Attorney General Eric Holder has said
that the Department of Justice will urge the Supreme Court to strike
down state gay marriage bans when it decides to take a case.
Last week, Utah became the first state
to announce that it would appeal a ruling striking down such a ban to
the Supreme Court.
(Related: Utah
to appeal gay marriage ruling to Supreme Court.)
Six appeals circuits have heard or are
scheduled to hear similar cases, with possibly dozens more on the
way.
Appearing on ABC's This Week,
Holder said that if the high court agrees to hear any of those cases,
the Justice Department will file documents with the court that “will
be in support of same-sex marriage.”
Such a brief would be “consistent
with the actions that we have taken over the past couple of years,”
Holder said.
At President Barack Obama's direction,
the Justice Department has refused to defend the Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA) in court. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down a key
provision of DOMA, leading to the federal government's recognition of
the legal marriages of gay couples.
Holder said he believes the justices
will agree that such bans are unconstitutional.
“I think a lot of these measures that
ultimately will come before the court will not survive a heightened
scrutiny examination,” Holder
said.