, but like the international perpetrators, answers remained elusive.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, says Tuesday that the amount of data stolen by a Chinese government-backed data hacking scheme is more than any one person could read in a lifetime. He briefed Senators on the report. SHFWire photo by Matt NelsonWASHINGTON – The Chinese government may be sanctioning a cyber-espionage group based in Shanghai, according to a recent report from information security company Mandiant.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: Carissa Pastuch and Charles Mink, who married after serving in Iraq, stand in front of Mount Nebo in Jordan in June 2012. They met during interrogation school in Arizona and worked at the same base in Iraq during the war. Photo courtesy of Charles MinkWASHINGTON – Shrouded in the darkness of an Iraqi interrogation room, Sgt. Charles Mink couldn’t see much of anything besides the al-Qaida insurgent staring at him.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: A group of Ghanaian demonstrators on Friday asks the Supreme Court of Ghana to be fair in dealing with the electoral petition brought before it. They were protesting in front of the White House. SHFWire photo by Eddie AmehWASHINGTON – A group of Ghanaians on Friday protested the results of Ghana’s election in front of the White House, calling on the Supreme Court to be firm in adjudicating a case disputing the presidential results sent to it by main opposition leader Nana Akuffo-Addo.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: The Argentinian flag waves in front of the embassy as reporters wait for comment about the new pope, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. The embassy said the country’s president would comment. SHFWire photo by Jasmine AguileraWASHINGTON – Silence came from the Argentinian Embassy on Wednesday after the Vatican announced the name of the first Latin American pope.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: Diana Natalicio, with Ambassador Ron Kirk, United States trade representative, left, and Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, assumes the board chairmanship of the American Council on Education Monday in Washington. SJFWire photo by Jasmine AguileraWASHINGTON – University of Texas at El Paso President Diana Natalicio said she will use her new position as chair of the board of directors for the American Council on Education to represent the fastest growing minority in the United States in higher education.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: President Barack Obama signs the Violence against Women law Thursday at the Department of Interior. Diane Millich, far left, spoke about being abused. Others at the ceremony include Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.,and other women’s rights advocates. SHFWire photo by Eddie AmehWASHINGTON - She was abused for years by her ex-husband, but he was never prosecuted because the law would not allow American Indian tribal courts to prosecute a non-Indian.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: Hal Ponder, 70, and Linda Finkel-Talvadkar, 61, protest every Monday at the White House for common sense gun laws. They said they will continue the protest until guns laws are passed. SHFWire photo by Eddie AmehWASHINGTON – Their signs are homemade, and sometimes there are only a handful of them, but a group of Washington residents has been protesting outside the White House for months asking Congress to pass what they call common-sense gun laws.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: Descendants of Elizabeth Cady Stanton – one of the authors of the 19th Amendment – Coline Jenkins, left, wears an academic robe worn by her great-grandmother, Harriot Stanton Blatch, in a voting rights parade. Her daughter, Elizabeth Jenkins, holds a photo of her foremothers, including Stanton. Both marched to the Washington Monument on Sunday SHFWire photo by Jess MillerWASHINGTON – When Cynthia Welcher Moore, 69, of Youngtown, Ohio was a student at Kent State University, the memory of her grandmother inspired her to help found the first Delta Sigma Theta chapter on the university’s campus.

Click on photo to enlarge or download: Left: Inez Milholland leads the first ever women’s suffrage procession in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1913. One hundred years later, Coline Jenkins, right, wears an academic robe and sash worn by her suffragist foremothers, which include Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the authors of the 19th Amendment. Photos courtesy of Coline Jenkins and the Library of Congress

WASHINGTON – A record number of American women voted in last year’s presidential election. But a century ago this weekend, women were marching up Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote as thousands of men jeered and spit at them.