www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Americas

US Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage

Agencies | Updated: 2013-06-26 14:06

WASHINGTON -- America's top court was expected to deliver rulings on Wednesday in two high-profile cases with national implications on gay marriage, an issue that stirs cultural, religious and political passions in the United States as elsewhere.

At 10 am (1400 GMT), the nine justices of the US Supreme Court were due to convene in Washington to issue rulings in the last three cases of its current session, two of them on same-sex marriage.

The court was due to rule on the constitutionality of a federal law that denies benefits to same-sex married couples and a California state law that bans gay marriage. Those cases, argued in March, could shape the debate over whether gay men and women should have the right to marry.

There are many possible outcomes, ranging from a broad decision proclaiming a fundamental right for gays to marry, which most experts say is unlikely, to more narrow decisions that are limited in scope.

Both cases came before the court with opinion polls showing growing support among Americans for gay marriage but division among the 50 states. Now, 12 states recognize it; more than 30 states prohibit it; and others have laws somewhere in-between.

The federal case concerns the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which limits the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman for the purposes of federal benefits. It permits benefits such as Social Security survivor payments and federal tax deductions only for married, opposite-sex couples, not for legally married same-sex couples.

President Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law in 1996 after it passed Congress with only 81 of 535 lawmakers opposing it. Clinton, a Democrat, said earlier this year that times had changed since then and called for the law to be overturned.

The DOMA case before the court focuses on whether Edith Windsor of New York, who was married to a woman, should get the federal estate tax deduction available to heterosexuals when their spouses pass away.

Windsor's marriage to Thea Spyer was recognized under New York law, but not under the federal law. When Spyer died in 2009, Windsor was forced to pay federal estate taxes because the federal government would not recognize her marriage. She sued the government, seeking a $363,000 tax refund.

President Barack Obama's administration initially defended the law but in 2011 Attorney General Eric Holder said the law was unconstitutional. The administration asked the Supreme Court to strike the law down. During oral arguments in March, it appeared the justices may be poised to do so. Obama is the first sitting president to support gay marriage.

The California case involves a state ballot initiative, called Proposition 8, which was approved by voters in 2008 just months after the state's high court said gay marriages could proceed.

A federal judge struck the law down in 2010, saying it violated the US Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. Proponents of the ban appealed, setting in motion the journey to the Supreme Court.

The two couples who filed suit were Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier, from Berkeley, and Jeffrey Zarrillo and Paul Katami, who live in Burbank.

The cases are United States v. Windsor, US Supreme Court, No. 12-307 and Hollingsworth v. Perry, US Supreme Court, No, 12-144.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产一级视频播放 | 欧做爰xxxⅹ性欧美大 | 婷婷色九月综合激情丁香 | 特级黄色毛片视频 | 欧美色视频日本片高清在线观看 | 成年人免费在线视频观看 | 国产亚洲精品久久久久久无 | 欧美激情视频一级视频一级毛片 | 美国一级片免费看 | 男人的天堂高清在线观看 | 一级毛片视频 | 九九色综合 | 亚洲高清免费视频 | 免费高清欧美一区二区视频 | 欧美日韩精品一区二区另类 | 国产精自产拍久久久久久 | 亚洲欧美高清 | 天空在线观看免费完整 | 亚洲精品在线视频观看 | 一级片免费网址 | 在线观看99| 日韩中文在线 | 久草视频播放 | 国产精品久久一区二区三区 | 欧美一级毛片大片免费播放 | 天天拍拍夜夜出水 | 久久九九免费 | 国产v精品成人免费视频400条 | 国产黄色片在线观看 | 久免费视频 | 亚洲欧美日韩国产精品久久 | 精品欧美一区二区在线观看 | 91精品成人 | 农村寡妇偷毛片一级 | 黄色一级片a | 久久精品视频免费播放 | 一级毛片韩国 | 国产在线视频h | 久艹在线观看视频 | 国产精品v欧美精品v日本精 | 久久频这里精品香蕉久久 |