This is fundamentally one of the worst pieces of legislation that has ever been crafted by human hands. So bad, that even the man who originally wrote the DOMA is in favour of having it rescinded.
For those who are unaware, Bob Barr is the man who is responsible for one of the most reprehensible things to come through Congress. The DOMA, enacted in 1996, federally recognizes only heterosexual marriages.
As of today, Bob Barr has officially introduced legislation designed to repeal the DOMA, and sadly the Obama administration is in trying its best to protect it. It’s a tough position, because while they are defending the technical merits of the legislation, they still are taking pains to state that they still oppose it. The Obama administration has admitted in court that they want it repealed and that it is discriminatory.
“Consistent with the rule of law, however, the Department of Justice has long followed the practice of defending federal statutes as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of their constitutionality, even if the department disagrees with a particular statute as a policy matter, as it does here,’’ the attorneys said.”
This really, truly, illustrates the interesting position that government lawyers are in. I truly believe that, more so than in private practice, government tests a lawyers ethics. In many situations, government lawyers must defend policies that they truly disagree with. In private practice, there is usually a situation where you have to defend a client you don’t like or that you believe is guilty of something. But the implications of that case are rarely as far reaching as a government policy.
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