Last week saw a request for certiorari filed with the Supreme Court on two related cases originating in the First District--the Gill vs OPM and Massachusetts vs HHS cases. Both of these cases challenge the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Today, the Department of Justice has submitted a request for cert on another case--Golinski vs OPM. Karen Golinski, an employee of the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco, married her partner of 20 years in 2008 when such marriages were legal in California and attempted to obtain health insurance for her partner under the federal government's health benefits plan. She was refused with DOMA being cited as the basis. The courts have held, thus far, that Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, is unconstitutional.
What's unusual about the latter filing is that Golinski is still under appeal in the Ninth Circuit while the First Circuit has already determined that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional and, in that instance, the request for cert was filed by BLAG.
The cases against DOMA are piling up. There are also pending cases in the Second Circuit. At this point I'm beginning to wonder if all of attempts to overturn DOMA will be combined.
Here's a link (as usual we must stop and thank our own Scottie Thomaston): Link