The Defense
of Marriage Act, also known as “DOMA”, is a federal statute that was passed in
1996. The act states that when it comes to federal laws and regulations,
marriage is defined as between a man and a woman only. The effect of this law
was to limit the ability of same sex couples from receiving social security
survivor benefits, and prevent them from being able to file joint taxes
together. The law also stated that other states do not have to recognize same
sex marriages in other states if their state did not recognize them.
The ruling
focused on these denials of benefits to same sex partners, and involved a type
of legal analysis in constitutional cases called the “rational basis” test.
This is the lowest bar for a federal statute to hurdle, but even with the low
bar the Defense of Marriage Act was still struck down by a unanimous three
panel appeals Court. The rational basis test, as discussed previously in this
blog, involves the burden falling on the government to prove that the
governmental action is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.
This is same bar Proposition 8 in California
failed on hurdle earlier in the year.
The recent
decision finding DOMA unconstitutional sets the stage for the United States
Supreme Court to likely hear a same sex marriage case around this time next
year. The decision will have far reaching implications, and will affect the
field of family law for years to come.
If you have
questions about family law, or how the recent decision may affect you, please contact us today.
No comments:
Post a Comment