Two recent Massachusetts federal district courts held unconstitutional Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies federal rights to same-sex couples. While those decisions’ immediate impact was limited to Massachusetts, the Department of Justice (DOJ) endorsed the district courts’ conclusion that DOMA was unconstitutional and thus announced that it would no longer defend DOMA. The Attorney General’s letter does say that DOMA will continue to be enforced by Executive branch agencies. But it provides no further guidance to other administrative agencies affected by DOMA.
This panel will look at recent developments in the DOMA litigation. The frame of the discussion will be on the practical implications of the cases challenging DOMA and the DOJ Pronouncement specifically addressing the constitutionality of the statute and the DOJ action. Also, the panel will discuss the future administrative law problems inherent in the piecemeal approach taken by the DOJ. Finally, the panel will look at what life after DOMA would look like in the respective fields of immigration, tax and bankruptcy.