It was always a long shot, but the reason I held out some hope that the Supremes might just maybe issue a broad ruling in favor of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage is because of the problems that will grow out of the existing patchwork arrangement.
My thinking never went much beyond the obvious conflict that will arise when a couple married in one state moves to a state that doesn't recognize gay marriage, to a state which maybe even has a constitutional ban against gay marriage.
What I never considered was the effect of overturning the Defense of Marriage Act and the variety of ways that Federal agencies recognize marriage for the purpose of determining benefits. Some agencies use a "place of celebration" standard and recognize all marriages that were legally entered anywhere in the world. Other agencies (IRS and Social Security) adhere to a "place of residence" standard.
Consider this: the Dept. of Defense has a place of celebration standard for all active-duty personnel. But the Dept. of Veterans Affairs has a place of residence standard.
Fortunately the administration has the power to change most of these standards by executive action. But in any situation where these place of residence standards are "baked into law," we are probably s.o.l. because of the impossibility of getting any corrective action through this Republican House.
I don't know how fast the next case can make it to the Supreme Court. If not by next term, there will almost certainly be a case waiting for the Supremes on the first Monday in October of 2014 I would think. And they will keep coming until the Court finally faces the inevitable.
In 1967! the Supremes determined that state bans on interracial marriage were illegal when a Virginia couple were married out of state and then returned to Virginia which, along with several other southern states, did not recognize their marriage. Now it is just a question of how fast can a similar case involving gay marriage make it to the court?
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