“[I]n every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States – they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections, and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law,” Attorney General Eric Holder is set to say tonight.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder is set to announce Saturday night that the Justice Department will do all it can "to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections, and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law."
"On Monday, the Justice Department will issue a new policy memorandum that will – for the first time in history – formally instruct all Department employees to give lawful same-sex marriages full and equal recognition, to the greatest extent possible under the law," Holder is due to tell members and supports of the Human Rights Campaign at a fundraising dinner in New York City Saturday night.
The formal announcement follows advice given by the Justice Department in the months since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the Defense of Marriage Act's ban on the federal government recognizing same-sex couples' marriages.
The Justice Department has been working with various agencies at making the appropriate changes to federal policy after the June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, as well as making its own decisions about implementation and enforcement of federal law and regulations after Windsor.
For example, a month ago, Holder announced that "for purposes of federal law," same-sex couples married in Utah during the period when such marriages were granted there "will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages."
One of the biggest implementation issues across the government since the Windsor ruling has been whether the federal government would recognize same-sex couples' marriages for federal purposes based on the state were a couple is domiciled (generally, where the couple lives) or if it would instead, more broadly, recognize such marriages if valid in the place of celebration (where the couple got married). Although some laws require reliance on the "state of domicile" rule, LGBT advocates had been pressing the federal government to use the "place of celebration" rule wherever possible.
Across the federal government over the past months — from the State Department to the Internal Revenue Service — most implementation has used the "place of celebration" rule. Although the Justice Department did not release the actual policy memorandum at this time, Holder's remarks suggest that — absent a law specifying the "place of domicile" to be used for determining a marriage-linked government right, benefit or responsibility — the Justice Department's default position going forward will be to utilize a "place of celebration" rule.
Among the changes to result from this policy announcement, according to Holder's prepared remarks provided by the Justice Department:
· The Department will recognize that same-sex spouses of individuals involved in civil and criminal cases should have the same legal rights as all other married couples – including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouse. The government will not object to an individual in a same-sex marriage invoking this right on the ground that the marriage is not recognized in the state where the couple lives.· In bankruptcy cases, the U.S. Trustee Program will take the position that same-sex married couples should be treated in the same manner as opposite-sex married couples. This means that, among other things, same-sex married couples should be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly, that certain debts to same-sex spouses or former spouses should be excepted from discharge, and that domestic support obligations should include debts, such as alimony, owed to a former same-sex spouse.
· Federal inmates in same-sex marriages will also be entitled to the same rights and privileges as inmates in opposite-sex marriages. This includes visitation by a spouse, inmate furloughs to be present during a crisis involving a spouse, escorted trips to attend a spouse's funeral, correspondence with a spouse, and compassionate release or reduction in sentence based on the incapacitation of an inmate's spouse.
Connecting the work he is advancing now to those of past Justice Department leaders, he is to say:
Just like during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the stakes involved in this generation's struggle for LGBT equality could not be higher. Then, as now, nothing less than our country's commitment to the notion of equal protection under the law was on the line. And so the Justice Department's role in confronting discrimination must be as aggressive today as it was in Robert Kennedy's time. As Attorney General, I will not let this Department be simply a bystander during this important moment in history.
HRC president Chad Griffin said in a statement, "Attorney General Holder continues to show incredible leadership, and this latest action cements his place in history alongside Robert F. Kennedy, another attorney general who crusaded for civil rights."
This article was updated to include additional information about the impact of the policy announcement, with the final update at 5:35 p.m.