Loretta Lynch questioned by Sen. Lindsey Graham during her confirmation hearing – Credit: C-SPAN
President Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general fielded questions on same-sex marriage and polygamy during her confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Loretta Lynch was asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) how the U.S. Supreme Court could find state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional but not bans on polygamy, channeling a slippery slope argument long made by opponents of marriage equality.
“If the Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional and it violates the U.S. Constitution for a state to try to limit marriage between a man and a woman, that is clearly the law of the land, unless there is a constitutional amendment to change it,” Graham said. “What legal rational would be in play that would prohibit polygamy? What is the legal difference between a ban on same-sex marriage being unconstitutional but a ban on polygamy being constitutional?”
Lynch, however, declined to entertain Graham’s slippery slope argument, stating she was not familiar with the arguments at hand.
“I have not been involved in the argument or analysis of the cases that have gone before the Supreme Court and I’m not comfortable undertaking legal analysis without having had the ability to undertake a review of the relevant facts and the precedent there,” Lynch said. “So I certainly would not be able to provide you with that analysis at this point in time, but I look forward to continuing the discussions with you.”
Lynch was also asked about outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision in February 2011 to cease defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act’s definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, which was later struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in June 2013.
Responding to questions from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Lynch said it is one of the Justice Department’s first and foremost duties to defend laws passed by Congress.
“Attorney General Holder answered that same question in the same way,” Hatch responded. “The Justice Department had made reasonable arguments that the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional, but then the attorney general chose to stop making those arguments because of his personal views. And by breaking his promise, he cast doubt about others who make the same commitment as you did today.”
Asked for more assurances that she will defend laws passed by Congress, Lynch said it would be rare for the Justice Department to deem a law unconstitutional.
“It’s my view that when it comes to the position of the attorney general and the role of the Department of Justice in defending the statutes as passed by this Congress, the issue is not my personal views or any issue of bias or policy even, but it is the duty and responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend those statutes.” According to Lynch, there may be “rare instances” where careful legal analysis raises constitutional issues. “But I anticipate those would be few and far between,” she said. “I also think that should we reach that point if there is a matter, it’s a matter I would prefer to have discussion about.”
Lynch, who currently serves as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, was nominated by Obama in November to replace Holder. She is the first Obama cabinet nominee to face confirmation since Republicans gained control of the Senate. If confirmed, she would become the first African-American woman to serve as attorney general, and only the second African-American to serve in that role after Holder.
With the Supreme Court having agreed to rule later this year on whether states can ban same-sex couples from marrying, Holder has said the Justice Department will file a brief urging the Supreme Court “to make marriage equality a reality for all Americans.” During his State of the Union address last week, Obama declared marriage equality a “civil right” and has said he hopes the Supreme Court will recognize that there is “no good reason” to ban same-sex marriage.
In her first televised interview since her 2020 confirmation, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to promote her new book, offering only vague commentary to host Norah O’Donnell in defense of the Court’s legitimacy when asked whether justices might overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.
Barrett was pressed on recent remarks from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the Raging Moderates podcast that the Court will likely “do to gay marriage what they did to abortion” and “send it back to the states.”
With Obergefell at risk and 32 states poised to restrict same-sex marriage, LGBTQ advocates push to enshrine protections at the state level.
By Maximilian Sandefer
August 6, 2025
On June 22, 2022, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision with Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Abortion rights were now no longer guaranteed nationwide as the issue was left up to the states. This shock reversal of over 49 years of precedent left reproductive rights activists scrambling as anti-choice state laws stemming from as far back as 1864 were revived and reinstituted.
As people's ability to access to reproductive care dwindled in conservative-led states, activists also found their footing. The 2024 election saw abortion rights ballot measures win in seven out of ten states. As we navigate a landscape where it will likely be a long time before we see any form of successful federal legislation protecting a woman's right to choose, state-by-state activism seems to be the driving force behind change.
The former Kentucky clerk -- and anti-LGBTQ culture warrior -- who went to jail rather than issue licenses to same-sex couples is now targeting the landmark 2015 ruling.
A decade after catapulting to right-wing stardom, Kim Davis -- the former Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk who chose jail over issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples -- has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its landmark 2015 decision that legalized marriage equality nationwide.
Represented by the anti-LGBTQ Liberty Counsel, Davis has formally asked the nation’s highest court to strip away the right of same-sex couples to marry.
A Mike Huckabee acolyte and four-time married fundamentalist zealot, Davis rose to fame in 2015 when she refused to issue marriage licenses to any couple -- gay or straight -- after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision struck down all state-level bans on same-sex marriage, including Kentucky’s. Ordered to comply, she instead spent six days in jail for contempt of court.
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