The
Obama administration on Thursday formally expressed its support of same-sex
marriage in California, setting up a high stakes political and constitutional
showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over a fast-evolving and contentious issue.
In a broadly worded legal brief
that senior government sources say had President Barack Obama's personal input
and blessing, the Justice Department asserted gay and lesbian couples in the
nation's largest state have the same "equal protection" right to wed
and that voters there were not empowered to ban it.
"Prejudice may not,"
said the brief, "be the basis for differential treatment under the
law."
But the administration
specifically refused to argue that the constitutional right should be extended
to the 41 states that currently define marriage as between one man and one
woman.
The justices will hear the
so-called Proposition 8 case in March.
That case and another appeal over
the federal Defense of Marriage Act will produce blockbuster rulings from the
justices in coming months.
"The government seeks to
vindicate the defining constitutional ideal of equal treatment under the
law," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "Throughout history, we have
seen the unjust consequences of decisions and policies rooted in
discrimination."
"The issues before the
Supreme Court in this case and the Defense of Marriage Act case are not just
important to the tens of thousands Americans who are being denied equal
benefits and rights under our laws, but to our nation as a whole," Holder
added.
Gay rights groups had privately urged Obama and his top aides to
go beyond his previous personal rhetoric in support of the right and come down
"on the side of history" in this legal fight.
Sources told CNN that Obama made
the final decision over whether to file a brief and what to say.
Same-sex marriage could be a
defining moment in Obama's presidency, similar to the political impact last
year when the Supreme Court upheld the health care reform law he spearheaded.
He must decide how much political
capital to expend in coming months when expressing his views and those of the
executive branch.
Opinion:
2013 -- A year for big issues in the courts.
Obama has already faced strong
opposition on the issue from many Republican state and congressional lawmakers,
as well as social conservatives.
The justices will hear oral
arguments in the Proposition 8 case March 26, with a ruling due by the last
week of June.
The separate case over the
Defense of Marriage Act involves a 1996 law that says for federal purposes,
marriage is defined as only between one man and one woman. That means federal
tax, Social Security, pension, and bankruptcy benefits, and family medical
leave protections-- do not apply to gay and lesbian couples.
That case will be argued March
27.
But it is the Proposition 8 case
where the high court is being asked to establish the constitutional "equal
protection" right.
The administration is not a party
in the California appeal and not required to weigh in, but it decided to file
an amicus or "friend of the court" brief.
It is rare for a president to be
personally involved in the legal and political considerations in a high court
appeal, and sources say he spent a good deal of time reading up on the issue
and articulating his views privately.
Much of the legal reasoning in
any government brief would reflect in large part his personal thinking, gained
from his years as a former constitutional law professor.
Obama
administration weighs in on defense of marriage law
There are about approximately
120,000 legally married same-sex couples in the United States.
Dozens of advocacy groups on both
sides of the issue have bombarded the high court with briefs, including a
coalition of national Republicans, business, faith, and military leaders
supporting same-sex marriage.
Among the prominent conservative
names lending their view: former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon
Huntsman, Hewlitt-Packard chief executive and former California gubernatorial
candidate Meg Whitman, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), and actor
Clint Eastwood.
"As a Republican, I believe
in protecting individual freedoms and that everyone, including gay and lesbian
Americans, has a constitutional right to be treated equally under the
law," said former Rep. Jim Kolbe.
The president has had an evolving
position on gay rights, once supporting only civil unions. But in his inaugural
address last month, he raised expectations, and perhaps signaled his impending
legal views, when offering sweeping rhetoric.
"Our journey is not complete
until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law--
for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one
another must be equal as well."
Last November, voters in three
states-- Maryland, Washington, and Maine-- approved same-sex marriage, adding
to the six states and the District of Columbia that already have done so.
As more states legalize same-sex
marriage, one of the key questions the justices may be forced to address is
whether a national consensus now exists supporting the idea of expanding an
"equal protection" right of marriage to homosexuals
Many other states, including New
Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, Rhode Island and Hawaii, have legalized domestic
partnerships and civil unions -- a step designed in most cases to provide the
same rights of marriage under state law.
But other states have passed laws
or state constitutional amendments banning such marriages. California's 2008
Proposition 8 referendum revoked the right after lawmakers and the state courts
previously allowed it.
In February, a federal appeals
court in San Francisco ruled the measure unconstitutional. In its split decision,
the panel found that Proposition 8 "works a meaningful harm to gays and
lesbians" by denying their right to civil marriage.
The justices here have discretion
to rule narrowly or broadly on the aspects of the legal and procedural
questions raised.
Eastwood
inks support for same-sex marriage
