So, in case you haven't heard, here is the headline being reported;
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Obama: Marriage Act Is Unconstitutional
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This is a surprise. He has instructed the Department of Justice to stop defending it. Here is the full blurb.
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Gay-rights advocates can celebrate a major victory. President Obama has reportedly decided that the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional and has instructed the Department of Justice to stop fighting challenges to the law in court. Obama has struggled to balance support for some gay rights with existing laws, including an incident where the administration called for repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while defending it in court. The president has said that he personally does not support gay marriage, but recently added that his views are evolving.
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Now, this is not at all unprecedented. Other Presidents, notably George W. Bush, have directed the Department of Justice to stop fighting laws he believed were unconstitutional. But this one wasn't where I thought he would take the shot. The Don't Ask Don't Tell seemed a much safer bet for this last year.
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However, the current Dept.of Justice challenges have been lost repeatedly because the basic arguments (gay marriage increases straight divorce, gay marriage harms the children of straight families, AND gay marriage some how harms the children already living in a same sex household) these basic arguments have been shown as hollow as marriage is legal in many states (including the 18,000 in California). Once you show that gay marriage doesn't have a detrimental effect on children or on straight marriage - the arguments used by the Justice Department under Bush and Obama fall apart. And, once the DOJ has committed to an argument in federal court, it is hard to go back and change the fundamental argument. The bill was written with the preamble that gay marriage threated straight marriage - not just that everyone hated fags.
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Since the Department of Justice lost in Federal Court in Massachusetts (about taxes) AND California required the refiling of federal income tax (Gays that are married can't file as married, BUT California required the Feds to redo everyone's taxes because California is a community property state) - well it makes sense to keep one set of rules particularly if they are going to have to go back later and allow homos to file as married and the Feds would own back taxes and interest.
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So it's great and it makes sense, but the shit is going to hit the fan.
----------Update By scooter------
So I checked how and why they can do this. Apparently there are 3 reasons - the first and most important being that subsequent rulings have made a law indefensible. That seems to be the case here. Since DOMA was passed the Supreme Court has (quoting MSNBC here...)
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In the statement, Holder argued that the legal landscape has changed since the Defense of Marriage Act was passed 15 years ago and signed into law by President Clinton. He mentioned the Supreme Court's ruling striking down criminal laws against homosexuality, the repeal of the military's Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy, and the fact that several lower courts have found the DOMA law unconstitutional.
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So it is a reasonable thought. Now the burden goes to those in Congress that want to fight this.