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| Justices raise concerns about Defense of Marriage Act defense - Los Angeles Times Posted: 27 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PDT WASHINGTON -- A lawyer defending the federal law that denies benefits to legally married same-sex couples faced skeptical questions from key Supreme Court justices, who suggested the law wrongly discriminated against gays and improperly intruded into the right of states to define marriage. Paul Clement, the former solicitor general who was defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives told the justices in Wednesday's argument that the law made only a "narrow" technical point, defining marriage for the purposes of federal law. But a majority of the justices indicated doubts about his attempt to minimize the law's impact. Marriage affects "every aspect of life," said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. For the federal government to say that some legally married couples deserve benefits and others don't "diminishes what the state says is marriage." Couples would be left with "full marriage" on the one hand and "skim-milk marriage," on the other, she said. PHOTOS: Supreme Court considers gay marriage Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who is widely seen as the swing vote in the case, also challenged Clement on that point, noting that in defining marriage, the law affected benefits under roughly 1,100 federal statutes. In doing so, he said, the federal government was putting itself in conflict with "the essence" of a state's power -- the right to define which of its citizens is considered to be married. "The question is whether the federal government" has "the authority to regulate marriage," he said later in the argument. Kennedy's past opinions often have shown considerable concern about federal encroachment on state powers. His comments suggested two possible routes that the justices could use to strike down the law -- either that it violates the rights of same-sex couples by treating them differently than opposite-sex couples or that it violated the rights of states to decide for themselves how marriage should be defined. Gay marriage through the years In one of the argument's most dramatic moments, Justice Elena Kagan read from the House report which accompanied the law when it passed, quoting a passage that said Congress was passing the law to express "moral disapproval of homosexuality." "When Congress targets a group that isn't everyone's favorite group in the world," the courts traditionally have treated those statutes as suspect, she said. The report "sends up a pretty good red flag that that's what was going on." Clement partially conceded the point. "If that's enough to invalidate the statute, you should invalidate the statute," he said, before going on to argue that the justices should look at the other reasons Congress had for passing the law and uphold it if any of them could be considered valid. FULL COVERAGE: Battle over gay marriage Follow Politics Now on Twitter and Facebook Twitter: @DavidLauter |
| David Petraeus Apologizes for Affair in First Speech Since Resignation From CIA - ABC News Posted: 27 Mar 2013 09:03 AM PDT David Petraeus apologized in front of an audience of about 600, who welcomed him with a standing ovation, for an extramarital affair with his biographer in his first public speech since resigning as the head of the CIA. "Needless to say, I join you, keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago," Petraeus said Tuesday night to an audience of mostly veterans at the University of Southern California's annual ROTC dinner at a hotel in Los Angeles. "I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing. So please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply I regret -- and apologize for -- the circumstances that led to my resignation from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends and supporters," Petraeus said. RELATED: Shocking Celebrity Confessions The decorated war hero and former four-star general has remained out of the public eye since his affair with writer Paula Broadwell was revealed in November. The former commander of U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan addressed the affair only one other time in a statement the day he resigned as CIA director. "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair," Petraeus confessed in a letter to CIA staff. Since announcing his resignation, Petraeus has only appearing in closed-door hearings before the House and Senate intelligence committees to testify about what he learned first-hand about the Sept. 11 attack in the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. RELATED: See the Timeline of the Petraeus/Broadwell Affair "I know I can never fully assuage the pain that I inflicted on those closest to me and a number of others," Petraeus said Tuesday. Petraeus' wife, Holly, was not in attendance at the dinner. "As I close, I want to say thank you for words of encouragement to family. ... This has been difficult episode for us ... to fall as far as I did," Petraeus said in his closing remarks before he received another standing ovation. Petraeus, 60, spent much of his time at the ROTC dinner speaking about what can be done for veterans and the families facing transition challenges from military life to civilian life. "In reality, the transition often is quite challenging. Hanging up the uniform is quite difficult," he said. Petraeus also penned an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal about helping veterans find employment, assimilate into the workforce and set them on a definitive career path. The speech and op-ed are Petraeus' first steps in what appears to be a carefully choreographed comeback bid as he tries to rehab his once-pristine image. Petraeus' affair with Broadwell was discovered during an FBI investigation into emails she sent to Florida socialite Jill Kelley. Broadwell, 40, who is also married, wrote the biography on Petraeus, "All In." ABC News' Maria Nikias contributed to this report. |
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