UPDATE/ DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Take Two DOMA Cases, Maintains Law Is Uncons

[MadelineB]

http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2012/07/breaking-doj-asks-supreme-court-to-take-two-doma-c.html
Posted by Chris Geidner
July 3, 2012 7:25 PM
[This post was expanded and updated, with the final update made at 8:55 p.m.]

BREAKING: DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Take Two DOMA Cases, Maintains Law Is Unconstitutional

The Obama administration is squarely taking on the Defense of Marriage Act, asking the U.S. Supreme Court today to review a pair of cases challenging the constitutionality of the federal definition of "marriage" contained in the 1996 law -- while continuing to argue the law should be struck down.

In Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, the California-based case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, DOJ is asking for the Supreme Court to take the case before the appeals court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case in September, even decides the case.

DOJ also is asking the Supreme Court to take review of another case, Massachusetts v. Department of Health and Human Services, that was decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on May 31.
....
READ the Golinski letter and cert petition: Golinski-DOJ-cert.pdf

READ the Gill cert petition: Gill-DOJ-cert.pdf

[cindianna_jones]

I know that the court does not want to take these cases. California's prop 8 is also working its way to SCOTUS.  Once these cases are accepted, they may find no way to find these medieval laws constitutional.

[MadelineB]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scottie-thomaston/department-of-justice-doma_b_1650233.html
by Scottie Thomaston
Posted: 07/06/2012 10:08 pm

The Department of Justice Presses the Supreme Court to Resolve DOMA Challenges

This week the Justice Department filed two petitions for writs of certiorari to the Supreme Court in challenges to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). We covered the news as it broke, and below is analysis of the petitions.
....
These cases could be taken up in the Supreme Court's Sept. 24 conference, Davidson tells me; this is the earliest they would decide whether or not to hear the case, given that they are on summer vacation until then. From there, if they take the case, we could likely find out within that week. Arguments would be scheduled for around four months after the case is docketed. A decision would be rendered likely at the end of June 2013 at the latest.

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This article contains an extensive and well documented analysis of both briefs. I recommend reading the entire text, too dense to excerpt here. - MadelineB

[Dawn Heart]

As of today, I saw that the group, "Freedom To Marry" published this piece:

http://www.freedomtomarry.org/blog/entry/medical-and-psychological-organizations-file-amicus-brief-in-doma-case