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| Defense of Marriage Act: highlights from the supreme court ruling | Defense of Marriage Act: highlights from the supreme court ruling |
| (3 months later) | |
| In a historic victory for gay rights campaigners, the US supreme court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, the controversial federal law that discriminated against gay couples, which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. | In a historic victory for gay rights campaigners, the US supreme court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, the controversial federal law that discriminated against gay couples, which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. |
| Doma was struck down along with Proposition 8, an appeal against same-sex marriage laws in California, restoring the right to gay marriage in the state. | Doma was struck down along with Proposition 8, an appeal against same-sex marriage laws in California, restoring the right to gay marriage in the state. |
| Here are some of the highlights from the majority and dissenting opinions from the supreme court justices: | Here are some of the highlights from the majority and dissenting opinions from the supreme court justices: |
| United States v Windsor (Doma): | United States v Windsor (Doma): |
| Verdict: "Doma is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the fifth amendment." | Verdict: "Doma is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the fifth amendment." |
| Majority: Justice Kennedy (with Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, Breyer and Ginsburg) | Majority: Justice Kennedy (with Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, Breyer and Ginsburg) |
| Dissent: Justice Scalia; Chief Justice Roberts; Justice Alito | Dissent: Justice Scalia; Chief Justice Roberts; Justice Alito |
| Justice Anthony Kennedy: | Justice Anthony Kennedy: |
| Definition of marriage: | Definition of marriage: |
| It seems fair to conclude that, until recent years, many citizens had not even considered the possibility that two persons of the same sex might aspire to occupy the same status and dignity as that of a man and woman in lawful marriage. For marriage between a man and a woman no doubt had been thought of by most people as essential to the very definition of that term and to its role and function throughout the history of civilization. That belief, for many who long have held it, became even more urgent, more cherished when challenged. For others, however, came the beginnings of a new perspective, a new insight. | It seems fair to conclude that, until recent years, many citizens had not even considered the possibility that two persons of the same sex might aspire to occupy the same status and dignity as that of a man and woman in lawful marriage. For marriage between a man and a woman no doubt had been thought of by most people as essential to the very definition of that term and to its role and function throughout the history of civilization. That belief, for many who long have held it, became even more urgent, more cherished when challenged. For others, however, came the beginnings of a new perspective, a new insight. |
| Constitutional guarantee of equality: | Constitutional guarantee of equality: |
| The constitution's guarantee of equality 'must at the very least mean that a bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot' justify disparate treatment of that group. | The constitution's guarantee of equality 'must at the very least mean that a bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot' justify disparate treatment of that group. |
| Two-tier marriages and the humiliation of children: | Two-tier marriages and the humiliation of children: |
| By creating two contradictory marriage regimes within the same state, Doma forces same-sex couples to live as married for the purpose of state law but unmarried for the purpose of federal law ... By this dynamic Doma undermines both the public and private significance of state-sanctioned same-sex marriages; for it tells those couples, and all the world, that their otherwise valid marriages are unworthy of federal recognition. This places same-sex couples in an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage. The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the constitution protects ... and whose relationship the state has sought to dignify. And it humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples. The law in question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives. | By creating two contradictory marriage regimes within the same state, Doma forces same-sex couples to live as married for the purpose of state law but unmarried for the purpose of federal law ... By this dynamic Doma undermines both the public and private significance of state-sanctioned same-sex marriages; for it tells those couples, and all the world, that their otherwise valid marriages are unworthy of federal recognition. This places same-sex couples in an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage. The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the constitution protects ... and whose relationship the state has sought to dignify. And it humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples. The law in question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives. |
| Justice Antonin Scalia: | Justice Antonin Scalia: |
| 'A diseased root' | 'A diseased root' |
| We have no power to decide this case. And even if we did, we have no power under the constitution to invalidate this democratically adopted legislation. The court's errors on both points spring forth from the same diseased root: an exalted conception of the role of this institution in America. | We have no power to decide this case. And even if we did, we have no power under the constitution to invalidate this democratically adopted legislation. The court's errors on both points spring forth from the same diseased root: an exalted conception of the role of this institution in America. |
| Polygamy, divorce and the consumption of alcohol | Polygamy, divorce and the consumption of alcohol |
| As I have observed before, the constitution does not forbid the government to enforce traditional moral and sexual norms ... It is enough to say that the constitution neither requires nor forbids our society to approve of same-sex marriage, much as it neither requires nor forbids us to approve of no-fault divorce, polygamy, or the consumption of alcohol. | As I have observed before, the constitution does not forbid the government to enforce traditional moral and sexual norms ... It is enough to say that the constitution neither requires nor forbids our society to approve of same-sex marriage, much as it neither requires nor forbids us to approve of no-fault divorce, polygamy, or the consumption of alcohol. |
| Effects of the ruling | Effects of the ruling |
| The majority has declared open season on any law that (in the opinion of the law's opponents and any panel of like-minded federal judges) can be characterized as mean-spirited. | The majority has declared open season on any law that (in the opinion of the law's opponents and any panel of like-minded federal judges) can be characterized as mean-spirited. |
| On the defenders of the act | On the defenders of the act |
| It makes only a passing mention of the 'arguments put forward' by the Act's defenders, and does not even trouble to paraphrase or describe them ... I imagine that this is because it is harder to maintain the illusion of the Act's supporters as unhinged members of a wild-eyed lynch mob when one first describes their views as they see them. | It makes only a passing mention of the 'arguments put forward' by the Act's defenders, and does not even trouble to paraphrase or describe them ... I imagine that this is because it is harder to maintain the illusion of the Act's supporters as unhinged members of a wild-eyed lynch mob when one first describes their views as they see them. |
| In the majority's telling, this story is black-and-white: hate your neighbor or come along with us. The truth is more complicated. It is hard to admit that one's political opponents are not monsters, especially in a struggle like this one, and the challenge in the end proves more than today's court can handle. Too bad. | In the majority's telling, this story is black-and-white: hate your neighbor or come along with us. The truth is more complicated. It is hard to admit that one's political opponents are not monsters, especially in a struggle like this one, and the challenge in the end proves more than today's court can handle. Too bad. |
| Justice Samuel Alito: | Justice Samuel Alito: |
| The tradition of marriage | The tradition of marriage |
| It is beyond dispute that the right to same-sex marriage is not deeply rooted in this nation's history and tradition ... | It is beyond dispute that the right to same-sex marriage is not deeply rooted in this nation's history and tradition ... |
| At present, no one – including social scientists, philosophers, and historians – can predict with any certainty what the long-term ramifications of widespread acceptance of same-sex marriage will be. | At present, no one – including social scientists, philosophers, and historians – can predict with any certainty what the long-term ramifications of widespread acceptance of same-sex marriage will be. |
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