Nassau County District Attorney and attorney general candidate Kathleen Rice said a couple of weeks ago that she plans to sue the federal government over the Defense of Marriage Act if elected New York’s next attorney general.
Shortly thereafter, we started a campaign ask the other candidates for Attorney General in New York whether, if elected, would he or she defend all citizens and families of New York, including the married same-sex couples there, and legally join the fight against Section 3 of DOMA, which denies all 1,138 federal marriage benefits to married same-sex couples of Rhode Island.
I am glad to report that State Senator Eric Schneiderman has just become the second attorney general candidate to come out against DOMA! Bravo Mr. Schneiderman.
You can see his full response below. Do note that he would either file a suit or an amicus brief depending upon which is deemed more appropriate. That may be considered by some as not as strong a position as candidates Kathleen Rice and Sean Coffey who have promised a full lawsuit.
Eric Schneiderman will join the ongoing fight in the courts against the federal government to overturn the ill-named and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, and will promote marriage equality in New York State and nationwide.
Eric will file a lawsuit to challenge DOMA, unless, of course, it is determined that doing so would harm the legal position or unduly delay the progress of the case. In that event, he will file a friend-of-the-court brief. Either way, as a lifelong progressive Democrat who has always stood up for the rights of all New Yorkers even when it wasn’t politically popular, Eric will do everything in his power to ensure that marriage equality becomes a reality in our state.
Feel free to visit http://www.ericschneiderman.com/ if you would like to thank or support Mr. Schneiderman in his bid for attorney general.
P.S. Nice photo of you, Mr. Schneiderman, wearing a white knot for marriage equality!
Tagged: Dan Donovan, Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, Eric Dinallo, Eric Schneiderman, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, LGBT Rights, Marriage Equality, New York Attorney General, Richard Brodsky, Sean Coffey