Mass. AG Files Suit Challenging Defense of Marriage Act
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
The Boston Globe reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the United States itself were named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that by enacting DOMA, “Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states’ efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus toward gay and lesbian people.”
Before DOMA was enacted in 1996, each state could define marital status as it wanted, Coakley told the Associated Press. But DOMA denies federal recognition of gay marriage, which prevents same-sex spouses from receiving federal income tax credits, employment and retirement benefits, health insurance coverage and Social Security, the lawsuit states.
Massachusetts must violate the constitution by treating married heterosexual and the state’s 16,000 married same-sex couples differently when determining eligibility for Medicaid benefits and whether a veteran can be buried in a Massachusetts veterans’ cemetery, the lawsuit argues. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Veterans Affairs are named along with the United States in the lawsuit.
The Globe notes that the suit does not challenge the constitutionality of DOMA’s section 2—which provides that states aren’t required to recognize same-sex marriages from other states—only section 3, which defines marriage for the purpose of federal law as “between one man and one woman.” The suit contends the law violates the 10th Amendment, which reserves to states all powers not granted to the federal government.
U.S. Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller told the Globe and the Associated Press that he had not seen the lawsuit so as to determine how to respond.
The Globe notes that the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders filed its own suit on behalf of nine same-sex couples and three widowers challenging this law in March.
