A U.S. District Court judge in Boston's ruling declaring the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional could have significant implications for same-sex couples in Connecticut.
Eventually.
But right now, Judge Joseph L. Tauro's decision applies only to Massachusetts. "This is a ruling from a district court judge in Massachusetts and right now this ruling is confined to Massachusetts,'' attorney Mary Bonauto, director of the Civil Rights Project for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, a Boston-based legal advocacy group that brought one of the two lawsuits in Massachusetts seeking to overturn the DOMA.
If the Justice Department appeals the case to the First Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Tauro's decision is upheld, then the ruling would apply only to jurisdictions within the First Circuit: Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Puerto Rico.
If that decision is then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and once again upheld, then Connecticut would be impacted.
That could take years. However some gay rights advocates believe Judge Tauro's ruling could have a more immediate impact in hastening the DOMA's demise.
Even though legally the decision has no bearing on the thousands of same-sex couples who have married in Connecticut since gay marriage became legal in 2008, it could prompt Congress to act to repeal the DOMA.
. upon appeal to th first circuit, if judge tupora;s ruling were upheld, it would apply to the frist circuit