U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White has dismissed a lawsuit challenging DOMA brought by Karen Golinski, a U.S. appeals court lawyer in San Francisco, who was challenging the law in order to obtain benefits for her wife. White also denied a request for an injunction.
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, acting as a court administrator, ordered Golinski's insurance carrier to provide the benefits.
However, the Office of Personnel Management instructed the insurance carrier not to comply. Golinski sued the personnel office to enforce the order.
In response, administration attorneys did not argue the constitutionality of the law. Rather, they said Kozinski's order was not enforceable through the kind of lawsuit Golinski filed.
White agreed on Wednesday, but wrote that he would address the constitutionality of the law to "unfairly" restrict benefits if it were placed before him. The judge gave Golinski's lawyers a chance to file an amended lawsuit.
Golinski's lawyer says new documents will be filed by April 15.
