Appeals court delays hearing on DOMA

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 28 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in California has postponed a hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act because the U.S. Supreme Court may review the law.

A hearing before the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals scheduled for September was canceled Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Karen Golinski, the plaintiff in the case, supports the Obama administration's decision to ask the nation's highest court to review the law without an appellate decision first.

Golinski, a lawyer who married her female partner during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in California, challenged the law and won a favorable ruling from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in San Francisco. White found that the law, which denies hundreds of benefits to same-sex couples from immigration sponsorship to joint tax filing, discriminates against homosexuals for no legitimate reason.

President Obama announced last year that his administration would not defend the law. Republicans in Congress have taken up its defense and have also asked for a speedy Supreme Court review.