National Geographic

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California has declared DOMA to be unconstitutional. The ruling arises from a case in which a married gay couple was denied the right to jointly declare bankruptcy. Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly provides the court's money quote:

This case is about equality, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, for two people who filed for protection under Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code). Like many struggling families during these difficult economic times, Gene Balas and Carlos Morales (Debtors), filed a joint chapter 13 petition on February 24, 2011. Although the Debtors were legally married to each other in California on August 20, 2008, and remain married today, the United States Trustee (sometimes referred to simply as “trustee”) moved to dismiss this case pursuant to Bankruptcy Code § 1307(c) (Motion to Dismiss), asserting that the Debtors are ineligible to file a joint petition based on Bankruptcy Code § 302(a) because the Debtors are two males.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has filed for bankruptcy due to all those pesky child molestation lawsuits.

The move follows the recent failure of efforts to reach a mediated settlement of the claims and a court decision in November that makes insurance coverage of the claims unlikely, the archdiocese said in a statement. The archdiocese is appealing the decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court but said it couldn't be sure that it would prevail. The bankruptcy plan was the best way to compensate victims and survivors of sexual abuse by priests equitably, the archdiocese said, while allowing the archdiocese to continue its operations on a reduced scale. It said the process should take 12 to 18 months to complete, based on the bankruptcy cases of other archdioceses.

Other Catholic Archdioceses in the United States have claimed bankruptcy in recent years for the same reason, always to charges by victims that the move is a ploy to protect assets. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has paid out $29M in molestation claims over the last 20 years.