SUPREME COURT PLAZA, Washington, DC – In the minutes following the conclusion of marathon oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court over the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Constitutional Accountability Center attorneys released the following reactions:

“A majority of justices today appeared to regard DOMA for what it is: a pervasive program of discrimination that changes 1100 laws and touches every aspect of life,” said CAC Vice President Judith E. Schaeffer.

CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra continued, “To great applause, at least in the lawyers lounge, Justice Kagan pushed back again at the argument that DOMA is a benign Federal law by citing blatantly discriminatory comments in the U.S. House reports.”

“Like yesterday, some of the justices seemed reluctant to decide this case, but if they address the merits we expect the court to strike down DOMA,” said CAC Civil Rights Director David Gans.

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Resources:

“Will Supreme Court recognize my marriage?” Judith E. Schaeffer, March 27, 2013: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/03/26/supreme-court-gay-marriage/2022377/ 

“It’s Not a Mystery When State Laws Prohibiting Same-Sex Couples From Marrying ‘Became Unconstitutional’,” Elizabeth Wydra, March 26, 2013: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-b-wydra/its-not-a-mystery-when-st_b_2957916.html 

“The Constitutional Case for Marriage Equality,” CAC President Doug Kendall and Cato Senior Fellow Ilya Shapiro, February 28, 2013: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-kendall/the-constitutional-case-f_b_2781874.html 

Brief of Constitutional Accountability Center/Cato Institute in Hollingsworth v. Perry: https://www.theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/CAC-Cato-Perry-Amicus-Brief.pdf 

Brief of Constitutional Accountability Center/Cato Institute in U.S. v. Windsor: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/CAC-Cato-Windsor-amicus-brief.pdf 

“Perfecting the Declaration: The Text and History of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, David Gans,” Text & History Narrative, November 2011: https://www.theusconstitution.org/media/releases/new-study-shows-why-justice-scalia-wrong-%E2%80%93-and-ted-olson-right-%E2%80%93-constitutional  

 “Celebrating Loving: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Right to Marry,” David Gans, June 2011: http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/2996   

“The Meaning of Equal: Conservative originalists are rethinking their narrow reading of the 14th Amendment,” Doug Kendall and David Gans, December 2011: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2011/12/how_conservatives_learned_to_stop_fighting_the_14th_amendment_and_what_it_could_mean_for_gay_marriage.html  

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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