国际英语新闻:U.S. Supreme Court weighs law banning federal benefits to gay couples

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and Justices appeared open to striking down the 17-year-old law banning same-sex married couples from receiving federal benefits.

The case before the court was U.S. v Windsor. Since President Barack Obama on 2011 decided the Justice Department would not defend DOMA in court, the lawyer arguing for its constitutionality was retained by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The other side of the suit was Edith Windsor, a New York woman who faced 363,000 dollars in federal estate tax after her same-sex spouse died in 2009. If the couples were heterosexual, no tax would be collected, but under DOMA, the couples were treated as unmarried.

The overriding impression of analysts who observed the hearing said the Justices seemed to be open to striking down the law. Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUSblog opined that Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote in the court, seemed persuaded that the law intruded too deeply into the power of states to regulate marriage, and the federal definition of marriage as limited to a man and a woman cannot prevail.

Wednesday's proceeding capped two days of high-profile hearings on cases involving same-sex marriage. Analysts believe the Supreme Court could rule on U.S. v Windsor in June, as it only deals with the narrower issue of can the federal government treat same-sex couples differently. They are more pessimistic about the fate of Tuesday's case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, which challenges California's ban on same-sex marriage, and addresses more squarely the issue of allowing same-sex couples to marry. Many believe the court would dismiss that case.