A judge this week dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the federal ban on same-sex marriage.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled Aug. 24 that a legal challenge brought by a gay couple from California against the Defense of Marriage Act last year was filed improperly.
The suit, brought by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, charged that DOMA, which prevents the federal government and states that do not recognize same-sex marriage from granting same-sex couples marriage benefits, violates their constitutional rights to privacy, travel and free expression.
The couple, who married in California last summer during the several months that such unions were legal in the state, filed the suit in California state court in December, and it was transferred to federal court in March.
Carter based his dismissal on his assertion that the suit should have initially been filed in federal, not state, court.
“There is no point for us to go down the line of decision-making and waste time,” Carter said during Monday’s hearing.
Richard Gilbert, attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Associated Press this week that he brought the case to the state court because a federal judge would not waive court fees for Smelt and Hammer, who are disabled.
Jennifer Pfizer, director of Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project, expressed disappointment that the suit was dismissed before a judge could rule on its merits.
“The case was dismissed for procedural reasons without reaching the important legal questions that affect married lesbian and gay couples nationwide, all of whom are denied equal benefits and protections under federal law despite having assumed all the legal duties and obligations every married couple bears under state law regardless of sexual orientation,” she said.
Gilbert said he will resubmit the case in federal court.
Smelt and Hammer’s suit has been in the national spotlight in the past few months, after the Department of Justice issued two motions urging the court to dismiss the case.
The first DOJ brief, filed in June, was met with sharp criticism from the LGBT community for its strong support of DOMA and its comparison of same-sex marriage to incest.
The department filed another brief last week that again asked to ask the court to dismiss the suit, but this time expressed the administration’s position that the 1996 law is discriminatory.
President Obama also issued a statement last week that reiterated his opposition to DOMA and asserted that the DOJ is compelled to defend existing law, even if it is antithetical to the administration’s viewpoints. The president urged Congress to work for the repeal of DOMA.
There are two other pending federal suits challenging DOMA: one filed by Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders and another brought by the State of Massachusetts.
“Although the federal court did not reach the substantive questions in this case, DOJ’s briefing gave a preview of what we may see in the Massachusetts DOMA challenges,” Pfizer said. “And what we have seen so far is that, when the government disclaims the archaic, vile falsehoods the far right still eagerly trots out, there is precious little left that even makes logical sense to defend this overtly discriminatory law.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].