From Liz Goodwin writing at
Yahoo News:
If, as many legal experts predict, the Defense of Marriage Act is struck
down by the Supreme Court, advocates behind the decadeslong movement
for gay rights will have won a major victory. But the decision could
also create a dense legal maze for gay and lesbian married couples, one
that would surely lead to more lawsuits that could make their way back
to the Supreme Court. ...
If DOMA is struck down, then same-sex couples residing in states that
allow gay marriage will suddenly be included in the more than 1,100
federal laws that give benefits to married couples. ...
But what about a gay couple that
gets married in New York and then moves back to North Carolina, or any
other of the 38 states that have explicitly banned gay marriage?
At first glance, it appears they would have no access to these
rights, and that their marriage would not be recognized either by their
state or the federal government ...
[A law professor] predicts same-sex couples would sue the government, arguing that this policy violates their constitutional right to travel. ...
That would leave broad discretion to the Obama administration to define
the issue administratively ... The White House could direct
federal agencies like the IRS [or Social Security] to accept marriages based on where a
couple got married, not where they live. ...
1 comment:
Such a change would potentially have a waterfall effect. Many Social Security determinations are made based on a state of residency criteria. This would open up the potential for forum shopping on e.g. Determination of child status. Reall, what DOMA did was settle all these issues for gay marriage on a federal basis (though not in the way many would have liked).
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