Leave a Comment Sagesse
Archives – June, 2012
House Republicans appeal Gill/Massachusetts DOMA case to Supreme Court
By Scottie Thomaston
Earlier this month, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) who is defending DOMA in court challenges, noted in a filing that they would be petitioning the Supreme Court for certiorari, or review, by the end of the month. Today BLAG filed its petition. A petition for certiorari is the first attempt to frame the issues the Supreme Court will decide. Petitions have a list of “Questions Presented” that the Supreme Court may or may not decide to hear. (The Supreme Court can also add its own question(s) and possibly ask for briefing on any additional issues.) The questions presented here are:
(1) Whether Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment; and
(2) Whether the court below erred by inventing and applying to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act a previously unknown standard of equal protection review
The “previously unknown” standard of review the petition cites refers to the First Circuit’s rational basis review that included both a more searching form of review that regarded laws which might be based on animus toward a particular group as suspicious, as well as a stronger focus on DOMA’s impact on federalism.
The petitioners ask the Court to take the case because:
As the First Circuit recognized, this case calls out for this Court’s review. The court of appeals has invalidated a duly-enacted Act of Congress and done so even though it acknowledged both that DOMA satisfies ordinary rational basis review and does not implicate heightened scrutiny. In the establishedworld of equal protection law that result should have been impossible.
The petition also suggests that the issue of separation of powers should lead the Court to grant cert:
Separation of powers considerations strongly counsel in favor of this Court’s review. The executive branch has not only abdicated its traditional role of defending the constitutionality of duly-enacted statutes, but has simultaneously announced that it will continue to enforce DOMA. App. 127a. As a result, the House has been forced into the position of defending numerous lawsuits challenging DOMA across the Nation. That is a role for which the Justice Department—not the House—is institutionally designed.
Only this Court can settle this matter definitively. Unless and until this Court decides thequestion, the executive branch will continue toattack DOMA in the courts, while continuing to enforce it, thus creating more potential litigation for the House to defend.
The petitioners once again invoke Baker v. Nelson, the 1972 case in which the Supreme Court summarily dismissed “for want of a substantial federal question” a challenge alleging that the Equal Protection Clause requires same-sex marriage. They claim that case conflicts with the First Circuit’s overturning of DOMA.
A response to the petition by the respondents (the plaintiffs at the First Circuit) is due within 30 days.
Thanks to Kathleen for this filing, via Scribd:
GLAD (the attorneys for the plaintiffs) has issued a press release:
Congressional Leadership Seeks Supreme Court Review of GLAD’s DOMA Case
Gill Case Could be Decided in 2012-2013 SCOTUS Term
Congressional leadership in the form of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) today filed a petition for certiorari in the case Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The petition is in response to a unanimous May 31st ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional with respect to claims brought by seven married same-sex couples and three widowers from Massachusetts. Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) represents the plaintiffs.
Mary Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director and lead attorney in the case, said, “We will look closely at the petition and will consider our options. We remain convinced that our clients deserve to be treated equally under the law and have their marriages respected by their government. Two federal courts have agreed with us so far.”
GLAD filed Gill v. Office of Personnel Management on March 3, 2009. Prior to the appellate court decision, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro found DOMA unconstitutional on July 8, 2010.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.
74 Comments June 29, 2012
Equality news round-up: Washington marriage equality videos, and more
By Scottie Thomaston
- France plans to make marriage equality legal next year.
- Washington United For Marriage has some videos on the importance of marriage equality.
- Here is a report on LGBT Chicagoans.
- Ari Ezra Waldman, writing at Towleroad, discusses yesterday’s Supreme Court decision upholding the health care law and what it could mean for the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act that may reach the Court next year.
- Lambda Legal has a report on transgender youth.
6 Comments June 29, 2012
Rhode Island’s House Speaker will call for marriage equality vote next year
By Scottie Thomaston
Gordon Fox, the Speaker of the House in Rhode Island, says that the state will take up marriage equality in its next legislative session:
“I’m calling the vote,” Fox, D-Providence, said Friday morning during a taping of WPRI 12′s Newsmakers. He added: “It’s one of those issues that I need to come back, we need to address, and I intend if I’m elected speaker to address it early.”
[...]
“It’s one of the main reasons I’m coming back,” Fox, who is openly gay, said on the program. “There’s unfinished business.” Fox was first elected to the House in 1992 and succeeded William Murphy as speaker in February 2010.
Earlier this year, Rhode Island’s Governor Lincoln Chafee signed an executive order recognizing same-sex marriages performed out of state. The Senate may or may not move on marriage equality legislation after the House votes, but there are ongoing talks. Marriage Equality Rhode Island issued a statement:
“We appreciate Speaker Fox’s commitment to finally calling a vote on marriage equality and look forward to working with him to pass this important civil rights legislation early in the next session. Under Speaker Fox and Gov. Chafee’s leadership, all eyes will turn to the Senate, where there is a wide coalition working to ensure that a pro-equality majority is elected.“Every day, we strive to make 2013 the year in which all loving, committed couples are finally recognized, respected and treated equally under the law.“
The Speaker says his intention is to call the vote early in the session.
8 Comments June 29, 2012
