Politics

Administration files Amicus Brief in California Proposition 8 Case

Obama: Prop. 8 & DOMA Unconstitutional

USPA NEWS - The Obama Administration has filed a brief at the Supreme Court arguing in no uncertain terms ““ that a law denying gay and lesbian couples the ability to marry is unconstitutional.

For the first time, a U.S. Government official's position is that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
Last year, President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to support full marriage equality. Yesterday, the President took his words one step further and put his support into action, as the Administration filed it's Friend of the Court brief in this case.

In his second inaugural address last month, President Obama said our journey is not complete until "the love we commit to one another" is equal as well.

The amicus brief argues that Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause within the 14th Amendment of U.S. Constitution.

In late 2011, the Obama Administration announced that it would stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), as it believed it was also unconstitutional.



This move fits within a tradition of the United States standing on what it believes to be the right side of history in civil rights cases. Almost 60 years ago, the Justice Department filed an amicus brief in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark school desegregation case.

Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign said "Our children will look back on the struggle for equality as the defining civil rights battle of our generation, and President Obama deserves our thanks for playing such a bold role in that struggle."

The Supreme Court is schedule to hear arguments in both the Proposition 8 case from California, as well as a case challenging the constitutionality of DOMA beginning March 28th.

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