Pennsylvania’s DOMA Law Struck Down as Unconstitutional

On Tuesday May 20, Judge John Jones III for the US District Court for the Pennsylvania Middle District struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in Whitewood v. Wolf. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violated the 14^th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by refusing to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages and marry same-sex couples in the state. Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996 amidst the national fears that states would be required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states if those states had legalized them.

The United States passed a federal Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, as well, guaranteeing that states did not have to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages and federally defining marriage as a “union between a man and a woman.” The Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA in United States v. Windsor. Even though individual states had sanctioned same-sex marriages, federal benefits available to married couples were prohibited from married same-sex couples through DOMA. For instance, Windsor was in court contesting a $350,000 estate tax liability.

As Governor Corbett has announced that he will not be appealing this decision, Pennsylvania is the 19^th state to legalize same-sex marriages. Couples seeking to be married should be aware of their states’ laws, especially as they pertain to same-sex marriage and state and federal implications. States still do not have an obligation to recognize same-sex marriages, so residency remains an important question to consider. Immigration issues can create extra layers of complication. The majority of countries throughout the world do not recognize same-sex marriage, performed within that country or in a different country.

In August 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States would begin recognizing legal foreign same-sex marriages. For example, an immigrant same-sex couple validly married in Great Britain will have that marriage recognized in the United States. This represents a great victory for same-sex immigrants and should avail them to immigration opportunities otherwise denied to them. For example, a U.S. citizen who is married to an immigrant of the same sex can now sponsor their spouse for permanent residence in the United States. The Law Offices of Andrew Wood applauds PA’s recognition of marriage equality, which will afford same-sex couples married in Pennsylvania greater smoothness in the immigration process.