Obama Administration Urges Court to Strike Down DOMA
Posted at 9:45 a.m. on Feb. 25
The Obama administration has filed a brief in the case United States v. Windsor asking the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act as a violation of equal protection, reports SCOTUSblog reports.
“The brief continued the efforts by the administration, begun two years ago tomorrow, to persuade the courts to adopt a rigorous test when they judged laws that discriminated against gays and lesbians. Instead of the much more tolerant ‘rational basis’ test, the government has been pressing for what is called ‘heightened scrutiny.’”
“This is the first time the federal government has proposed that constitutional test in a gay rights case before the Supreme Court. The Court itself has never specified just what constitutional standard it will apply in such cases, but it may have to settle that this Term.”
