The Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was upheld yesterday by a U.S. District Court judge in Tampa, Florida. DOMA, signed by President Clinton in 1996, protects states from being forced to recognize same-sex “marriages” performed in other states. Judge James S. Moody, Jr., appointed to the federal bench in 2000 by President Clinton, dismissed this first direct challenge to DOMA, and the Florida marriage statute, by a lesbian couple who hold a “marriage” license from the State of Massachusetts. The couple asserted that all other states are required by the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution to recognize the validity of Massachusetts “marriage” licenses. However, Judge Moody, citing Supreme Court precedent, ruled that the Full Faith and Credit Clause doesn’t require a state to apply another state’s law in violation of its own legitimate public policy.
– Mark L. Chance.
