Ti v.¢ Expert Analysis to another, he added that “Tm speaking as a from the long standing tradition and his- benefits allowed to families upon the loss president and not as a lawyer.” tory of reliance on state law to define mar- of a spouse and parent, benefits that are riage. The State of New York had recognized an integral part of family security. the validity of same-sex marriages, which ISSUES AT STAKE resulted in a status that “is a far-reaching COMMENT: Justice Kennedy qualified legal acknowledgment of the intimate rela- the majoritys ruling at the end of the de- In December 2012, the Supreme Court an- tionship between two people, a relationship cision, stating that its applicability was nounced that it would take up two cases re- deemed by the State worthy of dignity in the “confined to those lawful marriages,” lated to same-sex couples: Windsor, which community equal with all other marriages,” meaning those recognized by the states arose out of an estate tax dispute between a Kennedy wrote. He reasoned that DOMA that currently allow same-sex marriag- surviving partner/spouse and the IRS; and sought to injure this class of persons whom es. Kennedy observed that Section 2 of Hollingsworth v. Perry (CA-9, Feb. 7, 2012), New York sought to protect, and by doing so DOMA, which allows States to refuse to which addressed whether the equal protec- violated basic due process and equal protec- recognize same-sex marriages performed tion clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to tion principles applicable to the federal gov- under the laws of other States, had not B the Constitution prohibits California from ernment and was therefore unconstitutional. been challenged in Windsor and contin- defining marriage as the union of a man and ues to be the law. On June 26, House o woman. The Supreme Court heard oral ar- Democrats introduced legislation to re- guments in both cases in March 2013. “The decision opens the peal Section 2 of DOMA. g IRS Denies Estate Tax Marital Deductio