federal judge

DOMA ruled unconstitutional by 2nd federal judge

Submitted by ONE Community on February 23, 2012 - 3:42pm
DOMA ruled unconstitutional by 2nd federal judge

SF Gate 2.23.12

The government's denial of all federal benefits to same-sex married couples is an irrational and unconstitutional act of discrimination, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, a step toward a likely Supreme Court test of the law known as the Defense of Marriage Act.

DOMA is based on unfounded assumptions about marriage and the suitability of gays and lesbians as parents and was enacted in 1996 by a Congress avid to show its disapproval of homosexuality, said U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco. Read more »

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Judge refuses to dismiss gay marriage ban suit

Submitted by ONE Community on October 17, 2009 - 6:55pm
He asks lawyers to show how gay unions pose threat to traditional ones Associated Press updated 6:31 p.m. MT, Wed., Oct . 14, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge challenged the backers of California's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage Wednesday to explain how allowing gay couples to wed threatens conventional unions, a demand that prompted their lawyer to acknowledge he did not know. The unusual exchange between U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker and Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the group that sponsored Proposition 8, came during a hearing on a lawsuit challenging the measure as discriminatory under the U.S.
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