In looming federalism fight, three states say feds can't 'unmarry' gay couples (CS Monitor)
Three states where members of the clergy and justices of the peace today marry gay couples argued on Friday that it’s a violation of states’ rights for the federal government to then “unmarry” those people under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
In an amicus brief to a New York case involving a lesbian widow, Vermont, Connecticut, and New York argue that the federal government had no right, despite the federal designation of marriage as being between a man and a woman, to demand $350,000 in estate taxes when Edie Windsor’s partner died. That would not have happened under a marital tax deduction that lets other married couples pass their assets to their spouse without penalty.
The three states who filed amicus briefs argue that states regulate marriage and family relationships and that Congress doesn’t have constitutional authority to interfere with that license at any level.
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The House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), led by Speaker John Boehner (R), has taken over defending the law after President Obama said his administration would not – a refusal that DOMA defenders have written is an “unprecedented deviation from the historical norm.” At the same time, 145 House Democrats have signed an amicus brief in support of Ms. Windsor, the New York widow.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0908/In-looming-federalism-fight-three-states-say-feds-can-t-unmarry-gay-couples
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