Litigation

US Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

By Peter Hardin

A federal judge in Massachusetts handed a victory to gay couples when he ruled that a federal ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.

District Judge Joseph Tauro issued rulings support gay couples’ rights in two challenges brought to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which declares that marriage is between a man and a woman. The judge said the law requires Massachusetts to discriminate against some of its own citizens, according to an Associated Press article.

“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,” Judge Tauro was quoted by Reuters as saying. “For that reason, the statute is invalid.”

The cases were brought by the state attorney general and by a gay rights group. The judge said gay and lesbian couples should be able to get the same federal benefits as traditional heterosexual couples, the New York Times reported.

Judge Tauro’s rulings “deal only with the law as it affects Massachusetts residents,” according to a Los Angeles Times report. “But they could eventually help secure federal benefits for other gay spouses in states where such marriages are legal.” Massachusetts allows same-sex unions, and is one of five states that do so, along with the District of Columbia.

You can learn more about the legal challenge in Boston from Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 09, 2010 (boomark / email).