Bill Barr, former libertarian party presidential hopeful and author of the Defense of Marriage Act, published an opinion in the Las Angeles times declaring that President-Elect Barack Obama is right, DOMA has to go.  In his story, Barr goes on to explain that DOMA violates the principles of federalism and its impact is not limited to Federal law as intended.  Barr then states:

So the first part of DOMA was crafted to prevent the U.S. Constitution’s ‘full faith and credit’ clause.

As one of the people responsible for writing DOMA, I find this statement remarkably telling as it clearly indicates that the purpose of the Defense of Marriage Act was to void a section of the U.S. Constitution [Article IV, Section 1], which decrees that independent states within the Union must respect the “public acts, records, and judicial rulings” of other states.  Ordinarily, acts of Constitutional “adjustment” are done by Amendments, which are much more difficult to obtain than legislative acts.

Mr. Barr’s commentary comes just in time for the January 10, 2009 National DOMA Protest.

To read Mr. Barr’s full opinion piece, click here.

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