In 5-4 Vote, Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA

According to the Huffington Post, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented gay marriages from being legally recognized by the federal government, is unconstitutional.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the 5-4 decision, striking down DOMA on the grounds that it violates the Fifth Amendent, depriving a class of persons from their equal liberty. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was in the minority, as were Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

“The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity,” Justice Kennedy wrote. 

“By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.”

Patch will update this story as information becomes available.