The U.S. Supreme Court released same-day audio recordings of oral arguments in a case that seeks to strike down a federal law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of federal benefits that go to other married people.
In the second day of hearings on same-sex marriage, the language of the US supreme court justices has been closely watched.
The quote of the day goes to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who in a discussion about the Defense of Marriage Act, said that it had imposed on the US a two-tier system. According to the New York Times, she told the court:
"There are two kinds of marriage: the full marriage, and then this sort of skim milk marriage.”
Justice Anthony Kennedy on Wednesday joined the four liberals on the Supreme Court in questioning the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples. The court-watching website SCOTUSblog said that it looks “80 percent likely” that the Supreme Court will strike down DOMA. But the conservatives on the court questioned President Obama’s unwillingness to defend DOMA in 2011 -- a possible sign that they could be cautious about striking down the law. The now widely unpopular law, signed in 1996, bans any federal institution from recognizing same-sex marriage.
