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02/05/2009

Ding dong, the DOMA's..well, maimed

by Jeremy Hooper

The Defense of Marriage Act's not dead. However, if might be a good time for the long-ill law to get its affairs and order and start doing all those things its been putting off doing (like skydiving or treating gay people equally, for instance).

Latest contributor to DOMA's overdue demise? The reliably fair-minded 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Judge Alex Kozinski, in two separate internal employee grievance opinions, have ruled in favor of two federal employees -- Karen Golinski, a staff attorney for the appeals court in San Francisco, and Brad Levenson, a federal public defender in the Central District of California -- who were seeking to obtain benefits for their legal spouses (Tony Sears and Amy Cunninghis, respectively). And the beauty part? In Reinhart's order, he explicitly stated that it's unconstitutional for the gay-barring measure to be used to deny benefits to the legal spouses of gay federal employees:







This is MAJOR, folks. Two judges have gone on record, one explicitly contesting DOMA, and the other implicitly doing so. And it's a certainty that the religious right's collective tops are currently as blown as an already-worn bicycle tire riding over a bed of nails. That thrills us!

*Read/download both rulings, in full:

Reinhardt's order:



Download: 9th circuit ruling -- Brad Levenson

Kozinski's order:

**NOTE: Thanks to frequent G-A-Y commenter and friend LOrion for sending this to us!! : Thanks to frequent G-A-Y commenter and friend LOrion for sending this to us!! **NOTE: It should also be pointed out that Kozinski is a politically conservative Reagan appointee. In fact, he has It should also be pointed out that Kozinski is a politically conservative Reagan appointee. In fact, he has been hailed by Focus on the Family

Your thoughts

OMG, Pete and the Matt's are going to start foaming at the mouth over these rulings. Pete, pull yourself away from the hard core leather rimming action you so enjoy watching and write up something about activist judges. I'm sure you can cut and paste something that the Matts have written, so you can get back to your "research."

Posted by: Craig | Feb 5, 2009 5:11:02 PM

Wow! And the decision was based due process! I always thought that equal protection was our best chance. Who would'a thunk!

Posted by: Dick Mills | Feb 5, 2009 7:02:59 PM

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