NYcarbineer
Diamond Member
Here's a very good refutation of this attack on Obama/Holder re: DOMA
More Precedents for Not Defending DOMA
Posted by Ed Brayton on March 12, 2011
"As the right wing continues its ignorant rage at the Obama administration for no longer defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, NPR provides a list of previous administrations choosing not to defend laws they believed to be unconstitutional:
While the administrations DOMA shift is unusual, it is not rare. It has happened more than a dozen times since 2004 and many more in the past 60 years, including in some very important cases.
(1) During the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Truman administrations, the presidents, in one form or another, refused to defend separate-but-equal facilities in schools and hospitals.
(2)The Ford Justice Department refused to defend the post-Watergate campaign finance law, much of which was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.
(3)The Reagan administration refused to defend the independent counsel law, a law subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court by a 7-to-1 vote.
(4)It also refused to defend the one-house legislative veto of many executive actions; in that case, the administration was more successful, winning 7-2 in the Supreme Court.
(5)The Clinton administration refused to defend a federal law mandating the dismissal of military personnel who were HIV-positive.
(7)The George W. Bush administration refused to defend a federal law that denied mass-transit funds to any transportation system that displayed ads advocating the legalization of marijuana.
(8) And in the George H.W. Bush administration, the Justice Department refused to defend a federal law providing affirmative action in the awarding of broadcasting licenses a law subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court by a narrow 5-4 vote. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr was recused in the case, so the lead counsel for the government in the case was Starrs deputy, a fellow by the name of John Roberts, now the chief justice of the United States.
In other words, every Republican administration for the past 60 years has done the same thing. And the Republicans are outraged outraged, I tell ya that Obama has done the same thing.
How convenient for them."
More Precedents for Not Defending DOMA – Dispatches from the Creation Wars
More Precedents for Not Defending DOMA
Posted by Ed Brayton on March 12, 2011
"As the right wing continues its ignorant rage at the Obama administration for no longer defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, NPR provides a list of previous administrations choosing not to defend laws they believed to be unconstitutional:
While the administrations DOMA shift is unusual, it is not rare. It has happened more than a dozen times since 2004 and many more in the past 60 years, including in some very important cases.
(1) During the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Truman administrations, the presidents, in one form or another, refused to defend separate-but-equal facilities in schools and hospitals.
(2)The Ford Justice Department refused to defend the post-Watergate campaign finance law, much of which was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.
(3)The Reagan administration refused to defend the independent counsel law, a law subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court by a 7-to-1 vote.
(4)It also refused to defend the one-house legislative veto of many executive actions; in that case, the administration was more successful, winning 7-2 in the Supreme Court.
(5)The Clinton administration refused to defend a federal law mandating the dismissal of military personnel who were HIV-positive.
(7)The George W. Bush administration refused to defend a federal law that denied mass-transit funds to any transportation system that displayed ads advocating the legalization of marijuana.
(8) And in the George H.W. Bush administration, the Justice Department refused to defend a federal law providing affirmative action in the awarding of broadcasting licenses a law subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court by a narrow 5-4 vote. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr was recused in the case, so the lead counsel for the government in the case was Starrs deputy, a fellow by the name of John Roberts, now the chief justice of the United States.
In other words, every Republican administration for the past 60 years has done the same thing. And the Republicans are outraged outraged, I tell ya that Obama has done the same thing.
How convenient for them."
More Precedents for Not Defending DOMA – Dispatches from the Creation Wars