Mass. Says Federal Marriage Law Unconstitutional

[kpete]

Mass. Says Federal Marriage Law Unconstitutional

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 19, 2010

Filed at 11:11 a.m. ET

BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman interferes with her state's right to regulate the institution.

Coakley's office filed a lawsuit in July challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In papers filed late Thursday, 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 on Medicaid benefits and burial in veterans' cemeteries.

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

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/19/us/AP-US-Gay-Marriage.html?_r=1

[MineralMan]

1. You go, Martha!

[Toasterlad]

2. Nice Try, MA. But Obama Will Fight You Tooth and Nail.

As the President, he has to vigorously defend all the laws that it's not politically expedient for him to not defend.