Pierce Atwood Statement on the Supreme Court's Rulings Regarding Marriage Equality
Firm filed amici briefs in partnership with GLAD to strike down DOMA
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Pierce Atwood’s Role in Today’s Supreme Court Decision:
As a part of Pierce Atwood’s longstanding partnership with the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), we represented the American Historical Association and 23 of the top historians of family law throughout the country to explain to the Court how DOMA was historically unprecedented because until DOMA was enacted, the federal government consistently accepted each state’s own determination of marital status, even while the various states differed significantly in their definition of marriage. Pierce Atwood filed amici briefs explaining this point in every DOMA challenge at the U.S. Court of Appeals level as well. In each of those decisions, as well as the Supreme Court’s ruling, the basis for striking down the statute included judicial recognition of this historical treatment of marriage. It was extremely gratifying to see the Supreme Court agree with the arguments that we helped to bring before it, to uphold the power of the states to embrace marriage equality.
What Impact Will Today’s Decision Have?
The impact of the decision is clear: recognition of states’ authority to adopt marriage equality. While many questions remain, a key point is reflected in Justice Alito’s dissent. He identifies two different views of marriage: one grounded in “conjugal” concepts (by which he seems to mean biology), and the other based on consent. He characterizes the majority ruling as recognizing the latter. That’s exactly right. As the amici brief we filed on behalf of the American Historical Association and 20+ historians noted, consent has been a linchpin of the concept of marriage throughout our nation’s history.
– Cathy Connors, partner at Pierce Atwood LLP.
Catherine R. Connors joined Pierce Atwood in 1986, where she practices primarily in the area of appellate litigation - both civil and criminal - in the federal and state courts, including petitions for review of administrative decisions. She has argued over 100 appeals, primarily in the United States Courts of Appeals and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Cathy also leads Pierce Atwood's partnership with the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and is the author of the blog, Maine Appeals, where she has blogged numerous times about DOMA.