The long wait is nearly over for GLBT Americans who have been nervously waiting for decisions on two crucial marriage equality cases from the Supreme Court. The court has announced it will convene for the final day of its nine month term tomorrow, which means its decisions on cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8 will come out tomorrow. The justices will be ruling on whether the marriage equality banning Proposition 8 violates the US Constitution. Last year it was struck down court as unconstitutional. Gay Star News explains that the court could strike down Proposition 8 and marriage bans in all states, could strike down the law in California alone, or they could decline to rule in the case which would leave the Ninth Circuit ruling intact. In the DOMA case, the justices will rule on the New York case filed by Edith Windsor who sued because she was required to pay a $350,000 federal estate tax bill. The government did not recognise her marriage to her late wife Thea Spyer and under DOMA, couples cannot file joint federal tax returns or receive survivor benefits if one spouse dies. Gay Star News explains the state of affairs: DOMA prevents the US government from recognizing same-sex marriages even in states where such marriages are legal. It was passed by both houses of Congress by wide margins in 1996 and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton. The justices could rule that DOMA is unconstitutional to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples in states where gay marriages are legal or they could take things a step further and invalidate the law completely. Other possibilities are to uphold DOMA or to leave the lower court ruling intact which would invalidate the act in part of the country but leave the main legal issue of its constitutionality unresolved.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 26th June 2013 - 10:39am