In a welcome victory for members of the gay and lesbian community, President Barack Obama's Department of Justice (DOJ) announced today that DOMA ( the Defense of Marriage Act) is unconstitutional.
"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."
"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."
President Obama has promised in the past that he supports the repeal of DOMA. This latest announcement confirms his commitment to that pledge, and his commitment to civil rights for all Americans.
The announcement follows the recent repeal of the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” policy.
DOMA originated under President Bill Clinton in 1996.
Attorney General Holder also announced today that he sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) about his decision.
DOMA, the federal law that says marriage can exist only between a man and a woman, will remain in effect until a federal court strikes it down or Congress repeals it. What this recent DOJ decision means is that the the government will no longer defend the law in court.
Comments
It's about time.
Does it matter to anyone that Obama's declaration is an unconstitutional exercise of executive power, that he has no authority to declare anything unconstitutional, and that he is violating his oath by not defending DOMA? Does the rule of law mean anything anymore? Does anybody care about the separation of powers, checks and balances, anyone? Since the liberties of all the people depend on these, somebody better care.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"
These are the most famous words of the declaration of independance. I think that depriving homosexuals the "pursuit of happyness", one of the "unalienable (as in, one can not take away these rights through discrimination) rights", I think that coming to the conclusion that the prevention of gay marriage is unconstitutional is a safe bet, since homosexuals are people too, and are therefore protected in full by the constitution.
Besides, this was only an excerpt. The full statement states that section 3 of the DOMA (which is the only section being challenged) will remain in effect "unless Congress repeals it or there is a final judicial finding that strikes it down...".
So, there you have it. Mr. President hasn't declared that it is unconstitutional, only come to that conclusion, and has given Congress and the entirety of the U.S. all the time in the world to prove him wrong (that is, assuming he is wrong, which he isn't.
@$$hat.
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