TOMORROW: Feds To Hear Mass. AG Martha Coakley's DOMA Challenge

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's lawsuit against DOMA will be heard tomorrow in a Boston federal district court. Via press release:

Judge Joseph L. Tauro will hear oral argument from Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, in the Commonwealth’s constitutional challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). On July 8, 2009, the Attorney General filed suit on behalf of the Commonwealth in federal district court. Since that time, the Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss the suit, and the Commonwealth has filed a motion for summary judgment. The Commonwealth, which has submitted affidavits from experts and state agencies in support of its motion, is asking the federal court to decide DOMA’s constitutionality at this time without need for a trial on the issue. Both motions will be argued before Judge Joseph L. Tauro.

The Commonwealth contends that DOMA, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, violates the United States Constitution by interfering with the Commonwealth’s sovereign authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents. Massachusetts also argues that DOMA exceeds Congress’s authority because it requires Massachusetts to violate the constitutional rights of its residents by treating married same-sex couples differently from all other married couples in order to receive federal funds for various programs.

Earlier this month the same judge heard arguments in GLAD's DOMA challenge, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management.