Friday, December 7, 2012

Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8, DOMA Cases


The Supreme Court will hear marriage equality cases including the challenge to Proposition 8 and an elderly lesbian widow’s challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.
The high court indicated its plan in orders released Friday afternoon,SCOTUSblog reports.
The court has been asked to hear 11 petitions related to marriage equality, including cases about Proposition 8, same-sex domestic partnerships in Arizona, the Nevada constitutional ban, and eight challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act. The cases challenge the section of the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
Chad Griffin is now president of the Human Rights Campaign but co-founded American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group that brought the Prop. 8 court challenge.

"The passage of Proposition 8 caused heartbreak for so many Americans," Griffin said in a statement, "but today’s announcement gives hope that we will see a landmark Supreme Court ruling for marriage this term."

HRC also applauded the possibility DOMA could fall.

“I am confident that the Justices will find this law patently unconstitutional and the federal government will get out of the business of picking which marriages it likes and which it doesn’t," said Griffin.

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