

Via Drudge:

‘DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty’…

Scalia dissent: ‘Diseased root: an exalted notion of the role of this court in American democratic society’…

Reaction…

5-4: Decision in Prop 8: Ninth Circuit is vacated and remanded…

Lack of jurisdiction…

Supremes clear way for same-sex unions in Calif., but avoids ruling on gay marriage..



Gay marriage supporter Vin Testa waves a rainbow flag in anticipation of U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the cases against California’s gay marriage ban known as Prop 8 and the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), outside the court building in Washington, June 24, 2013. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act – ruling the key provision of DOMA was unconstitutional.

This means gays married in states that recognize gay marriage will be considered legally married in all states.

It was a 5-4 ruling by the court.

USA Today reported:

A divided Supreme Court gave a major boost to gay and lesbian rights on Wednesday, striking down a key section of a federal law that denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. TRENDING: Wray Claims "White Supremacists" Make Up the Largest Share of Racially Motivated Terrorists in the US as BLM Burns Businesses to the Ground (VIDEO) The justices declared unconstitutional part of the 17-year-old Defense of Marriage Act, a law that has denied federal benefits to married gays and lesbians in a dozen states, from Maine to Washington, and the District of Columbia. The decision gives the high court’s blessing, at least in part, to a gay-marriage movement that has gained momentum in the past decade and now stands on the threshold of full equality. The ruling represents a major step forward for marriage equality and a setback for defenders of traditional marriage between only men and women. But 36 states still ban same-sex marriage, and the high court’s ruling doesn’t affect them. In a 5-4 decision written by justice Anthony Kennedy, said the federal law unconstitutionally denied equal treatment to gay and lesbian couples. “DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled of recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty,” Kennedy wrote.

UPDATE: Here is today’s Supreme Court DOMA decision.