The New York Law Journal reports:

"Congress has fired back in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act's definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

In a motion to dismiss in the Southern District, former solicitor general Paul D. Clement and his legal team argue that the act, 1 U.S.C. §7, is entitled to a presumption of constitutionality, and that U.S. Supreme Court precedent holds that an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage does not offend the equal protection clause.

... In his papers yesterday, Mr. Clement said that rational basis review, not heightened scrutiny, is the appropriate standard in judging the constitutionality of the statute and §3 "easily" passes that less exacting standard.

In support of that view, he argues that DOMA does not infringe on the fundamental right to marriage, that "same-sex marriage is not a fundamental right" and that "DOMA implicates federal benefits, not the right of same-sex couples to marry."

... Under the rational basis test, Mr. Clement said, Congress could have acted rationally "in the face of the unknown consequences of a proposed novel redefinition of the foundational social institution," and it could have acted rationally to "protect the public fisc" in the balance it strikes in allocating federal burdens and benefits, and providing "consistency in eligibility for federal benefits based on marital status."

Congress also could have acted rationally "to avoid creating a social understanding that begetting and rearing children is not inextricably bound up with marriage" and to "foster marriages that provide children with parents of both sexes."

Finally, Mr. Clement states "any redefinition of marriage should be left to the democratic process.

The issues will be decided by Judge Barbara Jones, who could schedule oral arguments as early as October."

Buffalo News Political Columnist Bob McCarthy on what State Sen. Mike Giarnaris, head of Democratic Senate Campaign Committee is predicting for Mark Grisanti's Buffalo seat:

State Sen. Mike Gianaris of Queens is crowing over the latest campaign finance reports showing more than $1 million for his Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, making it “very well positioned to take back the majority.” But Republicans take issue, claiming the Dems have only $36,000 on hand, while they boast $2 million.

This is for sure — Democrats and Republicans alike are focused on Republican Sen. Mark Grisanti. He was lambasted by Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy and Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo for his crucial vote on legalizing same-sex marriage in New York, and afterward did not dismiss the idea of running as a Democrat in 2012.

“One thing I can say with extreme confidence,” Gianaris says, “a Democrat will hold that seat come Jan. 1, 2013.”