The U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear two major cases involving gay marriage, SCOTUSBlog is reporting.
The court will take up both Proposition 8, a law that outlawed gay marriage in California, and a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.
In Prop 8, the Ninth Circuit ruled California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. Prop 8 had no purpose except lessening "the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California," that court found.
California's own Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in 2008, but voters overturned that ruling with Prop 8 the same day Obama got elected for the first time.
One of the key issues the Supreme Court will consider is whether the plaintiffs fighting Proposition 8 have standing to sue over it.
Meanwhile, the Defense of Marriage Act bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. DOMA has the practical effect of sometimes requiring gay couples to pay more federal taxes.
Clinton signed DOMA into law in 1996, after it breezed through the Republican-controlled Congress.
Then-Georgia Congressman Bob Barr authored DOMA following an outcry over a Hawaii Supreme Court decision finding it was unconstitutional to deny marriage rights to gays.
Please follow Law & Order on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
