Kerry Eleveld interviewed Richard Socarides about the new position of his former boss, Bill Clinton, on same-sex marriage. This could help the court cases against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA):
Clinton said during the interview that he realized he was "hung up about the word" marriage.Richard Socarides knows Bill Clinton and how that mind of his works. So, this is an interesting development on the political and legal fronts.
"I was wrong about that," he said. "I just had too many gay friends. I saw their relationships. I just decided I couldn’t, I had an untenable position."
Richard Socarides, a special assistant and LGBT adviser to Clinton during his administration, said the remarks could help create a shift in the political winds that might reach the courts.
"Many of the lawyers I talk to don't believe that the Defense of Marriage Act is going to be repealed by Congress in the next three to four years," he said, adding that most attorneys see the legal challenges to DOMA as a more likely route to overturning the law.
"Whether it's the Olson/Boies lawsuit or the Gill case, the issue is going to be, between now and the time they reach the Supreme Court, whether there's enough of a change in the political will on this subject -- have enough hearts and minds changed?" Socarides said, referring to two DOMA challenges, one emanating from California and the other from Massachusetts. "The fact that there’s a former sitting president -- the guy who is responsible for the law -- who now says that his position was ‘untenable’ will be the best thing for that case."
Socarides added that he believes Clinton's choice of words were intentional.
"Nothing comes out of him that isn't thoughtful and deliberate," he said. "Did he consider that it would someday be used in a brief to the Supreme Court arguing that DOMA was unconstitutional? Yes, I'm sure he knew that."
