The Arc Bends Further

Karen Golinski and wife Amy Cunninghis

Yesterday, in a major advance for equality, another federal judge ruled DOMA is unconstitutional.  Judge Jeffrey White of the federal District Court for Northern California held, in the Golinski case, that

DOMA, as applied to Ms. Golinski, violates her right to equal protection of the law under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution by, without substantial justification or rational basis, refusing to recognize her lawful marriage to prevent provision of health insurance coverage to her spouse.

Accordingly, the Court issues a permanent injunction enjoining defendants, and those acting at their direction or on their behalf, from interfering with the enrollment of Ms. Golinski's wife in her family health benefits plan.

More on the story here and here. Text of Judge White's ruling below, which applies very nearly the same judicial reasoning found in the ruling by Judge Joseph L. Tauro in the Gill and Massachusetts cases in 2010:  it just ain't right to discriminate without good reason, and the other side has no damn good reason.  Period.

3:10-cv-00257 #186


In other news, what looks to me like a delaying action: the backers of Prop 8, who got a big ol' bitch slap from a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court last week have asked to have the case reheard by the entire bench of judges - this instead of moving on directly to the Supreme Court. Guess they want to string their losing game out as long as possible, ya think?