House Group Requests DOMA Decision

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House Group Requests DOMA Decision

Special Report - July 2, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to determine the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which is facing numerous legal challenges nationwide. A bipartisan legal advisory group of the U.S. House of Representatives filed a petition with the high court on June 29, asking the justices to review a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which ruled that Section 3 of the federal DOMA is unconstitutional. The federal DOMA was passed by bipartisan majorities of both the House and Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. Section 3 of DOMA states that for the purposes of federal law “the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”

On May 31, the First Circuit ruled that Section 3 of DOMA violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which states that, “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” In its petition, the U.S. House asks the Supreme Court to consider two questions related to the First Circuit’s ruling: 1) “Whether Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment,” and 2) “Whether the court below [i.e., the First Circuit] erred by inventing and applying to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act a previously unknown standard of equal protection review.” The petition argues that, “…the decision below [by the First Circuit] invalidates an Act of Congress, conflicts with the decisions of this Court and numerous other courts of appeals, and embraces an entirely novel approach to constitutional equal protection analysis. It is hard to imagine a stronger candidate for this Court’s review.”

As we have previously reported, the U.S. House has been leading the legal defense of DOMA since 2011, after the Department of Justice announced that it would no longer defend Section 3 of DOMA. In its June 29 petition to the Supreme Court, the House offered this fact as an additional reason for the court take the case. “The executive branch has not only abdicated its traditional role of defending the constitutionality of duly-enacted statutes, but has simultaneously announced that it will continue to enforce DOMA. As a result, the House has been forced into the position of defending numerous lawsuits challenging DOMA across the Nation,” the petition explains. “That is a role for which the Justice Department—not the House—is institutionally designed. Only this Court can settle this matter definitively. Unless and until this Court decides the question, the executive branch will continue to attack DOMA in the courts, while continuing to enforce it, thus creating more potential litigation for the House to defend.”

If the Supreme Court grants the petition to review the First Circuit’s decision, the DOMA case would be on the high court’s docket for the new term that begins October 2012. The Supreme Court is also expected to consider another major marriage redefinition case this fall: this one involving the fate of California’s Marriage Protection Amendment, Proposition 8. As we reported in June, the Proposition 8 legal defense team plans to ask the Supreme Court to review February 2012 decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which struck down the amendment as unconstitutional.

Related resources:
Marriage Amendment Hearing Denied - June 7, 2012
CA Marriage Amendment Rulled Unconstitutional - February 8, 2012
The Gold Standard - FNC - Winter 2012
Prop 8 Ruling Gets Green Light - November 18, 2011
U.S. House Affirms DOMA- July 11, 2011
Court Approves Homosexuals in Military- July 7, 2011
DOMA Defenders Change Minds- April 26, 2011
DOMA Repeal Introduced - March 23, 2011
Obama Supports DOMA Repeal - July 20, 2011
U.S. House to Intervene in DOMA Defense - March 15, 2011
Majority for Traditional Marriage - February 15, 2011
Majority Battle Rundown - February 2, 2011
D.C. Marriage Case Snuffed By Supreme Court - January 19, 2011
Why Gender Matters to Parenting - FNC - Spring 2010
9th Circuit Punts Prop 8 - January 6, 2011
Assault On Marriage Intensifies - November 12, 2010
ADF Petitions U.S. Supreme Court - October 15, 2010
NCFPC Joins Prop 8 Brief - September 24, 2010
9th Circuit Stays Prop 8 Ruling - August 16, 2010
Judge Won't Stay Prop 8 Ruling - August 13, 2010
Judge Rules Prop 8 Unconstitutional - August 5, 2010
Judge Says Federal DOMA Flawed - July 9, 2010
D.C. Appeals Court Rejects Marriage - July 20, 2010
N.C. Voters Want Marriage Amendment - April 27, 2010
D.C. Issues Homosexual Marriage Licenses - March 4, 2010
Court Rejects D.C. Marriage Referendum - February 24, 2010
An Update on the Battle over Marriage Redefinition - FNC - April, 2010
Why Not Same-Sex “Marriage” - FNC - Spring 2010
The Issue That Will Not Go Away - FNC Spring 2010
D.C. Mayor Signs Same-Sex "Marriage" Bill - December 21, 2009
Judge Rules Texas DOMA Unconstitutional - October 16, 2009
Bill Would Repeal Federal Marriage Law - September 18, 2009
White House Wants DOMA Repeal - August 19, 2009
Justice Defends Marriage - June 22, 2009
California Court Upholds Marriage Amendment - May 26, 2009
Lawsuit Challenges Federal DOMA - March 6, 2009
Three-Fourths Support NC Marriage Amendment - February 25, 2009
Council Urges Marriage Vote - February 20, 2009
White House Seeks Pro-Homosexual Agenda - January 21, 2009
California Amendment Not Retroactive - August 8, 2008
Marriage Amendment Bill Filed in NC House - July 3, 2008