On February 18, 2010, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley moved for summary judgment in the state's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Massachusetts was the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage and filed suit challenging the federal law in July 2009. Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in the case in July 2010. JURIST Contributor Robert Pfister has claimed that DOMA cannot pass constitutional muster under any legal standard in Sidebar.

Read an overview of DOMA and the other legal controversies surrounding same-sex marriage in Features.