Judge’s ‘stretch’ on DOMA
Becky Yeh – OneNewsNow California correspondent – 2/2/2012 3:40:00 AM
One marriage advocate says a California judge wants to play “legislator” in her desire to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland is expected to rule against the Defense of Marriage Act because it denies long-term health benefits to same-sex domestic partners of California state employees. She is inviting same-sex couples to join the legal challenge against the measure.
In February 2011, President Barack Obama deemed DOMA unconstitutional and pledged to no longer defend it in court. And as the San Francisco Chronicle points out, his administration argued before the judge that only “gay” spouses should be able to file a lawsuit over healthcare coverage because Congress has grounds to limit tax breaks to legal relatives and exclude domestic partners. Wilken, however, says same-gender couples “are relegated to registered domestic partnerships because legal marriage is prohibited for them,” going on to add that Congress sees registered domestic partnerships like a marriage.
But Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values suggests the judge’s argument is flawed.
“The Defense of Marriage Act does not recognize that, and that’s why she wants to overturn it … so that she can play as a legislator and not as a judge,” he contends.
According to Judge Wilken, officials have not given a legitimate reason explaining why registered domestic couples should be excluded from obtaining long-term health coverage. Two lawsuits challenging DOMA have been filed in the Bay Area.
“It was quite simple that marriage shall be between one man and one woman, and the benefits of that will also be the same as dealing with federal employees,” Burress notes. “And to say that it’s unconstitutional is quite a stretch.”
The Chronicle goes on to report that Judge Wilken says she is “inclined” to overturn DOMA.
Source: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1527384
