FileFront Forums - US Justice Department moves to extend protections and benefits to same-sex couples

On the Federal level the government has been free to do this after DOMA was struck down, but of course there is still a framework of state laws which this will not be able to affect. It will still however begin to clash with state laws on the matter who've been adamant that such a union is not legal in any shape or form, and a move by the federal government like this would in effect give it recognition even if the state doesn't acknowledge it.

Justice Department to give married same-sex couples sweeping equal protection - The Washington Post

Quote:

Under the Justice Department policy, federal inmates in same-sex marriages will also be entitled to the same rights and privileges as inmates in heterosexual marriages, including visitation by a spouse, escorted trips to attend a spouse’s funeral, correspondence with a spouse, and compassionate release or reduction in sentence based on the incapacitation of an inmate’s spouse.

In addition, an inmate in a same-sex marriage can be furloughed to be present during a crisis involving a spouse. In bankruptcy cases, same-sex married couples will be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly. Domestic support obligations will include debts, such as alimony, owed to a former same-sex spouse. Certain debts to same-sex spouses or former spouses should be excepted from discharge.

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The Justice Department’s new policy comes three years after it said it would not defend cases in court involving the Defense of Marriage Act anymore. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a key part of DOMA was unconstitutional.

On Saturday, the National Organization for Marriage released a statement decrying the policy move.

“This is just the latest in a series of moves by the Obama administration, and in particular the Department of Justice, to undermine the authority and sovereignty of the states to make their own determinations regulating the institution of marriage,” Brian Brown, the group’s president, said in the statement. “The American public needs to realize how egregious and how dangerous these usurpations are and how far-reaching the implications can be. The changes being proposed here . . . serve as a potent reminder of why it is simply a lie to say that redefining marriage doesn’t affect everyone in society.”

The Social Security Administration will pay death benefits to survivors of a same-sex marriage. The Department of Homeland Security will treat same-sex spouses equally for the purposes of obtaining a green card if the spouse is a foreign national.

And the IRS has begun treating same-sex marriages equally for tax-filing purposes.The Justice Department will also recognize same-sex couples in a number of key benefits programs it administers, such as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, which provides death benefits and educational benefits to surviving spouses of public safety officers.