SCOTUS: Learning 5

I'm going to do a quick and blatantly obvious learning post today, since everyone who isn't under a social media rock should be aware of this learning today.

The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act! Hooray! I learned that while this doesn't make gay marriage legal across the country, the federal government now recognizes ALL legal marriages as defined by the states. So if you live in a state where gay marriage is legal and get married, you can file your federal taxes jointly and your spouse won't be deported if they're from another country and take advantage of hundreds of other benefits as well. Presumably the federal government will also recognize your marriage if you get married in a state where gay marriage is legal and then move to one where it isn't. Which will cause all sorts of interesting legal logistics, I am sure.

The Supreme Court dismissed (that may not be the correct legal term, as I'm going by paraphrased memory here) the Prop 8 Case, which means that gay marriage is once again legal in California, because it reverts to the lower court which already struck down Prop 8! Hooray! I learned that if the Supreme Court had actually issued a ruling striking down Prop 8, gay marriage would now be legal all across the country no matter what state you live in, which would obviously be ideal. However they said the private citizens group that was fighting the not-so-good fight to uphold Prop 8 didn't have the legal grounds to bring the issue to court because they could not demonstrate how the law harmed them (EXACTLY! My gay friends getting married does not harm my marriage in the slightest!). So there is still a lot of ground to cover, but significant historical progress made today. And I learned about it.