Obama administration to file amicus brief supporting same-sex marriage
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The Department of Justice will file an amicus brief in support of legalizing same-sex marriage in every state, according to a statement (PDF) released late Friday.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up four consolidated cases asking whether states have the power to ban same-sex marriage or to deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states. They were appealed from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld state laws in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee.
In a statement to the press, Attorney General Eric Holder said the Department of Justice is “committed to ensuring that the benefits of marriage are available as broadly as possible.” Therefore, he said, the department will file a “friend of the court” brief urging the high court to make same-sex marriage available nationwide.
The president asked the department not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act when it was before the Supreme Court in 2013’s U.S. v. Windsor, prompting political criticism.
The cases are Bourke v. Beshear, DeBoer v. Snyder, Tanco v. Haslam and Obergefell v. Hodges.
