1. DOMA forced same-sex couples to live as married for the purpose of state law, but unmarried for the purpose of federal law. Why is this a problem?

2. The Court states that DOMA “frustrates New York’s objective of eliminating inequality by writing inequality into the entire United States Code.” What does this statement mean?

In United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment. DOMA's definition of marriage was unconstitutional as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment.