Seth just reported on the brand-new Supreme Court decision that declared certain parts of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. I previously wrote about the state of Medicaid benefits in the DOMA era here. Now, post-DOMA, all eyes are on New Jersey to see if we will stick with civil unions or pass an actual gay marriage bill. If we stick with civil unions, it would appear to me that New Jersey will have to take the position with federal agencies like the Social Security Administration, the IRS, the VA, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that they should “deem” New Jersey civil unions to be marriages for purposes of federal law. This would be because they are ostensibly the same under Lewis v. Harris, which holds that same-sex couples are entitled to the same equal protection as heterosexual couples under the New Jersey state constitution. It will be very interesting to see how federal and state agencies that deliver public benefits implement this decision.