CONTACT: Charles T. Moran Casey Pick
(310) 774-1258 cpick@logcabin.org
(Washington, DC) – Following the decision to overturn Article 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper issued the following statement:
“Article 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act was an unprecedented intrusion by the federal government upon the right of states to make their own decisions about what makes a marriage. As conservatives and federalists, Log Cabin Republicans support this ruling. In addition to being a victory for equality, it is a needed reminder to Washington that their powers are, indeed, limited.”
In the Massachusetts District Court’s decision in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Court clearly found that Congress, violating the Tenth Amendment, had no right to impose a national definition of marriage. The decision states “…DOMA plainly intrudes on a core area of state sovereignty – the ability to define the marital status of its citizens.”
The State of Massachusetts originally brought their suit in response to a veteran who wanted to be buried with his legally-married husband in a military cemetery. For the state of Massachusetts to honor this request, they were threatened by the US Department of Veterans Affairs that grant money given to the State for the operation of said military cemeteries would be subject to recapture due to DOMA if the state complied with this request – one that would be permitted for heterosexual couples.
A companion case also decided, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, found that DOMA also violated equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.
