August 11, 2026

John Adams: From Boston to Guantanamo to DOMA

May 5, 2011 by

Michelle Mumford looks at the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) and its Defense in the context of the Honorable Monroe G. McKay, Senior Judge on the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, address to a group of young lawyers at the Utah State Bar’s annual Law Day luncheon on the theme of “The Legacy […]

Filed Under: History and People, Sixth Amendment Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

DOMA on its way to review?

March 17, 2011 by

Is a case in California setting up DOMA for overturn? A federal judge in California has ruled that a federal appeals judge has no power to order the U.S. government to provide health benefits to the same-sex spouse of a court employee, but went on to invite a constitutional challenge to the law that mandates a […]

Filed Under: Judicial Activism Tagged With: , , , , ,

Precedent for Presidential Refusal to Defend Statutes the Administration Believes to be Unconstitutional

March 2, 2011 by

Initially I questioned the Obama Administration’s refusal to defend DOMA. On reflection, however, there may be precedent for their actions. Ilya Somin points out several precedents in both Republican and Democratic administrations that support the premise that the President may be justified in not supporting legislation he deems unconstitutional. During the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Truman […]

Filed Under: Constitutional Law, Laws and Lawmakers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

News Round-up: Warren Jeffs Edition

July 28, 2010 by

Image via Wikipedia Yesterday, Warren Jeffs‘ conviction was overturned and the Utah Supreme Court ordered a retrial, and today the world is all a-twitter with the case.  It turns out that polygamy is just as interesting to news readers today as it was in the 1890s. Texas and federal prosecutors are waiting their turns to […]

Filed Under: Constitutional Law, News Round Up Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,