The 5th amendment of the the United States Constitution grants United States citizens equal protection of their right to life, liberty, and property under the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. In the Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor, Edith Windsor filed suit in district court claiming that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. The Act states that for the purposes of federal law, the words marriage and spouse refer to legal unions between one man and one woman, and not same sex couples. Today there are many controversial issues on same sex couples and marriage, but that doesn’t make it right for the federal government to deny citizens of their right to equal protection. In this paper I will be explaining …show more content…
Does the executive branch’s agreement with the lower court that the act is unconstitutional deprive the Supreme Court of Jurisdiction to decide the case? Does the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives have standing in the case? Lastly, the constitutional question which is, Does the Defense of Marriage Act deprive same sex couples who are legally married under state laws of their fifth amendment rights to equal protection under federal laws? Justice Anthony M. Kennedy delivered the opinion on the 5-4 majority. The Supreme Court answered no the 1st question derived from the case on the grounds that despite the executive branch’s agreement regarding DOMA’s unconstitutionality, retains a significant enough stake in the issue to support Supreme Courts Jurisdiction. The second questions remained unanswered because the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group presented substantial agreements for the constitutionality of DOMA that reflected an actual controversy under Article III. The Supreme Court held that the Defense of Marriage Act did in fact deprive same sex couples who are legally married under state laws of their fifth amendment right to equal protection under federal laws. They argued that the purpose and effect of DOMA is to impose a disadvantage, a separate status, and so a stigma on same sex couples in violation of the fifth amendment's guarantee of equal