President Obama has instructed the Justice Department to no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, the legal prohibition on federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that the department will stop defending the policy because it has now been challenged in the Second Circuit, "which has no established or binding standard for how laws concerning sexual orientation should be treated."
"After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has 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," he said. "The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President's determination."
Equality is spreading around the world.
1 comment:
I guess it does not matter that Obama has directly violated his constitutional duties by arbitrarily suspending a law?
File this away for future reference when President Bristol Palin announces Roe versus Wade in her view is unconstitutional and therefore the United States government will no longer protect anyone’s right to have an abortion because she personally has decided it should be changed.
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