The Seattle Lesbian
Seattle's exclusive online news magazine for the LGBT community
U.S. District Court Judge Rules DOMA Unconstitutional
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 3:43PM | Retrieved from the Internet on February 27, 2012 by SJ
http://www.theseattlelesbian.com/top-news/2012/2/22/us-district-court-judge-rules-doma-unconstitutional.html (http://www.theseattlelesbian.com/top-news/2012/2/22/us-district-court-judge-rules-doma-unconstitutional.html)
U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White today ruled the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, declaring that the discriminatory federal statute violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equality. Lambda Legal and Morrison & Foerster LLP brought the case on behalf of Karen Golinski, a federal court employee denied spousal health coverage for her wife.
It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
When a District Court decision is appealed it usually goes to a three-judge Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The are 11 Courts of Appeals, with varying number of judges in each circuit.
Sometimes, a circuit court decision is forwarded to a larger (typically 11-judge) en banc panel within the Circuit.
The final appeal is to the US Supreme Court. When Circuit Courts come to different conclusions on essentially the same issue, the cases often end up in the USSC.
Unlikely that the 9th is going to decide in a unanimous decision (en banc decisions can have no dissent) to support DOMA. Funny, it's one of their own employees.
Quote from: tekla on February 29, 2012, 02:51:56 AM
Unlikely that the 9th is going to decide in a unanimous decision (en banc decisions can have no dissent) to support DOMA. Funny, it's one of their own employees.
I'm not sure that is the case.
For example, look at his article: http://walshslaw.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/en-banc-fourth-circuit-votes-8-5-on-gvrd-case-departing-from-earlier-unanimous-panel-decision-joined-by-justice-oconnor/ (http://walshslaw.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/en-banc-fourth-circuit-votes-8-5-on-gvrd-case-departing-from-earlier-unanimous-panel-decision-joined-by-justice-oconnor/)
Wrong circuit. Besides I'm pretty sure that the 9th is damn close to 100% in opposition to DOMA, and to their employees being denied the right to put their life partner on their insurance or any of that nonsense.
Quote from: tekla on February 29, 2012, 12:43:24 PM
Wrong circuit. Besides I'm pretty sure that the 9th is damn close to 100% in opposition to DOMA, and to their employees being denied the right to put their life partner on their insurance or any of that nonsense.
I know it's a different circuit, and perhaps the rules for the 9th vary from the other regarding
en banc decisions, but there are many news stories concerning non-unamimous
en banc decisions overturning the 3-judge panel.
Such decisions can only be done by a few circuits, not all of them (only the bigger ones) & the rules of one circuit do not transfer - judges hate listening to each other, occupational disease. Besides it tends to be used to stop cases, and I would think they want this one brought forward, or at least into the mix of all the DOMA cases that are headed upstairs.
Quote from: tekla on February 29, 2012, 06:14:08 PM
Such decisions can only be done by a few circuits, not all of them (only the bigger ones) & the rules of one circuit do not transfer - judges hate listening to each other, occupational disease. Besides it tends to be used to stop cases, and I would think they want this one brought forward, or at least into the mix of all the DOMA cases that are headed upstairs.
right that