Paul Clement, the litigator hired as lead attorney by the John Boehner and the U.S. House of Representatives to defend DOMA — the law already declared unconstitutional in two federal court cases — resigned Monday from the firm of King and Spalding after K&S Chairman Robert D. Hays, Jr. withdrew his firm as the House’s representative. But Clement, twisting the ideals of of case, calls the House an “unpopular client,” in an attempt top gain sympathy and to muddy the issue: the client is not unpopular, the client’s desire to defend an unpopular and unconstitutional law, is.
READ: “Breaking: Boehner’s Hand-Picked Law Firm To Defend DOMA Quits“
Clement, who has already landed at another Republican law firm, Bancroft PLLC, a firm comprised of a half-dozen Bush-era lawyers, in a statement, paints the case that marriage equality supporters are intolerant, saying, “I resign out of the firmly held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client’s legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters. Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do.”
“I recognized from the outset that this statute implicates very sensitive issues that prompt strong views on both sides. But having undertaken the representation, I believe there is no honorable course for me but to complete it.”
Let’s be clear here. DOMA is not a client, it is a law that is unconstitutional and unpopular. The House, despite its 17% approval rating, is not an unpopular client.
- DOMA, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, has been declared unconstitutional in two federal court cases.
- DOMA has further been declared unconstitutional by the President of the United States, and by the Attorney General and his Department of Justice has refused to defend the law in court, although they are enforcing it under their constitutional obligation.
- DOMA is wildly unpopular in the United States. It is opposed by almost every major demographic group across America. Men, women, whites, non-whites, people across every age group, every educational group, and geographic group, as well as majorities of Catholics and Protestants all oppose the Defense of Marriage Act.
- Conservatives are evenly split in their support for DOMA. 45% of conservatives polled indicated support for the Defense of Marriage Act, and 44% indicated they did not support the law, according to an HRC poll.
- Those  opposed to DOMA include:
- 47% of non-white voters (35% support)
- 50% of men (35% support)
- 53% of women (33% support)
- 50% – 53% of every age demographic (31% – 37% support)
- 46% of those with a high school diploma or less (37% support)
- 58% post-high school (29% support)
- 52% of college grads (35% support)
- 46% to 57% majorities or pluralities in every geographic region, including the South.
- 51% of Catholics (37% support)
- 53% of Protestants (35% support)
- 53% of white voters (33% support)
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