Saturday, January 11, 2014

Recognizing the 1,300

Is this the first time that the federal government recognizes marriages performed in a state that the state itself does not recognize? I know it has gone the other way before. That is, the federal government has refused to recognize marriages deemed legal by a state. That's how it was for gay marriages before the Supreme Court overturned DOMA.

The validity of marriage has historically been viewed as a question of state law. The federal government has only taken an interest (now in both directions) since it got entangled with the gay rights issue.