One of the several DOMA cases moving its way through the court system is Massaschusetts v. Department of Health and Human Services, and a federal appeals court recently ruled on it, striking down part of DOMA as unconstitutional. The House Republican group defending it has announced that they will be petitioning the Supreme Court for cert:
Lawyers for the House Republican leadership today told a federal court that the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group plans to ask the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling from May 31 striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act.
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The news came today in another challenge to DOMA’s federal definition of “marriage” and “spouse” contained in Section of the 1996 law. That case, Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management, was brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, and BLAG’s counsel today asked the court to put that case on hold.
One of the reasons for doing so, BLAG’s lawyers said, is because a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA would answer the questions raised in the Pedersen challenge.
That potential Supreme Court case, BLAG details, is Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the appellate case decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision on May 31.
If the Supreme Court takes the case (and they probably will), it would be heard this October.
[h/t Joe]
I’m not so sure they’d take this case. The rulings have been uniform and the decisions well-explained.
“If the Supreme Court takes the case (and they probably will), it would be heard this October.”
October 2012 sounds way too early for a decision on the merits. The actual wording used in the source article is:
“If the Supreme Court grants certiorari in Massachusetts, which we think is likely, the Court likely will docket the case for briefing, argument and decision during the October 2012 Term.”
http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2012/06/house-gop-leaders-will-ask-supreme-court-by-the-en.html
I am not familiar with the Supreme Court, but I suspect this means that in September or October they will decide whether or not to hear the appeal and, in the affirmative, will set a schedule of future dates within the term that runs from October 2012 to June 2013 for briefs to be filed and for the hearing, after which a decision will be given at any time before the close of that term in June or July 2013.