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A key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutionally biased and will no longer be defended in court by Justice Department attorneys, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday.
But he assured members of Congress that the Clinton-era federal statute, which defines marriage as between only a man and a woman as husband and wife, will continue to be enforced by the executive branch until it is either repealed by legislators or definitely voided by the courts. Section 3 of the statute, which limits the definition of marriage to opposite-sex partners, precludes spouses in same-sex marriages from receiving certain federal benefits to which spouses in traditional marriages are entitled.
Until now, federal attorneys have defended the validity of Section 3 in court as a legitimate expression of congressional authority. But President Obama himself ordered the reversal of executive branch policy and position after determining that the marriage classifications contained in the statute could not survive under the strictest standards of judicial review. I fully concur with that decision, Holder said in the statement issued in connection with two pending federal challenges to the DOMA in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In announcing the surprise move, Holder noted that Obama had concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny, which Section 3 of the Marriage Act could not meet. Consequently, the attorney general wrote, the Department of Justice will not defend the constitutionality of Section 3 as applied to same-sex married couples in the two cases filed in the 2nd Circuit. We will, however, remain parties to the cases and continue to represent the interests of the United States throughout the litigation, he said.
Full story: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/23/obama-ends-court-defense-of-anti-gay-marriage-law/
But he assured members of Congress that the Clinton-era federal statute, which defines marriage as between only a man and a woman as husband and wife, will continue to be enforced by the executive branch until it is either repealed by legislators or definitely voided by the courts. Section 3 of the statute, which limits the definition of marriage to opposite-sex partners, precludes spouses in same-sex marriages from receiving certain federal benefits to which spouses in traditional marriages are entitled.
Until now, federal attorneys have defended the validity of Section 3 in court as a legitimate expression of congressional authority. But President Obama himself ordered the reversal of executive branch policy and position after determining that the marriage classifications contained in the statute could not survive under the strictest standards of judicial review. I fully concur with that decision, Holder said in the statement issued in connection with two pending federal challenges to the DOMA in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In announcing the surprise move, Holder noted that Obama had concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny, which Section 3 of the Marriage Act could not meet. Consequently, the attorney general wrote, the Department of Justice will not defend the constitutionality of Section 3 as applied to same-sex married couples in the two cases filed in the 2nd Circuit. We will, however, remain parties to the cases and continue to represent the interests of the United States throughout the litigation, he said.
Full story: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/23/obama-ends-court-defense-of-anti-gay-marriage-law/
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