Federal appeals court rules Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

[morningfog]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. appeals court in Boston became the first such court to strike down as unconstitutional the federal Defense of Marriage Act, ruling Thursday that it unfairly denies equal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

The ruling is a victory for gay-rights advocates and the Obama administration, which had refused to defend that part of the 1996 law.

The decision sets the stage for a ruling next year by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the law that limits federal recognition of marriage to the union of a man and a woman.

The Boston-based judges stressed their decision did not establish a national right to gay marriage. That issue remains a matter for the states, they said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-doma-appeals-court-20120531,0,4385237.story

PDF of the full Opinion: http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/cases/gill-v-office-of-personnel-management/2012-may-31-gill-v-opm-first-circuit-ruling.pdf?p1=News_links

The 1st Circuit has ruled Section 3 unconstitutional, but an injunction against enforcement will not occur until the Supreme Court rules on appeal. It is a near certainty that the Supreme Court will grant cert. The opinion is solid and I don't see how the Supreme Court could repeal the ruling. The opinion explicitly acknowledges and accepts that states have the right to define marriage, but that because states have and continue to codify marriage equality, DOMA cannot survive. Step by step.

[cthulu2016]

1. Funny that the Constitution changed so much between 1997 and 2012

Greater public comfort with same-sex marriage didn't change one word of the Constitution, but here we are.

The non-legal, non-constitutional attitudes of judges change along with the public attitudes.

Dress it up however we wish, but half of Constitutional jurisprudence is just the existing attitudes and prejudices of human beings finding ad hoc support in the Constitution.

When someone says their constitutional reasoning has evolved the mean their gut feelings have evolved, and their formula for making the constitution support their gut feeling has thus evolved.

Sometimes that is good (as in this case) and other times it is bad. But it is always present.

[Bake]

2. Why the Supreme Court is ALL that matters in the long run! Exhibit A!

Do you want Rmoney nominating two or three Justices to the Court?

I didn't think so.

Bake

[MineralMan]

3. Another step in the right direction.