‘The genius of this complaint is that it takes a conservative argument and turns it around’

SOUNDBITES — “The genius of this complaint is that it takes a conservative argument – that liberal states should not be permitted to impose their tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality on the rest of the country – and turns it around to benefit a state that really pioneered gay rights in the U.S. Even a conservative justice would support the notion that federal encroachment over those few areas where states have sovereign jurisdiction is unconstitutional. In this case, that principle supports, at the very least, limiting the application of DOMA when it affects state programs with federal funding.” —Civil litigator Emma Ruby-Sachs on Massachusetts’ challenge to DOMA