Defense Of Marriage Act Struck Down By Supreme Court In 5-4 Ruling

UPDATE: The Supreme Court has ruled on the second of two cases involving same-sex marriage on Wednesday morning. Same-sex couples in California can now legally marry after the court decided that a lower court ruling overturning the state's ban on gay marriage took precedence over private parties who sought to defend California's voter-approved ballot measure, which barred gay and lesbian couples from marrying under state law.

In one of two cases concerning same-sex marriage on Wednesday, United States Supreme Court ruled this morning to strike down part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman for federal purposes. "The federal statute is invalid," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion of a 5-4 decision, according to the SCOTUSblog, "for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity. By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others." The decision will entitle same-sex couples who are legally married to equal treatment under federal law.

DOMA, signed in 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton, had two main functions, according to GLAAD.org. The part which has been struck down, Section Three, prevented the federal government from recognizing marriages between gay or lesbian couples even if they are considered legally married by their home state.

The court found that Section Three "violates basic due process and equal protection principles applicable to the Federal Government", adding that "the Constitution's guarantee of equality 'must at the very least mean that a bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot' justify disparate treatment of that group".

But another significant part of DOMA gave individual states the right to refuse to acknowledge same-sex marriages occurring in another state. The court's decision on Wednesday does not alter any state laws governing whether or not same-sex couples can marry there, according to the New York Times. It simply mandates that those who are married in one state receive federal benefits which are already granted to heterosexual married couples.

The court was expected to rule later on Wednesday on a second case determining whether California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

President Barack Obama weighed in on the decision on Twitter shortly afterward, writing, "Today's DOMA ruling is a historic step forward for #MarriageEquality. #LoveIsLove"

The four dissenting justices were John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito. In the dissenting opinion, Justice Scalia said that the Court's opinion in explaining its jurisdiction and its decision "both spring from the same diseased root: an exalted notion of the role of this court in American democratic society."

"In the majority's telling, this story is black-and-white: Hate your neighbor or come along with us," Scalia went on. "The truth is more complicated."