KPA's monthly update is now available. our June featured articles are:
- Court of Appeal Finds Green Water Drop on Bottled Water in not Greenwashing, by Roxanna Tabatabaeepour
- Class Actions after ATT Mobility v Concepcion, by Robert Drexler
- What Will the California Supreme Court’s Decision in Brinker Mean for the Future of Meal and Rest Break Cases?, by Launa Adolph
Lawfully married same-sex couple, Gene Balas and Carlos Morales, were victorious on Monday when the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). After Balas was laid off from his 200K/year job in March of 2009, he and Morales filed a joint petition for chapter 13 bankruptcy. All of their property was community property and all of their debt was community debt. The United States Trustee moved to dismiss the case pursuant to Bankruptcy Code § 1307(c) based on DOMA, asserting that the Debtors are ineligible to file a joint petition because the Debtors are two males.
Judge Thomas Donovan ruled that DOMA "deprives [the debtors] of the equal protection of the law to which they are entitled" and that there is “no valid governmental basis for DOMA.” In an unusual move, 19 of Judge Donovan’s 23 colleagues on the country’s largest consumer bankruptcy court signed on to the opinion in support of the decision. While this decision is only limited to bankruptcy proceedings, it sends a strong message and could serve as a model ruling for other jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal.
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