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Mass. AG: Federal marriage law unconstitutional

DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer, Published: 11:05 a.m., Friday, February 19, 2010

BOSTON (AP) — A federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman forces Massachusetts — the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage — to discriminate against same-sex couples, state Attorney General Martha Coakley argues in court papers.

Coakley's office filed a lawsuit in July challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, Coakley asked a judge to deem the law unconstitutional without holding a trial on the lawsuit.

Coakley argues that regulating marital status has traditionally been left to the states. She said the federal law treats married heterosexual couples and married same-sex couples differently, for instance, when determining eligibility for Medicaid benefits and when determining whether the spouse of a veteran can be buried in a Massachusetts veterans' cemetery.

The law forces Massachusetts "to engage in invidious discrimination against its own citizens in order to receive and retain federal funds in connection with two joint federal-state programs," Coakley argues in the court filing.

"Massachusetts cannot receive or retain federal funds if it gives same-sex and different-sex spouses equal treatment, namely by authorizing the burial of a same-sex spouse in a federally-funded veterans' cemetery and by recognizing the marriages of same-sex spouses in assessing eligibility for Medicaid health benefits," she said.

The filing was made in response to a motion by the U.S. Justice Department to dismiss the lawsuit, and to support Coakley's request to declare the law unconstitutional without holding a trial.

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Coakley says federal marriage law unconstitutional

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, February 19, 2010

BOSTON —  Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman interferes with the state’s right to regulate marriage.

Coakley’s office filed a lawsuit in July challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In court papers filed late yesterday, Coakley asks a judge to deem the law unconstitutional without holding a trial on the lawsuit.

Coakley argues that regulating marital status has traditionally been left to the states. She also says the federal law treats married heterosexual couples and married same-sex couples differently when determining eligibility for Medicaid benefits and when determining whether the spouse of a veteran can be buried in a Massachusetts veterans’ cemetery.

Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, is the first state to challenge the law.

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-- Edited by Sanders on Friday 19th of February 2010 11:19:58 PM