The Obama administration on Tuesday
asked the Supreme Court to review two cases challenging the
constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law
which defines marriage as a heterosexual union.
The Justice Department asked the court
to review Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, which is
currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District.
The government wants the high court to hear the case in its next term
before the appeals court has even decided the case, gay weekly Metro
Weekly reported.
(Related: Court
declares gay marriage ban DOMA unconstitutional in Karen Golinski
case.)
Request for review in the second case,
Massachusetts v. Department of Health and Human Services, is
already under consideration by the court. The House Bipartisan Legal
Advisory Group (BLAG) under the direction of Speaker John Boehner on
Friday appealed
the case to the Supreme Court.
Obama officials said in their filings
that they agree with the lower court rulings striking down the law,
but are seeking a prompt settlement of DOMA because President Obama
has instructed federal agencies to continue to enforce the law.
“Although the Executive Branch agrees
with the district court's determination in this case that Section 3
is unconstitutional, we respectfully seek this Court's review so that
the question may be authoritatively decided by this Court. As
explained above, to ensure that the Judiciary is the final arbiter of
Section 3's constitutionality, the President has instructed Executive
departments and agencies to continue to enforce Section 3 until there
is a definitive judicial ruling that Section 3 is unconstitutional,”
DOJ lawyers wrote.