Via Drudge:
‘DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty’…
Scalia dissent: ‘Diseased root: an exalted notion of the role of this court in American democratic society’…
Reaction…
5-4: Decision in Prop 8: Ninth Circuit is vacated and remanded…
Lack of jurisdiction…
Supremes clear way for same-sex unions in Calif., but avoids ruling on gay marriage..
Gay marriage supporter Vin Testa waves a rainbow flag in anticipation of U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the cases against California’s gay marriage ban known as Prop 8 and the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), outside the court building in Washington, June 24, 2013. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act – ruling the key provision of DOMA was unconstitutional.
This means gays married in states that recognize gay marriage will be considered legally married in all states.
It was a 5-4 ruling by the court.
USA Today reported:
A divided Supreme Court gave a major boost to gay and lesbian rights on Wednesday, striking down a key section of a federal law that denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
The justices declared unconstitutional part of the 17-year-old Defense of Marriage Act, a law that has denied federal benefits to married gays and lesbians in a dozen states, from Maine to Washington, and the District of Columbia.
The decision gives the high court’s blessing, at least in part, to a gay-marriage movement that has gained momentum in the past decade and now stands on the threshold of full equality. The ruling represents a major step forward for marriage equality and a setback for defenders of traditional marriage between only men and women. But 36 states still ban same-sex marriage, and the high court’s ruling doesn’t affect them.
In a 5-4 decision written by justice Anthony Kennedy, said the federal law unconstitutionally denied equal treatment to gay and lesbian couples. “DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled of recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty,” Kennedy wrote.
UPDATE: Here is today’s Supreme Court DOMA decision.