DOMA trials: Appeal hearing date scheduled in Gill v. OPM case
February 28, 2012
DOMA trials Gill/Massachusetts
By Adam Bink
Courtesy of our friends at GLAD, a hearing date for the appeal of the Gill v. OPM case concerning DOMA has been scheduled for April 4, 9:30 AM in Boston. Mary Bonauto wil be arguing for our side.
Here’s the court notice if you like reading these sorts of things.
We’ll be working to bring you coverage of the hearing.
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14 Comments
1.
Matt | February 28, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Is this a hearing before the full 1st circuit (en banc) or just a panel of 3?
2.
Leo | February 28, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Just a panel of 3.
3.
Kathleen | February 28, 2012 at 3:11 pm
The Gill plaintiffs asked for an initial hearing en banc, but that request was denied.
4.
thark | February 28, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Betcha DOMA loses again…
5.
Josh | February 28, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Is this case getting a hearing faster than Prop8 did? It sure seems speedy, like what, one month after the ruling? Maybe I'm not clear what this hearing means to the case. Is it the same type of hearing as the last hearing in the Prop8 case, the one right before the 9th circuit ruling? If so, how the heck is it happening so fast when Prop8 took foreveeeeerrrrr?
6.
Kathleen | February 28, 2012 at 6:42 pm
This is oral arguments in front of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals for the cases challenging DOMA coming out of Massachusetts. These cases are the cases decided by Judge Tauro (District Court in MA) in July, 2010.
For comparison, the district court decision in Prop 8 was issued Aug 2010 and oral arguments were heard in December 2010. Even with all the delays in the Prop 8 case, we already have a decision from the 9th Circuit, whereas the 1st Circuit won't hear these cases until April 2012.
7.
Leo | February 28, 2012 at 6:46 pm
It's a diferent DOMA case. Judge Tauro in Massachusetts struck down DOMA in July 2010. This is the appeal of that ruling, almost two years later. It's actually moving slower than the Prop 8 appeal, which was expedited. Judge White in California also struck down DOMA — this month. That's also being appealed, but the appeal hasn't been briefed yet and no hearing scheduled.
8.
Bryce | February 29, 2012 at 12:05 am
What is the reputation of this court? I see a lot of Republican appointees, does the composition favor us?
9.
Bill S. | February 29, 2012 at 2:26 am
DOMA is so wildly and obviously unconstitutional that I am not actually concerned with the composition. Judge White, who decided Golinski in California, was a George W. Bush nominee and Judge Tauro who decided these cases in Massachusetts was a Nixon appointee.
It's harder to show that gay couples are due the right to marry when they don't have anything to begin with. But any judge worth his salt can see that, since these couples are already legally married, DOMA is based on nothing but pure animus. It takes a single group of people then like a pickaxe denies them every single possible federal right afforded to married couples. It's exactly the same circumstances as Romer v. Evans.
10.
Bill S. | March 1, 2012 at 6:39 am
Also, both of these cases were decided by summary judgement. Meaning both judges read the briefs on both sides and decided there wasn't even a need for a trial because the plaintiffs were so obviously right.
11.
Str8Grandmother | February 29, 2012 at 3:28 am
News relative to DOMA. Remember when Tony West Civil Rights head from the Justice Department flew in and testified in the Golinski DOMA Trial? (She got a summary judgement in her favor) A little news on Tony West and the Dept of Justice,
"Today, the Department of Justice announced that the lawyer who argued against the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act in court this past December, Tony West, was being named to the No. 3 spot at Justice, with out gay DOJ lawyer Stuart Delery being promoted to take West's spot as the head of the Civil Division at DOJ."
"Delery (pictured, left) and his partner, Richard Gervase, are raising two sons, as Metro Weekly reported in 2007. Gervase is a board member of Rainbow Families DC, an organization that supports and connects LGBT parents and prospective parents in the D.C. metropolitan area."
http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2012/02/with-…
12. Prop 8 Trial Tracker &raq&hellip | March 28, 2012 at 11:55 am
[…] month, the First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that was passed in 1996 and has faced legal challenges […]