Court Rules Parts Of DOMA Unconstitutional

A federal appeals court in Boston ruled Thursday that parts of the Defense of Marriage Act are unconstitutional.

The ruling, handed down by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, found that DOMA violates the constitution by denying federal benefits to married gay couples.

The decision all but guarantees that the battle over DOMA will end up before the Supreme Court, a fact the appellate judges explicitly acknowledged in the ruling, writing that "only the Supreme Court can finally decide this unique case."

Emily Bazelon, senior editor at Slate, joins Radio Boston for further analysis on how the appellate court ruled and how that might tell us about how the Supreme Court could look at the case.

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