NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2008 — Charles Merrill has filed papers with the U.S. Tax Court objecting to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) based on the 1st Amendment Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. He objects to not getting all the same benefits as other married couples – 1,138 of them – under a discriminatory tax code.
Merrill, a life member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and cousin of the founder of Merrill Lynch, was previously married to the late Evangeline Johnson, the Johnson & Johnson heiress. He has refused to pay federal taxes, protesting marriage equality. He is legally married to his husband, Kevin Boyle, in the state California, but not recognized by the Federal government.
He argues that: "DOMA is in violation of the Establishment Clause under any of the three tests the Supreme Court has created: first, under the lemon test. DOMA was motivated by a religious purpose, and its effect has been to unconstitutionally establish religion. Next, under the endorsement test, DOMA's purpose and effect were both the endorsement of one religious view to the exclusion of all others. Finally, under the coercion test, DOMA unconstitutionally compels the acceptance of a specific religious belief."
Merrill, in a recent Israeli newspaper interview, said, "Barack Obama, our most liberal U.S. Senator, voted against DOMA, but said that he was opposed to same-sex marriage and that 'God was in the mix' in his marriage with his wife. He should know better as a constitutional lawyer."
Merrill continued, "Marriage is a Federal issue for all citizens, not a state or religious one. When one group of heterosexual individuals is recognized to get all the 1,138 Federal benefits, and others are not, it is unconstitutional against the 1st Amendment. The Constitution guarantees 'Equality of All'; otherwise, our government is based on a theocracy that says, 'Marriage is only a union between one man and one woman under God.'"
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Charles Merrill
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