United States: Supreme Court To Hear Defense Of Marriage Act Cases (click here)

08 January 2013

The Supreme Court has granted the petition for a writ of certiorari for Windsor v. United States and Perry v. Hollingsworth,...

...In Windsor v. United States (click here), the Supreme Court is likely to determine the constitutionality of DOMA Section 3, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages in the application of all federal laws including immigration and employee benefit laws.  The issue presented is whether DOMA violates the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection....

Watch recording for case: Perry v. Hollingsworth, No. 11-17255 (click here)

...On the one hand, (click here) the Court could rule that the fundamental constitutional right to marry should be restricted by sex, protected by the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and immediately in force in all fifty US States. On the other, they could rule that this is a standard policy question to be decided by each state, whether by state courts, legislature or popular vote. Were they to rule in this way, the process would continue as it did in November, with a steady and growing number of states providing for equality, but leaving gay people in states like North Carolina waiting some time.

This court battle arose after California voted for Proposition 8 in November 2008, the same day they voted for Barack Obama for president....