What would it mean for NC's Amendment 1 if DOMA is overturned? (Congress, illegal)

[xboxmas]

I'm confused about the whole thing. Would amendment 1 in North Carolina be overturned? Or would it stay put? Even if it is federally recognized, would it still not be recognized in that particular state? I would personally hope it stays put since the voters there have spoken. Confused on how this works.

For example, pot is legal in 2 states, but illegal on a federal level. Would this be the same type of deal?

[hammertime33]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

What would it mean for NC's Amendment 1 if DOMA is overturned?

Absolutely nothing

[xboxmas]

So basically gay marriage would still be illegal there?

[pghquest]

if the Supreme Court overturns a law and unconstitutional, then the state laws are unenforceable and not valid. If the President and Congress pass legislation which says that its illegal to discriminate, then again the state laws would be unenforceable.

It really depends on how its overturned.

[J. Pederman]

Depends on how broad or narrow the ruling is if they agree with the appeals court on section 3. They could just say that gay partners in states which recognize gay marriage are eligible for federal benefits or they could go so far as to say that having gay marriage in some states but not others violates equal protection with regard to federal benefits and therefore statutes banning gay marriage are unconstitutional. My money's on the former, but who knows.

The case which will likely determine the fate of gay marriage is the prop 8 ruling, where the court could possibly rule that states don't have the constitutional authority to regulate marriage. But again, they'll most likely hold that the ruling only applies specifically to California. Either that or punt it back to the lower courts since it's only being heard by SCOTUS because California refused to defend the law.

[hammertime33]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

So basically gay marriage would still be illegal there?

DOMA does 2 things:

1) It says that no state is required to recognize a gay marriage performed in any other state.

2) It instructs the federal government to discriminate against legally marriage gay couples. The federal government use to offer some 1100 legal rights (benefits) to any couple legally married in any state. DOMA altered that by saying those rights can only go to married straight couples. DOMA bans the federal government from giving those rights to gay couples even if they are legally married in Iowa or Vermont or Washington, etc.

DOMA doesn't in any way address how states write or enforce their particular marriage laws.


But the Supreme Court has also taken up the California Proposition 8 case. That case deals with whether states are allowed to write their marriage laws in a manner that bans gay couples from contracting marriages. It's possible the court's decision in that case could legalize gay marriage nationwide.