Wednesday, February 22, 2012

DOMA ruled unconstitutional . . . as I knew it would be

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) just got a swift kick in the ass:

Moments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protections clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, “was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.” White was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. Read the full opinion here. (HT: GinnyLaRoe)

What happens next is anyone's guess. One thing is clear though. Ever since the Obama Administration announced that it would no longer defend DOMA in the courts and Speaker of the House John Boehner (at the behest of several religious right groups) announced that Congress would defend the law, a blind man unconscious from toxic fumes could have predicted this outcome.

And while I'm not a blind man (Thank God) who inhaled toxic fumes (double Thank God), I broke stories on the fact that the defense of DOMA was shoddy.

Boehner's team is defending DOMA against Edie Windsor, an 81-year-old woman suing the federal government for not recognizing her union with her late partner.  Back in August of last year, I broke the story that the lawyer hired to defend DOMA, Paul Clement, was relying on junk science, including studies from discredited researchers Paul Cameron, George Rekers, and Walter Schumm

If that wasn't bad enough, one of the researchers cited by Clement for his defense of DOMA, Lisa Diamond, complained that her work was being distorted.

 And to think that for all of this, we the taxpayers paid over $1 million.

I am happy that DOMA has been declared unconstitutional, but I want to know where in the hell do I go to get my money back.

There will be more details forthcoming.

For more background on the case, see Lambda Legal.



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