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Michael C. Dorf: Cases on Arizona?s Immigrant-Investigation Law and the Defense of Marriage Act Show the Cross-Ideological Interplay Between Federalism and Individual Rights

By ADF Alliance Alert

Michael Dorf writes at Findlaw:  "Last week, two civil actions in federal district courts on opposite ends of the country illustrated our Constitution's cross-ideological interplay between federalism and individual rights. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed suit in federal district court in Arizona, and sought a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Arizona's S.B. 1070, the law that, among other things, requires state and local authorities to investigate suspected undocumented immigrants. Then, on Thursday, Boston-based Federal District Judge Joseph Tauro held that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)--which defines marriage, for purposes of federal law, as the union of a man and a woman--cannot be constitutionally applied in Massachusetts, which recognizes same-sex marriage . . . In this column, I explain why these two cases, involving very different topics--immigration and gay marriage--still raise parallel issues, and how, together, they show how rights and federalism issues can cut across ideology and political party . . . "

Full post as published by Constitutionally Correct on July 12, 2010 (boomark / email).