Judge Stephen Reinhardt declares the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional

[FreeState]

Two Federal Lawyers Win Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses in 9th Circuit Orders
Posted 9 hours, 31 minutes ago
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Two federal judges on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have required payment of health insurance benefits to same-sex spouses of lawyers employed by the U.S. government.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski issued the orders as hearing officers for circuit employee disputes, the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.). Reinhardt’s order declared the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, while Kozinski’s order didn’t reach the “hard question” of the statute’s constitutionality. Instead, he said ambiguous language in a federal health benefits act allowed him to order benefits, the story says.

The cases were brought by Deputy Federal Public Defender Brad Levenson of Los Angeles and 9th Circuit staff lawyer Karen Golinski, according to the story. Lawyers from Morrison & Foerster represented Golinski on a pro bono basis.

Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel and director of the national marriage project at Lambda Legal in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the orders do not create direct precedent. But she told the Daily Journal that “they will become part of our national conversation about fairness and equality for same-sex couples."

http://www.abajournal.com/news/two_federal_lawyers_win_benefits_for_same-sex_spouses_in_9th_circuit_orders/

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Its a good start. Lets hope for more and more of this in the lower court can change the law without having to wait for politicians

EDIT here is the text of the ruling and further commentary: http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2009/02/ding-dong-the-domaaswell-crippled.html

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. I love the 9th!

:loveya: They have always been on the forefront of all the good judgements.

[roguevalley]

2. be glad Ted Stevens is gone. He has always tried to break them

up. I love them too.

[Deja Q]

3. K&R

[HurrahforHil]

4. Will the Religous Reich appeal?

If this makes it to SCOTUS then this could become an earthshaking decision in the GLBT movement

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. Four big Constitutional reasons why it will be struck down.

Full faith and credit clause.
Ex post facto clause.

Two goodies in the 14th Amendment: Due process and equal protection of the laws.


Really a slam dunk. It just takes time to get through the appellate process.


Yes I am a lawyer but I do not play one on TV. :D