The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) Takes Another Bullet: How Can It Survive?

Another federal judge has now ruled that the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that precludes recognition of same-sex marriage for any federal-law purpose is unconstitutional. This provision of DOMA has taken several bullets in the last year, but the ruling in Pedersen v. OPM is even more damaging, as it carefully refutes every conceivable argument made in defense of the law, and identifies multiple theories on which it could be invalidated