DOMA Ruling: House Of Representatives Appealing Judge's Decision On Gay Spousal Benefits

By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO--The U.S. House of Representatives will appeal a judge's ruling that struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, according to a court filing on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in San Francisco ruled earlier this week that a federal government worker should be allowed to enroll her same-sex spouse in her health insurance, and deemed part of DOMA unconstitutional.

Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama have also called DOMA unconstitutional and said that while they would continue to enforce it, they would quit defending it in court.

In response, the House of Representatives - which is controlled by Republicans - stepped in to defend the law. It will appeal White's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the filing.

A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a similar ruling against DOMA in 2010, and that case is on appeal in the 1st Circuit.

(Reporting By Dan Levine; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[TexasForChange2012]

04:35 PM on 03/03/2012

TO MUCH GOVERMANT CONTROL ! He hollars when it comes to coorperation profits, but not enough goverment control whne it comes to peoples private lives, equal right, ( the Rpublicans are more Like Hitlar and a dictatorship style of goverment ) If the Rpublicans can keep the people supressed by control of their lives and at the same time give Cooperations and organiztions more Fredom to help deny Americans of their rights and freedoms, The people loose their power and America becomes a country that will be able to be controled by a dictorship all Republicans need is 2/3 control of the HOUSE and the SENATE to change aything and override a presidents veto AMERICA Needs to wake up and see teh big picture and the unlitmate goal of the REPUBLICAN PARTY actions speak louder then words and look at what they have done in the few states they got control of Peoples Rights and been taken away from them Its the ultimate GOAL of the Republican PARTY

[sapperdom]

01:50 PM on 03/01/2012

All those libertarians and states rights people out there should hate DOMA.

Otherwise, they are hypocrites.

[Contact1972]

12:48 AM on 02/28/2012

If the Dems retake the House what happens to the appeal?

[sapperdom]

01:45 PM on 03/01/2012

it goes away.

[Contact1972]

03:18 PM on 03/01/2012

Good! I was hoping it would.

[GWBear]

01:37 PM on 02/27/2012

Can Congress appeal to a court, or apeal a ruling? Isn't that role delegated to the Executive branch?

[Eric in Manhattan]

01:03 PM on 02/27/2012

And just how many jobs does this create, Boehner? You are not a leader, you are a panderer!

[gibby1855]

10:42 PM on 02/28/2012

He's nothing but a big cry baby, cry,cry ,cry

[Intelligenti Pauca]

10:40 AM on 02/27/2012

During this whole DOMA argument/debate I've repeatedly asked DOMA supporters to provide a logical, rational explanation of exactly how allowing homosexuals to legally marry will affect their lives on a day-to-day basis or how it will change/affect how their marriage works. I have yet to get a single honest answer from any of them.

If you can't even defend your own bigoted argument with any kind of logic or reason, then why should anyone take you seriously when it's obvious that you're basing your negativity towards allowing homosexuals to marry on a combination of one or more of the following factors - emotion, misinformation, lies & religious beliefs. Logic & reasoning never even enter the picture.

And before you start in with the Bible verses & religious dogma, just stop. Your religion has NO bearing on decisions about basic rights that the majority of Americans already enjoy. Your religion doesn't confer any special "rights" or "abilities­­" on you. It doesn't make you any more competent to judge who is & who isn't deserving of rights in this country.

Since we are in no way a theocracy, the simple fact of the matter is that religion has absolutely no bearing on the issue of whether homosexual­s deserve the same rights as everyone else. What people think their religion says about homosexual­ity carries zero LEGAL WEIGHT in this discussion­.

[cwebster]

10:44 AM on 02/27/2012

I always ask these yahoos for just ONE intelligent and rational reason to oppose equal marriage. They can never come up with an answer.

[Contact1972]

12:47 AM on 02/28/2012

Right? That question always shuts them up.

[RB88GOP]

10:15 PM on 02/28/2012

Rights, properly understood, are rights in the "negative" sense. Meaning --> property. Your Body is your property, your opinions are your intellectual property, what you acquire through labor is your property... Just governments are instituted to protect rights only in this sense. These rights are prior to government and hence must be protected.

"positive" rights are those government granted rights. Since they are granted by government they can also be taken away by government. The notion of positive rights misconstrues the reality of negative rights and the just role of government. The issuing of positive rights is not a just role of government. This idea of positive rights goes hand in hand with the progressive idea of freedom. Which is freedom from economic dependence. Progressive ideology has radically altered and obscured rights and freedom as understood by our founders and political philosophers for centuries.

Marriage is not a right.

Freedom is not freedom from restraint.

[RB88GOP]

10:25 PM on 02/28/2012

I want to also add that equality is equality of economic opportunity. Government is not there to "make" people equal. There is an inherent inequality amongst human beings in drive, ambition, etc... Marriage equality is an obscuring of the entire notion of equality. Equitable opportunity means that people should have the opportunity, equally, to make something of themselves. That said, laws which prohibit women, blacks, gays, from attaining decent paying jobs, are wrong. They strip equality. However, marriage is not an equality issue.

[pauliji]

08:55 AM on 03/01/2012

If marriage is not a right, then why did the courts decide in favor of the right to marry in Loving v. Virginia, thereby striking down the anti-miscegenation laws? And why has the US supreme court ruled no less than 14 times in the last 200 years that marriage is a basic human right? You have a lot of fancy words that say nothing.

[NovemberScorp]

10:07 AM on 02/27/2012

Aaaah come November there will be a multitude of moving vans at the House. Keep talking and by all means keep showing just how narrow minded and biggoted you Repulsive truly are. Come November we can be done with you once and for all.

[LoyalBob]

08:23 AM on 02/27/2012

Republicans = Bigots.

Republicans = Wasteful spending.

Republicans = What is ignorant and wrong with society.

[Azieran]

10:03 PM on 02/26/2012

They claim it's all about protecting marriage and it's not an attack on gay people. Not sure how health insurance damages marriage. Perhaps they should just admit the truth. They don't like gay people and want to take every opportunity to make us second class citizens.

[Geovan]

06:01 PM on 02/26/2012

Does enforcing what Obama and Holder admit are unconstitutional laws makes them criminals or just typical politicians desperately pandering to stay middle of the road at the expense of others.

[joemondo]

12:00 AM on 02/27/2012

It makes them people fulfilling their constitutional requirements.

They have no choice but to enforce it; they have the decency to not defend it.

[Geovan]

03:14 AM on 02/27/2012

Wrong. They have choices.

[asianb]

05:40 PM on 02/26/2012

Do todays Republicans not read or listen to Polls? The majority of this country is now in favor of Gay Marriges and is APPALLED with their stance and handling of Contraception and Women's Right to Choose. They are doomed in November and I for one say GOOD!!

[sapperdom]

01:51 PM on 03/01/2012

Repubs are stuck in the 13th century.

[werewolf90210]

12:21 PM on 02/26/2012

Aren't Republicans wonderful? They seem to stand for all the right things, like bigotry, selfishness, and corporate corruption. The American people should be so proud of them.

[Pho3n1xSun]

11:16 AM on 02/26/2012

I see no point in DOMA whatsoever but this guy wants to focus attention and money denying benefits to gay married couples and making sure women get pregnant whether they want to or not. is here any good reason to vote republican this year? no? just what I thought

[RB88GOP]

10:16 PM on 02/26/2012

DOMA was an overstepping of Congressional power. I disapprove of DOMA.

[racmd]

10:37 AM on 02/26/2012

Does Mr. Boehner have anything better to do than chase windmills? This is rediculous and a waste of money...a judge, appointed by Mr. Bush...decided this was unconstitutional...sir..do you remember when Mr. Lincoln freed the slaves and prevented people from being sold into slavery or are you, in my opinion, nothing more than a rebel without a cause.
You remind me of a gentleman who began his career in the 1920's and preached against various groups to raise awareness of improprieties and ended up starting World War II. You are, in my opinion, a person who insists on keeping the radar on my life to prevent people from looking at yours and what a scam it really is as Speaker of the House you, Mr. Boehner, should resign for you consistenly divide this nation...and divide and conquer will end with the next election.

[Dkbny]

12:04 PM on 02/26/2012

Yeah! What you said.

[non fiction]

03:34 PM on 02/26/2012

I turns my stomach when I hear a Republican besmirch the memory of Lincoln by connecting his name to their party. If he were alive today, they would be calling him a commie.

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

08:25 AM on 02/26/2012

The GOP used to be good for a giggle or two, now they are simply pathetic................

[cwebster]

10:46 AM on 02/27/2012

I'd have said they were evil and selfish...