Senators ask court to uphold marriage law

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Ten U.S. senators have filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a law that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman.

The 10, all Republicans, want the high court to overturn the rulings of multiple lower courts that cleared the way for same-sex marriage, McClatchy Newspapers reported.

In their friend-of-the-court brief, the senators said it is inconsistent for the Justice Department to have assured Congress the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, was constitutional in the mid-1990s and now raise questions about it.

"The time to speak was in 1996, when Congress gave careful consideration to the need for DOMA," the senators said.

Two years ago, President Obama instructed Attorney General Eric Holder to stop defending DOMA in federal court.

Last year two federal appellate courts upheld several lower court rulings that the law is unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court took up the matter in December and scheduled oral arguments for March 27.