Justice Department to quit defending Defense of Marriage Act

The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, will not any longer be defended by the United States Department of Justice in court proceedings. DOMA was passed in the Clinton administration, and basically means that the federal government doesn’t recognize any homosexual marriage, regardless if it was legally performed. The law was decided to be unconstitutional from an ongoing discussion between the President and the Attorney General. Resource for this article – Justice Department to stop defending Defense of Marriage Act by MoneyBlogNewz.

White House and Justice Department declare Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

ABC states the lawsuits that are about the Defense of Marriage Act, or Defense of Marriage Act, won't be pursued by the Department of Justice anymore, the Attorney General told Congress. No matter where the same-sex marriage legally occurred, no territories or states in the United States have to recognize the same-sex marriage in accordance with Defense of Marriage Act which passed in 1996. The objection is not to the act itself, however rather Section 3 of Defense of Marriage Act, which legally defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman as far as the government is concerned. President Obama agrees with what Attorney General Holder believes. It’s unconstitutional to have Section 3 of Defense of Marriage Act.

Searching closer

The government had to determine whether to uphold DOMA due to 2 pending lawsuits, Pedersen v. OPM and Windsor v. United States. Because of constitutional grounds, both lawsuits challenge Section 3. The NY Times reports that they’re being done in court districts that didn’t have previous same sex marriage cases. The Justice Department reviewed those cases using the legal tests of “rational basis” and “heightened scrutiny.”. The reason for a "rational basis" test is to see if a law has no realistic reason. This is done on constitutionally legal laws. In order to decide if an unconstitutional law has a legitimate reason, a "heightened scrutiny" test is done. According to the Justice Department and the White House, it’s unconstitutional to have the same-sex marriage ban because there is no reason in the government to have the ban making it discriminatory.

Defense of Marriage Act is still there

DOMA lawsuits will not be pursued by the Justice Department anymore. Legislation has not been repealed though. The DOMA, including Section 3, remains in effect for the time being. The act is "flawed" according to President Obama. He claims that, to a certain extent, he is still expected to uphold it constitutionally. In order to see if legislation is worth protecting in court, the president can make orders. This would be to the Justice Department.

Citations

ABC

blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/02/president-obama-instructs-justice-department-to-stop-defending-defense-of-marriage-act-calls-clinton.html

NY Times

nytimes.com/2011/02/24/us/24marriage.html

Justice.gov

justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/February/11-ag-223.html