News

Jul 9, 2010

The battle over gay marriage is about to ratchet up a notch.

The Obama administration is "reviewing the decision" that a Massachusetts judge made on Thursday declaring a federal ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional on the grounds it violates states' rights.

Experts say U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro's ruling could have far reaching effects if upheld.

Kent Greenfield, who specializes in constitutional law, told the Associated Press if a higher court with a broader jurisdiction heard the appeal and upheld the decision, the impact could spread.

"One thing that's going to be really interesting to watch is whether the Obama administration appeals or not," he said.

If the ruling were upheld by the Supreme Court, for example, gay marriage could win constitutional protection - much like interracial marriage did after the 1967 ruling that declared a Virginia ban on interracial marriage unconstitutional, and in effect ended all similar bans in other states.

An appeal is also being considered by the First Circuit, which includes Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire.

While advocacy groups celebrated Tauro's decision, the Justice Department argued that it has the right to set eligibility requirements for federal benefits, such as Medicare, requiring that those benefits only go to couples in heterosexual.

The ruling sparked outrage from gay marriage opponents.

"In another blatant example of a judge playing legislator, a Boston-based federal judge has struck down the bipartisan Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1996," Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute told the Boston Globe.

Earlier this week, the governor of Hawaii vetoed a controversial civil unions bill that would have granted gay, lesbian and opposite-sex couples the same rights and benefits as married couples.

While same-sex unions have been legal in Massachusetts since 2004, Tauro argued the Defense of Marriage act (DOMA) discriminated against gay married couples by excluding them from benefits available to heterosexual married couples.

"The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment," Tauro said. "For that reason, the statute is invalid."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/09/2010-07-09_battle_over_samesex_marriage_intensifies_after_court_ruling_by_judge_tauro_in_ma.html#ixzz0tCcXlx2s