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Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution

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Date and time
Thursday, September 15, 2011

(Cleveland, Ohio 2011) Case Western Reserve University faculty and guests convene on Constitution Day to debate the issues raised by The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), state regulations, civil unions, polygamy, and other constitutional issues related to marriage. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed by Congress in 1996, defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. As a result, same-sex couples are barred from receiving federal benefits conferred upon married couples, and no state is required to recognize same-sex marriages granted by another state. On February 23, 2011, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama Administration had determined DOMA to be unconstitutional, and that the Justice Department would no longer provide legal defense for the law. Meanwhile, many states have adopted measures designed to forbid same-sex marriage. This program includes opposing perspectives from the speakers, questions from a student panel, and Q&A with the audience. It aims to encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas.

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Professor Mark P. Strasser is the Trustees Professor of Law at Capital University Law School. This appointment recognizes Professor Strasser's extraordinary and sustained commitment to legal scholarship. Nationally recognized for his scholarship in family law, Professor Strasser is the author of numerous books and articles in the areas of family law, bioethics, and constitutional law and frequently presents papers at conferences across the country and internationally.
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teaches Business Associations, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Business Planning and is the faculty supervisor for the Business Organizations Concentration. He is the Associate Director of the Law School's Center for Business Law and Regulation. He has published many articles on corporate and securities law, including “Business Lawyers as Enterprise Architects,” The Business Lawyer (2009); “Academics in Wonderland: The Team Production and Director Primacy Models of Corporate Governance,” Houston Law Review (2008); and “Corporate Governance: Still Broke, No Fix in Sight,” Journal of Corporation Law (2005). He also writes on law and religion, as in “Civil Rights for Whom: Gay Rights Versus Religious Freedom,” University of Kentucky Law Journal (2006-07); and “How Does Same-Sex Marriage Threaten You?,” Rutgers Law Review (2007). Dent serves as a director of the National Association of Scholars and as president of the Ohio Association of Scholars. He co-chairs the Subcommittee on Constitutional Adjudication of the Religious Liberties Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He heads the Law Section of the Association for the Study of Free Institutions. He is chairman of the Ohio State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.