A group of law professors led by Lynn Wardle of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University say the Windsor challenge must fail, not only on standing and jurisdictional issues, but also because the Second Circuit "erroneously held" that DOMA's §3 "intrudes upon state regulation of marriage and violates principles of federalism."
Federalism, the professors state, "includes and protects the authority of Congress to define who is eligible for federal programs and federal benefits" and "for centuries, Congress has enacted similar statutes defining domestic relationships and their incidents for purposes of federal law."
Some of the amici take positions influenced by religion.
"This nation that God blessed and built into a super power is going to perish if this Court and the governments of this land bless same-sex marriage through government license," argues the Westboro Baptist Church, a fringe group known for picketing military funerals over opposition to gays in the military.
John Mauck of Mauck & Baker in Chicago filed an amicus on behalf of the Manhattan Declaration Inc., a Virginia-based not-for-profit founded by Charles Colson, Timothy George and Robert George.
The group argues that there are "rational and compelling reasons to preserve" the "universally constitutive male-female character" of marriage, and the effort to preserve marriage is "grounded in sincere belief and sound public policy consideration, and not in animus" toward gays.
"Redefining marriage imperils religious freedom, inhibits people of faith from living out their lives in the public square, and creates a culture where Christian believers are ostracized and themselves targeted for discrimination," Mauck's brief states.
See other amicus briefs filed by the National Organization for Marriage; International Jurists and Academics; the Family Research Council; Liberty, Life and Law Foundation and North Carolina Values Coalition; and Dr. Paul McHugh.
Windsor's legal team is set to file its brief on Feb. 26.
Led by Roberta Kaplan of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and James Esseks of the American Civil Liberties Union, the team argued before Jones and the circuit that the distinction drawn by DOMA should be subject to the most exacting form of scrutiny but that it fails under any test.
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