The administration is now encouraging its unilateral governing approach at the state level. In an interview with The New York Times Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder encouraged that any state attorneys general who deem their states’ same-sex marriage bans as discriminatory and unconstitutional to simply refuse to defend state law.
Though Holder insisted he was not attempting to encourage attorneys general to entirely reject their own states’ laws, he believes it is their right to refuse to uphold any laws they feel break the spirit of the Constitution by discriminating against citizens.
As The New York Times reports, so far six attorneys general, all of whom are Democrats, have undermined their own state laws on same-sex marriage despite vocal pushback from Republicans. Regardless of their legal responsibility to promote the laws of the state, Holder defended their right to act unilaterally in cases of discrimination:
It is highly unusual for the United States attorney general to advise his state counterparts on how and when to refuse to defend state laws. But Mr. Holder said when laws touch on core constitutional issues like equal protection, an attorney general should apply the highest level of scrutiny before reaching a decision on whether to defend it. He said the decision should never be political or based on policy objections.
“Engaging in that process and making that determination is something that’s appropriate for an attorney general to do,” Mr. Holder said.
Holder’s stance falls right in line with the administration’s increasingly unilateral approach to governing, an approach President Obama underscored in his 2014 State of the Union address, and has since repeated, with claims that he will not wait for Congress to pass laws he deems necessary for the proper governing of the nation.
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