FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, March 1, 2013
CONTACT: Ian Koski at 202-224-4216
Senator Coons, colleagues file amicus brief on DOMA case before U.S. Supreme Court
WILMINGTON, Del. — U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, teamed up with 39 senators and 172 members of the House of Representatives to file an amicus brief today in the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Edith Schlain Windsor, a landmark challenge to Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA. Senator Coons is an original cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA.
Section 3 of DOMA defines marriage for purposes of federal law as “only a legal union between one man and one woman,” excluding legally married same-sex couples from all marriage-based federal responsibilities and rights. A total of 40 Senators and 172 members of the House signed onto the brief.
These 212 members decided to participate as amici in this case because they want the Supreme Court to hear the full story from Congress, and to explain why they believe that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional. They disagree with the arguments being made by lawyers hired to defend DOMA in court by the House Majority following the divided 3-2 vote of the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG).
The amicus brief filed today makes clear that BLAG does not speak for Congress and that many members believe that Section 3 should be struck down because there simply is no legitimate federal interest in denying married same-sex couples the legal security, rights and responsibilities that federal law provides to all other married couples. As the brief explains: “DOMA imposes a sweeping and unjustifiable federal disability on married same-sex couples.”
In Edith “Edie” Windsor’s case, the federal government taxed Edie more than $363,000 when her spouse, Thea Spyer, passed away in 2009. The couple, constituents of Rep. Nadler in New York City, first met in 1965 and married in 2007, after an engagement that lasted more than 40 years. Yet, when Thea died, the federal government treated them as complete strangers because of DOMA, significantly reducing Edie’s inheritance by denying her protections from the estate tax that other married couples receive.
Edie, who is now 83 years old, challenged DOMA as a violation of equal protection. The federal district court in New York City and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in her favor, holding that DOMA violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee.
The members’ brief, available here, urges the Supreme Court to uphold the Second Circuit’s decision. It adds the unique perspective of Members of Congress – including some who voted against DOMA and others who voted for it – about the enactment of DOMA and why Section 3 is unconstitutional.
Gay and lesbian couples can now marry in nine states and the District of Columbia, and 18,000 such couples remain legally married in California. It is clear that DOMA does not rationally serve and, in fact, undermines, Congress’s legitimate interests in the welfare of American families.
As the Congressional amici point out to the court: “The goal of maximizing the financial well-being and independence of widows is not furthered by depriving Edie Windsor and others like her of the estate-tax exemption that other married Americans receive. The policy of encouraging employers to provide family health benefits is not served either by denying to employers the tax deduction for providing those benefits to married gay and lesbian couples or by refusing to cover spouses of gay and lesbian federal employees. Our national security is undermined by denying spousal benefits to gay and lesbian servicemembers, especially during periods of armed conflict. Our veterans are dishonored when we deny them the right to have their spouses buried alongside them in our national cemeteries.”
The full text of the amicus brief can be found here: http://coons.senate.gov/download/doma-amicus.
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