With mixed feelings, Obama Justice Department defends Defense of Marriage Act - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

Justice Dept. says "...law is discriminatory and should be repealed." then says---->Dept. is "...defending the statute because the law is "constitutionally permissible".
We still live in a country where discrimination is "constitutionally permissible".?????



With mixed feelings, Obama Justice Department defends Defense of Marriage Act - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

By Martin Finucane and Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

A reluctant Justice Department is defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act in a Boston court, even though President Obama is opposed to the law.

"As the president has stated previously, this administration does not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory, and supports its repeal," the government said in a court filing today. "Consistent with the rule of law, however, the Department of Justice has long followed the practice of defending federal statutes as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of their constitutionality, even if the department disagrees with a particular statute aas a policy matter, as it does here."

The federal law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Six same-sex couples and three men whose husbands have died -- one of the deceased was retired congressman Gerry E. Studds -- have filed a lawsuit claiming the law treats them like second-class citizens and is unconstitutional.