U.S. Supreme Court,
Constitutional Law
Jan. 25, 2013
Same-sex marriage issue reserved to the states
In some cases federal law has impacted aspects of a marriage relationship, but the court still adheres to the rule that the "whole subject of the domestic relations" is beyond Congress' constitutional power.
Kris Whitten
Retired California deputy attorney general
One of the cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to address same-sex marriage involves Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which directs that for all "Acts of Congress, or any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex...
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