DOMA challenge rejected in Florida

Two women who obtained a marriage license in Massachusetts took it to the clerk's office in the county where they lived in Florida and tried to have the Massachusetts license recognized as valid in Florida. The clerk refused, citing Florida law and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The couple filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of DOMA. A federal judge dismissed the complaint on Wednesday.

The Court rightfully recognized that disallowing DOMA because of the Full Faith and Credit Clause would permit a single state to establish a national policy. It also declined the invitation to declare a fundamental constitutional right to marry someone of the same sex. The Court also held that DOMA was rationally related to the government's legitimate state interest in raising children in homes consisting of a married mother and father.

The Court left open the possibility that the Supreme Court could revisit its prior rulings and strike down DOMA, or determine that there is a fundamental constitutional right to same-sex marriage. How the Court can "discover" fundamental rights in the Constitution 217 years after its ratification is a subject for another post. All in all, though, it was a good day for marriage.