The Wall Street Journal is reporting here that the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) has been upheld by a federal district court in Florida. U.S. District Judge James S. Moody today upheld the federal law, dismissing a lawsuit by two women seeking to have their Massachusetts marriage recognized in Florida. An Associated Press article (via the New York Times) is here.
Read more about DOMA, how it interacts with ERISA, and how it impacts the benefits arena in previous posts which you can access here.
Also, an article here by USAToday.com reports that the Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously reinstated a marriage amendment to the state constitution that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in September. At issue was a provision of the amendment that stated: “A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be recognized.” Eleven other states adopted similar amendments in the fall elections. The Louisiana Supreme Court reversed a state district judge’s ruling in October which had struck down the amendment on the grounds that it violated a provision of the state constitution requiring that an amendment cover only one subject. You can access the opinion here.
Update: Thanks to a reader who emailed me a bankruptcy case, In re Kandu, decided in August of 2004 in which the court also upheld DOMA. No link to the actual case, but you can read about it here.
Further Update: Thanks to a reader for sending me a link to the Kandu case here. Links to other documents in the case are here.