Supreme Court Rules Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional

The Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on a 5-4 vote Wednesday in a historic win for gay rights activists

Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy found DOMA violated the Fifth Amendment's due process clause.

"DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty," Kennedy wrote. "It imposes a disability on the class by refusing to acknowledge a status the State finds to be dignified and proper. DOMA instructs all federal officials, and indeed all persons with whom same-sex couples interact, including their own children, that their marriage is less worthy than the marriages of others."