House GOP Leadership Asked Supreme Court to Rule on DOMA Case

The House of Representatives' Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) sent a request to the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday asking them to review a First Circuit court decision from this past May that declared Section 3 of the federal DOMA law unconstitutional:

In a filing obtained by Metro Weekly, BLAG asks the Supreme Court, which must agree to consider the case, to take the appeal for three reasons: (1) the constitutionality of DOMA Section 3 is "an issue of great national importance" and raises separation-of-powers questions; (2) the First Circuit decision conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1972 decision in Baker v. Nelson and other appellate decisions; and (3) the First Circuit "invented a new standard of equal protection review." In the course of the filing, called a petition for a writ of certiorari, BLAG states that "[t]he executive branch has ... abdicated its traditional role of defending the constitutionality of duly-enacted statutes." BLAG, which voted 3-2 to defend DOMA in court challenges, is made up of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Pelosi and Hoyer have objected to the filings.

Section 3 prevents the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriage. The federal courts keep agreeing again and again that it isn't constitutional for the federal governments to treat married gay and lesbian couples differently than other legally married American couples in matters of federal recognition or benefits. I'm sure that the U.S. Supreme Court will review this case, but I'm not sure that I want them deciding on the fate of my marriage. But, as always, that's out of my control.