Michael C. Dorf: Cases on Arizona’s Immigrant-Investigation Law and the Defense of Marriage Act Show the Cross-Ideological Interplay Between Federalism and Individual Rights

Michael Dorf writes at Findlaw:  ”Last week, two civil actions in federal district courts on opposite ends of the country illustrated our Constitution’s cross-ideological interplay between federalism and individual rights. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed suit in federal district court in Arizona, and sought a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Arizona’s S.B. 1070, the law that, among other things, requires state and local authorities to investigate suspected undocumented immigrants. Then, on Thursday, Boston-based Federal District Judge Joseph Tauro held that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)–which defines marriage, for purposes of federal law, as the union of a man and a woman–cannot be constitutionally applied in Massachusetts, which recognizes same-sex marriage . . . In this column, I explain why these two cases, involving very different topics–immigration and gay marriage–still raise parallel issues, and how, together, they show how rights and federalism issues can cut across ideology and political party . . . “