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Marriage Equality

Supreme Court Sets Date for Critical Session

Supreme Court Sets Date for Critical Session

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The nation's highest court will take a first look at several LGBT-related cases in a private meeting September 24.

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In a private meeting September 24, the nine justices of the United States Supreme Court will take a first look at several cases regarding marriage equality, including California's Proposition 8, according to SCOTUSblog.

The September 24 meeting will not produce a ruling Hollingsworth v. Perry -- the federal challenge to California's voter-approved Proposition 8, which revoked marriage equality in the state -- but could result in the Supreme Court scheduling a date to hear the case.

"It is predictable, but not a certainty, that the Court will step into the heated controversy over same-sex marriage in its new Term," writes Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog. "That's because several federal courts have struck down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 1996 in an attempt to head off what the lawmakers thought was a spreading movement in the states to create an equal right for same-sex couples to wed. DOMA's Section 3 -- affecting more than 1,000 federal laws -- restricts marriage benefits or provisions in any federal statute to marriages of a man and a woman."

The court will make an initial examination not only of the Prop. 8 case but also of a similar case in Arizona regarding whether voters can revoke marriage-like rights that have been granted by a court or legislature.

The court may also examine one of the pending challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which several lower courts have recently found unconstitutional. In that case, Windsor v. United States, 83-year-old widow Edie Windsor was forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes because the federal government did not recognize her marriage to her late wife, Thea Spyer.

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Sunnivie Brydum

Sunnivie is the managing editor of The Advocate, and an award-winning journalist whose passion is covering the politics of equality and elevating the unheard stories of our community. Originally from Colorado, she and her spouse now live in Los Angeles, along with their three fur-children: dogs Luna and Cassie Doodle, and "Meow Button" Tilly.
Sunnivie is the managing editor of The Advocate, and an award-winning journalist whose passion is covering the politics of equality and elevating the unheard stories of our community. Originally from Colorado, she and her spouse now live in Los Angeles, along with their three fur-children: dogs Luna and Cassie Doodle, and "Meow Button" Tilly.