Supreme Court Announces Dates And Argument Parameters For DOMA, Prop. 8 Cases
BTL Staff Report
Originally printed 1/10/2013 (Issue 2102 - Between The Lines News)
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The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday Jan. 7 that it will hear arguments on Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban, on March 26 and United States v. Windsor, challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (signed in 1996), on March 27.
In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Proposition 8 hearing, the justices are asking parties to argue on the question of whether the U.S. Constitution allows California to limit marriage to unions of one man and one woman.
In United States v. Windsor, the justices are asking parties to argue whether DOMA violates the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, parties are to argue whether the U.S. House of Representatives can legally defend DOMA despite the Obama Administration's support for a federal appeals court decision that the law is unconstitutional.
Currently nine states have legalized gay marriage - Maine, Maryland, Washington state, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont - and the nation's capital, the District of Columbia.
