Attorney General Bill Sorrell, along with the attorneys general for New York and Connecticut, has filed an amicus brief to contest the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The brief was filed Sept. 7.
The brief is addressed to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals and pertains to the case of Windsor v. United States, which challenges DOMA’s refusal to grant federal legal rights to married same-sex couples. The brief was one of a flurry of amici filed on Friday; another came from 145 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, among them, Vermont’s Rep. Peter Welch.
In a press release issued last week to announce the brief, Sorrell emphasized the importance of recognizing the rights of married same-sex couples.
“These married couples – our friends and neighbors in Vermont – have every right to fair and equal treatment by the federal government. Instead, they are denied Social Security benefits, tax exemptions, and health and retirement benefits,” said Sorrell.
The brief focuses on the issue of states’ authority, arguing that DOMA undermines it by refusing to recognize same-sex marriages, which is legal in a handful of states including Vermont, New York and Connecticut.
Will the court care what Vermont thinks about the case? Cheryl Hanna, law professor at Vermont Law School, pointed to two reasons why it might. First, the states filing the brief are part of the Second Circuit and second, marriage rights have historically resided in the states’ realm of the authority.
“Because these states are in the Second Circuit, this can be persuasive to the court. The federal court also tends to pay slightly more attention to the states’ views on these matters when, traditionally, it has been something that the state has regulated.”
Irrespective of its impact on the case, the brief has significance at the state level because it reveals to voters where Sorrell stands on the same-sex marriage, and it signals that he will likely chime in on the case again later on down the legal road.
Hanna predicted that Windsor vs. United States will reach the Supreme Court, and she said, “At that stage, just like the attorney general did in the health care case, you’ll see him weighing in with other states.”
“I’m very glad to see that he [Sorrell] is becoming more engaged in this issue,” says Alexia Venafra, co-chair of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force. “It’s important that he makes our state continue to be a participant in the national movement. It’s not an option to focus on state politics.”
