Monday, June 29, 2015

Waitaminute....

Remember DOMA? The Defense of Marriage Act? The Act passed by congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996? It defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act)

This law was challenged  and overturned in 2013. In the majority opinion on the case, SCOTUS said the following (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_6j37.pdf):

  • "DOMA, because of its reach and extent, departs from this history and tradition of reliance on state law to define marriage."
  • "DOMA’s unusual deviation from the usual tradition of recognizing and accepting state definitions of marriage here operates to deprive same-sex couples of the benefits and responsibilities that come with the federal recognition of their marriages."
  • "The avowed purpose and practical effect of the law here in question are to impose a disadvantage, a separate status, and so a stigma upon all who enter into same-sex marriages made lawful by the unquestioned authority of the States."
  • "The history of DOMA’s enactment and its own text demonstrate that interference with the equal dignity of same-sex marriages, a dignity conferred by the States in the exercise of their sovereign power, was more than an incidental effect of the federal statute."

Ok waitaminute. Are the States sovereign or not? In the DOMA ruling, SCOTUS said they are. Yet in the decision last week, SCOTUS completely contradicted what they said in the DOMA decision. So last week, SCOTUS took the 10th Amendment and flushed it down the toilet.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"

For those of you who haven't bothered to read it: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html

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