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Now that DADT is gone...

Obama: DOMA Unconstitutional, DOJ Should Stop Defending It In Court

WASHINGTON -- In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act "contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships - precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution's)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against."

The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now.

more at link

[comm]

It seems pretty open and shut to me. Since the 14th Amendment guarantees "equal protection under the law", we only have to decide what the law protects.

If the law somehow protects a man's "right" to marry a woman, then equal protection would dictate that any given woman should have the right to marry a woman (otherwise men are being treated unequally by being able to marry women). If the law does not protect a man's "right" to marry a woman, then equal protection is irrelevant.

More practically though (that is, without involving direct Constitutional law) I think it should be obvious that the Federal government and those of the States should shut the hell up and let people live as they like...

[Kuros]

Its strange for the DoJ to decline to defend the Constitutionality of standing law. Nevertheless, Holder is correct, DOMA is unconstitutional. I think you can defeat it on equal protection grounds as well as the right to marry (Loving v. Virginia). I also think DOMA violates States' Rights. DOMA is just terrible law, and maybe its so loathsome that the administration refuses to defend it.

[comm]

[Louis VI]

He's got to give motivation for more Democrats to vote for his re-election. Healthcare reform, repealing don't ask-don't tell, closing Guantanamo, these are all talking points heading into next year's election.

[Fox]

To my knowledge, the Constitution didn't change in the last two years. It's nice that the Obama Administration has decided to stop defending an unconstitutional law. It's troublesome that they spent two years defending an unconstitutional law. I understand this idea that the Department of Justice should defend standing laws, but I think it can be taken to a ridiculous extreme. Surely there should be at least some room for judgment in order to avoid situations exactly like this one, where an unconstitutional law keeps on the books because of defects in the system.

[geldedgoat]

This is a good start; now if they would only remove all legal definitions of marriage entirely, there should be no more issues.

[Space Bar]

Relevant...

Gay Marriage Seems to Wane as Conservative Issue

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: February 24, 2011
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[Kuros]

[Nowhere Man]

Yeah, but he could have done this off the bat.

Bush rolls in and makes high publicity of flipping Clinton decisions.

A "liberal" rolls in and...waits to see on Gitmo, war, wiretapping, and then heads toward healthcare, which he was free not to do given the Clinton impass, and, in the process, the congressional majority is lost to "blue dogs".

WTF

If having a "liberal' in office means pussyfooting around the GOP, then just let the GOP have the office.

One has a stick. One has a carrot being wielded as a stick.


AAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!

[Fox]

[Kuros]

Obama Supports Bill to Repeal Defense of Marriage Act

The President is probably still a decade behind Americans on human rights.

DOMA is a Federal law that denies Full Faith and Credit recognition by other states to gay marriages established in one state. It is an affront to Federalism. It is an affront to human rights. It is almost certainly unconstitutional on both grounds. It is an affront to America.

[Ya-ta Boy]

The issue isn't whether he supports repeal of DOMA; the issue is whether he will actively support repeal. Lots of people come out in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning (for example) as a way of avoiding dealing with an issue. At the moment, any Obama endorsement of anything is the kiss of death as far as the Tea Party Republicans are concerned.

For a quarter of a century, ever since the days of Anita Bryant, the conservatives have used gay rights as a wedge issue in the culture wars. Those days are not over, I don't think. Not yet. But very clearly, things are changing.

[sirius black]