The Supreme Court made two decisions today. Both were 5-4.
In the case, The United States v. Windsor, Section 3 of DOMA was found unconstitutional. What this means is that in any state where gay marriage is legal, this ruling states that federal benefits cannot be denied to those couples (i.e., health insurance, death benefits, &c.). What this also does is strike down a “federal definition of marriage.” It would take an ammendment to the consitution for there to be a federal definition of marriage now.
In the case Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Court ruled that the supporters did not have standing (standing means legal merit) to appeal the federal ruling that made Proposition 8 unconstitutional. In his decision, Chief Justice Roberts made it very clear that his decision did not in any way have anything to do with the merits of the case, only procedure. Basically, the Supreme Court, which is full of conservatives, isn’t willing to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage and is leaving it up to the states for now. Will there be more cases like this in the future?
Today wasn’t a total victory, but it was a good punch to those laws that prevent people from marrying those they love.
More from The Sexy Politico on this subject:
Supreme Court Gay Rights Decisions
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The = and Everything Else in My Facebook Newsfeed
Two Supreme Court Cases that are Big For Gay Marriage Rights
