President Barack Obama in February, 2011, put his official, long-time belief into practice, repeating that not only did he think the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, but, now, so did Attorney General Eric Holder, and together they had decided to no longer defend the law in federal court. Barack Obama, who served as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago, is not alone in his DOMA position.
Dale Carpenter, who blogs at the popular, ultra-conservative/libertarian law blog, The Volokh Conspiracy, writes:
“Eighty-seven percent of constitutional law professors back marriage for same-sex couples, and 7 out of 10 believe the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, but only a slight majority of 54% think the federal Constitution requires states to recognize same-sex marriages. That’s the result of a survey of 485 constitutional law professors that I conducted this summer…”
Carpenter adds, “Despite a common criticism, many constitutional law professors pride themselves on being able to separate their policy preferences from their constitutional views.”
So, why is Speaker of the House John Boehner spending up to $1.5 million of you tax dollars to defend DOMA in court?