Legal News

U.S. Drops Defense of Law Banning Gay Marriage

By Joanna Chung

In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage. President Barack Obama decided to stop defending the marriage law after considering "a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination," the Justice Department said.

The legal turnabout marks a contrast with the Justice Department’s argument in recent years that it is generally obligated to defend federal laws, even when the administration opposes them, according to the story by The WSJ’s Evan Perez. Here’s previous LawBlog coverage here.

The about-face is another nod to gay groups after the successful push last December for the repeal of don’t-ask-don’t-tell in the military. End of post.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).