In the latest skirmish in the battle over the Defense of Marriage Act, House Democrats have criticized Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), asserting that lawyers hired by Boehner and his Republican allies to fight for the act lack credibility in their arguments.
A letter to the Speaker from Reps. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Jerrold Nadler of New York, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jared Polis of Colorado, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and John Conyers of Michigan declares that lawyers for Republicans “have filed pleadings containing arguments and assertions that are troubling.”
For instance, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported on Monday, Democrats complain that the Republican lawyers have distorted research on sexual identity. “The United States House of Representatives should not be making harmful and unreasonable arguments that demean its credibility, and that of the American people,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote, according to the Roll Call account.
The 1996 law banning federal recognition of same-sex marriages has been a source of political discomfort and opportunity, depending on one’s perspective, and is likely to be an issue in the 2012 elections.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice would no longer defend the law in court. Previously, the DOJ under President Barack Obama had walked a tightrope, saying it didn’t like the law but felt legally obligated to stand up for it, as Main Justice reported.
House Republicans, perhaps seeing an opportunity to capitalize on “family values” issues, decided that they would defend the law, as Main Justice reported. Stay tuned.
