Ruling on DOMA

A few days ago the SCOTUS announced its ruling on Windsor v. United States. The following is excerpted from the Court's major opinion, "DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the liberty of the person pro- tected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution." "The liberty protected by the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause contains within it the prohibition against denying to any person the equal protection of the laws." However, if you carefully read through the entire opinion, you will see that the major opinion discusses a lot of aspects that we normally wouldn't even consider. The topics discussed range from minor facts or conventions derived from the country's tradition to the possible effect of the ruling to the current situation. The ruling itself is not simply based on the text of the constitution, but the history in which the constitution has been applied. Although we've gone through this concept in class, it's still amazing to be able to witness a major case like this to be decided in this manner.