The front lines in the legal battle over the definition of marriage will soon be in the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court. On Thursday, a three judge panel of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled unanimously that the federal government could not refuse spousal benefits to legally married gay couples. The judges did not wade into whether they considered gay marriage to be a constitutional right and they did not reject the right of states to define marriage for themselves and deny gay marriages performed in other states if they wish. Harry Mihet is senior litigation counsel at Liberty Counsel. He says the logic in today’s decision is deeply flawed since the court has no problem allowing states to define marriage how they see fit but apparently the federal government cannot. Mihel says he is confident the high court will side with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) for that very reason, and he says the series of recent court decisions against DOMA are largely a result of gay marriage supporters shopping for liberal, sympathetic judges to advance their case. Mihel also tells us that if the Supreme Court does not reverse the appellate court then American taxpayers will essentially be forced to fund gay marriage.
