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Votes lined up in Senate committee for DOMA repeal

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Dan82, Apr 27, 2011.

  1. Dan82

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    http://www.washingtonblade.com/2011/04/26/votes-lined-up-in-senate-committee-for-doma-repeal/

     
  2. Holmes

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    Do you know what would have made sense? Doing this while there was a Democratic majority in the House.
     
  3. ArcusPravus

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    What is the point of this bill? This is just a complete waste of time and money.
     
  4. Revan

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    I don't know the point, I wish I did though. I just hope DOMA will get repealed eventually. I dunno what it will mean, I think the repeal means that no state can use the US Constitution as a means of preventing same-sex marriage right?
     
  5. ArcusPravus

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    DOMA's got 2 main points of interest.

    1) The Federal government can't recognize same-sex marriage. This comes up most often when talking about the IRS/taxes, immigration, and government employee spousal benefits.

    2) Same-sex marriage is exempt from the Full Faith and Credit clause in Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution. That clause states that acts, public records, and judicial proceedings in one state must be honored by all other states. This means that Texas must honor marriages performed in Massachusets. DOMA exempts them from having to honor same-sex marriages. Normally Congress can't just make something immune to the Constitution, but this clause has a nice little part that says Congress can makes laws that determine how things affected by it are proved and the effect of them. DOMA hasn't reached the Supreme Court so there hasn't been any ruling on the constitutionality of Congress doing that though.
     
  6. Revan

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    So should DOMA finally get repealed at some point, it means that all States would have to recognize same-sex marriages from any other place? And also, is there ANY possibility that DOMA could get repealed before the Prop 8 case is all concluded, and if so, what would happen with the Prop 8 case, I mean obviously it wouldn't just get thrown out or could it be dismissed?
     
  7. ArcusPravus

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    If DOMA is repeal, every state must recognize a same-sex marriage performed in a state where it's legal. Not every state must perform them, but they have to accept any performed in other states.

    Prop 8 will most likely reach the Supreme Court before 2013 (assuming it actually continues through the appelate courts which isn't certain yet). DOMA has no chance of repeal until 2013 though. The Speaker of the House determines what bills are voted on and he's not going to even put to a vote a DOMA repeal bill. The make up of the House can't change until 2013 and the Speaker won't change unless Democrats retake it in the 2012 elections (barring Boehner not pissing off the entire Republican party and being replaced).

    If for some bizzare sequence of events, it were to actually be repealed before the Prop 8 case is finished, it's not clear wether it would be dismissed or continued. On one hand, the case is about wether California will perform same-sex marriages and thus the repeal of DOMA doesn't apply. But on the other, the net effect of sam-sex marriages being recognized in California is met by the repeal.
     
  8. Ethan A

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    Correct me if I'm wrong, but the DOMA cases currently working through the courts only concerns Section 3, right? That's the part that says the federal government can't recognize ssm in the states where it's legal. If the SCOTUS determines this is unconstitutional then the federal government would have to recognize those marriages.
     
  9. Revan

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    I almost feel it stupid that the House Speaker is the one who decides on every bill being voted on. That almost seems to me like he's one of the most important people in the government.
     
  10. ArcusPravus

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    Correct



    He is. He's even the 2nd person in the line of succession after the Vice President. And in terms of actual goverment duties he's probably 2nd only to the President himself. He doesn't seem like one of the most important people in the government, he IS one of them.
     
  11. Revan

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    Hmm I suppose now that I think about it, our Speaker in students council is pretty important too...