Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management
| Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States District Court for the District of Connecticut | |
| Full case name | Joanne Pedersen, et al., v. Office of Personnel Management, et al. |
| Date decided | July 31, 2012 |
| Citations | 10 CV 1750 (D. Conn. July 31, 2012) |
| Judge sitting | Vanessa L. Bryant |
| Case history | |
| Subsequent actions | On appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (No. 12-3273); Petition for certiorari before judgment filed in the United States Supreme Court (No. 12-231), denied June 27, 2013 |
| Related actions |
|
| Case holding | |
| Section 3 of DOMA violates the Equal Protection Clause. | |
| Keywords | |
| Defense of Marriage Act, Equal protection, Same-sex marriage, States' rights | |
Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management is a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3, which defined the federal definition of marriage to be a union of a man and a woman, entirely excluding legally married same-sex couples. The District Court that originally heard the case ruled Section 3 unconstitutional. On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional, and denied appeal of Pedersen the next day.
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) filed the case in U.S. District Court on behalf of six same-sex couples and one widower in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, making the same arguments it made in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management: that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act should be found unconstitutional based on the Fifth Amendment, equal protection, and the federal government's historically consistent deference to state definitions of marriage. It prevents the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples who are legally married in their own states or other jurisdictions and restricts the federal government from granting such couples benefits it provides to different-sex married couples.
On February 23, 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder released a memo regarding two lawsuits challenging DOMA section 3, Pedersen v. OPM and Windsor v. United States stating, "After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases." However, the administration also announced it intended to continue enforcing the law until its repeal by Congress or until ruled unconstitutional in court.
...
Wikipedia