Obama Administration Urges Supreme Court
To Strike Down DOMA

Read/download the brief.

On 22 February 2013 the Obama administration filed an amicus brief regarding Windsor v. United States, the DOMA legal case that will be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court on  27 March 2013. In the brief, President Obama and his administration ask the Court to overturn the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," which prohibits federal recognition of legal civil marriages between same-sex couples. 

In the brief, the Adminstration stated, "Section 3 of DOMA violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The law denies to tens of thousands of same-sex couples who are legally married under state law an array of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite-sex couples. Because this discrimination cannot be justified as substantially furthering any important governmental interest, Section 3 is unconstitutional."

Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog.com provided an analysis of the brief, DOMA: U.S. takes tough line on marriage denial.