Breaking: DOMA Declared Unconstitutional Again — By A Bush Appointee
DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, has yet again been declared unconstitutional by a federal court, marking at least a half-dozen federal courts ruling the 1996 law unconstitutional.
In May, DOMA was declared unconstitutional by federal courts twice.
Both President Obama’s Department of Justice and John Boehner’s so-called “Bipartisan” Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) (which Democrats do not support) have petitioned the Supreme Court to rule on DOMA, after a string of seven rulings in a row shaming John Boehner’s hand-picked litigator, Paul Clement. Clement is reportedly being paid up to $1.5 million — your tax dollars — to defend a law deemed unconstitutional every time it’s reached the federal courts. Barack Obama and Eric Holder have also deemed DOMA unconstitutional.
The New York Times in an editorial earlier this month encouraged the Supreme Court to strike down DOMA, which they called a “noxious law.”
Read this (rather lengthy) portion of a press release via GLAD, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders:
Today, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional as a violation of equal protection guarantees. Her ruling comes with respect to claims brought by six married same-sex couples and one widower from the states of Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont who were denied federal tax, social security, pension and family medical leave protections only because they are (or were) married to someone of the same sex. Under the ruling, the plaintiffs’ marriages must be accorded the same federal protections and responsibilities as those of other married couples.
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The ruling by Judge Vanessa L. Bryant, an appointee of President George W. Bush, stems from the lawsuit Pedersen et al v. Office of Personnel Management et al, filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) in November 2010 in the Federal District Court in Connecticut.
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“Section 3 of DOMA obligates the federal government to single out a certain category of marriages as excluded from federal recognition,†Judge Bryant wrote, “thereby resulting in an inconsistent distribution of federal marriage benefits as all marriages authorized by certain states will receive recognition and marital benefits, whereas only a portion of marriages authorized by other states will receive federal recognition and benefits.â€
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“Judge Bryant’s ruling is very clear: married people are married and should be treated as such by the federal government. There is no legitimate basis for DOMA’s broad disrespect of the marriages of same-sex couples,†said Mary L. Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director. “We are very pleased that the Court recognized that DOMA’s creation of second-class marriages harms our clients who simply seek the same opportunities to care and provide for each other and for their children that other families enjoy.â€
“I’m thrilled that the court ruled that our marriage commitment should be respected by the federal government just as it is in our home state of Connecticut,†said Joanne Pedersen, who is a plaintiff with her spouse, Ann Meitzen. “I loved working for the Navy for many years, and now that I am retired I now just want to care for my wife and make sure we can enjoy some happy and healthy years together. DOMA has prevented us from doing that.â€
Pedersen retired from a civilian position with the U.S. Department of the Navy after 30 years, the last 12 as a Special Security Officer for the Office of Naval Intelligence. Because of DOMA, she is unable to cover Ann on her health insurance plan—as other federal employees and retirees can. As a result, Ann and Joanne, who are living on fixed incomes, are forced to pay out of pocket for Ann’s insurance at significant cost.
The next step in the case is an inevitable appeal of the District Court ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from the interveners in the case – the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) of the U.S. House of Representatives. BLAG intervened to defend DOMA from equal protection challenges after President Obama declared he would no longer defend the law in response to this case and Windsor v. United States. That appeal should come within the next 60 days.
The plaintiffs in the Pedersen case were all qualified for, and applied for, protections available to other married couples, but were denied on the grounds that Section 3 of DOMA requires the federal government not to recognize the existing marriages of same-sex couples. The specific harms include denials of Family Medical Leave Act benefits, federal laws for private pension plans, federal laws concerning state pension plans, federal income taxation, social security benefits, and employment benefits for federal employees and retirees.
Judge Bryant’s ruling continues the momentum building in federal courts across the country – including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which ruled against DOMA in our challenge, Gill v. OPM on May 31 – finding Section 3 of the law unconstitutional. On June 6, a New York District Court judge ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional in the Windsor case. Back in February, a California District Court judge declared DOMA Section 3 unconstitutional as applied to a federal judicial employee in the case Golinski v. OPM.
The Pedersen case could now be joined on appeal with Windsor, in which the ACLU and the law firm Paul Weiss represent Edie Windsor, a widow who had to pay a sizable tax after her spouse’s death. Other cases are pending in other venues addressing health insurance coverage, long term care benefits for state employees, military benefits for active and retired military personnel, National Guard members and veterans.
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If Americans during President Donald Trump’s first term were exhausted by his “controversy and chaos,” they now appear to be similarly distressed by his “backtracking and blowing things up,” according to a report by Politico.
In the second year of his second term, President Trump “intensified the volatility” from year one “with a succession of whiplash-inducing policy swings, several of which have almost immediately withered in the face of Republican opposition and public outcry.”
For example, the Trump administration just withdrew thousands of federal law enforcement officers from Minneapolis, following the two violent deaths of U.S. citizens and after “clashes with protesters turned the tide of public opinion against the president’s immigration crackdown.”
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There is the Greenland gambit, which appears to be paused, at least for now. There were the “Liberation Day” tariffs he announced in April, only to partially, but quickly, lower them “within days following tremors in global bond markets.”
Trump threatened to decertify Canadian aircraft, then dropped the threat. He declared he would drop credit card interest rates to ten percent, then dropped that, too, and in a rare move, asked Congress for legislation to do so. His push to create 50-year mortgages appears to have subsided.
He paused millions of dollars in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding for state programs, then reversed course about a day later.
“The whiplash has real implications,” Chrissie Juliano, the executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, told Politico. “It’s incredibly disruptive, even if you can get back to continuing the work, you know, two days later.”
Domestically and internationally, Trump’s “unpredictability” has become a “feature, not a bug.”
“In many matters, especially negotiations with other countries, his mercurial opacity is often an attempt to gain leverage, but his threats seemingly lead just as often to backtracking as blowing things up, be they Iranian missile depots, Venezuelan drug boats or the transatlantic alliance,” Politico reported.
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The risks are real.
“Even proposals that don’t ultimately move forward have consequences,” a financial industry insider, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly without fear of blowback from the White House, told Politico. “Markets react. Issuers reassess risk. When policymakers float price controls, it creates uncertainty that can translate into tighter underwriting and reduced access — particularly for higher-risk or lower-income consumers.”
Trump’s poll numbers are now at the lowest point of his second term, Republican pollster Whit Ayres told Politico.
“There’s a sense that this is a pretty chaotic administration and seems to remind people of the pandemic period in the first term,” Ayres said.
When a president’s approval rating is above 50 percent, the party in the White House loses House seats in the midterms, “but not that many,” Ayres noted. “When the president’s job approval is below, the average loss of seats is 32.”
Ayres “said that Trump’s approval numbers largely mirror those from his first term, when the public over four years grew exhausted by constant controversy and chaos.”
“Joe Biden’s fundamental message in 2020 was to restore normalcy,” Ayres said. “And that seemed to be persuasive to enough people to get him elected.”
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Image via Reuters
Prominent podcaster Joe Rogan warned that the handling of the Epstein files “looks terrible” for President Donald Trump and his administration.
“During Tuesday and Thursday’s episodes, Rogan criticized redactions the Department of Justice made from the files,” The Hill reported.
“Who knows what f — — happens with all this Epstein files s — —,” he said, according to video of his streaming show. “It just keeps getting crazier and crazier and crazier and deeper and deeper.”
“Why would your name be redacted if you’re not a victim?” Rogan also asked. “Like, this is what’s crazy about all this. Like, how come you redact some people and you don’t redact other people?”
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Some of Trump’s MAGA allies were furious this week as Attorney General Pam Bondi deflected numerous questions in a congressional hearing on that very topic.
Even before Bondi’s widely-criticized performance, Fuentes had called for her impeachment.
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Fuentes has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “white nationalist,” an “admirer of fascists,” and someone who “frequently relies on antisemitic tropes.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, “Fuentes has used his platforms to make numerous antisemitic, racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments,” and spreads “white supremacist propaganda.”
President Trump “has not condemned Fuentes,” and Vice President JD Vance “has only criticized him for attacking his wife,” The Week reported last month. “But Vance also appears keen to avoid alienating young Fuentes supporters, who could help him secure the GOP presidential nomination in 2028.”
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Image via Reuters
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