A Stitch in Haste

The same-sex marriage decision from New York's highest court will apparently not be released today, so I can still sneak this in before it before it becomes outdated.

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A Stitch in Haste recommends the following report from the Congressional Research Service:

Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues
An excerpt:

This report discusses the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), P.L. 104-199, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows individual states to refuse to recognize such marriages performed in other states, and discusses the potential legal challenges to DOMA. Moreover, this report summarizes the legal principles applied in determining the validity of a marriage contracted in another state, surveys the various approaches employed by states to prevent same-sex marriage, and examines the recent House and Senate resolutions introduced in the 109th Congress proposing a constitutional amendment (H.J.Res. 39, S.J.Res. 1, and S.J.Res. 13) and limiting federal courts’ jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of DOMA (H.R. 1100).

The Marriage Protection Amendment is of course no longer an issue, but the questions of "Why has federal DOMA never been challenged in court?" and "What are the Full Faith & Credit implications of the emergence of same-sex marriage?" remain quite robust, as does the broader question of "jurisdiction stripping" in a variety of contexts. The 24-page report also has a useful summary, as an appendix, of all the various state DOMAs and bigot amendments. A handy reference for those keeping score.

Previous CRS Recommendations:
Saudi Arabia
The National Debt
Restricting Video Game Sales to Minors
Warrantless Wiretapping
Foreign Holdings of Public Debt
China's Internet Censorship
Summary of Rumsfeld v. FAIR