The Defense of Marriage Act, while certainly be unconstitutional as well as immoral, was actually ruled unconstitutional in part by a federal appeals court. This is a big step in having the law overturned and almost-certainly means that it will be reviewed by the Supreme Court. Note that the review was limited to a particular issue and did not legally consider the law on a broader basis. When the Supreme Court reviews the law it can simply affirm or invalidate the law on these limited issues or do so more broadly. Lower courts lack this flexibility in practice. Also note that the panel was made up of two Republican appointees and one Democratic appointee. Stories about the ruling can be found on The Huffington Post and TPM. You can read the actual decisoin here.
31 May 2012
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