Case: Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
1:09-cv-11156 | U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Filed Date: July 8, 2009
Closed Date: 2013
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
On July 8, 2009, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts under the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, against the federal government. The plaintiff asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging an overreaching of federal authority into an exclusive sphere of the states. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, 1 U.S.C. § 7, violates the Tenth Amendment, exceeds Congress's Article I powers, and runs afoul of the Constitution's principles of federalism by creating an extensive federal regulatory scheme that interferes with and undermines the Commonwealth's sovereign authority to define marriage and to regulate the marital status of its citizens.
On July 8, 2010, the Court (Judge Joseph L. Tauro), substantially agreeing with the Commonwealth's characterization of DOMA, granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and enjoined the federal government from enforcing DOMA against Massachusetts or its agencies. Massachusetts v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Services, 698 F.Supp.2d 234 (D. Mass. 2010). (The decision was issued the same day as Judge Tauro's decision striking down DOMA on equal protection grounds, in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, 699 F.Supp.2d 374 (D. Mass. 2010), and the two cases were consolidated on appeal.) The defendants appealed and moved for a stay of the injunction pending their appeal, and the Court (Judge Tauro) granted their motion.
On February 24, 2011, the Department of Justice indicated to the Court of Appeals that it had come to the conclusion that DOMA is unconstitutional and would cease defending it. (It would later file a brief in support of the plaintiffs' case on September 22.) In response, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives intervened to defend the act.
On August 23, 2011, the plaintiff moved for an initial en banc hearing to expedite the case, but despite a supporting brief from the Department of Justice, the Court of Appeals (Chief Judge Sandra L. Lynch) denied the motion.
After hearing arguments on April 4, 2012, on May 31 a three-judge panel of the First Circuit (Chief Judge Lynch, Judge Michael Boudin, and Judge Juan R. Torruella) unanimously affirmed the District Court's judgment in an opinion by Judge Boudin. Massachusetts v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Services, No. 10-2204, 2012 WL 1948017 (1st Cir. May 31, 2012). While the Court of Appeals refrained from applying heightened scrutiny, it also declined to employ hyper-deferential rational basis review; instead, the Court held that Supreme Court precedent in cases implicating the interests of historically disadvantaged minority groups (e.g. United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno, 413 U.S. 528 (1973), City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, 473 U.S. 432 (1985), Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996)) and cases considering federal action in areas of traditional state concern (e.g. United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000), United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995)) suggested a more searching form of rational basis inquiry (so-called 'rational basis with bite'), and that the rationales given for DOMA did not hold up under this closer scrutiny. Injunctive relief was stayed pending the possibility of review by the Supreme Court; the Department of Justice sought review on July 3, 2012. The Supreme Court denied certiorari on June 27, 2013.
Summary Authors
Christopher Schad (12/7/2012)
Elizabeth Heise (11/11/2018)
Related Cases
Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, District of Massachusetts (2009)
People
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4821643/parties/commonwealth-of-massachusetts-v-united-states-department-of-health-and/
Abernathy, Terri J (Massachusetts)
Addington, Gregory W. (Massachusetts)
Altman, Stephen D (Massachusetts)
Ackil, Ann (Massachusetts)
Alvarez, Iraida J. (Massachusetts)
Abernathy, Terri J (Massachusetts)
Addington, Gregory W. (Massachusetts)
Altman, Stephen D (Massachusetts)
Armijo, Rumaldo R (Massachusetts)
Attorney, Noticing 2255 (Massachusetts)
Auchterlonie, Jennifer D (Massachusetts)
Babu, Kavitha J (Massachusetts)
Barr, Russell D. (Massachusetts)
Barrett, David K (Massachusetts)
Barry-Smith, Christopher K. (Massachusetts)
Bartlett, Anastasia D. (Massachusetts)
Bhandari, Rishi (Massachusetts)
Blesi, Samuel D (Massachusetts)
Bogden, Daniel G. (Massachusetts)
Borichewski, Lisca N (Massachusetts)
Bortnick, Yael (Massachusetts)
Boyle, Brian J. (Massachusetts)
Branda, Joyce R (Massachusetts)
Brown, Geoffrey J.L. (Massachusetts)
Brown, Aimee Woodward (Massachusetts)
Burianek, Lisa M. (Massachusetts)
Burke, Matthew (Massachusetts)
Burrell, Meredith (Massachusetts)
Butcher, Daniel Everett (Massachusetts)
Camacho, Renee L (Massachusetts)
Campbell, Scott J (Massachusetts)
Carlson, Deborah (Massachusetts)
Carman, Sean Kevin (Massachusetts)
Chan, Priscilla To-Yin (Massachusetts)
Chanoine, Hannah W (Massachusetts)
Clark, Caroline Jane (Massachusetts)
Clarke, Ellen Rebecca (Massachusetts)
Clayton, Lindsay Laurie (Massachusetts)
Coakley, Martha (Massachusetts)
Cohen, Richard Edward (Massachusetts)
Cohen, Mary Louise (Massachusetts)
Coles-Huff, Doris Denise (Massachusetts)
Cooney, Nigel B (Massachusetts)
Corcoran, Thomas F (Massachusetts)
Costello, James (Massachusetts)
Darmstadter, Henry C (Massachusetts)
Dimock, Christina Nicole (Massachusetts)
Dougherty, Burtis M (Massachusetts)
Drake, Daniel R (Massachusetts)
Durham, Jessie Huff (Massachusetts)
Dworkin, Howard Sheldon (Massachusetts)
Eichenholtz, Seth D. (Massachusetts)
Ellsworth, Felicia H. (Massachusetts)
Epperley, Linda A. (Massachusetts)
Euliss, Richard D. (Massachusetts)
Ewalt, Andrew J. (Massachusetts)
Fisher, Douglas M. (Massachusetts)
Fisherow, W Benjamin (Massachusetts)
Flake, Troy K. (Massachusetts)
Fleming, Mark C. (Massachusetts)
Franze-Nakamura, Francis (Massachusetts)
Friedman, David S. (Massachusetts)
Fuchs, Siegmund F. (Massachusetts)
Gallagher, Mark A. (Massachusetts)
Goldberg, Arthur R (Massachusetts)
Greenberg, Todd (Massachusetts)
Greene, Gavin L (Massachusetts)
Groom, Deborah Fennell (Massachusetts)
Guthrie, Robert Gay (Massachusetts)
Habeas, US Attorney (Massachusetts)
Hall, Jennifer Lynne (Massachusetts)
Harrington, Quinn Patrick (Massachusetts)
Healey, Maura T. (Massachusetts)
Held, Jessica M (Massachusetts)
Hendry, Melanie Dyani (Massachusetts)
Hertz, Michael F (Massachusetts)
Hoang, Anthony P (Massachusetts)
Hoffman, Grayson A (Massachusetts)
Horwitz, Matthew Joseph (Massachusetts)
Houten, Kathryn E (Massachusetts)
Hurtado, Samuel A. (Massachusetts)
Iannarone, Liberatore Joseph (Massachusetts)
Jackson, E. Fletcher (Massachusetts)
Jacobson, Joshua D. (Massachusetts)
Jennings, David Reese (Massachusetts)
Jensen, Michelle D. (Massachusetts)
Johnson, Kristin Berger (Massachusetts)
Johnson-DOJ, T J (Massachusetts)
Jordan, Aaron O (Massachusetts)
JR, Joseph Patrick (Massachusetts)
Kaminski, Gerald Francis (Massachusetts)
Kaplan, Robert N. (Massachusetts)
Kaufman-Cohen, Eric (Massachusetts)
Kawakami, Kent A (Massachusetts)
Keefe, Kerry Jane (Massachusetts)
Keegan, Ruth Fuess (Massachusetts)
Keehn, Douglas (Massachusetts)
Kennebrew, Delora (Massachusetts)
Kern, Charles Douglas (Massachusetts)
Kinner, Russell B (Massachusetts)
Kipnis, Brian C (Massachusetts)
Kirwan, Tanya I. (Massachusetts)
Knepel, Susan M (Massachusetts)
Kotz, Stephen R. (Massachusetts)
Landau, Scott R. (Massachusetts)
Larkin, William F. (Massachusetts)
Larsen, Christian R (Massachusetts)
Larson, Kari Madrene (Massachusetts)
Lawrence, Kathleen O'Malley (Massachusetts)
Lehman, Lennie (Massachusetts)
Leiderman, Joel David (Massachusetts)
Lennington, Daniel P (Massachusetts)
Lesperance, Karen Folster (Massachusetts)
Levingston, Luttrell (Massachusetts)
Lindemann, Jessica M. (Massachusetts)
Lipari, Vincent (Massachusetts)
Long, Kenneth Gordon (Massachusetts)
Lowe, Virginia Cronan (Massachusetts)
Lucero, Manuel (Massachusetts)
Majeed, Sameena Shina (Massachusetts)
Mantell, Laura D. (Massachusetts)
Maragani, Goud P (Massachusetts)
Marinelli, Matthew M (Massachusetts)
Mark, Carolyn G (Massachusetts)
Maroldy, Laura M (Massachusetts)
McCabe, Brian J (Massachusetts)
McClanahan, Cathryn Dawn (Massachusetts)
McCord, Stacey Elise (Massachusetts)
McCormack, Timothy P. (Massachusetts)
McCulloch, Christine J (Massachusetts)
McEvoy, Lauren Mary (Massachusetts)
McFadden, Lane M. (Massachusetts)
Miller, Jonathan B. (Massachusetts)
Miller, Eugene L (Massachusetts)
Miller, Damon C. (Massachusetts)
Morris, Brian D. (Massachusetts)
Mosteller, Daniel Paul (Massachusetts)
Murphy, Michael D (Massachusetts)
Murray, Jeffrey (Massachusetts)
Mysliwiec, Paul (Massachusetts)
Nathanson, John Alexander (Massachusetts)
Nelson, Anne Elizabeth (Massachusetts)
O'Brien, Thomas Peter (Massachusetts)
Office, United States (Massachusetts)
O'Grady, Margaret E. (Massachusetts)
Owen, Jay David (Massachusetts)
Pahl, Michael R (Massachusetts)
Paxton, Lauren Mary (Massachusetts)
Pease, William H. (Massachusetts)
Pence, Richard M. (Massachusetts)
Perez, Thomas E (Massachusetts)
Perez, Alfred Juarez (Massachusetts)
Perros, Nicholas C. (Massachusetts)
Phillips, Cristine Irvin (Massachusetts)
Piropato, Marissa A (Massachusetts)
Podolak, Stephanie (Massachusetts)
Poliakoff, Steven J (Massachusetts)
Purcell, Joseph J (Massachusetts)
Radice, John Daniel (Massachusetts)
Roberts, Darwin P (Massachusetts)
Rosenbaum, Steven H (Massachusetts)
Russell, Bruce T. (Massachusetts)
Sampson, Colin C. (Massachusetts)
Santelle, James L (Massachusetts)
Schachner, Elliot M. (Massachusetts)
Schmidt, H Lee (Massachusetts)
Schnieders, Kathleen Kelly (Massachusetts)
Schoenfeld, Alan E. (New York)
Schwab, Mikel W. (Massachusetts)
Schwartz, Richard Adam (Massachusetts)
Schweiner, Dianne (Massachusetts)
Seff, Daniel A. (Massachusetts)
Sharinn, Harvey (Massachusetts)
Simpson, W Scott (Massachusetts)
Slade, Shelley (Massachusetts)
Smith, Bruce C (Massachusetts)
Spina, Thomas Spina (Massachusetts)
Stanford, Jon K (Massachusetts)
Starita, Paul L (Massachusetts)
Stoll, Kenneth F. (Massachusetts)
Strong, James C. (Massachusetts)
Tait, Monica E (Massachusetts)
Tingle, Michal (Massachusetts)
Torres, Valerie (Massachusetts)
Tribuiani, Rinku Talwar (Massachusetts)
Underhill, R Michael (Massachusetts)
Valerino, Gary J. (Massachusetts)
Vogel, Robert L (Massachusetts)
Waldorf, James J (Massachusetts)
Walker, Mary Beth (District of Columbia)
Welsh, Blaine T (Massachusetts)
Wenthe, Roger W. (Massachusetts)
Wiethe, Donetta Donaldson (Massachusetts)
Wilcove, Michael N (Massachusetts)
Willing-FLU, Patricia A. (Massachusetts)
Wogaman, Paul J (Massachusetts)
Wolfson, Paul R. Q. (Illinois)
Woods, James C. (Massachusetts)
Woods, Thomas M (Massachusetts)
Alvarez, Iraida J. (Massachusetts)
Amanat, Farzin Franklin (Massachusetts)
Arthur, Elizabeth G. (Massachusetts)
AUSA, Joel McElvain (Massachusetts)
AUSA, Benjamin L (Massachusetts)
AUSA, Jacek Pruski (Massachusetts)
AUSA, Christopher R (Massachusetts)
AUSA, Julie Saltman (Massachusetts)
Bagley, Nicholas J. (Massachusetts)
Balakrishna, Annapurna (Massachusetts)
Barnico, Thomas A. (Massachusetts)
Bartolomucci, H. Christopher (District of Columbia)
Beato, Andrew Michael (Massachusetts)
Beckenhauer, Eric B. (Massachusetts)
Bein, Philip Michael (Massachusetts)
Bennett, Jared C. (Massachusetts)
Bennett, Michelle R (Massachusetts)
Bensing, Daniel (Massachusetts)
Berg, Alyson A. (Massachusetts)
Berwick, Benjamin L (Massachusetts)
Bildtsen, Ann M (Massachusetts)
Blume, Todd M. (Massachusetts)
Bole, Bradley M. (Massachusetts)
Bowen, Brigham John (Massachusetts)
Brandon, Susan S. (Massachusetts)
Brazier, Alexandra L. (Massachusetts)
Bressler, Steven Y. (District of Columbia)
Brock, Matthew T. (Massachusetts)
Buck, Lynne Haddad (Massachusetts)
Castro, Ismael A (Massachusetts)
Cavan, Timothy J. (Massachusetts)
Chaifetz, Samantha L. (Massachusetts)
Cherry-DOJ, Mary M. (Massachusetts)
Chicago, AUSA - (Massachusetts)
Chorover, Nora (Massachusetts)
Clark, Andrew Edward (Massachusetts)
Clement, Paul D. (District of Columbia)
Cole, Victoria S. (Massachusetts)
Cooper, Daniel R. (Massachusetts)
Corinis, Jennifer Waugh (Massachusetts)
Costello, Sara E. (Massachusetts)
Courchesne, Christophe G (Massachusetts)
Cournoyer, Madonna E (Massachusetts)
Crane-Hirsch, Daniel Kadane (Massachusetts)
Cray, Pierce O. (Massachusetts)
Cueto, Christopher F. (Massachusetts)
Damle, Sarang V. (Massachusetts)
Davenport, Christine (District of Columbia)
Delery, Stuart F. (District of Columbia)
Dewar, Elizabeth N. (Massachusetts)
Dirks, Katherine B. (Massachusetts)
Dollar, Robyn P. (Massachusetts)
Donovan, Brian M. (Massachusetts)
Duffy, Conor P. (Massachusetts)
Dundin, Louis M. (Massachusetts)
Ekman, Michael D. (Massachusetts)
Ernce, Lynn Trinka (Massachusetts)
Farber, Molissa Heather (Massachusetts)
Farel, Lily Sara (Massachusetts)
Farmer, Gary Michael (Massachusetts)
Farringer, Craig S. (Massachusetts)
Feiner, Gillian R. (Massachusetts)
Flentje, August E. (District of Columbia)
Freeley, Mary B (Massachusetts)
Freeman, Mark R. (Massachusetts)
Freeny, Kyle Renee (Massachusetts)
Gardner, Joshua Edward (Massachusetts)
George, William David (Massachusetts)
Germano, Michael F. (Massachusetts)
Gershengorn, Ian (Massachusetts)
Glass, David M (Massachusetts)
Gov, Michelle Renee (Massachusetts)
Gov, Adam Grogg-Federal (Massachusetts)
Grant, Sheryl F. (Massachusetts)
Greene, Thomas M. (Massachusetts)
Griffiths, John (Massachusetts)
Guadagnino, Charles A (Massachusetts)
Guarino, Gary M. (Massachusetts)
Gunder, Jessica R. (Massachusetts)
Gurland, Harvey W. (Massachusetts)
Gutierrez, Sandra Ema (Massachusetts)
Hall, Christopher R. (District of Columbia)
Hambrick, Jonathan Holland (Massachusetts)
Hanson, Kirk G. (Massachusetts)
Harlow, James W. (Massachusetts)
Hawkins, Claude S. (Massachusetts)
Head, Carol E. (Massachusetts)
Heaps, Bailey W. (Massachusetts)
Herb, Kimberly L. (Massachusetts)
Hikida, Katherine M (Massachusetts)
Hodges, David Wayne (Massachusetts)
Horgan, James J. (Massachusetts)
Horn, Stephen M. (Massachusetts)
Hu, Daniel David (Massachusetts)
Hull, Joanna Berney (Massachusetts)
Humphreys, Bradley P (Massachusetts)
Hurld, Christopher S. (Massachusetts)
Iancu, Carol A. (Massachusetts)
Inactive, Ann Elizabeth (Massachusetts)
Inactive, Michael A (Massachusetts)
Iversen, Tara V. (Massachusetts)
Joss, Sarah M. (Massachusetts)
Kade, Elizabeth L (Massachusetts)
Katz, Scott A. (Massachusetts)
Keisler, Peter D (Massachusetts)
Kell, Gerald Cooper (Massachusetts)
Kelley, Jean M. (Massachusetts)
Kelly, Sheila Creaton (Massachusetts)
Kennedy, Brian G (Massachusetts)
Kingsley, Benjamin S. (District of Columbia)
Kircher, Kerry W. (District of Columbia)
Kirk-Kazhe, Christina V. (Massachusetts)
Klein, Alisa B. (Massachusetts)
Knapp, James Halleron (Massachusetts)
Kobick, Julia E. (Massachusetts)
Kopp, Robert E (District of Columbia)
Kopplin, Rebecca Michelle (Massachusetts)
Koster, Andrew W. (Massachusetts)
Kruger, Leondra R. (District of Columbia)
Lagorio, Peter A. (Massachusetts)
Lantka, Peter Michael (Massachusetts)
Larson, John W. (Massachusetts)
Lawrence, Victor M (Massachusetts)
Lawrence, Matthew JB (Massachusetts)
Leonardo-Beckmann, Diane C. (Massachusetts)
Lieber, Sheila M. (Massachusetts)
Lievense, Andrew J. (Massachusetts)
Lindquist, Susan J. (Massachusetts)
Littleton, Judson O (Massachusetts)
Llewellyn, Nicholas P. (Massachusetts)
Lucia, Joseph P. (Massachusetts)
Lyons, Matthew M. (Massachusetts)
MacKenzie, Michael B. (Massachusetts)
Magnanini, Robert A. (Massachusetts)
Maher, Brendan A. (Massachusetts)
Mahoney, Kathleen Anne (Massachusetts)
Mallory, Monica V (Massachusetts)
Manganaro, Kevin W. (Massachusetts)
Marks, David R. (Massachusetts)
Martin, Rhett P. (Massachusetts)
Martin, Elizabeth J. (Massachusetts)
Martin, Alice H (Massachusetts)
Martland, Douglas S. (Massachusetts)
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of (Massachusetts)
Matlack, William T. (Massachusetts)
McAuliffe, Eileen Ryan (Massachusetts)
McConkey, Robert C (Massachusetts)
McElvain, Joel (Massachusetts)
McKenna-DOJ, Sean Robert (Massachusetts)
McKey, Jamie Jean (Massachusetts)
Moore, Christina Bahr (Massachusetts)
Moran, Timothy E. (Massachusetts)
Morrison, Mark E. (Massachusetts)
Mosley, Gwendolyn T. (Massachusetts)
Mullin, Peter A. (Massachusetts)
Mustokoff, Michael M. (Massachusetts)
Myers, Steven A. (Massachusetts)
Nadeau, Genevieve C. (Massachusetts)
Nannis, Veronica Byam (Massachusetts)
Neal, Angela J. (Massachusetts)
Nelson, Jeffrey E. (Massachusetts)
Nelson, Nicholas J. (District of Columbia)
Nelson, James T. (Massachusetts)
Nestler, Emily B. (Massachusetts)
Newman, Christie V (Massachusetts)
Newton, Emily Sue (Massachusetts)
Noyes, Christopher R. (Massachusetts)
O'Connor, Charles Michael (Massachusetts)
Olivere, Mark D. (Massachusetts)
Onozawa, Tomoko (Massachusetts)
Orent, Jonathan D. (Massachusetts)
Ortiz, Carmen M. (Massachusetts)
Palmer, R. Scott (Massachusetts)
Paris, Lynda Carey (Massachusetts)
Park, Scott H. (Massachusetts)
Parker, Ryan B (Massachusetts)
Patten, Robert P (Massachusetts)
Pettis, Yohance Asim (Massachusetts)
Phillips, Heather R (Massachusetts)
Pittard, William (District of Columbia)
Pollack, Michael C (Massachusetts)
Pomeroy, Richard L. (Massachusetts)
Quinan, Robert L. (Massachusetts)
Raurell, Carlos Javier (Massachusetts)
Ravitz, Randall E. (Massachusetts)
Rice, Juliana deHaan (Massachusetts)
Rios, Ricardo Brandon (Massachusetts)
Robinson, Stuart Justin (Massachusetts)
Rodriguez, Joseph Cuauhtemoc (Massachusetts)
Rosberger, Richard Edward (Massachusetts)
Salinger, Kenneth W. (Massachusetts)
Saltman, Julie S (Massachusetts)
Schifter, Karen (Massachusetts)
Schofield, Seth (Massachusetts)
Schreiber, Philip M. (Massachusetts)
Schumacher, Robert W. (Massachusetts)
Schwartz, Joel D. (Massachusetts)
Schwartz, James (Massachusetts)
Sclarsic, Jonathan (Massachusetts)
Seifert, Karen P. (Massachusetts)
Services, United States (Massachusetts)
Shah, Pratik A. (District of Columbia)
Shaitelman, Kenneth L (Massachusetts)
Shapiro, Jeffrey S. (Massachusetts)
Shapiro, Elizabeth J (Massachusetts)
Sharobem, Steven T. (Massachusetts)
Shaw-Meadow, Robert (Massachusetts)
Shin, Sookyoung (Massachusetts)
Simpson, D. Brian (Massachusetts)
Singer, Michael Jay (District of Columbia)
Srinivasan, Srikanth (District of Columbia)
Stegeby, Erik Kenneth (Massachusetts)
Stengle, Linda Jeffries (Massachusetts)
Sterman, Anne L. (Massachusetts)
Stern, Mark B. (Massachusetts)
Stone, David S. (Massachusetts)
Swanson, Kristofor R. (Massachusetts)
Tang, Yeatyng Evelyn (Massachusetts)
Tatelman, Todd B. (District of Columbia)
Theeler, Camela C. (Massachusetts)
Thirolf, Eugene M. (Massachusetts)
Thomas, James P. (Massachusetts)
Todd, James D. (Massachusetts)
Torrance, Benjamin Henry (Massachusetts)
Ullman, Susan K. (Massachusetts)
Verrilli, Donald B. Jr. (District of Columbia)
Villasenor, Juan (Massachusetts)
Walle, Erin McCarthy (Massachusetts)
Warwick, Lisa T (Massachusetts)
Weckenmann, Rose Michele (Massachusetts)
Wedemeyer, Wesley D. (Massachusetts)
Wells, Robert Austin (Massachusetts)
West, Tony (District of Columbia)
Williams, Angela Givens (Massachusetts)
Wiltsie, Ronald J. (Massachusetts)
Wotring, Earnest William (Massachusetts)
Wu, Elizabeth Catherine (Massachusetts)
Wyer, Kathryn L. (Massachusetts)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Docket
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4821643/commonwealth-of-massachusetts-v-united-states-department-of-health-and/
Last updated Aug. 24, 2026, 7:18 p.m.
Docket for: Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Public Benefits/Government Services
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: July 8, 2009
Closing Date: 2013
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
State of Massachusetts.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Federal
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Constitutional Clause(s):
Federalism (including 10th Amendment)
Other Dockets:
District of Massachusetts 1:09-cv-11156
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 10-02204
Supreme Court of the United States 12-15
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 12-00097
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Granted:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Content of Injunction:
Issues
General/Misc.:
Discrimination Basis:
LGBTQ+:
Case Summary of Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/12062/ (last updated 11/11/2018).