Pennsylvania Governor, AG Battle Over Gay Marriage Ban

Governor Corbett wants AG Kane to defend the law

HARRISBURG — A spat between Gov. Tom Corbett's lawyers and Attorney General Kathleen Kane's top staff over enforcement of a gay marriage ban has escalated, through a letter in which Kane told Corbett not to tell her what to do.

"It is not your job to tell the Office of Attorney General — an independent agency — what its duties and obligations are," Kane's first deputy, Adrian King, told Corbett's general counsel, James Schultz, in the letter.

Comments

[Charles.H.Anziulewicz@wv.]

Kathleen Kane will continue to ENFORCE Pennsylvania's ban on marriage for Gay couples for as long as the law is on the books. But in terms of its constitutionality, why should she be forced to defend in court something that she knows is indefensible, especially given the Supreme Court's decisions on DOMA and Prop. 8?

Those of us who support marriage equality for law-abiding, taxpaying Gay couples didn't really have a choice but to "target" all the piecemeal, state-by-state bans, didn't we? The Supreme Court could have issued a comprehensive ruling requiring Gay and Straight couples to be treated equally, at ALL levels of government, but instead they chose to punt on the some of the details.

So what now? Most of the legal benefits of marriage come from the federal government. Take survivor benefits under Social Security, for example. Legally married Gay couples in Iowa are now entitled to those benefits, but suppose one of those couples relocates to West Virginia, which has a statutory ban on same-sex marriage. Does the state have the power to forcibly annul that marriage? And if so, does the couple now LOSE those federal benefits?

Don't fault US for continuing this fight. The Supreme Court left us no choice.