Law Professor Challenges Supreme Court's Jurisdiction Over DOMA
A Harvard law professor has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it does not have the jurisdiction to hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act and that the Republican congressional leaders defending the law do not have the authority to do so.
Vicki C. Jackson filed the brief Thursday night. She was appointed by the Supreme Court to present these arguments, “because, presumably, the justices decided they wanted a view outside of the views presented before lower courts on these questions,” BuzzFeed reports. “By the terms of that appointment, then, it was expected that Jackson would be arguing these views.”
The brief relates to lesbian widow Edie Windsor’s challenge to DOMA; as the federal government, because of DOMA, did not recognize her marriage to Thea Spyer, she owed estate taxes after Spyer’s death that she would not have owed had her spouse been a man. Therefore, she sued the federal government, and lower courts have ruled in her favor.
The Obama administration’s Department of Justice has stopped defending DOMA, with the Republican-led House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group taking over defense of the antigay law. Jackson says the administration’s agreement with the lower courts and with Windsor deprives the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over the case. BLAG, meanwhile, does not have authority to defend the law, she writes.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/01/25/law-professor-challenges-supreme-courts-jurisdiction-over-doma
Just when I thought I was getting a grasp on what was going on with all the players... another twist. I would ask someone to wake me when it's over, but I may be sleeping forever. And as for This coming June I'm beginning to fear there will be more unanswered than answered.
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Appointed as Thurgood Marshall Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=731
Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_C._Jackson
“It is the Executive Branch, not Congress, that is obligated to ‘take Care’ that laws are enforced,” her brief states. “Moreover, any injury that might arise from non-defense of a law would be to the whole Congress, which one House cannot alone assert.”
i.e. A group of House Republicans doesn't have standing to solely challenge enforcement of legislation before SCOTUS. Seems they simply put together a group of Repubs that disagreed with the Appeals Courts decisions and are trying to run a Congressional partisan defense of DOMA. Enforcement of legislation is an Executive function. And the Executive has chosen has stopped defending DOMA.
No clue to how this will play out, but in this layman's opinion she has a good point. I wouldn't be surprised to see SCOTUS leave the Appeals Courts' findings in place.
