Thursday, February 23, 2012

Judge Rules DOMA Unconstitutional

Good news:

Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, “was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.” White was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. The decision represents a serious setback for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), whose Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) defended DOMA after the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend the law.

The full opinion is here.

I’m surprised it’s taken this long for a court to figure out that when you have a law that says federal law only recognizes straight marriage and a bunch of states recognize marriage equality, this kind of conflict was bound to happen.

Anyway, hurray!